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Understanding Session Configuration Settings
Understanding Session Configuration Settings
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Written by Fegeins Louis
Updated over 4 months ago

Overview

itopia CAS allows you to configure many settings for your user session experience in each Collection Pool. Depending on the setting and the Collection Pool type (RDS or Windows 10), these settings are applied in one of several ways.

Session Configuration Options

CAS allows administrators to customize the Remote Desktop experience in two ways: by specifying server-side settings such as allowing clipboard redirection, and by specifying client-side settings which set default behavior within the RDP file users download from the Cloud VDI Portal (portal.cloudvdi.net) or the RD Web Portal (URL is unique to each deployment and can be found on the CAS Dashboard screen).

Server-side settings are enforced across the Collection Pool and cannot be changed by the end-user; for example, if "Show Client Printers in Cloud Desktop" is disabled in the Collection Pool, users cannot override this setting and will be unable to access their local printers from Cloud Desktop. Client-side settings, referred to as RDP Parameters within the CAS Admin Console, specify default settings that can be customized from within the user's Remote Desktop client; for example, if the "Display Resolution" parameter is defined in the CAS Admin Console, users are permitted to change this value to a different resolution from within their Remote Desktop client software.

Server-Side Settings

The following server-side settings are available from within the CAS Admin Console:

  • Clipboard (copy/paste) between Cloud Desktop and client - When enabled, users can copy text and images (using the right-click menu or CTRL+C / CTRL+V) to and from their Cloud Desktop

  • Show client drives and allow file redirection in Cloud Desktop - When enabled, users can access their local drives (C:\, etc.) from within their Cloud Desktop. This setting also enables file copy/paste (using the right-click menu or CTRL+C / CTRL+V) if the Clipboard setting is enabled.

  • Show client printers in Cloud Desktop - When enabled, users can print from their Cloud Desktop to any printer configured on their local device

  • Show client timezone in Cloud Desktop - When enabled, the timezone from the user's local device will be used in their Cloud Desktop. If disabled, the Cloud Desktop will show the timezone configured for the Session Host server (GMT / UTC+0 by default)

    • Additional device redirection settings:

  • Allow Plug And Play device redirection - When enabled, most PnP-compatible devices connected to the user's local device can be accessed from within their Cloud Desktop. Enabling this setting also configures a client-side setting (RDP file entry) to perform PnP device redirection by default. This setting is not compatible with all operating systems or Remote Desktop clients

  • Allow Smart Card redirection - When enabled, most compliant Smart Card devices connected to the user's local device can be accessed from within the Cloud Desktop. Enabling this setting also configures a client-side setting (RDP file entry) to perform Smart Card redirection by default. This setting is not compatible with all operating systems or Remote Desktop clients

      • Allow COM port redirection - When enabled, COM (serial) port devices connected to the user's local device can be accessed from within the Cloud Desktop. Enabling this setting also configures a client-side setting (RDP file entry) to perform COM port redirection by default. This setting is not compatible with all operating systems or Remote Desktop clients

  • Allow LPT port redirection - When enabled, LPT (parallel) port devices connected to the user's local device can be accessed from within the Cloud Desktop. Enabling this setting also configures a client-side setting (RDP file entry) to perform LPT port redirection by default. This setting is not compatible with all operating systems or Remote Desktop clients

  • Enable Task Manager in Cloud Desktop - When enabled, users can launch the Task Manager utility in their Cloud Desktop to view running processes and resource usage

  • Enable Command Shells in Cloud Desktop - When enabled, users can launch command shells (including the Command Prompt and PowerShell) in their Cloud Desktop. This setting does not grant elevated privileges; users will be unable to execute commands that require Administrator permissions unless they are configured with elevated permissions

    • Session timeouts:

  • Disconnect idle sessions after - The user's Cloud Desktop session is disconnected after the specified number of minutes if no activity (mouse/keyboard input) is detected. The session is preserved and all open applications remain available. If the user reconnects to the Collection Pool, their session will resume.

  • Log off disconnected sessions after - The user's Cloud Desktop session is terminated after the specified number of minutes if no activity (mouse/keyboard input) is detected. The user is logged off and all open applications are closed. If the user reconnects to the Collection Pool, a new session is created.

NOTE: In Windows 10 Collection Pools, session timeouts are handled via GPO; therefore, only a limited number of intervals are available, and the values of the timeouts are linked.

Client-Side Settings

The following settings are available to specify as defaults in the RDP file downloaded from the Cloud VDI Portal and the RD Web Portal:

  • Maximize RDP Session (Start in fullscreen) - Whether the user's Cloud Desktop session displays in fullscreen on their local monitor(s)

  • Fullscreen RDP session uses all local monitors - Whether a fullscreen Cloud Desktop session displays across all available local monitors, up to 16

  • Display Bit Depth - The color bit depth for remote displays. Higher values provide greater image quality but require more bandwidth

  • Display Resolution (if fullscreen is disabled) - The screen resolution for the Cloud Desktop session when running in windowed (non-fullscreen) mode

  • Optimize Connection for - the Remote Desktop Protocol supports several predefined tiers of bandwidth optimization. Higher bandwidth selections provide a richer visual experience. In most situations, Auto-detect provides the best results.

  • Send Windows shortcuts (e.g. Win+S) to Cloud Desktop - Whether shortcut keypresses (such as Win+R to open the Run prompt) are processed by the local machine or the Cloud Desktop session

    • Audio Playback Redirection (play audio on local client) - Whether audio played on the Cloud Desktop session is sent to the user's local device.

  • Audio Capture Redirection (use microphone in Cloud Desktop) - Whether audio input devices (such as microphones) on the user's local device can be accessed by applications in the Cloud Desktop session

Session Configuration Process

For RDS-based Collection Pools, CAS will configure most Session Configuration settings on the deployment's RD Connection Brokers using native RDS parameters. This process requires that:

  • All Session Host (User Session Servers) in the Collection Pool are powered on and accessible

  • There are no group policy objects (GPOs) that define conflicting settings for any of the Session Configuration options

If the configuration process fails because User Session Servers are powered off, CAS will automatically power them on and retry the configuration. If the configuration process fails because of conflicting GPO settings, a deployment administrator must edit their environment's GPOs to remove the conflicting settings.

NOTE: The use of custom GPOs to enforce session parameters is supported by itopia; however, using GPOs will prevent the use of the CAS Admin Console to configure the settings. Additionally, when using GPOs to enforce the settings, some client-side settings are not detected by the Cloud VDI Portal, RD Web Portal, or the RD Web Client. Therefore, itopia recommends the use of the CAS Admin Console to provide the most consistent user experience.

For Windows 10-based Collection Pools, CAS uses group policy objects (GPOs) to configure all server-side settings. CAS provides two settings that are not native RDS parameters, Enable Task Manager access in Cloud Desktop and Enable Command Shells in Cloud Desktop. For these settings, CAS uses group policy objects that are linked to the Collection Pool's organizational unit (OU) to control the behavior.

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