The Remote Desktop Gateway (RDG) is used to access your on-campus Windows computer from another remote computer. It provides additional security for our connections with university computing resources.
The computer you are connecting to must be running Windows 7 or above; you cannot use RDG to connect to a Mac, though you can connect from a Mac.
Requirements and Setup
Checking your user group
Your account must be in the destination computer’s Administrators or Remote Desktop Users groups.
Hit the Windows key on your keyboard (Note: on Windows 10 click on the circle icon next to the Windows icon on your task bar)
Type lusrmgr.msc into the search bar
Hit the Enter key on your keyboard
Click on the Groups folder on the left
Double click on Administrators in the center column (pictured below) A new window should pop up
(Click image below)
Look for you profile in the pop up
Double click Remote Desktop Users in the center column (pictured below) A new window should pop up
(Click image to enlarge)
Look for your profile in the pop up
Found your profile under either Administrators or Remote Desktop Users? Continue through the instructions.
Can't find your profile under either Administrators or Remote Desktop Users? Contact us at help@usf.edu and we will add you.
Make sure your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge) is the most recent version.
The computer you are logging in remotely from must have an up-to-date version of Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection, which is automatically installed on Windows 7 and later.
Macs with OSX 10.7 or later can get this app from the App Store, see the Mac instructions below.
Enter the computer name or IP address you wish to connect to (pictured below) (Click image to enlarge)
Choose your remote desktop size
Click the Find Computer button RDG will go through a series of checks (computer is found, awake, and connection is solid) and display the results to you
Click the Connect button RDG will download a ‘USFRemoteAccess.rdp’ file
Execute USFRemoteAccess.rdp file
Security window popped up? Click Connect
Log in with your credentials You are logging into your destination computer
Once you have completed this process, you will have a window to your destination computer and may use it as if you were sitting in front of it. When you are finished you can simply log out of your remote computer and the window will close.