RustDesk 1.4.7 – Secure Remote Access

Pro Tips

Setting a Permanent Password for Unattended Access

1. Open RustDesk on the remote PC you wish to control.
2. Click the three dots (Settings) button in the left pane.
3. Navigate to the Security tab.
4. Click the “Unlock security settings” button and enter your system password if prompted.
5. Select the “Use permanent password” option and click “Set permanent password”.
6. Enter and confirm your desired permanent password.

Why: Setting a permanent password is crucial for enabling unattended access, allowing you to connect to a remote computer without manual intervention, which is essential for server management or providing support when no one is physically present at the remote end. This enhances convenience and reliability for continuous remote operations.

Configuring Client to Connect to a Self-Hosted Server

1. On your RustDesk client, click the three dots (Settings) button.
2. Go to the Network tab.
3. Click “Unlock network settings” and enter your system password if required.
4. Click the “ID/Relay server” option.
5. In the “ID Server” and “Relay Server” fields, input the IP address or domain name of your self-hosted RustDesk server.
6. Enter the public key obtained from your self-hosted server in the “Key” field.
7. Leave the “API Server” field blank unless specifically configured.

Why: Connecting to a self-hosted server provides maximum privacy and control over your remote desktop connections. It bypasses public relay servers, ensuring your data remains within your own infrastructure and often results in faster, more stable connections, especially for internal networks or specific geographical regions. This is a core advantage of RustDesk over proprietary solutions.

Enabling Direct IP Access for Local Network Connections

1. On the controlled device (the machine you want to access), open RustDesk.
2. Click the three dots (Settings) button and go to the Network tab.
3. Unlock network settings if necessary.
4. Look for an option to “Enable direct IP access” or similar, and activate it (this might be off by default for security reasons).
5. On the client device (the machine you are connecting from), input the local IP address or hostname of the controlled device into the ID input box and click “Connect”.

Why: Direct IP access allows RustDesk to establish connections over a local network without relying on external servers. This is particularly useful for environments with no internet connectivity or for ensuring the fastest possible connection speeds within a LAN, reducing latency and improving responsiveness for local remote control tasks.