Why can I not RDP into my Windows EC2

Question

I created an EC2 on a **t2.micro** using the **Windows_Server-2019-English-Full-Base-2021.11.10** AMI. I have an elastic IP setup with the instance as well. I went into the Connect section and downloaded the remote desktop file. In addition, I retrieved the password without issue using the associated key pair the instance was created with.

I have an inbound rule for port 3389 to allow all traffic.

I have tried including a '\' in front of the username Administrator I have also tried copy and paste of the password along with typing in the password. Each time I get an error of login attempt failed.

Is there something I am missing that would prevent me from being able to RDP?

Francisco_L · Answer

I use the format ".\Administrator" (be sure to include the period) when I want to authenticate as the local Administrator user of the instance. If that still doesn't work and you are familiar with the AWS SSM service, you could attempt to connect to the instance via the SSM Session Manager component, which would give you a PowerShell session. There, you can create a new local administrator account by issuing the following commands:

1. net user   /add
2. net localgroup administrators  /add

For more information about how to setup SSM Session Manager, please take a look at the following link https://docs.aws.amazon.com/systems-manager/latest/userguide/session-manager-getting-started.html

Paul_C · Answer

Try using this format, internal ip\administrator (example 192.168.0.1\administrator) as the username.

Also it sounds like the networking is correct if you can telnet, but just for reference this is how public and private subnets work within your VPC: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/latest/userguide/VPC_Scenario2.html If you do not have a subnet with a proper route to an IGW you will not be able to RDP in from the internet. Make sure the Route table(s) are setup with the correct 0.0.0.0/0 routes.

I assume the instance has been up for a while now, but also as an FYI a t2.micro Windows Server 2019 will take some time before it will be ready to receive inbound RDP connections after boot up.

Why can I not RDP into my Windows EC2

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