Windows Terminal Server Login

For D-BAUG IGP user, see here for using the institute owned Terminal Server.

For D-PHYS user: We offer a Windows 2016 Terminal Server that allows you to log in to Windows from a non-Windows computer with remote desktop.

The intention of the Terminal Server is to offer native Windows applications for users working on a non-Windows systems without them having to install the whole system.

General Notes

  • Printers have to be configured once according to the readme document.
  • In the taskbar you'll find an icon to change your keyboard layout.
  • Right now we have installed a base set of applications:
    • MS Office
    • Acrobat Pro
    • FileMaker
    • Firefox
    • Sophos Anti-Virus
    • 7-Zip
    • please contact us if you think you're missing an application of general interest.

Use RemoteApp

We offer for Windows and Mac clients RemoteApp. That mean you can use an application where run on the terminal server direct on your desktop without any additional gui arround.

Here will you find, how you can this use.

Login from Windows

You dont need to install an additional Software to use the Terminal Server. To connect the to the Terminal Server you need just three simple steps

  • Run mstsc.exe
  • Enter the Coumptername winlogin.phys.ethz.ch
  • Enter the Username in this format ad\your_dphys_username

here will you find more detailed manual

Login from macOS

You need to install either of the Remote Desktop Clients

After starting the program, you can connect to "winlogin.phys.ethz.ch". Make sure to use ad\your_dphys_username as user name. See configuring Microsoft Remote Desktop on Mac for more details.

Login from Linux/Unix

  • You can also access the Windows Terminal Server from any regular Linux machine. Just run
xfreerdp /cert-ignore /sound:sys:alsa /microphone:sys:alsa /rfx /compression /f /bpp:24 /d:ad /v:winlogin.phys.ethz.ch /u:$USER +fonts

Please consult the manual page of xfreerdp for different options.

man xfreerdp

Login from Outside the D-PHYS Networks...

The Windows Terminal Server is only reachable from inside the D-PHYS network but you can tunnel your Remote Desktop session with SSLVPN or SSH.

Connect via VPN

The recommended and easiest method is to start VPN before connecting to our Terminal Server.

Alternative method using ssh client:

...from a Linux Computer

If you come from outside of the Physics Department, you need to open an appropriate SSH tunnel beforehand, e.g. run

ssh -l yourloginname -C -f -L 3389:winlogin.phys.ethz.ch:3389 login.phys.ethz.ch sleep 60
rdesktop -d AD -x l -z -k en-us -x 0x80 -g 1280x1024 localhost

replacing yourloginname with your D-PHYS account name.

...from a Mac Computer

Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and paste the following command to open an SSH tunnel

ssh -l yourloginname -C -f -L 3389:winlogin.phys.ethz.ch:3389 login.phys.ethz.ch sleep 60

replacing yourloginname with your D-PHYS account name. Then open the Remote Desktop Connection application and connect to 127.0.0.1. Make sure to use ad\your_dphys_username as user name.

...from a Windows Computer

Open cmd by typing in the start menu and paste the following command to open an SSH tunnel.

ssh -l yourloginname -C -L 3390:winlogin.phys.ethz.ch:3389 login.phys.ethz.ch sleep 60

replacing yourloginname with your D-PHYS account name. Let the command prompt window open. Then open the Remote Desktop Connection application and connect to 127.0.0.1:3390. Make sure to use ad\your_dphys_username as user name.

You can also use Putty instead the openssh client, see here.