For the past few days, I’ve been fighting trying to rearrange the order of RemoteApp programs in Web Access. I figured out that it was sorting based on the name of the RemoteApp’s RDP file. I just couldn’t figure out how to change the name of an App’s RDP file without breaking everything. Tonight, I was installing a new app onto one of my TS machines and I happened to notice that when you right click on an App in RemoteApp manager and select properties there is a field called alias. This alias field corresponds to the name of the RDP file. When you change the name here, it will rename the file and update Web Access. By changing the names here (and knowing that Web Access goes in alphabetical order of these aliases) you can rearrange the order of RemoteApps in Web Access.
So, in the middle of December, I wrote a posting praising Microsoft for the way TS 2008 turned out. This was based on my theoretical knowledge of the software. However, I’ve actually gotten around to setting it up. My opinion of the service has really been confirmed. It’s great stuff once you manage to get it setup. That’s where there’s a bit of a problem. Getting it setup isn’t hard, it’s just not easy. The main point, on which I was stuck for a while, is that you absolutely must have an SSL Certificate signed by a Microsoft Approved CA (or jump through some hoops, more on that later). It’s not like a regular website where you can just ignore an invalid certificate. RDC requires that the certificate come from a trusted CA. There are hundreds of these; more get added every month or so through Windows Update. You can, however, trust yourself as a CA. Then you can get around having an SSL Certificate, however, that’s cumbersome for IT people and borderline impossible for normal people. (Note: This is a way to check to see if the setup is working before you buy that certificate. Plug to GoDaddy for the $29.99/yr certificate that is MS trusted.)
I’m going to document a complete setup in the coming days.