Connecting to instances

📝 This Wiki page has moved. For the latest content, see Connect to a Windows VM on the IAP Desktop documentation page.

Prerequisites

To follow the steps in this guide, make sure that you meet the following prerequisites:

• You created a firewall rule that allows IAP to connect to port 3389 of your Windows VM.

To connect to a Windows VM by using Remote Desktop (RDP), do the following:

1. In the Project Explorer tool window, right-click a VM instance and select Connect:

   

2. If this is the first time you connect to the VM instance, you'll see a prompt:

   

   • Select Generate new credentials to create a Windows user account on the selected VM instance and to connect using this account. Creating a Windows user account requires special permissions. If you do not have these permissions, this option is not shown.

   • Select Configure credentials to jump to the Connection Settings tool window where you can specify and save Windows credentials. IAP Desktop will use these saved credentials in subsequent connection attempts.

   • Select Connect without configuring credentials if you do not want to save any credentials. You will still see a credential prompt, but the username and password will not be saved for future use.

3. IAP Desktop now automatically creates an IAP TCP forwarding tunnel and connects you to the Remote Desktop of the Windows VM:

   

Customize connection settings

To customize the connection settings, you can use the Connection Settings tool window:

1. In the Project Explorer tool window, right-click a VM instance and select Connection Settings.

2. In the Connection Settings window, customize settings as needed.

   

   If you specify a setting that deviates from the default, it is shown in bold typeface.

Instead of customizing settings for each VM instance individually, you can also specify settings that apply to an entire zone or projects:

1. In the Project Explorer tool window, right-click a zone or project and select Connection Settings.
2. In the Connection Settings window, customize settings as needed. The settings apply to all VM instances in the respective zone or project, unless explicitly overridden.

What's next

• See how you can connect to Linux VMs by using SSH
• Learn how to troubleshoot common connection issues
• See how you can integrate IAP Desktop with your web browser