Sign in
Microsoft.com
 
Microsoft
 
 
 

locked
Applications publishing (RDP): Possible ? How ? RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Hi everybody

    I've learned about Application publishing with RDP with the XP mode of Windows 7 which use this feature for integrate the virtualized Apps in the host desktop.

    So, as it use RDP6.x for this I think it's possible to do the same thing from a Home server... But I have absolutly no idea about how to do this!
    I've found no documentation at all for this subject on the MS website  (Only something on technet but it's talk about Forefront Unified Access Gateway).

    My first question is: It's possible to publish application over RDP from Home server?

    I guess it's possible because the remote access of the home server console (trough the home server connector on the client side) seems to be exactly this kind of feature.

    And the second (easy to guess) : Hhow can we do this for the app we want?

    Thanks a lot for the answers
    Monday, August 17, 2009 8:44 PM

All replies

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Hi,
    server based Application virtualization is a feature introduced with Windows Server 2008. WHS is based on Windows Server 2003, so this feature is not part of it. There are also required Terminal Server Client Access Licenses with Windows Server 2008 to be allowed to use this functionality in corporate environments.
    So no, it is not to be expected to get similar functionality with WHS.
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Monday, August 17, 2009 9:19 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Damned

    Thanks for your reply.


    So how do you explain that this feature is included on the Windows XP Pro which come in the XP mode of Windows 7 Pro ?
    Same for the Home server console when you access it from the client with the Home server connector ? It's that's not a published app via RDP, what is it ?
    Monday, August 17, 2009 9:33 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    The console is controlled from the client, though it's run on the server. It's really little more than a Remote Desktop session that's been configured to minimize the amount of UI "chrome" displayed, and to run a specific application on the server when you connect.

    You would need to switch licensing modes for Terminal Services, add CALs, install applications, and configure published apps, none of which is supported. And the Terminal Services changes are prohibited in the EULA that you agree to when you install/set up your server; you are explicitly forbidden from using your server as an Applicaiton Server or to activate additional server roles.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Monday, August 17, 2009 10:18 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    The console is controlled from the client, though it's run on the server. It's really little more than a Remote Desktop session that's been configured to minimize the amount of UI "chrome" displayed, and to run a specific application on the server when you connect.
    I disagree.

    Home server acces trough the Home server connector on the client is really an RDP connexion, an not a client side app.

    You can check it very easely if you want.
    Go to your home server, open the task manager. Then launch the Home server console on the client via the connector. On the "User" tab in the task manager you will see a new connexion from user Administrator, with the client name of your clien machine and via a RDP-TCP Session. Close the home server console and the user is gone.
    And you can act on this session like any other session: send a message wich will apprear on the console (try it it's fun!), or log out the session (then the console will be closed on the client).

    Not RDP you say ?

    For me it's the same thing that for XP mode under Windows 7 ... Which use a simple Windows XP Pro on a virtual machine and publish application on the host. no specific Terminal server at all. Application publishing is a feature from RDP6.x. And as RDP6.x work on Home server (like it work under XP pro), I guess Application publishing is possible.
    Monday, August 17, 2009 10:54 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    It's not the same.
    A Terminal Server in application mode allows virtual applications to be executed from as many PCs/users as licenses (TS CALs) are available - also by limited users, who usually cannot destroy the server by doing something wrong within the application/remote session. The console in WHS is just one application and can only be opened by one user in the same time. And this user logs on as Administrator to the server (the console password is the password for the account Administrator).
    Therefore both functions are not comparable.
    See the Console as an extension to Remote Desktop for Administration to simplify the life of an home administrator, who doesn't know too much about computers.
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 7:51 AM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    The console in WHS is just one application and can only be opened by one user in the same time.
    And ?
    I dont see in what it's different of what I'm asking for ?

    All that I want to know is how work application publishing of RDP protocole. I don't care If I can only use the app once a time (remotly OR localy).. because if I can access it directly via RDP I have no reason to open a session on the server for that. 

    I don't ask about terminal servicing for publishing apps over multiple clients. All that I want is the same thing that you can have with XP mode in Win7 (and for the Home server console). That's mean: a direct access form the client of an app running on the server without having to open "manually a RDP session.. This app would be fully integrated on the client desktop as if it run directly on it.

