Windows Remote Desktop Server

The GWDG currently operates the following Windows Remote Desktop Servers (Terminal Servers):

• GWD-WinTS1 - Office applications, software with a campus license
• RDS Manage - Administration programs for institute administrators in the Active Directory
• vCenter Access - Access to the VMware vCenter Remote Desktop Server for the administration of VMs.
• GWD-WinTSBio.top.gwdg.de - Compute server for statistical applications (SAS, Statistica, Stata, R-Studio-Desktop, Excel) and bioinformatics. A special registration is required to use the computer. Please contact support@gwdg.de with the subject “Bioinformatics”.

When accessing these pages, you must first log in to the SSO. For Manage RDS and vCenter access, multifactor authentication is mandatory. After successful login, either an overview page of the remote desktop servers that you are allowed to access opens or you are forwarded directly to the login window of a server if you are only allowed to access one remote desktop server.

Enter your user name, password and the domain - in most cases “GWDG”.

The Windows Remote Desktop Server GWD-WinTS1 primarily offers software for which campus licenses exist, e.g. Office 2021 and Citavi. You can also use our GWDG printers from there.

All users with a GWDG user ID can log in to the remote desktop server. Students cannot use the server.

Access is via a web browser at remote.gwdg.de, which requires mandatory two-factor authentication.

The Windows Remote Desktop Server RDS Manage is the successor to GWD-WinTS5 and is used exclusively as an administration server for institute administrators.
An administrator account is required for access, which is authorized for the server on request.
If you do not yet have an administrator account, you can read here (login required) how to create one.

It is also possible to create an IDM group and have it authorized to access the server. In this way, changes in the team can be mapped independently.

Access is possible in a web browser via remote-sec.gwdg.de, in this way a mandatory multifactor authentication is carried out.

To manage the computers and users of your institute, you will find on the server:

• AD Users and Computers
• Group Policy Management
• Baramundi Management Center
  • On first use, enter gwd-baramundi.top.gwdg.de as server
• Bitdefender
• Printer Management

By default, the use of the command prompt (cmd.exe) and PowerShell on the server are blocked.

It is also not possible to surf the web freely on the server. Only selected pages (e.g. *gwdg.de, *uni-goettingen.de, *microsoft.com) can be accessed.

More detailed information on administration in the Active Directory can be found in the Adminfibel, which is somewhat outdated but still offers helpful pointers.

In addition, there is a one-day introduction to the topic in the course “Administration im Active Directory”, especially for new and inexperienced institute administrators. The next date can be found in the Kursprogramm of the GWDG Academy.

The server can be accessed with an RDP client (included in every Windows operating system):

• Windows 10 or 11: enter Remote Desktop Connection in the search → “Show options”; then “Target computer”, GWDG\username and enter the password
• Linux users use remmina or xFreeRDP. The syntax for xFreeRDP is:

xfreerdp /u:GWDG\\username /v:GWD-WinTSBio.top.gwdg.de

• For Macintosh computers, the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client from the App Store is recommended.