/rdweb/webclient

A wonderful new feature of Server 2022.

This page is a watered-down-quick-and-dirty of this document

What you'll need to set up the web client

Before getting started, keep the following things in mind:

Your users will see better performance connecting to Windows Server 2016 (or later) and Windows 10 (version 1611 or later).

Important

If you used the web client during the preview period and installed a version prior to 1.0.0, you must first uninstall the old client before moving to the new version. If you receive an error that says "The web client was installed using an older version of RDWebClientManagement and must first be removed before deploying the new version," follow these steps:

  1. Open an elevated PowerShell prompt.
  2. Run Uninstall-Module RDWebClientManagement to uninstall the new module.
  3. Close and reopen the elevated PowerShell prompt.
  4. Run Install-Module RDWebClientManagement -RequiredVersion <old version> to install the old module.
  5. Run Uninstall-RDWebClient to uninstall the old web client.
  6. Run Uninstall-Module RDWebClientManagement to uninstall the old module.
  7. Close and reopen the elevated PowerShell prompt.
  8. Proceed with the normal installation steps as follows.

How to publish the Remote Desktop web client

To install the web client for the first time, follow these steps:

  1. On the RD Connection Broker server, obtain the certificate used for Remote Desktop connections and export it as a .cer file. Copy the .cer file from the RD Connection Broker to the server running the RD Web role.

  2. On the RD Web Access server, open an elevated PowerShell prompt.

  3. On Windows Server 2016, update the PowerShellGet module since the inbox version doesn't support installing the web client management module. To update PowerShellGet, run the following cmdlet:

    PowerShell 
  • Install-Module -Name PowerShellGet -Force

    Important

    You'll need to restart PowerShell before the update can take effect, otherwise the module may not work.

    1. Publish-RDWebClientPackage -Type Production -Latest

      Make sure you can access the web client at the web client URL with your server name, formatted as https://server_FQDN/RDWeb/webclient/index.html. It's important to use the server name that matches the RD Web Access public certificate in the URL (typically the server FQDN).

      Note

      When running the Publish-RDWebClientPackage cmdlet, you may see a warning that says per-device CALs are not supported, even if your deployment is configured for per-user CALs. If your deployment uses per-user CALs, you can ignore this warning. We display it to make sure you're aware of the configuration limitation.

    2. When you're ready for users to access the web client, just send them the web client URL you created.

    Note

    To see a list of all supported cmdlets for the RDWebClientManagement module, run the following cmdlet in PowerShell:

    PowerShell
    Get-Command -Module RDWebClientManagement

  • Install the Remote Desktop web client management PowerShell module from the PowerShell gallery with this cmdlet:

    PowerShell 
  • Install-Module -Name RDWebClientManagement

  • After that, run the following cmdlet to download the latest version of the Remote Desktop web client:

    PowerShell 
  • Install-RDWebClientPackage

  • Next, run this cmdlet with the bracketed value replaced with the path of the .cer file that you copied from the RD Broker:

    PowerShell 
  • Import-RDWebClientBrokerCert <.cer file path>

  • Finally, run this cmdlet to publish the Remote Desktop web client:

    PowerShell 
    • 
    
    

    
    
    
      
    How
        to update the Remote Desktop web client
    
    
    
    
    When a new version of the Remote Desktop web client is available, follow
      these steps to update the deployment with the new client:
    
    
      
      
    1. 
        
      Open an elevated PowerShell prompt on the RD Web Access server and
          run the following cmdlet to download the latest available version of
          the web client:
      
        
      PowerShell 
      
      
      2. 
    
    
    
  • 
      
    Install-RDWebClientPackage

     
    • 
    
      
      
    1. 
        
      Publish-RDWebClientPackage -Type Production -Latest

      
        
      This will replace the client for all users when they relaunch the web
          page.
      
      
      2. 
    
    
    
    
      
    How
        to uninstall the Remote Desktop web client
    
    
    
    
    To remove all traces of the web client, follow these steps:
    
    
      
      
    1. 
        
      On the RD Web Access server, open an elevated PowerShell prompt.
      
      
      2. 
      
    2. 
        
      Unpublish the Test and Production clients, uninstall all local
          packages and remove the web client settings:
      
        
      PowerShell 
      
      
      3. 
    
    
    Uninstall-Module
          -Name RDWebClientManagement
    
  • 
      
    Optionally, you can publish the client for testing before official
        release by running this cmdlet:
    
      
    PowerShell
      
    
    
    • 
    
  • 
      
    Publish-RDWebClientPackage -Type Test -Latest

    
      
    The client should appear on the test URL that corresponds to your web
        client URL (for example, https://server_FQDN/RDWeb/webclient-test/index.html).
    
    
    • 
    
  • 
      
    Publish the client for users by running the following cmdlet:
    
      
    PowerShell
      
    
    
    • 
    
  • 
      
    Uninstall-RDWebClient

     
    • 
    
    Uninstall the Remote Desktop web client management PowerShell module:
    
    
    PowerShell