Don’t know how to connect

[jouien]

I can’t find any basic information about how to connect using the authentication options. I even unchecked the “require permission to let remote users connect”, but can’t connect to my desktop PC from my laptop via local network in my room.
I don’t have a password to my PC user account (and won’t create any), and don’t know anything about the other three authentication options.
I simply can’t figure out what to do to make this program works.

[fisherman]

about authentication please can you check this article AR03S01118 – Username formats supported to log-in to NoMachine by password authentication.

[jouien]

Thanks, I’ve read that, but still don’t have a clue…I would like to remote access from my Win10 laptop to my Win7 PC via home network (don’t prefer internet connection, because it’s not that stable and unnecessary in my case), but I do not use password to login to that Win7 PC (only have a username).

Can i use username/password authentication in NoMachine without adding a password to my Win7 PC user?

 

 

[Britgirl]

Hi, so to connect to your remote Windows 7 computer you need to use the account credentials of that computer – by account credentials I mean username and password that you normally use when switching on the computer.

As the article states you need a password, the “password cannot be empty.” Logging in remotely without having set a password is forbidden by Windows’ own policies.  The reason for this is explained here:

https://forums.nomachine.com/topic/access-windows-pc-that-doesnt-have-password

How to connect to Windows with NoMachine 4 or later and an empty password
https://www.nomachine.com/AR05L00802

 

 

[jouien]

Thanks, so, if I understand correctly, there is a way to log in without a password?
Does NoMachine work like the Windows Remote access, that logs out the user when the remote access session starts, and I need to log in again to that machine when the session ends?
I’m looking for a solution that can allow instant remote access without that process, like [removed], [removed], [removed], etc.
Unfortunately, none of these are perfect, so I keep looking.

[fisherman]

It’s not quite clear what your question is but when connecting with NM you are connecting to the physical display.

You can close the session in two ways:

1. Click X of the NoMachine window and you will close the session but still be logged in locally, and you can enable session lock on disconnect. You can find more information here FR05N03110 – Locking the screen automatically when the NoMachine session is disconnected – Locking the screen automatically when the NoMachine session is disconnected
2. Log out from Windows and then close the session, in that case you will need to log back in.
   If you are using Enterprise Desktop, you can force the system log out if this is your preference, see here for details FR08R04011 – Forcing a system logout when the user disconnects from the physical display

[jouien]

I thought it’s like the built-in Windows remote desktop that (probably…) forces log out from the server machine. Btw, it doesn’t matter, because it seems without using a password, even connecting to my desktop with NM is an unreachable goal for me 🙁

[Britgirl]

As we said, connecting to the remote desktop without a password in Windows is not possible for security reasons (in Windows OS).

Regarding the “force log out from the server”, you can achieve this by using the custom scripts functionality which is a feature of Enterprise Desktop. Please consult the guide:

12.3. Forcing a System Logout Upon Session Disconnection
https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/DT10R00171

I also suggest you take a look at 12. Connections to the Remote Desktop and Collaborative Sessions in general which explains the default behaviour of NoMachine when connecting to the physical desktop.

 

[jouien]

I want to avoid the force log out from the server, not achieve it. Could you please link some article that explains the second and/or the forth authentication methods? In other programs, I only have to add a password to the program itself, not to the Windows, I’m not interested in this method if I can’t use it with a passwordless Windows account.

[Britgirl]

So. you don’t want to force the log out – could it be that there are two users connecting to the same computer with the same username? If user A connects with the same account name as user B, and user B is already logged in, user B will be logged out by user A. I’m just guessing this is what is happening since you’ve not actually made this clear. To avoid one user being logged out by the other, the two users must each have their own account on the Windows host. They will both then be able to connect via NoMachine and will see the same physical desktop. Passwords must be set in the Windows accounts for you to get access.

Remember that when the desktop owner is different from the connecting user, he/she is always required to authorize the incoming request for connection.

In version 8, a new feature called Guest Desktop Sharing will be implemented which will eliminate the need for creating a second account for another user who wishes to connect whilst you are on the desktop. A guest connecting will still require the approval of the desktop owner, which must authorize the client (based on its IP) to connect. This new feature is not suitable for unattended desktops.

More about this is in the Feature Request here: https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/FR01S04059

[jouien]

It seems NoMachine works very differently than the other remote dektop programs I use.
I still don’t know anything about the other authentication methods, but I presume they are too complicated for me as well.
If it’s not possible to use it in a very very simple way like the others (for example, the server program creates a password I have to add to the controller program to access, or just remembers the connection even without a password), I’ll let it go.
Maybe I will check it again a few months later.

[Britgirl]

“It seems NoMachine works very differently than the other remote dektop programs i use.”

Not really no. The only difference is that other programs you might be referring to get you to log in using an account which you’ve created on their server. Then by logging in to their service, you then connect to the remote computer.  With NoMachine you need to know the IP address in order to connect. Our upcoming feature, NoMachine Network, will eliminate the need for knowing the IP address. You will create an account on our Network server, and once signed in to the Network service, it will connect you to your remote PC you’ve already added to the Network service. More about NoMachine Network is here: https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/FR07J02731

“the server program creates a password i have to add to the controller program to access, or just remembers the connection even without a password)”

I think here you mean the code that you have to insert when prompted. You keep mentioning “without a password”. I’ll reiterate what I wrote in previous replies.  i) Publishing your computer on any network for unattended access, and not protecting with a password is not recommended. ii) The upcoming Guest Desktop Sharing feature will allow guests to connect without a password, but the computer must be attended so that the incoming connection can be authorized (i.e the person in front of the desktop or the user already connected to the desktop must accept the request to connect from the incoming guest).

NoMachine works out of the box with default settings which fit most of our users’ scenarios. In the majority of cases it’s not necessary to configure additional authentication methods, but for those who are more tech-savvy and want to drill down in the many methods we support, including in the free version, there is plenty of documentation explaining what these methods do:

Integrating NoMachine with Various Authentication Methods
https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/DT11R00187

Using two-factor authentication on Linux with NoMachine
https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/AR12L00828

If you to our knowledge base and search with the keyword authentication, you will find other methods in more detail:

https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/articles?s=Authentication

Thanks for checking us out anyway!

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