Remote Labs

Actively enrolled Students, Faculty, and Staff have free remote access to licensed UMKC software. Connect from your personal computer, tablet, or any device with a high-speed internet connection, even when you are off campus.

Step-by-Step Connection Instructions

These instructions reflect a system running Windows 10 and Google Chrome. If you are using a different web browser or operating system version, the dialog boxes will vary slightly, but the procedure will remain the same. Windows 7/8 (and earlier) are not supported for connecting Remote Labs. More information on Operating System compatibility can be found below in the FAQ. Windows computers must also be CVE-2018-0886 compliant.
  1. Login to remotelabs.umkc.edu with your UMKC Username and password.
    • It is no longer required to manually choose a Domain when logging in to the Remote Labs website. Do not include "@umsystem.edu" when entering your username.
  2. Click Connect to Remote Desktop or click a specific Remote Application
  3. Click Launch my session.
  4. Click Open when prompted to Open or Save the connection file. 
  5. If this is the first time you have used Remote Labs, you will be prompted to trust the publisher (University of Missouri). Check the box for "Don't ask me again..."
  6. Click Connect.
  7. You will be prompted for credentials. Login with your fully qualified UMKC Username ("UM-AD\username") and password.
  8. Click OK.
  9. A connection dialog will appear while your session is being established.

These instructions reflect a system running macOS 12 and Safari 15 and have been tested for wide compatibility. If you are using a different web browser or version, you will likely encounter additional security steps not listed here. Accessing UMKC Remote Labs from macOS requires the use of the free Microsoft Remote Desktop client version 10.6 (or higher). 

  1. Install the free Microsoft Remote Desktop app.
  2. Login to remotelabs.umkc.edu with your UMKC Username and password.
    • It is no longer required to manually choose a Domain when logging in to the Remote Labs website. Do not include "@umsystem.edu" when entering your username.
  3. Click Connect to Remote Desktop or click a specific Remote Application
  4. Click Launch my session.
  5. A connection file will download automatically to your default downloads directory. It will have an .RDP file extension.
  6. Open the connection file from Finder and continue to step #7 to connect to Remote Labs.  If you need to save data from the Remote Lab directly to your local Mac hard drive, there are several manual configuration steps that must be performed. 
    1. Instead of Opening the downloaded .RDP file, use Finder or your application list to open the Microsoft Remote Desktop app.
    2. In the menu bar, open Connections > Import from RDP.
    3. Find RemoteLabName.rdp in your downloads folder and click Import.
    4. You will have a new tile labeled RemoteLabName. Click the pencil/edit icon in the bottom right corner of the tile.
    5. Click the Folders tab.
    6. Check the box Redirect Folders.
    7. Click the + symbol in the bottom left corner.
    8. Select the folder you wish to save to. You will need to remember this folder name later. You do not need to know the path to the folder. You will be able to browse any child folders and files from within Remote Labs.
    9. Click Open.
    10. Click Save.
    11. Double Click the new Remote Lab tile to begin the connection process.
  7. If you are off campus:
    1. You will be prompted for credentials (and again later).
    2. Login with your fully qualified UMKC Username ("UM-AD\username") and password.
  8. If you see a message 'Trust publisher University of Missouri' or 'the Identity of the remote computer may not be verified':
    1. Check the box, Don't ask, to prevent seeing this message for Remote Labs in the future.
    2. Click Continue.
  9. Login with your fully qualified UMKC Username ("UM-AD\username") and password.
  10. A connection dialog will appear while your session is being established.

These instructions reflect a system running iOS 15 and Safari. If you are using a different web browser or operating system version, the dialog boxes will vary slightly, but the procedure will remain the same.
  1. Install the free Microsoft Remote Desktop app version 10.4 (or higher).
  2. Login to remotelabs.umkc.edu with your UMKC Username and password.
    • It is no longer required to manually choose a Domain when logging in to the Remote Labs website. Do not include "@umsystem.edu" when entering your username.
  3. Tap Connect to Remote Desktop or tap a specific Remote Application
  4. Tap Launch my session.
  5. Tap Open in RD Client.
  6. You will be prompted for credentials. Login with your fully qualified UMKC Username ("UM-AD\username") and password.
  7. Tap Logon.
  8. If you are off-campus, you will be prompted for credentials a second time.
  9. Tap Connect Always.
  10. A connection dialog will appear while your session is being established.

