Can RDP clients launch remote applications and not desktops

Question

Can RDP clients launch a remote application and then only display that application (and not the desktop)? The application would appear fullscreen within the client and if th

Answer 1

I think Citrix does that kind of thing. Though I'm not sure on specifics as I've only used it a couple of times. I think the one I used was called XenApp but I'm not sure if thats what you're after.

Answer 2

At least on 2008R2 if the accounts are only used for RDP and not for local logins then you can set this on a per-account basis. That should work for thin clients. If the accounts are also used on local desktops then this would also affect those logins.

In ADUsers&Computers, open the properties for the account and go to the Environment tab. On that tab, check "Start the following program at logon" and specify the path and executable for the program.

Answer 3

This is called "seamless" mode. rdesktop, the RDP client for Unix, is capable of this. From the manpage:

   -A     Enable SeamlessRDP. In this mode, rdesktop creates a X11 window for each window on the server
          side.  This  mode  requires  the  SeamlessRDP  server side component, which is available from
          http://www.cendio.com/seamlessrdp/.  When using this option, you  should  specify  a  startup
          shell which launches the desired application through SeamlessRDP.

See mentioned Cendio website for more information.

Answer 4

This is quite easily achievable.

1. We need to allow any unlisted programs to start from RDP.
   1.1 Save the script below on your desktop, the extension must end with .reg.
   

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\TSAppAllowList]
    "fDisabledAllowList"=dword:00000001

       1.2 Right click on the file and click Merge, Yes, Ok.

2. Modifying our .rdp file.
   2.1 At the end of our file, add the following code:
   

remoteapplicationmode:i:1
remoteapplicationname:s:This will be the optional description of the app
remoteapplicationprogram:s:Relative or absolute path to the app
                           (Example: taskmgr or C:\Windows\system32\taskmgr.exe)
remoteapplicationcmdline:s:Here you'd put any optional application parameters

---

Or just use this one to make sure that it works:

remoteapplicationmode:i:1
remoteapplicationname:s:
remoteapplicationprogram:s:mspaint
remoteapplicationcmdline:s:

        2.2 Enter your username and password and connect.

    3. Now you can use your RemoteApp without any issues as if it was running on your local machine

Answer 5

Another way is shown in this CodeProject article:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/tswindowclipper.aspx

The basic idea is to create a virutal channel that sends the windows position of the app(s) you want to show, then only render that part of the window on the client.

Answer 6

Using an RDP connection file you can set the alternate shell to be your application; the file syntax is like

alternate shell:s:c:\winnt\system32\notepad.exe

and you pass that as a command-line argument to mstsc.exe; this similar to chrissr's solution, but without affecting every RDP session you launch. A fuller summary of settings here.