[SOLVED] A RDP Access Problem to VMWare I'm stuck with a RDP problem that has to be minor, but I simply can't see what it is. Essentially, I have two VMWare VMs on a Windows 7 PC and I can talk to the 1st VM setup, via RDP, but the second VM is unresponsive and never advances beyond the message: 'initiating remote connection' and errors out after thirty secs. I know this isn't a virtualization issue per se, but I'm hopeful that someone here has encountered something like this or at least has a helpful suggestion. I apologize for my desperation, but I've done everything I can think of or find on Google. In detail, I created a VMWare VM (called VM0), populated it with Windows 7 Pro and everything else I needed for the project, configured it to operate off of port 33890, then successfully tested it from the projected client PCs. I explicitly opened the RDP port (on client and host) via Windows Firewall. Next, I created a clone of this VM (called VM1), changed the RDP port to 33900, adjusted the custom Windows Firewall rule for the custom RDP port, and tried the new VM. No joy. Access to the VM1 stalls at the Remote Desktop client with the message: 'initiating remote connection'. As part of troubleshooting this, I completely disabled the Windows Firewall on client and host. Still no joy. I also tried 'netstat -aon 3 | find "33900"', then attempted to remote in. Windows is listening on this port, but the two PCs don't communicate ! I've checked the Event Logger, while attempting to login. Windows seems to be completely oblivious my attempts to login via RDP, that is there are no warnings, errors, or any other indication being emitted from Windows. I can see three Remote Desktop services running in the Services Management applet. I long ago downloaded and installed the latest RDP client from Microsoft, on every client PC. And just for grins, today I installed TeamViewer (on VM1) to verify that remote access is actually possible on the VM. Can access VM1 from completely across town, using the PC on which I'm typing this message. I didn't find any mainstream users of port 33900 via Google, so I'm out of options for the moment except for possibly redoing the VM from scratch, which is really an absolute last resort. Any ideas ? TIA.... PS: Problem solved in the final msg of the thread.
You need the VM connected to your local network too. I'm myself using Hyper-V with 2 network adapters on each machine. One is the bridge to my wireless network card so I can browse the web on the virtual machine. The second adapter is set to internal network to make the RDP connection possible in case I need it. Next to the adapters do I need network discovery on both machines on. Now a problem can be that both your VM's got the same computer name, this won't work.
Both VMs are bridged to the existing LAN via the virtual LAN adapter and Net Discovery is on, so they're already visible in the Net Neighborhood. I was immediately able to RDP to VM0 by name, before making the clone. And I did remember to change the Computer Name from VM0 to VM1. Thanx for your feedback....
Your port nos change half way through the text but I assume that isn't the issue. Run something like WINTCP or Wireshark on the VM to see if anything is hitting. I'm not sure why you are changing the port - if its bridged then each VM needs to have its own IP address etc in which case 3389 will work fine from the host? Why not change your winstation regedit (I assume this is how you have changed the port) back to 3389 and see if it works "natively" without any custom ports? You could also make sure the windows firewall is generating logs for packet drops and look in that.
[SOLVED] A RDP Access Problem to VMWare Thank you for your feedback and use of your brain cells, but you've misunderstood the problem. This PC has three different RDP hosts listening for clients. They simply can't share the same port. The actual issue was several minor things capped by the fact that the User Admin capplet changes the Full Name and not the actual Username ! I'd explicitly disabled authentication for RD on the original VM0, which worked flawlessly. Subsequently, the clone never responded to any login request (local or remote), which initiated my initial message. I thought I explicitly changed username on the cloned VM1. The very STUPID User Administration Control Panel applet doesn't change the actual username used to remotely login to the system ! I finally realized I had to use the Computer Management service, where real account management takes place ! Eventually, by adding passwords to the accounts on VM1 and attempting to login (via RD) from another VM (on the same host), I was able to determine and correct the real problem.... PS: One other thing I had to fix was that Windows 7 screwed up the IP addressing ! As I was planning to use port forwarding to access the VMs from outside the office (I have to administer them), I explicitly assigned a static, private IP to VM0 and VM1. When I was closed the adapter property box, I clicked the 'Validate' button. NEVER, EVER DO THAT ! Windows "fixed" the IP address for that adapter by reverting back to DHCP !