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General - Connecting to a RDP RemoteApp

Last modified by Tobias Wintrich on 2025/10/10 13:46
Information

This HowTo was created and tested with the following versions:

  • Firmware Version x64 13.00 Build 119  
  • FreeRDP 3.17 13.00 Build 005  
  • ThinCast 1.1 13.00 Build 015

Server Environment

This article was tested with a Windows Server 2022 system configured with various applications shared via RemoteApp.

Warning

Ensure that the Group Policy setting “Use advanced RemoteFX graphics for RemoteApp” under  
Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Remote Desktop Services → Remote Desktop Session Host → Remote Session Environment  
is set to either “Not configured” (default) or “Enabled”.  

If this policy is set to “Disabled”, it can result in an increased number of visual artifacts within the RemoteApp session.

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Thincast / FreeRDP Configuration

In each connection configuration, you have three options for launching a RemoteApp.  
For all three options, the corresponding application must first be published on the server for RemoteApp access.

Information

When using the “Alias” or “Exe” modes, it is strongly recommended to use the ThinCast Client.  
This client provides significantly better image quality and greatly reduces visual artifacts.

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Warning

When using the ThinCast Client, the option “GFX-Small Cache” must be enabled.  
Without this option, the connection will not start.

All other connection parameters can be configured as for a standard RDP connection.

Alias Mode

In “Alias” mode, enter the alias name of the published application in the “RemoteApp Path/Alias/Shell” field according to the server configuration.  
The client will then connect to the application in seamless mode.

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Exe Mode

In “Exe” mode, enter the application to be launched in the “RemoteApp Path/Alias/Shell” field.  
If required, you can also specify the full path.  
The client will start the application in seamless mode.

Information

Path Input Note

When using the ThinCast Client or FreeRDP, the application path must not contain a colon (:).  
Therefore, a path such as “C:\MyProgram.exe” will not work.  

Instead, use an environment variable, for example:  
“%HOMEDRIVE%\MyProgram.exe”  

Applications located in the System32 directory can be launched without specifying a path.

Example entries for Exe mode:

  • %ProgramFiles%\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe  
  • notepad.exe  
  • %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe  

The result after connection setup is identical to that of Alias mode.

Shell Mode

In “Shell” mode, the published application is started in its own session against a black background.  
Instead of the Windows Explorer, only the defined application is executed within the session.

The application path can be defined in two ways:

  1. By specifying the full path (as in “Exe” mode), or  
    2. By using the alias name prefixed with “||”

Example entries for Shell mode:

  • %ProgramFiles%\Windows NT\Accessories\wordpad.exe  
  • notepad.exe  
  • %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe  
  • ||mspaint  
  • ||msedge

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Black Borders / Transparency in Seamless Mode

When running a session in “Exe” or “Alias” mode in seamless mode, black borders may appear around the published applications.  
This occurs because RangeeOS runs without a compositor by default.  
A compositor is required to correctly render transparency effects, such as window shadows.

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To enable a compositor, go to Desktop → Compositor and set the option to “XFWM”.  
The compositor will start immediately after applying the change, and the black borders will disappear.