One of my favorite tools – Remote Desktop Manager by Devolutions
One of the tools I’ve been using for many years now is called Remote Desktop Manager by Devolutions. Based on the name, you’d think it’s just another RDP tool, but it’s much MUCH more!
There are 2 versions of the product. There is a FREE version, which gives you limited functionality, and an ENTERPRISE version for full functionality. There is also a RDM Server as well, but I have no experience with that. The free version lets you setup RDP connections, as well as Microsoft Assistance, Apple Remote Desktop, Citrix ICA/Web, Web URLs, TeamViewer, PCAnywhere, RAdmin, Dameware Mini Remote Control, etc. Where the enterprise version stands above is features like the Credentials Repository, being able to import from other tools/sources/csv and lots more. You can view the full feature comparison here: http://remotedesktopmanager.com/Home/FeaturesGrid
Some of the features that I use on a regular basis are:
- “Keep tab on disconnect”
- This enables the tab to stay open when you reboot the machine you’re working on, allowing you to quickly reconnect.
- Continuous Ping
- This does a ping –t to the machine. Also handy when working on a remote machine when rebooting multiple times to know when it’s back online.
- Integrated Password Generator
- This is great when creating/changing service account passwords. I just have to open the tool, select the password length, if you want Uppercase, Lowercase, Digits, Underscore, Brackets, Special Characters, Spaces, etc. When you click generate you get multiple passwords to choose from, you can copy one or more of them to the clipboard to paste into the password change field or into your password management tool.
- One thing to watch out for that I ran into was passwords which include QUOTATION MARKS! We had a tool have an issue with the password and once we changed the quote character it worked again.
- One thing to watch out for that I ran into was passwords which include QUOTATION MARKS! We had a tool have an issue with the password and once we changed the quote character it worked again.
- This is great when creating/changing service account passwords. I just have to open the tool, select the password length, if you want Uppercase, Lowercase, Digits, Underscore, Brackets, Special Characters, Spaces, etc. When you click generate you get multiple passwords to choose from, you can copy one or more of them to the clipboard to paste into the password change field or into your password management tool.
- Credential Manager
- I love being able to list each of my DOMAIN\username accounts in one place with their passwords and then assign them to each RDP entry, URL, SSH session, etc.
- Open (with Parameters)
- This opens the credential manager before connecting and is handy if you want to connect using alternate credentials other than the one already setup.
If you use this tool, please leave a comment and let me know YOUR favorite feature(s)!
Go checkout the tool today! http://vexpert.me/Pm
Thanks,
Ben Liebowitz, VCP, vExpert
NJ VMUG Leader
I very much agree with you, they are all very good features.
For me, the main RDM force is with its Enterprise version, suing a shared DB with my employees. Thus, they have access to the latest passwords and the last entries.
Once I switched from the free version to Enterprise, I couldn’t turn back.
You’re lucky to use the Devolutions server… I’m the only one on my team that uses it so no server for me.
Do you belong to Devolutions Force?
#1 Fan
Me too! Been a big Devolutions Fan for many years! Find me on twitter, @ben_liebowitz. 🙂