Windows Server 2022 remote web RDP without a domain - can Windows Admin Center replace Essentials Remote Web Services?

Brad Burnett

6/30/24, 2:26 AM

although a lifetime technophile and IT person with my own home server - admittedly with most work experience on the application side - I am stumped with how to access my new Win2022 server remotely. I have always relied on the simplicity of Essentials, with my current server running Win2016 Essentials, and want to build my new server with the latest and greatest. However there is no Essentials in Win2022 besides OEM options not readily available to me, so I am seeking advice about how to replace the super-simple Remote Web Access where Microsoft allows you to create your own domain @ remotewebservices.com.

When on my local network I use good ol' reliable RDP, but am intrigued with this Windows Admin Center. Is there a way to access my server remotely without some domain name? It throws out a local url as in https://servername which of course is invisible to the rest of the internet. I'm too cheap to pay a monthly service fee for GoDaddy, but every once in a while it's very helpful to access my home server from work and find documents or download files - which was easily doable using my Windows Server 2016 Essentials server despite working in healthcare where IT Security tries its best to block such traffic.

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bjoster

7/11/24, 1:44 PM

I am seeking advice about how to replace the super-simple Remote Web Access where Microsoft allows you to create your own domain @ remotewebservices.com

Check out other (free) DynDNS Services like "no-ip" or "ddnss".

but am intrigued with this Windows Admin Center. Is there a way to access my server remotely without some domain name?

Do not use IP-Adresses. Just set up a (free) ddns domain name (like 'example.ddns.net'), a (free and automatic) certificate using let's encrypt with win-acme and use rdp (over https) and/or the admin center (through https). Thats free, easy, secure and very flexible.

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Brad Burnett

7/12/24, 2:45 PM

Thank you, I will check it out!

Brad Burnett

7/12/24, 6:35 PM

thanks that worked! I easily created my hostname on ddns.net and was able to RDP remotely with ease. Creating the certificate was a bit more of a challenge but I finally figured out I had to allow ports 80 and 443 both in my router and Window firewall. Now I have 4 pem files in c:\ssl but I'm trying to figure out how to import them (or one of them? I see chain, chain-only, crt, and key) into my domain in my.noip.com - which seems to only want me to purchase one. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually!

Brad Burnett

7/14/24, 1:36 AM

OK so far I'm stumped. I have 4 pem files in C:\SSL and no visible means to import them into my ddns.net domain in No-IP. Part of this surely is b/c I have day job and not a lot of time to delve into this, but I have zero experience with such things. I blame Microsoft for making it so easy with Essentials and then snatching it away! @bjoster any thoughts on this?

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Brad Burnett

7/15/24, 9:55 PM

Solution identified!

First off, I could not find any free option to obtain an SSL certificate. I ended up choosing a cheap option ($2/month) offered through noip.com, called No-IP Vital Encrypt DV.

With regard to creating the CSR for my server, win-acme would not generate a certificate with the proper SHA256 encryption signature. Or I couldn't figure it out, I did pop into its settings.json and successfully changed the RSA encryption level to 2048 bits per noip's requirements but could not find signature settings.

I then tried Windows IIS-10 which was a bust.

So I finally found an article on how to use MMC (Microsoft Management Console). It was not at all intuitive, and as with many other how-to sites it assumed a lot of pre-knowledge on SSLs and CSRs, but my prior knowledge gathered from trying the other approaches kicked in and allowed me to complete a CSR that noip's SSL option accepted.

My hostname is now SSL-encrypted!

Ironically, however, one of the reasons I really wanted to do this was to access my home server from work. Sadly, their firewall restrictions would not allow my little https domain to connect! Given my business is in bed with Microsoft (who isn't) and remotewebservices.com is a Microsoft domain, this must have been allowed and was why Essentials allowed me to connect (both for RDP and to access files on my server's share folders).

So, for file access I have enlisted the help of a QNAP NAS, which CAN be accessed from my place of work. Downloads are much slower than from remote web services, but this is the MAIN thing I really needed.

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Elon Musk

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