RDS session using wrong profile

Question

RDS session using wrong profile

Motola Oshin 20

I have a user with two AD accounts. "profile_A" and "profile_Z", the user is logged into the workstation using the profile_A account.
The user needs to launch an RDS application using the profile_Z's profile, however the RDS session is usually created with the profile_A profile.
I found that the remote RDS session is always created with the profile of the local user logged into the workstation.
This is a strange behavior, I never saw any issue like this with Citrix, is this the expected behavior in the RDS world?

Karlie Weng 19,256 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2023-08-10T01:55:57.5166667+00:00

Hello@Motola Oshin

Typically, the RDS profile name should correspond to the account that was used to log into the RDS session.

What types of RDS profile are you using , roaming profile or local profiles?

Does this happen to other users?

Have you tested logging into the RDS environment with account B from a different workstation?
Motola Oshin 20 Reputation points

2023-08-16T17:59:10.3366667+00:00

In this use case switching users is not acceptable, and the user needs to access the RDS app with account B, while logged into the workstation with account A.

Users have no issues if the workstation and RDS session are accessed using the same account.

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Karlie Weng 19,256 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2023-08-10T01:55:57.5166667+00:00

Hello@Motola Oshin

Typically, the RDS profile name should correspond to the account that was used to log into the RDS session.

What types of RDS profile are you using , roaming profile or local profiles?

Does this happen to other users?

Have you tested logging into the RDS environment with account B from a different workstation?
Motola Oshin 20 Reputation points

2023-08-16T17:59:10.3366667+00:00

In this use case switching users is not acceptable, and the user needs to access the RDS app with account B, while logged into the workstation with account A.

Users have no issues if the workstation and RDS session are accessed using the same account.

Answer 1

Hello,

When a user initiates an RDS session from a local machine, the RDS session inherits the user profile and credentials of the local user who initiated the session. This behavior applies to both Microsoft's native RDS and third-party solutions like Citrix.

This design has its roots in security and user isolation principles. Each user's RDS session is intended to be a separate, isolated environment, and it's consistent with the way the Windows operating system handles user profiles.

My recommendation would be to use the "RUNAS" commandline to open RDS as a different user, or instead create a batch file for the simplicity of the user to not execute commandline each time.

Reference for RUNAS: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/cc771525(v=ws.11)

Hope this resolves your Query !!

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept it as an answer–

Motola Oshin 20 Reputation points

2023-08-16T17:55:32.3366667+00:00

Thanks for the comment.

I most add that I had never experience this behaviour with Citrix XenApp.
I'll accept you answer, and live with the fact that MS RDS behaves differently.

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RDS session using wrong profile

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