These instructions reflect a system running Android 10 and Google Chrome. If you are using a different web browser or operating system version, the dialog boxes will vary slightly, but the procedure will remain the same. 
  1. Install the free Microsoft Remote Desktop app version 8.1 (or higher).
  2. Login to remotelabs.umkc.edu with your UMKC Username and password.
    • It is no longer required to manually choose a Domain when logging in to the Remote Labs website. Do not include "@umsystem.edu" when entering your username.
  3. Tap Connect to Remote Desktop or tap a specific Remote Application
  4. Tap Launch my session.
  5. The Microsoft Remote Desktop app may launch automatically (depending on browser and settings). If it does not launch, follow these additional steps:
    1. Close your web browser and open your downloads directory.
    2. Tap on the newly downloaded connection file. It will have an .RDP file extension.
  6. You will be prompted for credentials. Login with your fully qualified UMKC Username ("UM-AD\username") and password.
  7. Tap Logon.
  8. If you are off-campus, you will be prompted for credentials a second time.
  9. Tap Connect Always.
  10. A connection dialog will appear while your session is being established.

These instructions reflect a system running Ubuntu 17.04 and Remmina 1.2. If you are using a different RDP app or distribution of Linux, the dialog boxes will vary slightly, but the procedure will remain similar.

Prerequisite instructions to install Remmina 1.2 on Ubuntu 17.04:
  1. Depending on your environment, you may need to uninstall old versions of Remmina first.
  2. Open a Terminal window.
  3. Execute sudo apt-add-repository ppa:remmina-ppa-team/remmina-next and confirm the choice.
  4. Execute sudo apt-get update and confirm the choice.
  5. Execute sudo apt-get install remmina remmina-plugin-rdp libfreerdp-plugins-standard and confirm the choice.
  6. Reboot your computer.

Main Instructions
  1. Install the free Microsoft Remote Desktop app version 8.1 (or higher).
  2. Login to remotelabs.umkc.edu with your UMKC Username and password.
    • It is no longer required to manually choose a Domain when logging in to the Remote Labs website. Do not include "@umsystem.edu" when entering your username.
  3. Tap Connect to Remote Desktop or tap a specific Remote Application
  4. Tap Launch my session.
  5. Click Save when prompted to Open or Save the connection file.
  6. An .RDP file containing connection details will be added to your downloads directory. Make note of the file name, but do not open this file yet.
  7. Launch the Remmina Remote Desktop client.
  8. Click Tools (3 horizontal lines) in the toolbar.
  9. Click Import.
  10. Navigate to your downloads directory and select the .RDP file from step #6.
  11. Click Import.
  12. Right click the connection and select Edit.
  13. Change the username from DOMAIN\username to just username.
  14. Enter your UMKC password.
  15. Change domain to UM-AD
  16. Click Save.
  17. Double Click the new entry in the connections list.
  18. If prompted to accept a certificate, click OK.
  19. A connection dialog will appear while your session is being established.
Note: if you have trouble connecting, goto the Advanced tab and delete the RD Gateway created by importing the .RDP connection file. Instead, connect to the UMKC VPN before connecting to Remote Labs.

Hardware capabilities, supported software/apps, and OS features vary signficantly among Chromebooks.  Depending on the exact specifications of your ChromeOS device, you may be able to connect to Remote Labs by following the Andoid instructions above. If you encounter issues connecting to Remote Labs from a Chromebook, RooLabs Online offers full support for all Chromebooks.  

Frequently Asked Questions

UMKC Remote Labs offers remote access to a small subset of curated software compared to RooLabs Online. The selected software has been optimized specifically for remote access. Software is organized by UMKC Departments and does not correspond to any specific on-campus offerings.

UMKC students can remotely access ALL of the on-campus General Use Lab software via RooLabs Online. If your department participates in RooLabs Online, you will also be able to access ALL software available in that on-campus departmental lab. A much broader selection of software is available, however performance of individual applications over remote access will vary. More information is available on the RooLabs Online FAQ.

