I recently deployed an Azure Cloud Service with Remote Desktop enabled. However, when I went to connect to it on port 3389, the server refused the connection. I remember there was something I had to do, but I had never written down the steps. So, here’s what you need to do, in case you’re looking 🙂
Note: I use Remote Desktop Connection Manager, a.k.a. RDCMan, also from Microsoft, instead of the standard RDC client. I feel it’s much better, more configurable, and great if you need to work with many remote desktops. I’ve love to know why they don’t include it in Windows!
Step 1: Find your Cloud Service and Slot in Azure Portal
In Azure, find your Cloud Service. Also select the slot to which you want to connect, such as Production or Staging.
Step 2: Select the Roles and Instances option
You’ll see it on the left.
Step 3: Choose the item to which you want to connect and click Connect
For example, your web role instance. This will download an .RDP file. You can double-click this file to connect. Ooh! Neat!
Step 4: If you’re using RDCMan…
To connect with RDCMan, you’ll need to grab the Cookie: something something something string out of the RDP file. Open it in Notepad++, or your text editor of choice, and grab that value. Ignore the s: text.
In RDCMan, for the VM, add the string under Connection Settings tab in the Load balance config textbox.
Step 5: You’re Connected!
Enjoy!
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