All Answers
WHS/WSE RemoteApp does not control the server’s built-in Remote Web Access (RWA) website (as the Essentials operating system itself does that). Therefore, we do not provide a way for you to enable Two Factor Authentication (2FA) directly on the RWA website itself (as doing so would most likely take a custom built add-in that takes over, or hooks into, the built-in RWA website’s main sign in page).
However, that being said… If you’ve enabled 2FA on WHS/WSE RemoteApp, then it will indeed be used whenever your users start a WHS/WSE RemoteApp connection from the server’s built-in RWA website (i.e. from the WHS/WSE RemoteApp gadget located on the website’s home page, etc.).
As far as I’m aware, there isn’t any way to enable 2FA directly on the built-in RWA website’s main sign in page.
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
Yes they will… Once the trial expires, the product removes user access to the Work Folders and so your clients will no longer be able to gain access to the work files stored within their Work Folders (until such time as the product is registered and user access to the Work Folders is once again restored).
Further, when the product is uninstalled (via the “APPLICATIONS” page in the server Dashboard), it will reverse everything and put the server back to the exact state it was in before the product was installed (i.e. the Work Folders functionality will be completely removed from the server). Of course, any user data stored within the file storage location will be left 100% intact over on the server just as you’d expect it to be (but the clients will simply not have access to it).
- Mike answered 8 years ago
That’s a very clear and comprehensive answer Mike – thanks!
- David answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
If you are using Windows Server 2012 R2 or greater (i.e. WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2 or greater) and a client PC that is running Windows 8.1 or greater (or Windows 7 with the Remote Desktop Protocol 8.1 Update for Windows 7 SP1 installed), then the RemoteApp programs will automatically scale to the proper size for you. For all of the details see:
Resolution and Scaling Level Updates in RDP 8.1
Specifically:
Scenario 5: RemoteApp programs on high DPI devices
On a system with a higher scaling factor, RemoteApp programs running side by side with a local application will now appear to be the same size and be just as easy to read. No more RemoteApp programs appearing smaller than local applications and being harder to read.
I run WSE RemoteApp 2016 and WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2 from a Microsoft Surface Studio (large 28″ screen with high 4500 x 3000 resolution, and 200% scaling) that is running Windows 10, and all of the RemoteApp programs scale just fine on it.
Other than that, if you’re having DPI scaling issues with only a specific RemoteApp program, then you can try using the “Disable DPI awareness” setting on it as follows:
1. Open the server Dashboard and go to the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page.
2. Click on the “RemoteApp Programs” subtab.
3. Double-click on the published RemoteApp program that you’re having an issue with, and check the “Disable DPI awareness” checkbox on the first panel of the RemoteApp Properties wizard that appears.
4. Complete the wizard to save your changes.
5. Sign out (not just disconnect) and then sign back in to your WSE RemoteApp sessions to reflect the changes.
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
I always highly recommend that folks use a free Microsoft personalized domain name (e.g. YourDomainPrefix.remotewebaccess.com or YourDomainPrefix.homeserver.com) with their Essentials server seeing as the domain name, the DNS dynamic update service, and the trusted SSL certificate are all automatically set up and managed for you by the server completely free of any charge or hassle. See the following links for further details:
Configuring and Customizing Remote Web Access on Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials
Understand Microsoft personalized domain names
However, if you would rather manually set up your own custom / vanity domain name (e.g. YourDomainPrefix.YourCustomDomain.com), then see the following link for step-by-step instructions:
How To Manually Set Up A Custom / Vanity Domain Name In Essentials
For more/general information on setting up secure Remote Web Access on the Essentials server (which is a requirement to use all of our products), see the following link:
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
The total number of RemoteApp programs that are allowed to be published (i.e. 50 in the “Standard Edition” case that you’ve mentioned) is shared across all of your users. Typically, a single published RemoteApp program is assigned to multiple users, and so it only counts as a single RemoteApp program. For example, if you publish Notepad as a RemoteApp program, it only counts as a single published RemoteApp program even if all 10 of your users have access to it (i.e. you’d still have 49 more RemoteApp programs that you could publish for your 10 users). That being said, if all 10 of your users were using unique RemoteApp programs, then yes, each would only be able to have a maximum of 5 published RemoteApp programs in the “Standard Edition” (I’d say that would be a very rare case though).
