Remote Access Connecting to your computer from home IT Desktop Support Client and Research Services October 2009
2 Contents Overview 3 Windows 4 Setup 4 Remote Desktop 4 From work 4 From home 4 Installing Remote Desktop 5 Mac 6 Setup 6 Before You Start 6 GPTS 6 Configuring remote desktop 6 Accessing your work files 6 Sharing Files from Home 7 Mounting your home computer 7 Installing Remote Desktop 8
3 Overview Connecting to your work computer from home can be of great value to any department. IT Desktop Support is pleased to offer PC and Mac users remote access from home. Note: Mac users must access work files using a general-purpose terminal server (GPTS) as well as use network-based home directories, covered in greater detail later in this document. Platform-specific access methods PC Mac Remotely connect to a computer at SFU from your home computer Remotely connect to GPTS and access M: drive for files
4 Windows Setup Remote Desktop If you would like to access your Windows computer from home please complete the following steps. From work 1. In a web browser on your work computer, navigate to www.sfu.ca/itds. 2. Click Setup Remote Desktop from the sidebar 3. Ensure Current is checked 4. Type your email in the field provided 5. Select the type of computer you have at home (Windows or Mac) 6. Click Create Keep in mind: you must complete the previous steps while on the computer you want to access remotely (e.g. your office computer). From home 1. Download the attachment sent by the form using the SFU Connect web-client. 2. Double-click the icon to start your remote desktop session 3. Type your username (prefixed by ADSFU\ ) and your password.
5 If you are having trouble opening the attachment at home, ensure you have remote desktop installed (see the Installing Remote Desktop section in this document). Installing Remote Desktop If you are using Windows XP and are unable to open remote desktop files by double-clicking them, you need to install remote desktop. Use the following link to download the installer. Windows XP - RDP 6.0 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=26f11 F0C-0D18-4306-ABCF-D4F18C8F5DF9&displaylang=en
6 Mac Setup Before You Start Ensure your computer is configured with AD and network home directories. If you are unsure, ask your support technician. GPTS Because Mac computers do not support RDP (remote desktop protocol), Mac users are unable to access their work computers directly this way. However, you are able to access your work files from home using SFU s general-purpose terminal server (GPTS). Configuring remote desktop 1. In a web browser, navigate to www.sfu.ca/itds 2. Click Setup remote desktop from the sidebar 3. Select GPTS 4. Type your email in the field provided 5. Select the type of computer you have at home (Windows or Mac). 6. Click Create 7. At home, download the attachment sent by the form using SFU Connect web-client. 8. Double-click the icon to start your remote desktop session Accessing your work files 1. Click Start in the bottom left of the screen 2. Click My Computer from the start menu 3. Click on the M: drive to see all your files
7 Note: The M: drive will also be named according to your SFU account name. Sharing Files from Home If you need to share files from your work computer to your home computer and vise versa, you can mount your home computer s drive directly to GPTS. Mounting your home computer 1. Double-click your GPTS remote session file generated earlier (see GPTS > Configuring remote desktop ). 2. After connecting, select RDC > Preferences from the top menu. 3. Click the Drives tab 4. Select Home Folder from the dropdown menu 5. Select File > Save from the top menu 6. Disconnect and quit RDC 7. Double-click your GPTS remote session file again and connect remotely to GPTS. 8. In GPTS, click the Start from the bottom left 9. Select My Computer
8 10. You should see your home folder mounted as a drive 11. Drag and drop files as required Note: If you must copy work-related documents and files to your home computer, ensure you copy them back to GPTS and delete them from your home computer when finished working. Installing Remote Desktop Unless you have installed Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) or Microsoft Office before, you will need to visit the follow website to download the RDC client for OS X. http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=mactopia_r DC&fid=CD9EC77E-5B07-4332-849F-046611458871#viewer Scroll to the bottom and select the English installer. After running the installer (will require admin privileges).rdp or.rdc files will open properly. You can find Remote Desktop Connection in the Applications directory.