I have recently set up a Remote Desktop Gateway server (Server 2008 R2) to simplify our users' Remote Desktop connections to their office computers from outside the building.  This works great for people with Windows clients, but we have a fair amount of users with Macs at home.  The Microsoft Remote Desktop client for Mac OS X, which was just updated to version 2.1, *still* does not appear to support this.  Do we know if there are any plans to update the Mac client to support RD Gateway connections?

I realize that this question might be better asked elsewhere, but there is no apparent useful contact information on the MS Mac website (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/) and the one time I did try to ask this question there I never got a response.

Any suggestions welcome (aside from pointers to the third-party Mac OS X RDP client CoRD (http://cord.sourceforge.net/), which also does not support RD Gateway).

  -> Thayer

• Moved by Tiger Li Monday, December 06, 2010 8:25 AM (From:Network Infrastructure Servers)

Unforunate you didn't get any responses. I don't have much on this, but I can tell you when I was researching the possiblity of purchasing an iPad, i needed RDP functionality for my customers. There are a few third party RDP apps for the iPad and iPhone, which I assume are Mac compatible.

What I can also add, from what I know and heard, I don't think TS support is offered. Maybe the Terminal services forum is better suited for your question to get the latest on this:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverTS/threads

Ace

Hi,

As far as I know, the RDC 2 for Mac does NOT Support TS Gateway. You can see the list of features that are supported by the latest version here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/08/03/remote-desktop-connection-client-for-mac-2-0-beta-available-now.aspx

http://mac.microsoft.com/MacOffice/en-US/Help/870500bb-d48d-4f90-b993-7d5a3f6f654c1033.mspx

Thanks.

That was my conclusion as well (no TS/RD Gateway support in the Mac client).

This feature has been available in Windows Server for some time now - is there any indication whether or not support for it will ever be added to the Mac client?  Or is the assumption that any Mac users that need to do this should use the Windows client via Parallels, or some other virtualization technology?

  -> Thayer

Hi,

Frankly, I do not know what third party software can support RD Gateway on the Mac client. But you can consider providing your Mac user with a VPN client connection to your LAN until Remote Desktop for Mac supports RD Gateway.

Furthermore, you can submit your feedback and comments to the Terminal Services Team blog as following:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2007/08/03/remote-desktop-connection-client-for-mac-2-0-beta-available-now.aspx?CommentPosted=true

Thanks.

• Marked as answer by Alan ZhuModerator Monday, December 13, 2010 2:39 AM
• Unmarked as answer by T. York Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:10 PM

Hi,

I've been working on a project and rolling out RDS farm externally via the web gateway and we have been beta testing some software called "iTap" which had issues but now appears to work on both the iPhone and iPad, the screen's a little small on an iPhone ;o)

Our iPad users are happy with it and it does look impressive. I don't know if it's possible to run "apps" on a Mac. We're now testing FreeRDP for Linux and I'm told it 'might' run on Mac OSX but we haven't testing external access yet if it works I'll let you know

J

• Edited by John Grenfell Friday, December 10, 2010 11:04 PM but session broker not web gateway .. it's late ;o)
• Marked as answer by Alan ZhuModerator Monday, December 13, 2010 2:39 AM

Someone mentioned iTap to me.  I looked into the possibility of running iOS apps on OS X and was quickly reading about installing the iOS developer toolkit and needing access to the source code for the app - not exactly something we can do on users personal Macs. :)

FreeRDP sounds interesting, but even if it will run on OS X, it's not clear whether it supports TS/RD Gateway connections.  I suppose that last part is a question, or is that what you meant by not having tested external access yet?

  -> Thayer

Hi,

I've had a chat with the guys which were working directly with the iTap beta and I'm told iTap are also working on a Mac OS X and Andriod App. The Mac OS X will be out first Q of 2011 and theey were hoping to get the Andriod one out before Christmas.

J

Excellent news!  Thanks for the heads up!

  -> Thayer

i use itap on my ipad and except for the SSL stream error that periodically disconnects you, it really is the only solution that works really with TSG/RDG. Hopefully they will fix this soon (ive been waiting almost 6mo now).

i also was told by an itap employee that they are working on a beta mac OSX version which will release in Q1. This would be huge for me working at a hosting company where we only use TSG/RDG for our customers without the requirement for vpns (less management overhead). Mac OS will only grow and using TSG/RDG to provide TS and RemApp independent of local OS only seems logical. This has always been a topic at my company and FINALLY someone is doing something about it. Thanks itap. my only suggestion is to make sure its rock solid. hit the ground running or work out any bugs quickly and itap will corner the market.