Remote Desktop connection gives you full access to the Remote Lab computer. This option provides a full desktop experience similar to physically using a Windows computer. The Windows start menu and desktop are visible and you may open any available application. This is the recommended option if you need to use multiple applications within Remote Labs simultaneously. Remote Desktop also offers additional options for managing or transferring your files as well as the ability to upload assignments to Canvas from within Remote Labs. 

Remote Application connection allows a program to be run off of a remote computer, but appear as if it is running locally on your computer. This is the recommended option to more easily interact with both the Remote Labs software and other applications on your local computer simultaneously. Although remote applications appear to be running on your computer, the application will only have access to the remote file system (namely your personal storage on the Q: drive).

UMKC Remote Labs are currently available to actively enrolled Students, Faculty, and Staff only. When each semester ends, if you have not yet enrolled in any upcoming courses, you will not have access to Remote Labs. Alumni will not have access. 

All students have access to statistical and productivity software in the General Lab. Additional, more specialized software, may be available to you depending on what school or degree program you are enrolled in. The only way to see a complete list of available software is to login. Some degree programs that require graphic intensive software have access to the GPU Rendering Lab. This particular Remote Lab offers hardware accelerated rendering with dedicated GPUs and specialized graphics capabilities. Due to this requirement, the GPU Rendering Lab is only available if you are connecting from a Windows or macOS computer. 

Remote Labs is for academic coursework only. Research of any kind, even when UMKC related, is prohibited in Remote Labs. 

Saving Files

When you are logged into a Remote Lab, it is recommended you open and save files from your Q:\ drive or other UMKC Campus file share. This will guarantee Remote Labs applications have high speed access to your data. When you have completed your work, you can move your data to your local computer or cloud storage such as your UMKC OneDrive. If you are connecting from a Windows computer, Remote Labs can mount your local hard drives, flash drives, and other storage media directly to your session with no manual configuration steps. In File Explorer, your local drives will be listed as "{drive} on {YourComputername}" (e.g. "C on BobsPC"). Accessing your local Mac hard drive from within Remote Labs requires several manual steps which are addressed at the bottom of the macOS connection instructions. Accessing local storage from a Linux, Android, or iOS device is not supported. All Remote Labs provide two applications to make file management easier. The "Remote Labs File Manager" offers drag-and-drop capabilities while "Windows Explorer" offers copy/paste capabilities.

Performance

Performance is heavily dependent on your internet connection. 100 Mbps is the recommended speed, but your experience will benefit from a faster connection. Keep in mind, the package sold by your Internet Service Provider is the "theoretical maximum" speed you can achieve. This does not necessarily reflect your average speed. Sharing your Internet connection with streaming services like Netflix, online gaming services, and peer-to-peer file sharing services will significantly decrease Remote Labs performance. If you are experiencing slowness, connecting to the UMKC VPN will generally decrease latency and increase performance. You may notice there is sometimes a delay when you first connect to a Remote Lab. This is largely due to measures that ensure the security of Remote Labs and the privacy of your data and your user session.

Reconnecting & Time Limits

If you accidentally disconnect from a Remote Lab, or experience a brief interruption in Internet connectivity, your session will remain active for 1 hour. If you reconnect in that time window, all of your applications and data will still be open on the screen. The time limit for idle sessions is 1 hour. The time limit for active sessions is 8 hours. After reaching either of these session limits, users will be disconnected. 

Printing

Limited printing is available in the Remote Labs if you have a printer installed locally on your Windows computer. The Remote Labs use a universal print driver to connect to the printer you have installed locally on your computer.  Because the driver is not an exact match for your printer, there may be differences between what is displayed on the screen and what is printed.

Security

Remote Labs adhere to UMKC and UM System security standards. To ensure secure access, UMKC highly recommends always running the most up to date version of your Operating System, web browser, and remote desktop app. Since Microsoft is no longer releasing security patches for Windows 7 or Windows 8, these OS are no longer eligible to connect to Remote Labs. macOS support generally includes the most recent 4 major releases, but varies based on Apple's adherence to Microsoft security compatibility. The Remote Labs platform uses an encrypted connection to provide secure access to remote lab machines. This means all communications from your computer to the Remote Labs servers are encrypted, making it difficult for someone to hijack the session or view data. 

If you have questions or require additional help, contact UMKC Remote Labs Support online or the UMKC Technology Support Center. If you are experiencing an issue, please capture a screenshot of the problem or the full details of any error messages.