- Mike answered 8 years ago
When you say that the add-in won’t install, what exactly happens when you try to install it? Are you getting any error messages or other types of notifications, alerts, etc?
BTW, if the Essentials server is alerting you that the add-in is already installed (when it’s not), then please try the following:
1) Start a standard Remote Desktop connection to your server and sign in as an administrator.
2) Once you are at the administrator’s desktop, open the following folder:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Server\Data\addins
NOTE: The ProgramData folder is a hidden system folder, and so you’ll need to enable the viewing of hidden files and folders in order for you to be able to see its contents. That can be done using the “Folder Options” Control Panel applet (via its “View” tab). If you need the exact steps on how to do that, just let me know.
3) In the “packages” subfolder, delete the file named “009ef2c9-1a5c-4564-8156-92b85d9d7705.wssx” (if it exists).
4) In the “msi” subfolder, delete the entire subfolder named “009ef2c9-1a5c-4564-8156-92b85d9d7705” (if it exists).
5) Open the following folder on your server:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Server\Data\settingsproviderdata\WEBSERVICESPLATFORM\ADDINS
6) Look through all of the .xml files that are in that folder until you find the one that corresponds to WSE RemoteApp (just double click on the .xml file to open it in the web browser, or you can open it in Notepad, WordPad, etc. and then search its text contents for “WSE RemoteApp” to know that you’ve located the correct .xml file). Once you’ve located the correct .xml file, go ahead and delete it from your server (note that you can also delete its corresponding .bak file as well).
NOTE: This file contains installation information, etc. about the WSE RemoteApp add-in on the server (such as its version number, etc.). It will be automatically recreated the next time you perform an installation of the add-in.
7) Try running the latest version of the “WSERemoteApp2012R2.wssx” (or “WSERemoteApp2012R2.exe“) installer file (directly from the administrator’s server desktop, or from any of your connected client PCs that have the Windows Server Essentials Connector software installed).
Does that get the add-in installed/updated for you?
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
I try to install another Addin Like “LightsOut” and that work greate.
- mwende answered 8 years ago
I’m afraid that I’ve never come across such an issue when (re)installing/updating WSE RemoteApp before.
WSE RemoteApp installs a system service onto your Essentials server named “WSE RemoteApp Provider Service” (WSERAProviderService), and based upon the error log that you’ve provided, it appears that the installer does not have sufficient privileges to start the service once it has installed it on the server.
Have you locked down your Essentials server (or more specifically the TrustedInstaller user account) in such a way that it cannot start services that logon as the Local System account? If so, then you’ll need to undo that in order to allow WSE RemoteApp’s installer permission to start the “WSERAProviderService” service under the Local System account.
Other than that, are you running WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2’s installer (i.e. WSERemoteApp2012R2.wssx or WSERemoteApp2012R2.exe) from one of your connected client PCs, or are you running it directly from the Essentials server itself? If you’re running it from a connected client PC, then try performing a standard Remote Desktop connection to your Essentials server, signing in as a local administrator (not a domain admin), and then executing the installer directly from the local administrator’s server desktop instead.
Lastly, have you tried completely uninstalling any existing WSE RemoteApp installation and installing the add-in from scratch again?
To uninstall any existing WSE RemoteApp installation:
Open the server Dashboard, go to the “APPLICATIONS” page, select (i.e. highlight) “WSE RemoteApp” in the list of installed add-ins, and then click on the “Remove the add-in” task and follow the prompts.
NOTE: If the “WSE RemoteApp” add-in isn’t listed in the list of installed add-ins, then you’ll need to do the following in order to uninstall it:
1) From a local administrator’s server desktop, open the Registry Editor (i.e. right-click on Start -> Run -> regedit.exe), and go to the following registry key branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
2) Look through the subkeys of that branch until you find the one that’s for WSE RemoteApp (i.e. the one that has a “DisplayName” value of “WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2”), and then double-click on its “NoRemove” entry and change it from a 1 to a 0.