I'm in the same boat.  My solution:  Use the MS Remote Desktop Connection for Mac client to make a remote desktop connection to your RD Gateway server.  From the gateway server, use its RDC client to connect to whatever machine you need on your LAN.  It aint pretty, but it works.

As of today, the Mac App store is open, but the iTap RDP app for iPad and iPhone has not been ported over.

Hi,

For quite some time, I have tried to find a solution to make RDP thru RD/TS gateway for our company on mac client. It turns out that no native mac os client is available, even today.

My solution for this challenge is to run (besides a bootcamp winxp/win7 partition) a virtual winxp or win7 on virtual box for mac. Our security implementation requires also to use smartcard to authenticate with gateway server, and use user credentials to authenticate application servers behind. this further complicates matters. fortunately, the virtual box solution works fine for me, even with a usb attached smartcard reader.

Although the iTap on mac could be interesting for most, I doubt it will support alternative authentication methods. but it is still worthing waiting.

until then, perhaps a virtual box/virtual windows  might be the solution, provided that you have a valid windows license at hand.

regards.

• Proposed as answer by Alan ZhuModerator Thursday, March 10, 2011 2:48 AM

I really, really need RD Gateway support on OS X.

It amazes me that Microsoft isn't committed to meet the competition from Citrix XenApp, which has RDP clients runnable on almost every system.

 

I really, really need RD Gateway support on OS X.

It amazes me that Microsoft isn't committed to meet the competition from Citrix XenApp, which has RDP clients runnable on almost every system.

Some of the challenges to support competitive operating systems or applications, is the sharing of information, especially with the propietary stuff from Apple to allow Microsoft to develop a product correctly to make it work. Citirix is really not "competition" for the most part, rather an enhancement to the Windows OS such as two varieties of oranges, whereas Apple & Microsoft is more of an apples and oranges thing (no pun intended).

Ace

The "sharing of information" is moot, due to the fact that iTap mobile, a 3rd party vendor, provides Windows gateway RDP functionality to OSi and Android users. Their OSX version is due soon. Why can't Microsoft provide this?

We're another shop with a large 2008 R2 RemoteApp solution that had to slice off some servers and provide a plain-jane, non-gateway solution for our Mac users to connect to. This is frustrating, and painful to support compared to a single system. The RDS services are a great solution, except for this one glaring hole.

The blog link provided has 10 pages of comments, with a great many calling for Mac gateway support. 10 pages!

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2007/08/03/remote-desktop-connection-client-for-mac-2-0-beta-available-now.aspx?CommentPosted=true&PageIndex=10#comments

My post here = another voice and vote for Microsoft to step up and implement gateway support for the Mac RDP client. At the least, give us a yes or no instead of leaving the situation "dangling". The alternative is to lose customers to Citrix, cost be darned. That simple.

I wish I had an answer for you. I've been keeping loose tabs on it, too. Have you posted or looked on the TS threads?

Ace

Not much else we can do other than keep an eye on it until one does get released. ;-)

Ace

RC1 is expected at the end of June (when beta 2 expires).

Hello Thayer

Thanks for the very interesting hint re. an iTap version for OS X.

Can you indicate where one can download the Beta 2 for testing purposes?

D. Vorbrodt.

It's not clear from the email I received from them how widely I can share the link.  I'd contact them at support@itap-mobile.com for download information.

  -> Thayer

Thanks for the update. I've been keeping tabs on this thread for a couple of my customers that have iPads that are interested in this functionality.

Hi!

I'm one of the team members of iTap mobile and the Mac client is available now for trial and purchase on our website: http://itap-mobile.com/desktop/rdp

It features both TS Gateway and RemoteFX! If you need assistance and would like to provide feedback please do not hesitate to write our support at support@itap-mobile.com.

To test the client you can download it for free, there are also 14 day trial licenses available for free to remove the trial messages.

-Peter

• Proposed as answer by peter_honeder Thursday, July 28, 2011 6:19 AM
• Marked as answer by T. York Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:10 PM

Awsome.

