Show Remote Cursor option?
I have searched the forums and scoured the many settings within the RDM desktop application searching for this feature and I have been unsuccessful in finding it.
I was curious if there is a way to show the remote mouse cursor with an active RDP session similar to other remote desktop programs. I frequently have others remote into the same machines for collaboration or troubleshooting and I would like to be able to see where they are clicking, this feature would also be handy when screen recording remote sessions.
If such an option does not currently exist, I'll happily move this thread to the requested features category.
All Comments (6)
Hello,
A few questions to help us better understand your setup:
1. How are you achieving the multi-user scenario where several people connect to the same machine simultaneously — are you connecting to a Windows Server with multiple concurrent RDP sessions enabled, or is there another configuration in place?
2. With your setup you explained in #1, which remote desktop programs have you had the remote cursor visibility working in?
3. Does the remote cursor visibility work as expected when connecting with mstsc directly — that is, the native Microsoft Remote Desktop client built into Windows (mstsc.exe), used outside of RDM?
The reason we ask: showing the remote cursor in a multi-user scenario is not something handled on the client side. If the cursor visibility doesn't work in mstsc, it won't work in RDM either, as RDM relies on the same underlying RDP protocol layer.
Best Regards,
Michaël Beaudin
Hello,
A few questions to help us better understand your setup:
1. How are you achieving the multi-user scenario where several people connect to the same machine simultaneously — are you connecting to a Windows Server with multiple concurrent RDP sessions enabled, or is there another configuration in place?
2. With your setup you explained in #1, which remote desktop programs have you had the remote cursor visibility working in?
3. Does the remote cursor visibility work as expected when connecting with mstsc directly — that is, the native Microsoft Remote Desktop client built into Windows (mstsc.exe), used outside of RDM?
The reason we ask: showing the remote cursor in a multi-user scenario is not something handled on the client side. If the cursor visibility doesn't work in mstsc, it won't work in RDM either, as RDM relies on the same underlying RDP protocol layer.
Best Regards,
@Michael Beaudin
Hello Michael,
To answer your questions:
- Typically when multiple users are involved I will be connected via RDM using the RDP protocol, and other users will connect via a Screenconnect session, Teamviewer QS session, or another flavor of remote support utility.
- The main programs I have had remote cursor capabilities on is TeamViewer, AnyDesk, and GoTo Assist. I'm not entirely sure on the technicalities of how they achieve this feature, but I was extremely curious if RDM was capable of such.
- Using windows native RDP (mstsc.exe) does not show the remote cursor, I assume this is a limitation of the RDP protocol then.
Thank you for the reply!
Since this seems to be a limitation within RDP itself, would you know of any methods to achieve the result I am looking for while staying within RDM?
Hello mbishop,
Currently I don't believe we have anything to support this. We will create a feature request ticket to investigate this further to see if something can be done to support the functionnality but we can't promise anything as of now.
Best Regards,
Michaël Beaudin
Hello,
I don't know if it's an option for you, but we have a great integration with ControlR. It's an open-source project and it's free. The creator is really responsive, and this is the most advanced integration of a remote access product into RDM. The main differentiator is the embedded or tabbed integration that we have. This is not the case with many other great products like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, RustDesk, or Supremo.
https://controlr.app/
I hope this helps.
David Hervieux
Hello,
I don't know if it's an option for you, but we have a great integration with ControlR. It's an open-source project and it's free. The creator is really responsive, and this is the most advanced integration of a remote access product into RDM. The main differentiator is the embedded or tabbed integration that we have. This is not the case with many other great products like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, RustDesk, or Supremo.
https://controlr.app/
I hope this helps.
@David Hervieux
Thank you for the suggestion David!
I will definitely take a look at ControlR and see if it will fit our needs. I can see at a glance it supports self-hosting which is a big positive in my eyes.
While the remote cursor view setting is such a small and niche setting, it is helpful anda nice-to-have in certain scenarios.
Hello, @mbishop !
Creator of ControlR here. :) I hope you don't mind if pop in.
ControlR has ability to show/hide the remote cursor on Windows and Mac. You can set a default preference in your user settings and toggle it mid-session.
On Linux Wayland, you see both the remote cursor and your local cursor. There's no option to toggle it yet. It's technically possible but requires solving an underlying challenge with how the APIs work on Wayland.
On Linux X11, the remote cursor is not shown. I don't remember if there was a technical challenge with X11's APIs or if it was just low priority. I'm happy to try to find the answer if X11 is important.
Feel free to contact me directly if you have any other questions! (jared@bitbound.org) If you want to get involved further, you're welcome to join the discussion boards on GitHub (https://github.com/bitbound/ControlR/discussions) or the Discord server (https://discord.gg/JWJmMPc72H).
Cheers!
- Jared