3) Open the “Programs and Features” Control Panel applet (i.e. right-click on Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features), locate the “WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2 Windows Server Solutions Add-in” program in the list of installed programs, and then go ahead and uninstall it from there instead.
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
It appears that WSE RemoteApp’s client-side connector is not able to communicate with the server via its “WSE RemoteApp Provider Service” that is installed over on the server.
Have you tried following all of the various suggestions provided to you in the error message that’s shown in your attached screenshot?
Is this the only client PC that is having the connection issue, or are all of your client PCs unable to connect to WSE RemoteApp?
On this particular client PC, are you able to open the server’s Launchpad application, sign in, and successfully connect to the Dashboard from there? If not, then the client PC most likely isn’t properly connected up to the server and you should open a web browser and go to the server’s connect page (http://SERVER/connect) in order to reconnect the client PC to your Essentials server.
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
Sorry for missing this one until just now…
WSE WorkFolders utilizes the server’s underlying Anywhere Access / Remote Web Access functionality in order to provide access to Work Folders from your Essentials server. As such, the server’s Anywhere Access / Remote Web Access feature must be turned on, and a domain name must be properly set up and configured with a trusted SSL certificate in order for it to work. For further details please see:
Successful Connections Require Secure Remote Web Access Setup!
Other than that, the domain name/SSL cert set up checks in WSE WorkFolders are exactly the same as those in WSE RemoteApp. Are you able to enable the RADC web feed feature in your WSE RemoteApp installation and successfully connect to it as discussed here:
Connecting From Mac / iOS / Android / Windows PC/Mobile Computers and Devices
Lastly, can you post a screenshot of the SSL cert error message that you’re seeing in WSE WorkFolders?
- Mike answered 8 years ago
Hallo Mike,
I think the problem ist that the service is not correctly created.
Look t the screenshot.
- mwende answered 8 years ago
Hello Mike,
have upload the Log files to an Storage…
Here you can see the logs:
- mwende answered 8 years ago
Thanks for the log files. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on there, but there’s something definitely wrong with the WSE RemoteApp Provider Service install on your server. As I mentioned previously, I’ve never seen this happen before, and to date, no one else is reporting a similar issue that I am aware of (and the way that the service is being installed/updated hasn’t changed in the slightest since the add-in was very first released years ago now).
What version of WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2 do you currently have installed on your server? And what version are you attempting to upgrade to (the current release of WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2, as of this writing, is Version 1.255.1512.0)?
Have you tried completely uninstalling the add-in from your Essentials server, and then re-installing it again as I suggest previously? If so, do you run into the exact same issue? Also, when you completely uninstall it, please check to see that the WSE RemoteApp Provider Service was successfully removed from your Essentials server before you actually attempt to re-install the latest version of WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2. If it hasn’t been properly removed, then let me know and I’ll provide you with a set of manual uninstall instructions for the add-in so that you can make sure that it has been completely removed from your server before you attempt to re-install it again from scratch.
- Mike answered 8 years ago
The Service are stopped on 11.04.2018, then I try to install the newer Version of the WSE Remote app from 26.04.2018 with the Reason that adding can’t installed. After that I uninstall the older once and since there I try to install from scratch.
The newest one don’t work also.
I wonder, when I open the services.msc I see the WSE RemoteApp provider Service without any Settings …but I don’t see the WSERAProviderService in the registry.
All Updates from Microsoft are installed.. I don’t know what happened with this Server…this one works very good for the lat three Years with the adding..
- mwende answered 8 years ago
Not sure that I’m quite following you on this one… WSE RemoteApp is a Windows Server Essentials add-in that allows your users to run programs that have been installed directly on the Essentials server remotely from any of their computers or devices. So… If you install the application directly on the Essentials server, then your users can indeed use WSE RemoteApp to run that server-installed application from their local computer (as a “RemoteApp“).
