Intro
RDCMan (Remote Desktop Connection Manager) is a convenient RDP connection manager for Windows system administrators. It allows to manage multiple RDP sessions in a single window, create tree-like structures with the remote Windows hosts you are constantly using or managing, use different RDP connection settings for servers or groups, and save administrator (or user) credentials to automatically authenticate on RDP/RDS servers to manage.
How to:
How to Manage multiple RDP connection using RDCMAN
Download and Install RDCMan
You can go to official Microsoft RDCMan download page Remote Desktop Connection Manager – Windows Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn or here
Extract the file
Go to where you download RDCMan, and extract it
Remote Desktop Connection Manager supports all Windows versions, up to Windows 10 (Windows 11) and Windows Server 2019. Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are also supported, but ou must first install the RDP client version 6 or newer on these operating systems.
Config and Create RDP Group
When you start RDCMan.exe, you will see an empty console. First of all, you must create a configuration file to store your settings by pressing Ctrl+N or in the menu: File –> New. Enter the file name *.rdg (actually, it is a text XML file that you can edit manually). In a single configuration file, you can save any number of RDP connections for your remote servers. The tool allows you to structure RDP connections by any criteria you choose: use this feature to create groups.
For example, you can create a group of Hyper-V servers or a group with AD domain controllers. You can group your remote servers by their location, role, or customer.
You can save your RDP credentials to connect to the servers in this group. In the Group Properties, go to the Logon Credentials tab and specify your credentials. All servers in this group inherit the group settings. To change any server option different from the specified group settings, uncheck the “Inherit from parent” and set the personal settings.
Don’t forget to click the Save button.
Configuring RDP Connection Settings in RDCMan
Go to RDP connection properties in the “Connection Settings” tab. By default, the standard port 3389 is used for RDP connection. You can change the port number if your RDP server listens on a non-standard port. Uncheck the option “Inherit from parent” and change the RDP port number.
If you check the “Connect to console” option, you will be connected to your server’s console. The console mode simulates a direct connection to the local monitor of your server and is used to connect to the RDS server without using client CAL license, or if the licensing server is not available, or the RDSH licensing mode is not configured.
Configure the screen resolution to be used in the RDP session in the “Remote Desktop Settings” tab (I recommend to set it to “Full screen”) and local resources in the corresponding tab to be redirected to the RDP session (for example, you can redirect your clipboard to the RDP session, local printers, use a local drives sharing, etc.).
If you don’t need to scroll and the RDP window fits your screen, do check the option “Scale docked remote desktop to fit window”.
The main drawback of RDCMan 2.81 is that it doesn’t support automatic resizing of the RDP session window. If you want to resize the RDCMan window, you will have to reconnect to all remote servers. In this case, by automatically changing the RDP window (RDP size auto-fit), your connections will be displayed correctly.
Hosts (servers and workstations) can be added to RDCMan groups. Right-click the group and add a server:
- Server Name – specify hostname or its IP address;
- Display Name – server name displayed in the RDCMan console.
Finally, you will see every RDP that you just save
Double click on server to open it
You can use the “Connect Group” option. It will open all RDP on the group.
You can do standard things with your server, they are intuitive.
- Reconnect server – reconnect if a remote session is disconnected;
- Send keys – send standard keyboard shortcuts to a server;
- Disconnect server – disconnects from a server;
- Log off server – logs off a server;
- List sessions – view server active sessions;
- Undock – brings a server to a separate RDP window;
- Dock – returns a server to the console.
If you need to connect to a remote RDSH host through a published server with the RD Gateway role, you can set its parameters on the Gateway Settings tab.
The main thing: don’t forget to save the configuration file (File -> Save *.rdg). Or the setting you have change could be lost and you can back up you *.rdg file on cloud or any safe drive
The next time you start RDCMan, you will see a window where you will need to select servers or groups you would like to reconnect.
