MHOSTMHOST

Connecting to a Windows server via RDP

RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) is the standard way to work with a Windows server: a full graphical desktop instead of a command line, shared clipboard, and local drive/printer redirection. This article covers finding the server's IP address and administrator password, connecting over RDP from Windows, macOS, and Linux, what happens on first login, and what you need to know about the RDP port (3389).

What you'll need

  • An mHost Windows server on one of the Windows Server templates — 2019, 2022, or 2025 — already ordered and activated.
  • Access to the VMmanager 6 panel — if you haven't logged in yet, see "How to log in to VMmanager 6".
  • The server's IP address and the Administrator account password — see Step 1 for how to get them.
  • An RDP client on your own computer: on Windows it's already built in; on macOS and Linux you'll need a separate app (Step 2).
Tip: this is a dedicated, in-depth article about RDP specifically. For a general overview of the first connection to any mHost server — including the graphical VNC console and SSH for Linux servers — see "VNC console and first connection (SSH/RDP)".

Step 1. Get the server's IP address and administrator password

Every Windows server has its own IP address and its own Administrator account password. This is not the same as the username and password for the VMmanager 6 panel itself — those are sent only once, when your very first server is activated.

  1. Check your email — the server activation email usually lists its IP address and initial password.
  2. If you don't have the email or lost the details, open the VM's card in VMmanager 6: the IP address is on the "IP addresses" tab; to change the password, click the "⋮" (three dots) icon next to the server → "Change password" → enter a new password and save (this works on a running server — no reboot needed).

📷 screenshot: a Windows server's card in VMmanager 6, the "IP addresses" tab

📷 screenshot: the "⋮" menu on a server with the "Change password" option

Tip: the exact contents of the email can vary, and it sometimes doesn't arrive at all at proton.me / protonmail addresses. If the email doesn't have what you need, don't waste time searching — get it from the VMmanager 6 panel (method above) or contact mHost support.
Important: the password from the email is temporary. Change it on your very first login — see Step 3 for how.

Step 2. Connect over RDP

An RDP session is a full Windows desktop: clipboard sharing works by default, and you can redirect local drives and printers. The port 3389, which the server accepts RDP connections on, is already open by default on mHost Windows servers — there's nothing extra to configure (more on this in the "RDP port (3389)" section at the end of the article).

From a Windows computer

  1. Press Win + R, type mstsc, and press Enter — or find the "Remote Desktop Connection" app from the Start menu.
  2. In the "Computer" field, enter the server's IP address and click "Connect."
  3. Enter the username Administrator and the password from Step 1.
  4. Confirm the warning about the server's certificate — it's self-signed, which is expected when connecting directly by IP.

📷 screenshot: the "Remote Desktop Connection" window with the "Computer" field filled in

Tip: you can do the same thing with a single command: mstsc /v:185.246.66.12. The /f flag opens the session in full-screen mode right away; /w:<width> /h:<height> opens it in a window of a given size.

From a Mac

  1. Install Windows App from the Mac App Store — this is Microsoft's current official RDP client, the successor to Microsoft Remote Desktop (on some Macs it may still be labeled with the old name).
  2. On the Devices tab, click + → Add PC.
  3. In the "PC name" field, enter the server's IP address and click Add & Connect (or just Add, to connect later by double-clicking the server's icon on the Devices tab).
  4. Enter the username Administrator and the password from Step 1.

📷 screenshot: the Windows App "Add PC" dialog with the "PC name" field filled in

From Linux

  1. Install Remmina with the RDP plugin:
bash
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install remmina remmina-plugin-rdp

# AlmaLinux/Rocky Linux
sudo dnf install epel-release
sudo dnf install remmina remmina-plugins-rdp
  1. Click + to create a new connection: protocol — RDP, "Server" — the server's IP address.
  2. Enter the username Administrator and the password, save, and connect.

📷 screenshot: the Remmina new-connection window with the RDP protocol and the Server field filled in

Can't connect? Double-check the IP address and password (Step 1). If that doesn't help, open the graphical VNC console right in VMmanager 6 and check the server from there — see Step 2 of "VNC console and first connection (SSH/RDP)".
Done: if you see the Windows sign-in screen or the desktop straight away, the server is responding over RDP — you're ready to log in.

Step 3. First login

After you enter the password, the regular Windows Server desktop opens. If you signed in as Administrator (the only account on a fresh server), Server Manager opens automatically — that's normal behavior; you can close or minimize it, and it doesn't affect how the server runs.

  • Send Ctrl+Alt+Delete — pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete on your own keyboard inside an RDP session is captured by your local computer, not the server. To send it to the server instead (for example, to change the password or open Task Manager), use Ctrl+Alt+End.
  • Change the temporary password — the easiest way is through the VMmanager 6 panel, as in Step 1. Inside the RDP session itself, you can do it via Ctrl+Alt+End → "Change a password" — next to Task Manager and Lock.
  • Keyboard layout — if the password or text with special characters doesn't type correctly after connecting, even though you're sure you're entering it right, check that the keyboard layout inside the session matches the one the password was typed with when the server was created.

📷 screenshot: the Ctrl+Alt+End screen inside an RDP session with the "Change a password" option

Done: you're logged in and looking at the server's desktop — you can start configuring it. For how to install software, see "Installing Google Chrome on a Windows server" and the "Ready-made VMmanager 6 recipes" catalog.

The RDP port (3389)

RDP listens on TCP port 3389 by default. On mHost Windows templates, Remote Desktop is enabled out of the box, and port 3389 is already allowed through the built-in Windows Defender Firewall — there's nothing extra to open (unlike, say, a Linux server with ufw — see "Setting up the UFW firewall").

Important: don't turn off the "Remote Desktop" setting in System Properties, and don't block the "Remote Desktop" rule in the built-in firewall — either one will lock you out over RDP. If that happens, you can get back in through the graphical VNC console in VMmanager 6 — see Step 2 of "VNC console and first connection (SSH/RDP)".

If you want to change the default port — for example, to cut down on automated connection attempts from internet scanners — do it through PowerShell as an administrator, on the server itself. First check the current port:

powershell
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -name 'PortNumber'

Then set a new one (3390 as an example):

powershell
$portValue = '3390'
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -name 'PortNumber' -Value $portValue

Allow the new port through the built-in firewall (TCP and UDP) and restart the server for the change to take effect:

powershell
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'RDP-3390-TCP-In' -Profile Public -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3390
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'RDP-3390-UDP-In' -Profile Public -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 3390
Restart-Computer

After the restart, specify the new port when connecting: mstsc /v:185.246.66.12:3390 on Windows, 185.246.66.12:3390 in the "PC name" field in Windows App, 185.246.66.12:3390 in the "Server" field in Remmina.

Important: only change the port when you have VNC console access in VMmanager 6 handy. If something goes wrong after the restart — say, you forgot to allow the new port in the firewall — you can use VNC to get onto the server and fix it.

What's next

From here, install the software you need — for example, a browser, see "Installing Google Chrome on a Windows server" and the general catalog in "Ready-made VMmanager 6 recipes" — and go through the general security recommendations in "Basic VPS security checklist".

Related articles

NextInstalling software on a Windows server