Other than that, if you’re saying that you want your users to be able to run the application from the server’s desktop on their local computer, then yes, WSE RemoteApp can do that as well. It has a feature called “Publish server desktop” (which is located on the “RemoteApp Programs” subtab of the main “WSE REMOTEAPP” page within the server Dashboard) that allows you to publish the server desktop as a RemoteApp program for any of your users. Once the server desktop has been published as a RemoteApp program, the users can then simply start a WSE RemoteApp session, and then run their server desktop from the main WSE RemoteApp Launcher window. Once the user’s server desktop is open, they can then launch the application directly from there (instead of running it as a “RemoteApp“).
NOTE: WSE RemoteApp includes a feature called “Shell Locker” that, by default, blocks standard users from being able to access their full server desktop (seeing as most administrators don’t want their users to be able to remotely connect to the server’s full desktop for security reasons). The “Publish server desktop” feature allows select users to be able to bypass the “Shell Locker” feature and access their full server desktop (as a “nested session” from within a normal WSE RemoteApp session).
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
The initial set up for WSE RemoteApp is very easy. You simply install the add-in on your server, open the server Dashboard, go to the new “WSE REMOTEAPP” page, click on the “RemoteApp Programs” subtab, use the “Publish RemoteApp programs” task to publish any program that is installed directly on your Essentials server (which would be QuickBooks in your case), and then go to the “Users” subtab, and allow access for the users that you want to be able to use the published RemoteApp program. For a complete step-by-step walk through go here.
That will get your allowed users going with local access to their published RemoteApp programs. If you want your allowed users to also be able to access their published RemoteApp programs remotely (i.e. from the server’s built-in Remote Web Access website, or from the add-in’s RADC web feed feature using any of the Microsoft Remote Desktop client apps, or the new Remote Desktop web client), then you’ll need to turn on the Anywhere Access / Remote Web Access feature of your Essentials server.
That being said… If you use a Microsoft personalized domain name for your Essentials server’s Remote Web Access feature (which I highly recommend), then it is very easy to set up, and doesn’t require the lengthy set up process that’s required when using a custom / vanity domain name.
As for performance… It should be exactly the same as RDS (without load balancing), but that of course depends on the type and number of RemoteApps your users are running, the number of simultaneous connections taking place on the server, and the performance of the server itself (i.e. for bigger work loads it should have fast SSD hard drives, lots of RAM, and a fast modern processor).
WSE RemoteApp is available for a 21-day evaluation period, and so you can always give it a try and see how well it works for you before you commit to purchasing it (although please do note that the RADC web feed and multiple simultaneous connections features are not available while it is running in evaluation mode).
- Mike answered 8 years ago
Alas, I’m afraid that Windows 10 1803 is an absolute mess at the moment (as you’re finding). Personally, I’d roll back to using 1709 (or earlier) if you can. Other than that, you’ll just need to wait it out while Microsoft resolves all of the bugs in it that are affecting RemoteApp programs.
Personally, I’m not experiencing any real slow downs with the RemoteApps per se, but the z-order/window focus issues are completely out of control! Drop-down lists, context menus, etc. don’t display at all when running RemoteApps from a Windows 10 1803 client right now. Again, it’s a real mess!
BTW, I most certainly wouldn’t replace mstsc.exe/mstscax.dll on your client computers with an older (or newer) version (not even as a temporary stop gap measure). I can see nothing but headaches arising from doing that. You’d be much better off just rolling the update back to whatever version of Windows 10 you had previously. You have 10 days to perform a roll-back after installing a newer version of Windows 10. Other than that, just hang tight until Microsoft sends out some Windows Updates that fix the bugs (and keep your fingers crossed that they don’t make things even worse!).
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
WSE RemoteApp’s client-side connector software should get automatically installed onto all of your client computers that have the Windows Server Essentials Connector (i.e. the Launchpad, etc.) installed on them. That’s assuming that you choose the option to do so when you very first installed WSE RemoteApp onto your server (via its installation wizard).
