This article is for Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) students and explains how to access their Remote Desktop Portal (RDP). 

Before staring, you must be connected to a wired University of Southampton (UoS) network point, eduroam, or the university Virtual Private Network (VPN) service to launch a remote desktop session.

Accessing the Remote Desktop from Windows or Apple macOS

Follow the instruction below to access the dedicated ECS remote desktop: 

1. Open the Remote Desktop portal
2. You will be taken to the sign-in page:
   
3. Sign in using your university username followed by @soton.ac.uk (for example: ab1c22@soton.ac.uk) and your password
4. Once logged in, you double-click the ECSStudent icon:
   
   
   
5. Your browser will automatically download a Remote Desktop file called 'cpub-ECSStudent-ECSStudent-CmsRdsh.rdp'
6. Run or open the downloaded .rdp file. if you are using Windows, select the connect option:
   
   
7. When asked for credentials again, sign in with your university username followed by @soton.ac.uk (for example ab1c25@soton.ac.uk) and password.
8. You will now be connected to the ECS Student Remote Desktop pool

Remember to log off at the end of your session.

Please note: if you are on eduroam without a VPN session, be patient as your client can take 10 seconds or so to negotiate to the https protocol, showing the message "Connecting…".

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Accessing the Remote Desktop from Linux

How to find Remmina

You can access RDP on Linux through Remmina Remote Desktop Client.

The Remmina desktop app may be available by default, or you may need to install it: dnf –y install remmina remmina-plugins-rdp 

Accessing the RDP

Follow the instruction below to access the dedicated ECS remote desktop: 

1. Open the Remote Desktop Service
2. Select the ECSStudent icon
3. The Remote Desktop Service automatically downloads the Remote Desktop configuration file (called cpub-ECSStudent-ECSStudent-CmsRdsh.rdp) to your machine.
4. This file includes details of the various servers involved in the Remote Desktop farm, as well as the session hosts configured to deliver the ECSStudent Remote Desktop service.
5. Launch Remmina either through the internet menu option or run the command remmina from a terminal session
6. Select Tools / Import and choose the downloaded Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) file
7. Enter your university username followed by @soton.ac.uk (for example: ab1c22@soton.ac.uk) and password. You may be asked for your credentials more than once. 
8. Double-click the new rdbroker.soton.ac.uk connection to connect to the remote desktop session

Remember to log off at the end of your session.

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Logging off when you have finished

1. Double-click on the Log off icon on the virtual desktop, then confirm your choice

   

2. Confirm your choice by selecting the option "Log off" 

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