Desktop for Administration Web Connection Sample Web Page
Updated: January 21, 2005
When you install Remote Desktop Web Connection, a sample Web page, Default.htm, is copied to the installation directory on your computer. This page can be run as is, or it can be modified.
Default.htm is a default logon page that is designed to collect connection information from the user. This page contains a required field for the terminal server or remote computer to which the user wants to connect and optional fields for screen size and user logon information (username and domain). After this data is collected, it is passed to the ActiveX Client Control (Msrdp.ocx) to initiate a remote desktop session. The entire process works as follows:
- If necessary, IE downloads the .cab file containing the ActiveX component and installs it on the user's computer.
- The user types in the fully qualified domain name or IP address of the remote computer. Optionally, the user specifies a screen size for the connection. If no screen size is specified, the session opens in Full Screen mode (if the user is in a trusted zone. See Providing for Client Security for more information).
- Optionally, the user supplies automatic logon information (username, domain) for the remote session.
- When the user clicks the Connect button, Default.htm passes the parameters to the ActiveX Client Control.
- The remote desktop opens in the browser window (or full screen).
When Default.htm opens for the first time in Internet Explorer, a dialog box appears and asks if the user wants to download the Msrdp.ocx ActiveX component. This happens only under the following conditions:
- The computer that accessed the Web page does not have an installation of the full Terminal Services Client with Web support.
- The installed version of the .cab file on the client computer is older than the version on the Default.htm page.
For security reasons, some options that are available in Remote Desktop Web Connection are restricted to certain Internet Explorer security zones when called by the Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX Client Control. See Providing for Client Security for more information.
The screen size specified by the user in this form is the size of the remote desktop upon connection. The remote desktop appears at the specified size in the browser window or, if the session opens in the default full-screen mode, the browser controls and borders disappear and the remote desktop expands to the size of the user's screen. As with the full Remote Desktop Connection program, the user can toggle between full-screen and windowed mode by pressing CTRL+ALT+BREAK.
The size of the remote desktop session is specified in Default.htm. To change the screen size, the user must return to Default.htm (after disconnecting the session) and edit the connection. If no screen size is specified, the remote desktop opens in the browser window in the default full-screen mode. At this resolution, the IE tool bars and window frames disappear, and the remote desktop expands to match the full dimensions of the user's screen. As with the full Remote Desktop Connection client, the user can toggle between full-screen and windowed mode by pressing CTRL+ALT+BREAK.
See Providing for Client Security for information on specifying a program to run upon connection.