We use the ipad version (which is great and even better now you don't charge extra for the gateway connector) but were unaware there was a mac client as it's not in the app store. Just put it on and it's perfect. Beats the stock rdp client hands down

Cheers

I am a IT consultant and have the same serious issue that most of the individuals have here. I set up servers as an RD gateway and none of the end users with windows
have an issue but i am unable to find a tool which works with MAC. Yes iTap works great on the iPad but there is no solution for the MAC.

Currently I do one of two things.

1. I set up vpn and have them connect using rdp. (This cumbersome and most of the time they forget to connect to the VPN first and then I hear that it doesn't work when
what it really is is user error.)

2. I set up logmein and let them connect with it. (The resolution and response time is poor in comparison to rdp)

I would much prefer to have a MAC RDP client which supports RD Gateway settings.

I am even willing to offer to my clients a paid version as well but as of yet I haven't found one, plus I believe as others do that Microsoft or Apple should develop a rdp client for the MAC which supports all the same features as the Windows version.

David

I am a IT consultant and have the same serious issue that most of the individuals have here. I set up servers as an RD gateway and none of the end users with windows
have an issue but i am unable to find a tool which works with MAC. Yes iTap works great on the iPad but there is no solution for the MAC.

Currently I do one of two things.

1. I set up vpn and have them connect using rdp. (This cumbersome and most of the time they forget to connect to the VPN first and then I hear that it doesn't work when
what it really is is user error.)

2. I set up logmein and let them connect with it. (The resolution and response time is poor in comparison to rdp)

I would much prefer to have a MAC RDP client which supports RD Gateway settings.

I am even willing to offer to my clients a paid version as well but as of yet I haven't found one, plus I believe as others do that Microsoft or Apple should develop a rdp client for the MAC which supports all the same features as the Windows version.

David

You mean this doesn't work?
http://itap-mobile.com/desktop/rdp

.

Hello,

I am interestedin a programfor Android andIOS, whichcan connect toTSWebAccess.In thisforum Ireadcomments onthe ITAP.Can anyonesayif it worksfor whatI am searching.If anyone knowssome other program, do youcan comment?.

Thanksand regards.

I have tried the trial version of i-Tap on a Mac Book and I have NOT been able to get it work with Remote Desktop Gateway.

I have tried a few times to contact their support on a number a of occasions over the last few weeks, but they have not responded to me with anything of use.

I have asked directly if the i-Tap app will support this type of connection and I have not had a single response to this question.

This kinda says to me that it does not support it.

Can any confirm or deny if this i-Tap app does actually support this type of connection or not.

I want to connect to a Remote Desktop on a Windows 7 PC connected to a Small Business Server 2011 Domain which I am accessing via Remote Web Access then using the Remote Desktop Gateway from a Mac Book.

I have tried the trial version of i-Tap on a Mac Book and I have NOT been able to get it work with Remote Desktop Gateway.

I have tried a few times to contact their support on a number a of occasions over the last few weeks, but they have not responded to me with anything of use.

I have asked directly if the i-Tap app will support this type of connection and I have not had a single response to this question.

This kinda says to me that it does not support it.

Can any confirm or deny if this i-Tap app does actually support this type of connection or not.

I want to connect to a Remote Desktop on a Windows 7 PC connected to a Small Business Server 2011 Domain which I am accessing via Remote Web Access then using the Remote Desktop Gateway from a Mac Book.

Have you tested this with a WIndows 7 client from the outside?

I've never tried to connect to a Windows 7 behind an SBS whether using WIndows 7 or a MAC. I usually instruct my SBS customers to connect using the Remote Web Services using IE, then select their machine in the list.

If that doesn't work, you can also opt to port translate to the Win7 machine but using a different RDP port# (change it on the client), but that would break SBS's control on it.

The SBS and RDP system all works fine from a Windows client using either IE or Firefox.

On a Mac I can connect using Firefox or Safari to the Remote Web Access (RWA) page and use the remote folders fine.

I have successfully used the MS RDP client for Mac to connect to a Windows 7 PC via a VPN which hence has direct access to the remote PC network, but I am trying to get a Mac to work using RDP via the RWA/Remote Desktop Gateway.

So I am seeking to see if anyone actually has had any practical knowledge of whether the i-Tap app can actually work with Remote Desktop Gateway or not.

I was hoping maybe some out here has also tried this and could shed some light on the matter.

From my testing of i-Tap, it does not work with RWA/Remote Desktop Gateway.

If I have to use a VPN, then the FREE MS RDP Client does the job fine and I would not need to use i-Tap.

