Accessing Local Files On Using Microsoft Remote Desktop

Accessing Local Files On Using Microsoft Remote Desktop For Mac
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Accessing Local Files On Using Microsoft Remote Desktop Assistant

For connections that you manually launch via the Remote Desktop (2008 R2) or Connect to a remote PC (2012/2012 R2) tabs in RDWeb, you need to enable Drives under the Options button on the page before clicking Connect. Marked as answer by Dharmesh S Microsoft employee Thursday, October 23, 2014 2:18 AM. With the Microsoft Remote Desktop, the impossible is now a comfortable user experience for almost everyone. It allows Mac users to remotely connect to their preferred Windows desktop to access network resources, apps, and even local files. This connection enables you to use almost any other device or computer from your Mac.

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Applies to: Windows Server 2022, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2

Microsoft Remote Desktop clients let you use and control a remote PC. With a Remote Desktop client, you can do all the things with a remote PC that you can do with a physical PC, such as:

Use apps installed on the remote PC.
Access files and network resources on the remote PC.
Leave the apps open when you turn off the client.

You can also use a Remote Desktop client to access your remote PC from almost any device. There are even clients for mobile smartphones! Here's a list of the latest versions of the client apps and where you can download them:

Client	Get the app	Documentation	Latest version
Windows Desktop	Windows Desktop client	Get started, What's new	1.2.2222
Microsoft Store	Windows 10 client in the Microsoft Store	Get started, What's new	1.2.1810
Android	Android client in Google Play	Get started, What's new	10.0.11
iOS	iOS client in the App Store	Get started, What's new	10.3.1
macOS	macOS client in the App Store	Get started, What's new	10.6.7

Before you start using the client of your choice, there are a few things you'll need to do first.

Configure your remote PC

Just as you would with a local computer, you'll need to configure your remote computer before you start accessing it with the client.

To configure your remote PC:

Check the supported configuration article to make sure your local PC is compatible with the Remote Desktop client.
Follow the instructions in Allow access to your PC to set up your remote PC and give you the necessary permissions to access the remote PC with the client.

Remote Desktop client Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme

You can also use features of Remote Desktop clients across platforms by enabling a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme. The Supported URI attributes article will tell you about URIs you can use with the iOS, Mac, and Android clients.

Other resources

If you have any other questions that this article didn't answer, check out the Remote Desktop client FAQ.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Urban Studies and Planning

11.188: Urban Planning and Social Science Lab
11.205: Introduction to Spatial Analysis Laboratory

Overview

For those with laptops that have too little speed, storage, or RAM to run ArcMap, we have arranged a limited number of virtual machines (VM) at the Media Lab that will work pretty much the same as the familiar Lab machines in W31-301 and the 9-554. If you have a reliable Internet connection with at least a megabit of bandwidth, this method should be satisfactory, although not as good as running all the software on your personal machine. In order to access these virtual machines, you will need:

Virtual Private Network (VPN) app on your local machine (Mac or PC)
Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) app on your local machine (Mac or PC)
Your MIT Kerberos ID (email without @mit.edu) will be authorized to log into a particular virtual machine (e.g., cronarcgis3.media.mit.edu)

Once connected, you can sign in to 'OneDrive - MIT' network storage to access your 1 TB of storage provided by Microsoft

Accessing local files on using microsoft remote desktop to ssh on mac

Virtual Private Network

The Media Lab virtual machine will accept your login only if you are on the MIT network or connected to it through a VPN. Software and instructions are available from IS&T here: http://ist.mit.edu/vpn Once you have downloaded and installed the VPN, use it to connect to vpn.mit.edu/duo using your MIT Kerberos ID plus whatever two-factor authentication method works for you.

Remote Desktop Connection

IF you are running locally on a Windows PC, the 'Remote Desktop Connection' app is already installed and available in the 'Windows Accessories' folder.

Open Remote Desktop Connection
Enter the computer name your were given for your personal VM - e.g., cronarcgis3.media.mit.edu
You will get a warning about trusting this remote computer. Click 'connect'
Next, you get a warning that the identity of the remote computer cannot be verified. Click 'yes'
Wait a bit (especially the first time) and a login window (similar to what you had in the Lab) will appear
Log in using your MIT Kerberos ID (MIT email without @mit.edu) just as you do in the Lab.
You are now logged in just as you were in the W31-301 computing lab. Go to Step3.

IF you are running locally on a Mac, you will need to download 'Microsoft Remote Desktop 10' from the AppStore (free) and install it on your local computer.

Launch your Remote Desktop application (called Microsoft Remote Desktop on a Mac).