If for some reason the client-side connector is not getting installed on your client computers, then you can do the following in order to force it to get installed:
1. Make sure that your client computers are on your local network and are connected to your Essentials server.
2. Open the server Dashboard and go to the “APPLICATIONS” page.
3. Select (highlight) “WSE RemoteApp” in the list of installed add-ins, click on the “Install the add-in on network computers” task, and follow the prompts.
That should do it.
As for the permissions issue you’ve mentioned… I’m not sure that I’m following you on that one. WSE RemoteApp never changes a user’s access rights from standard to Administrator. And it is highly recommended that you only ever allow your standard users access to WSE RemoteApp (for network security reasons).
Additionally, WSE RemoteApp has a feature called “Shell Locker” that prevents standard users from being able to remotely connect to their full server desktop (as most administrators consider doing so a security risk for their network). Therefore, when a standard user attempts to remotely connect to their full server desktop, WSE RemoteApp’s Shell Locker feature will prompt the user to enter admin credentials before allowing them to continue. You can of course bypass Shell Locker for selected users if desired though (via the “Server Access Settings” task that’s located on the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page of the server Dashboard).
So… If you’d care to elaborate a bit more on the permissions issue you’re having, I’ll be more than happy to try and get you a better answer on that one.
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
What version of WSE RemoteApp 2012 R2 are you currently using (as of this writing, the current release is Version 1.255.1521.0)?
In the newer releases of WHS / WSE RemoteApp, the RADC web feed feature has been completely reworked. As a result, the RADC web feed will no longer work if you had it previously configured in any RADC clients (such as the native Windows “RemoteApp and Desktop Connections” applet that’s located in the Control Panel, or any of the Microsoft Remote Desktop client apps for Android, iOS, Mac, etc.). To correct that, you will need to do the following:
1. Open the server Dashboard and go to the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page.
2. Click on the “Enable RADC Web Feed” task.
3. Click on the “Enable RADC” option and follow the prompts.
NOTE: The connection (feed) URL has changed in the newer releases of WHS / WSE RemoteApp, and so you will need to remove the feed from all of your existing RADC clients and add it back again using the newer URL (which no longer uses “wsera_RDWeb” or “whsra_RDWeb” within the URL, and no longer requires “?Platform=RDC” or “?Platform=MRD” to be tacked on to the end of the URL).
To view the correct connection (feed) URL for your Essentials server, do the following:
1. Open the server Dashboard and go to the “WSE REMOTEAPP” page.
2. Click on the “Enable RADC Web Feed” task.
3. Click on the “RADC connection URL” option.
Other than that, if you’re sure that you’re using the latest version of WHS / WSE RemoteApp, and you’re sure that you’re using the proper URL for your Essentials server, then:
– Have you tried setting up a completely different RADC Connection client (other than the Microsoft Remote Desktop client app for iOS) just to see if the RADC web feed works for you in one of the other RADC clients (such as the native Windows “RemoteApp and Desktop Connections” applet located in the Control Panel, or maybe the Microsoft Remote Desktop client app for Mac, Android, or Windows 10)?
– Have you tried entering just “https://remote.YourDomain.com” as the connection (feed) URL (instead of using the full “https://remote.YourDomain.com/RDWeb/Feed/webfeed.aspx“) just to see what happens? I’ve noticed that the newer Microsoft Remote Desktop client apps are now automatically tacking the trailing “/RDWeb/Feed/webfeed.aspx” portion onto the URL for you; which BTW, was one of the reasons the RADC web feed feature was reworked in the newer releases of WHS / WSE RemoteApp).
– Lastly, please try entering the connection (feed) URL as “https://remote.YourDomain/RDWeb/Pages/webfeed.aspx” instead (note the use of “Pages” instead of “Feed” within the URL). I’ve noticed some strange behavior in the Microsoft Remote Desktop client app for Windows 10 where it couldn’t find the feed until I used “Pages” in the URL. Strangely enough, it then properly found the feed and configured it using “Feed” in the URL instead of the “Pages” value that I actually entered/typed (which is really weird!).
- Mike answered 8 years ago
- last active 8 years ago
