SOU offers remote access to several Microsoft Windows desktop environments using Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services.  These remote desktop environments are available on any device that supports an RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) client, including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, iOS, and Android, and they can be accessed from anywhere in the world over the Internet.

If you access our remote desktop environments from off-campus, please be prepared for some noticeable network delay (i.e. latency) while you interact with Windows and applications in the remote environment. For example, you may need to wait a second or two after clicking on something for the screen to react. This is an unfortunate and unavoidable consequence of the fact that the signals have to travel back and forth over the Internet, which introduces significant delay.

Our remote desktop environments host multiple connections at any given time, so they sometimes slow down during periods of intense usage as resources become scarce. Please do everyone a favor and LOG OUT OF YOUR SESSION when you are finished so that those computing resources free up for everyone else. Closing the remote desktop connection program does not log you out of your session. You must remember to log out of the remote Windows environment in order to truly close your session.

This article will show you how to use the RDP client that comes packaged with Windows to connect to our remote access resources.

To begin using remotedesktop.sou.edu or virtuallab.sou.edu on Android, you will need to install an App that supports RDP.  We recommend the Microsoft Remote Desktop client.

After starting the RDP app, you should see the Add connection screen.

After tapping Add connection, you should see dropdown. Select Desktop.

 This will bring you to the next settings screen. Enter the computer name of the remote server you intend to connect to. In the screenshot below, I have entered remotedesktop.sou.edu, but you can enter the name of any of our remote environments. The steps for connecting are otherwise identical.

Click on the newly created RDP connection to connect. 

You need to enter your SOU username with a "SOU\" preceding it (without the quotes) when you type it into the User name field.  Alternatively, you can use your SOU email address as your user name in this step. Failure to remember this step will result in the server refusing your connection!

Click Connect to begin.

Your screen should switch to landscape orientation after you successfully authenticate, and you should see the Windows environment loading. While in the Windows environment, you can use the controls at the top of the screen to zoom in/out and access your keyboard while in the remote environment. 

If you are connecting to remotedesktop.sou.edu, you will be prompted to authenticate with Duo before the connection completes.

You should now be connected to the remote Windows environment. If you encounter a connection error, please call our IT Helpdesk at 541-552-6900 or email helpdesk@sou.edu with a screenshot of the error you received.