Microsoft Remote Desktop through ssh-forwarded port

remote desktopssh

I have a situation where I provide access to a Windows server by forwarding the remote desktop port 3389 with ssh from my Mac to the "inside" of an otherwise inacessible network.

I can now connect with the Windows version of Remote Desktop, but the Mac version of Remote Desktop time out and do not provide access. This is even when using the IP-number as the host to connect to.

Any idea why this happens and how I can work around it?

Best Answer

Don't forward local port 3389, various versions of Remote Desktop are too smart for their own good.

My usual steps involve forwarding local 3390 to remote 3389. Then, in MacRDC I use: localhost:3390 as the address to connect too.

I don't know if you're using anything to assist in the ssh connection setup, but from the command line, it would be something like:

ssh -L 3390:172.16.5.32:3389 jason@remote.net

Where;
- 3390 is the local forwarding port on my box.
- 172.16.5.32 is the remote windows host. and;
- 3389 is the Remote Desktop Port (obviously).

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