Does Chrome Remote Desktop work on Windows Server?
Setting up Chrome Remote Desktop for Windows on Compute EngineThis tutorial shows you how to set up the Chrome Remote Desktop service on a Microsoft Windows virtual machine (VM) instance on Compute Engine. Chrome Remote Desktop allows you to remotely access applications with a graphical user interface from a local computer or mobile device. Show
For this approach, you don't need to open firewall ports, although the VM does need access to the internet, and you use your Google Account for authentication and authorization. Two methods of setting up Chrome Remote Desktop are described. The first is an interactive method using Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that requires the virtual machine to initially be accessible from the internet. The second is a non-interactive method that uses a GCESysprep specialize script to install and configure Chrome Remote Desktop when the VM is being created. Note: This solution is not suitable for graphically intensive applications, including playing videos, because those typically require hardware graphics acceleration as well as a network that has high bandwidth and low latency. If you want to run graphically intense applications remotely, see the Creating a virtual GPU-accelerated Windows workstation tutorial for an alternative solution.This tutorial assumes that you are familiar with Microsoft Windows and the PowerShell command line. For information about other options for creating virtual workstations, see Creating a virtual workstation. Objectives
CostsThis tutorial uses billable components of Google Cloud, including:
Use the Pricing Calculator to generate a cost estimate based on your projected usage. Before you begin
Ensure that you're meeting these additional prerequisites:
Interactive installation using RDPTo install Chrome Remote Desktop interactively, you need to be able to connect to the remote VM with RDP. In this tutorial, you create the VM in the default VPC with default firewall rules, which exposes the RDP port 3339 to the internet. If this is not possible in your environment, use the non-interactive method that's described later in this document. Create a Compute Engine instanceConsole
Cloud Shell
It takes a about 5 minutes to create your instance. Connect to the VM instance by using RDP
Install Chrome and Chrome Remote DesktopThe next step is to install Google Chrome and the Chrome Remote Desktop service on the VM instance.
Set up the Chrome Remote Desktop service
You can now connect to the VM using Chrome Remote Desktop. Non-interactive installationIn this approach, you configure the VM instance to have a GCESysprep specialize script that runs when the VM is created. With this approach, the VM does not need to be directly accessible from the internet, although it still needs access to the internet. Authorize the Chrome Remote Desktop serviceYou now generate a Windows command that you use later in the specialize script. As part of this procedure, you provide authorization information that's included in the command.
Copy the startup command to Cloud ShellThe next step is to create a file in your Cloud Shell instance that contains the startup command that you just generated.
Create the GCESysprep specialize script
Create a new Windows virtual machineYou now create a new Windows VM using the files you created earlier to configure and set up Chrome Remote Desktop.
Monitoring the VM startupYou can verify that the startup script is successful by checking the messages logged to the VM's serial port while it is being created.
Create a Windows user account
Connecting to the VM instance with Chrome Remote DesktopYou can connect to the VM instance using the Chrome Remote Desktop web application.
You are now connected and logged in to the remote Windows desktop. Improving the remote desktop experienceThis section provides instructions for changing settings in order to improve the remote desktop experience. Enable Clipboard SynchronizationClipboard Synchronization allows the contents of the clipboard to be shared between the local and remote machines. If this feature is not already enabled, do the following:
Install the Remote Desktop Chrome appThe Remote Desktop Chrome app gives a separate windowed experience and allows keyboard shortcuts that would normally be intercepted by Chrome to be used on the remote system. If this app is not installed, do the following:
The remote desktop session reopens in its own application window. You can move any remote desktop sessions from a Chrome tab to the app window by clicking the Open With open_in_new icon in the URL bar. Improve the screen resolutionThe default remote desktop resolution can modified to better suit your local computers desktop resolution.
Re-enable the serviceIf you have mistakenly disabled connections to the remote instance in the client app, you can reconfigure the service and re-enable it by following the instructions in Setting up the Chrome Remote Desktop Service. Clean upTo avoid incurring charges to your Google Cloud account for the resources used in this tutorial, either delete the project that contains the resources, or keep the project and delete the individual resources. Deleting the projectThe easiest way to eliminate billing is to delete the project that you created for the tutorial. To delete the project:
If you plan to explore multiple tutorials and quickstarts, reusing projects can help you avoid exceeding project quota limits. Delete the Compute Engine instanceAs an alternative to deleting the entire project, you can delete the VM instance you created for this tutorial:
Deauthorize Chrome Remote Desktop for the instanceIf you no longer want to connect to the VM instance, you can disable it and remove the instance from the Remote Devices list.
What's next
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