Remote Desktop Access Using Remote Control Viewer (SCCM)

Specialists often need to remote into users' machines to diagnose, troubleshoot and repair end user issues that occur on a daily basis.

Remote access and support to CSDS-supported computers is most often performed by utilizing Software Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)'s Remote Control Viewer (Configuration Manager Remote Control).

Accessing Remote Control Viewer

To access Remote Control Viewer, the Specialist can either:

Open the Start menu. 

Scroll through the apps menu until the "M" section is reached. Expand this folder and click Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

Click on Remote Control Viewer.

OR:

Search the Start menu of the machine for 'Remote Control Viewer' and open the app by clicking once.

NOTE: A Specialist does not have to run Remote Control Viewer as an administrator, or open the program with dadmin credentials or ouadmin credentials to access CSDS-managed machines.

Connecting to a Client Computer

Enter the computer name (the fully qualified name is preferred) or IP address of the machine and click OK.

NOTE: If the user is unable to provide the name of a Windows machine through a sticker on the hardware or by other means, but still has access to attempt a login, they can click into the username field of the login screen and enter the following:

This will change the display name of the machine from 

"Sign into BoilerAD / OnePurdue" 

to

"Sign in to: [ computer name ]" beneath the password field.

This name can then be given to the connection-attempting Specialist, as seen below:

Once the Specialist has the name of the machine, they can enter it into the "Address:" field of the Remote Control Address Connection box.

Following the authorization of connection by clicking OK, the program will attempt to connect to the supported computer, and will then display its connection progress.

It will state in this window whether or not a connection could be established, automatically closing and displaying the remotely-accessed machine's desktop when successfully connected.

The customer will be prompted to allow the incoming connection on their desktop.

Inform the user that they will see a prompt and encourage them to click 'Approve'.

NOTE: This is what they will see when the request is sent and the connection has been established, with the Specialist's username in place:

When the customer clicks OK, the remote connection will begin.

Note that the connected machine's name is displayed in both the top left-hand and bottom left-hand corner.

NOTE: The Specialist should have full control over the mouse and keyboard input of the machine, however, be aware that unless disabled in the 'Action' drop-down menu, the user will still be able to move these peripherals and affect input.

NOTE: If a connection fails, usually a Specialist will have to close out of and restart entirely the Remote Control Viewer program, as the 'Connect' option will usually be grayed out after a failed connect attempt.

NOTE: When a Specialist is connecting remotely to a machine with a Remote Control Viewer window full-screened, it will usually not display all of the end user's windows to view, or the option to do so with a scroll bar. It is recommended to not have the window maximized when connecting.

Disconnecting from a Remote Session

A Specialist can disconnect from a remote session several ways.

• The Configuration Manager Remote Control window can simply be closed with the red X in the top right corner.

• The user can disconnect the Specialist by closing the window through the X on the right side of the green 'status' bar on the top of their screen while the Specialist is remotely accessing their machine.

NOTE: This bar will also display the name of the Specialist remotely accessing the machine.

• The Specialist can click File > Disconnect.

When a Specialist is prompting the disconnect from a machine, they will receive a dialog box confirming the disconnect request.

NOTE: When a user manually disconnects the Specialist, the computer restarts, or a network disruption occurs, the Remote Control program will forcefully disconnect the Specialist without a warning prompt.

NOTE: If a Specialist's Remote Control program is disconnected for the above listed reasons, there is a chance that attempting to quickly reestablish a connection will result in the computer denying the request, stating that there is already a Remote connection established. The Specialist will need to wait for the program to time out before attempting another sign-in. This may take several minutes for server communications to cease and refresh.