Maybe I should post this on an Apple site as it looks like I am now going to sell 3 new Windows 7 Laptops to replace the "incompatible" Apples ones.

Good for me, but not so much for the end user.

It's been several months since I've tested with the OS X version of iTap, but at the time I was able to use it to connect to my Windows servers via our Server 2008 R2 Remove Desktop Gateway.  This type of connection directly replaced the VPN + RDP that I was using before.  We do not use Remote Web Access, so I can't speak to whether that's causing problems or not.

I use the iTap app on my iPod Touch fairly regularly, and it connects to our servers using the Remote Desktop Gateway just fine.

  - Thayer

Thanks Thayer.

It sounds like you have this going then.

I don't know how to initiate a connection to the Remote Desktop Gateway unless I connect via the links listing the RDP cleints in the RWA web pages.

Are you able to maybe provide me with any references that would show me how this is done for i-Tap?

I've tried the i-tap for Android platform, using gateway connection and it worked correctly.The gateway server is a Windows2008 Server and Windows 7 target computer.

• Edited by almolina Thursday, March 29, 2012 6:34 AM

Not much more outside of the iTap documentation, really.  I just tested the connection again and confirmed that it works from my Mac.  All I did was configure a gateway server in the Preferences section of iTap (note that it didn't quite connect correctly unless I saved my gateway credentials in the server settings) and then configured a new server bookmark that was set to use that gateway.

Again, we don't use RWA and I'm not familiar with it, so I don't know how well it does or doesn't interact with the iTap application.

  - Thayer

iTap on a Mac, iDevice, or Android?  We've tested them all and they all work very well.  Our use case for iTap is needing to use an RDS Gateway (SSL 443) to get to our RDSH servers.  Is that what you are trying to do?  Are you able to use RDS on a Windows machine through your RDS Gateway?  If so, the setup is pretty much the same.  Put in your RDS Gateway host name, your credentials, etc. and connect.  If you have any other questions, let me know.

iTap support just sent me this:

Thank you for using iTap mobile RDP!

Unfortunately iTap mobile RDP is not yet compatible with rdp-files generated by RDWeb servers. You would need to install the RD Gateway role on the SBS2011 and configure the connection in iTap mobile RDP manually.

I have tried to configure this manually, but still not having any success with it connecting.

Would anyone maybe be able to point me to any reference to explain all the correct paramters to configure to connect to a RD Gateweay for iTap?

You may not be able to configure the SBS for this role, due to it being SBS. You will be better off posting this to the SBS forum:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/smallbusinessserver/threads

Sorry for my ignorance, but I am able to connect to SBS with RD Gateway using Remote Desktop Client from a Windows PC.

I am just looking for a program on a Mac that supports this type of connection and thought the iTap application may do it.

The last response I got from itap suggested the issue was with the the RDP file that I use to attempt the connection with as it was not compatible with them.

So I thought this meant that I just needed to configure the iTap client correctly, but I have not been able to figure out how.

What settings for the VPN did you use in the Mac to get it connected to the SBS server?

Thanks,

Jump Remote Desktop supports TS Gateways. http://jumpdesktop.com  That is what I use. (I don't work for them.  I just own the product).

• Edited by TSPi Microcloud Sunday, July 07, 2013 12:31 AM Added disclaimer

I've been testing I-Tap mobile RDP on Mac OSX 10.8.4 and like every other users that has tested it, we have the same conclusion;

1. Gateways work fine.
2. Performance via RemoteFX is noticeably faster than the MS client.
3. Multi-Screen is a great bonus.

BUT.

On Systems that use 10.7 or above, it constantly get IO Error and client closes connection many times an hour, so cannot recommend it.
Search for I-Tap and IO Error and you see what I mean.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1250317

I have submitted an email to their support, but as the thread above is very old, I'm not holding my breath and either should you

It looks like iTap isn't going to be an option going forward (see the notice at http://itap-mobile.com/itap-rdp), but on the plus side, Microsoft may *finally* be updating their OS X client in a useful manner:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57606499-75/microsoft-to-increase-its-reach-with-remote-desktop-apps/

Fingers crossed!

  - Thayer

It looks like iTap isn't going to be an option going forward (see the notice at http://itap-mobile.com/itap-rdp), but on the plus side, Microsoft may *finally* be updating their OS X client in a useful manner:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57606499-75/microsoft-to-increase-its-reach-with-remote-desktop-apps/

Fingers crossed!

  - Thayer

I also look forward to this.

