TS RemoteApp

Thinstuff Support
2018-03-07 15:23

Starting with Windows Server 2008 Microsoft included Terminal Services RemoteApp (TS RemoteApp).
RemoteApp programs are programs that are accessed remotely through RDP and display seamlessly.
These applications appear as if they are directly running on the user's workstation.
Thus instead of displaying the complete remote Desktop only the specified RemoteApp program
is visible and integrated with the user's local desktop, running in its own resizable window
with its own entry in the taskbar.

Please see here for more info.

Requirements

Server-side

TS REMOTEAPP WITH THINSTUFF XP/VS TERMINAL SERVER:

Starting with Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server Version 1.0.167 users can also enjoy seamless TS RemoteApp programs when connecting to any of the following remote operating systems:

- All Windows 7 Editions (including Windows 7 Starter).

- Windows Server 2008 (without TS role)

- Windows Server 2008 R2 (without RD Session Host role)

Starting with Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server Version 1.0.400 TS RemoteApp will also work on:

- Windows XP Professional SP3
  x86 only, requires Microsoft KB961742-v3 to be installed:
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961742

- Windows Vista Enterprise or Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 or. SP2
  x86 only, requires Microsoft KB961741 to be installed:
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961741

Remoteapp connection using RDP feature "TS RemoteApp" is also possible to systems running Windows 8 / 8.1/ and 10 if following system files are available in C:\Windows\System32 --> rdpinit.exe and rdpshell.exe
If you are using for example Windows Home Editions XPVS Server enables this feature in XPVS Server Administrator  since version 1.0.653 (April 2013)
Choose  menu bar  -> Options -> "Install TS RemoteApp Support"  in XP/VS Administrator.

Client-side

The client computer has to run Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 7.0 or better which is available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969084
Unfortunately the current Remote Desktop Connection clients have no GUI option to specify a RemoteApp.
Thus you have to manually create a .rdp file.
It is also possible to save a .rdp file using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection and add the required lines manually using a text editor (e.g. Notepad).

These are the required settings:

remoteapplicationmode:i:1
remoteapplicationprogram:s:C:\Windows\System32\notepad.exe
remoteapplicationcmdline:s:%HOMEPATH%\Test.txt

The line "remoteapplicationmode:i:1" tells the RD Client to use the TS RemoteApp mode.
Use "remoteapplicationprogram:s:" to specify the path to the application's binary you want to display seamlessly.
The last line "remoteapplicationcmdline:s:" is optional and allows you to specify command line parameters for the specified RemoteApp.

At the attachments you'll find a sample.rdp file ("SeamlessAppExample.rdp").
Before launching it you should change the first line "full address:s:SERVERNAME" and replace "SERVERNAME" with the host name of your Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server computer.

For Windows XP SP3 clients we strongly recommend that you add support for Network Level Authentication (NLA).
NLA requires the Credential Security Provider (CredSSP) to be enabled.
CredSSP is supported on Windows XP SP3 but not enabled per default.
In order to enable CredSSP on Windows XP SP3 please follow Microsoft's instructions in KB951608:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951608

 

Note: The following section is only important if you want to create TS RemoteApp connections to(!) a Windows XP SP3 server:

For TS RemoteApp connections to Windows XP SP3 you will also have to add the following lines to the rdp files:

DisableRemoteAppCapsCheck:i:1
Alternate Shell:s:rdpinit.exe
Prompt For Credentials On client:i:1

The line "DisableRemoteAppCapsCheck:i:1" is required because the current RD Client is not able to automatically detect that XP SP3 does support TS RemoteApp even with the appropriate KBs installed.
The "Alternate Shell" line is needed to work around a problem with that detection failure.
The last line tells the RD Client to always prompt the credentials on the client side which comes handy if your Terminal Server does not support NLA on the server side (which only true for Windows XP).

The client computer has to run Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 7.0 or better which is available here:
Tags: Remote APP, Remote Application, seamless, TS, tsremoteapp, TS Remote APP, window, XP/VS Server