Click the '+' sign to 'Add PC'
Enter the remote 'PC name' you were given for your personal VM - e.g., cronarcgis3.media.mit.edu
If you wish, enter an abbreviated name in the 'Friendly name' box (e.g., MyRemoteVM)
Click save and an icon for the remote computer will be created in the Microsoft Remote Desktop window.
Double-click the remote computer icon.
When you get a warning that the identity of the remote computer cannot be verified, click 'connect'.
Next, you get a warning that the identity of the remote computer cannot be verified. Click 'yes'.
Wait a bit (especially the first time) and a login window (similar to what you had in the Lab) will appear
Log in using your MIT Kerberos (email) credentials just as you do in the Lab.
You are now logged in just as you were in the W31-301 computing lab. Go to Step 3.

You may now launch any of the applications we have used in our computing lab (ArcGIS, MS-Access, MS-Excel, ...)

HOWEVER, you will need to access class data and save your work.
Class data are available in the AFS locker: afsathena.mit.educourse1111.188
But, you should first check that your virtual machine has attached the AFS lockers properly.

Make sure you can access the AFS class locker

Click to open the 'File Explorer' icon in the tray along the bottom of the screen.
Wait at least 30 seconds (to make sure AFS has had time to connect), then

Enter the AFS address of the data locker in the address box of the File Explorer (where it initially says 'Quick Access')

afsathena.mit.educourse1111.188data

If you do *not* get to the class data locker, you need to check that you have AFS tokens (as we did in lab)

In the 'type here to search' box within the tray at the bottom of the screen, enter 'cmd.exe' to open a command line window.
Enter 'kinit' to renew your Kerberos tickets. When prompted enter your MIT Kerberos (email) password.
Enter 'aklog' to use the kerberos tickets to get tokens for the AFS server. Wait until it finishes and you get another command prompt.
Enter 'tokens' to check that you now have the AFS tokens for your Kerberos ID.
Enter the long AFS locker address into a File Explorer address window.

Once you get the File Explorer to open class data locker, you are all set.

To avoid retyping, you can mount this locker (just as we did in class) as drive Q:
Right click 'This PC' and choose 'map network drive'
Set the Drive = Q: and the Folder = afsathena.mit.educourse1111.188data
Click Finish.

OneDrive-MIT Access

Once you are logged in with your desktop fully set up, you should see a blue 'onedrive' cloud-shaped icon in the lower right taskbar of your remote desktop.
Click on it to sign in using your MIT Kerberos credentials. It is important to sign with your MIT email ID because you will then get access to 1 TB of network storage space.
You will need to authenticate yourself via MIT Touchstone once again and you will probably have to go through two-factor authentication. However, once your OneDrive is setup up, it will be automatically attached during subsequent logins.
Once logged in, you will see an 'OneDrive - MIT' icon in the file explorer listing (in addition to the OneDrive listing that was always there.
This 'OneDrive - MIT' can be accessed from any Windows, Mac, or iOS machine. (OneDrive is free from the Mac AppStore)

View the Microsoft help files (or search for help in Google) to setup your OneDrive (much like Dropbox) to determine which files are online-only or synced into local drives of the various machines where you log in.

Right-click the 'OneDrive - MIT' icon and check the 'always keep on this device’ to save files locally as well as sync them in the cloud.

You now have a lab-like desktop with the software needed for class, plus 'read' access to the class locker on AFS, and 'read/write' access to a OneDrive of cloud storage that lets you save your files.

If you setup 'OneDrive - MIT' on your local computer, you can easily access any data written on your VM OneDrive.
Alternatively, you can configure your remote desktop connection to allow the VM to upload or download data to a local drive.

On a Mac, edit the properties of the profile of your remote desktop. Click the 'Folders' tab and add the local foclders you want to share with the VM
On a PC, before you connect to the VM, click the 'Show Options' words in the lower left. Then, click the 'Local Resources' tab and, in the 'local devices and resources' window, click the 'More' button. You can then check which local drives will be available to the remote desktop.

Finally, you are setup and ready to do some spatial analysis!

Click on the 'OneDrive - MIT' icon in your File Explorer window of the VM. You will see that it contains 'Desktop,' 'Documents,' and 'Pictures' folders (and possibly others if you have already used your MIT OneDrive). Add a new folder called '11.188' to separate your classwork from anything else.
Copy the cambridge_shapefiles.zip file in the class data locker into you OneDrive 11.188 folder.
Extract the all the files from cambridge_shapefiles.zip and double-click on the familiar 11.188_lab2_web.mxd ArcMap document.
You are now setup just as you were for Lab #2 in W31-301.

Logging Out

One more thing. To exit from your remote virtual machine, you MUST 'sign out'. Please do NOT select 'Disconnect' or 'Sleep' or 'Shutdown' (which could screw up settings and prevent you from loggin in again until you contact us).
To sign out, click the Start button, hover over the icon on top of the bottom left column, click on your MIT Kerberos username, and choose 'sign out'.

Back to the 11.188 Home Page.Back to the CRN Home Page.