    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 1:57 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    What we are telling you is that, in order to achieve what you want on windows Home Server, you would need to configure Terminal Services on your server to support application publishing. It's not configured this way by default, and doing so requires you to violate your EULA. And the application would not be fully integrated on the local desktop; for example the console isn't fully integrated. For those console functions that work with a file system directly, they work with file systems on the server, not on the client. (Note: single file restore is a special case; the file system is mounted locally, but it's read only and all data is accessed remotely off the server. This functionality is also not part of the console, though the console is where you appear to start up the tool that gives you the feature.)

    RemoteApp is a feature of Windows Server 2008/Windows 7, not of Windows Server 2003. So the features of RemoteApp are not available, and will never be available, in this version of Windows Home Server. For more information about RemoteApp and Remote Desktop in Windows Server 2008 you might want to look at the Remote Desktop Services team blog.

    I realize this is not the answer you want, but it's the answer that's available. You are more than welcome to dig into Windows Home Server in detail and prove us wrong (many innovations are probably the result of someone deciding they didn't like an answer I gave :) ), but be cautious and don't play around with your production server until you're completely certain you know what you're doing, because you could cause some fairly severe issues.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:44 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    RemoteApp is a feature of Windows Server 2008/Windows 7, not of Windows Server 2003. So the features of RemoteApp are not available, and will never be available, in this version of Windows Home Server. For more information about RemoteApp and Remote Desktop in Windows Server 2008 you might want to look at the Remote Desktop Services team blog.

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753844(WS.10).aspx

    "Terminal Services RemoteApp (TS RemoteApp) enables organizations to provide access to standard Windows®-based programs from virtually any location to users with computers running Windows Vista®, Windows Server® 2008, or Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). TS RemoteApp is also available to users with computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), or Windows Server 2003 with SP2 that have the new Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client installed."


    So, what's next ?
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 4:39 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    ...
    So, what's next ?
    "Next" is you read the entire article you quoted and linked, paying particular attention to the line near the top where the author says:
      
    TS RemoteApp is installed as part of the Terminal Server role service in Windows Server 2008.

    The article you linked is discussing the client side of the RemoteApp experience, not the server side. Without support on the server, which does not exist in Windows Server 2003 (and as far as I know can't be retrofitted; RDC 6.0 or 6.1 is the client tool), client support is useless. Your list of operating systems above is a list of those on which an appropriate version of the remote desktop client can be installed.

    You could also ask over in the Terminal Services forum how you can configure a Windows Server 2003 server (which is what Windows Home Server is under the hood) as a RemoteApp server. If it can be done, that's probably where you'll find out how.

    For more information about RemoteApp you can see MDSN (your link or this one), or you can consult the TS forum I linked above.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 5:18 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Damned I saw to late that I've made a confusion with the TS client.
    Sorry for my mistake.

    Ok.
    I looked after the TS version on Home server and it's the 5.1 one. As there's no way to update it (as far as I know), having it on Home server is not possible at this time.
    Now I'm even more impatient to see the next Home server version (based on Server 2008 R2 ?) ;)


    But still curious to know the remote console work (as it's clearly an RDP connexion) and how they did app publishing on the XP mode (they should have integrate TS 6.x on the XP included with XP mode)

    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 5:35 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    How the remote console works? It's a remote desktop connection that starts an application when the connection starts up. You can achieve a similar effect (minus the removal of all the chrome, which is achieved through API control of the Remote Desktop session setup):
    • Start the Terminal Services client, mstsc.
    • Click the Options >> button.
    • Click the Programs tab.
    • Place a check mark next to Start the following program on connection:.
    • Enter the path/file name for a program on your server. This could be any program, the console is just a particular exemplar.
    • Set Start in the following folder: if required.
    • Back on the General tab, set up the remote computer as desired.
    • Save the connection to your desktop (or elsewhere).
    • Double click the saved connection, and once you've logged in you'll see the application you chose to have started automatically starting up.
    Was that what you meant? Note that the application is running on the server, so it has access to resources on the server. For the console, anything that looks like it involves direct communication from the console to the client is actually running through the server, then the server supplies the information to the console. And when restoring a single file, that's data being delivered from the server to the client. The console only tells your server to start the connection up.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:11 PM
    Moderator