Currently I have to advise my customers who use Mac to buy a normal laptop when I need to support them connecting to RDP on a Small Busniess server via RWA.

Anyone know anymore info of this new RDP, like timeframes for its release?

The cnet article says that they're supposed to be released alongside Server 2012 R2, which is coming up soon (October 18th, I believe).  We'll see if that actually happens.

  - Thayer

The new client is now available, for free, on the Mac app store (I can't post links, but searching for "Microsoft Remote Desktop" brings up the new client). If you've used the iTap mobile client on the Mac, you'll feel right at home. The interface is essentially the same with the color icons replaced by dark gray on light gray.

I've verified that, like iTap, it works through remote desktop gateway. There are reportedly also iOS and Android clients available on their respective stores.

• Proposed as answer by Frank Steele Thursday, October 17, 2013 8:05 PM
• Marked as answer by T. York Thursday, October 17, 2013 9:01 PM

Thanks for the heads up!  I've downloaded the OS X version and iOS version, and both seem to work well through our RD Gateway.  iTap's iOS interface was better, but it's hard to beat free!

  - Thayer

Hi. I have had virtually no luck in getting Mac to connect to RDP on a Remote Access Gateway on Microsoft SBS 2011.

I was having high hopes for this new RDP app, but I just get simular error to past apps I have tried:

"Host not found (authoriative)"

This happens when I click on a connect button in the browser after logging into Remote Web Access (RWA) and have it automatically open RDP. But this does seem to pick up the RWA gateway settings.

So I enter them in manually and then get this error:

"RPC Error: Your connection was denied because of a Resource Access Policy (TS_RAP). Please contact your server administrator.(2147965402)"

If I use a Windows PC I can login fine using the same user accounts, so the issue is only when I use a Mac.

If anyone could suggest something that would be appreciated.

• Edited by Mr Cheese Wednesday, October 23, 2013 11:36 PM

I know for sure it works with an iPad.  You put in the url for the Server in the rdgateway section?

Also be aware that you now need RDS cals when you do tis.

Try looking at your DNS.

If you hostname to the internal RDS server, is public resolved i have seen cases where it tries to connect via RDP to that ip. In this case it was the RDgateway server.

Hi. I have had virtually no luck in getting Mac to connect to RDP on a Remote Access Gateway on Microsoft SBS 2011.

I was having high hopes for this new RDP app, but I just get simular error to past apps I have tried:

"Host not found (authoriative)"

This happens when I click on a connect button in the browser after logging into Remote Web Access (RWA) and have it automatically open RDP. But this does seem to pick up the RWA gateway settings.

So I enter them in manually and then get this error:

"RPC Error: Your connection was denied because of a Resource Access Policy (TS_RAP). Please contact your server administrator.(2147965402)"

If I use a Windows PC I can login fine using the same user accounts, so the issue is only when I use a Mac.

If anyone could suggest something that would be appreciated.

In the first bold highlighted in your post, anytime I see a 'host not found,' is a resolution issue. I assume the iPad is only set to use the internal DNS, assuming internally, to connect to it, so the internal DNS will resolve it. If you have mixed internal and external DNS on an internal machine, unexpected results will occur. Therefore, I assume the iPad has the same DNS addresses set as the Windows machine. If the iPad is not connected to an internal wireless, then it's set to use its wireless provider's DNS, then that will follow the rules to connect from the WAN (external) IP.

As for the second error, that usually indicates a security mis-mtach. If the settings on the RDP are set to use NTLM v2 for example (going by memory), and the RDS is not set to allow backward level authentication, then that may stop connectivity. Check the iPad's iTap connection properties for authentication settings.

If not using iTap, the default RDP connection on any Mac is not designed to support RDS gateways.

• Edited by AndrewUL Thursday, January 09, 2014 9:00 PM

Which got bought out by Microsoft and thus look for the MS RDP app.

So this is still a viable answer, just rebranded.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Microsoft+Remote+Desktop+app&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=&oe=

Good day!

Could you please help me? How to deploy connection (Mac OS X Yosemite to Windows RDS) through the RD Gateway with Two Factor authentication on Session host? How to open an authentication dialog that is the same as in Windows when logging on to network resources in Windows (Windows Security)?
Our test environment: We have one RDS 2012 R2 server (all roles in one) and one session host in collection. On the session host installed Safenet Network Logon and it under GPO which disable all authentication, only OTP.