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• Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web) MFA

Microsoft RD Web Access (RD Web) MFA configuration initiates with a user trying to login into Remote Desktop Service (RDS) either through a Remote Desktop Client (using RDP) or via the Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web) login page from his/her browser. After logging in, a RADIUS request is sent from the miniOrange RD Web component installed on the target machine to the miniOrange RADIUS server, which authenticates the user via Local AD (Active Directory), and after a successful authentication, Two / Multi factor authentication of the user is invoked. After the user validates himself/herself, he/she is granted access to the Remote Desktop Web Service.

What is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method that requires the user to authenticate themselves for two or more factors, in order to gain access to company resources, applications, or servers (Remote desktop web access). Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) means that users need to provide additional verification factors apart from their username and passwords thus increasing the security of the organization's resources.

How Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web) 2FA/MFA Works?

1. In this case, the user goes to Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web) login page from his browser to connect to the Remote Desktop Service.He enters his username and password, and on submission, the RADIUS request from RD Web component installed on target machine is sent to the miniOrange RADIUS server which authenticates the user via local AD in the target machine.
2. Once authenticated, it sends a RADIUS challenge to Remote Desktop Web Access (RD Web), and the RD Web shows OTP screen on browser now. Once the user enters the One Time Passcode (OTP), the miniOrange IdP verifies it and grants/denies access to the RDS.
3. With this, after the user is connected to the Remote Desktop Service, the user can also gain access to published remote app icons on his browser screen, since the session has already been created for the user.

Integrate hassle-free MFA for login to stop password-based attacks. IT gets added security, and users get easy access to the apps and endpoints they need — with just their domain credentials. Always verify identities before allowing access to endpoints for increased identity assurance and reduced risk and exposure. miniOrange Credential Providers can be installed on Microsoft Windows client and server operating systems to add two-factor Authentication to Remote Desktop.

miniOrange supports following Authentication Methods for 2FA:

1. miniOrange Push (miniOrange Authenticator App)
2. miniOrange Soft Token (miniOrange Authenticator App)
3. Google Authenticator
4. OTP Over SMS/EMAIL
5. Hardware Token
6. Check out 15+ MFA/2FA methods

Prerequisites for setting up RD Web Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

• Set Up RDWeb with 2FA Integration
• Follow the steps below to install and configure Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for RDWeb on your Remote Desktop (RDP) machine:
• Download the 2FA Installer
• Download the RDWeb 2FA installer to your RDP machine using the link below: Download RDWeb 2FA Installer
• Backup Existing RDWeb Files
• Navigate to C:/Windows/Web/RDWeb
• Copy the entire RDWeb folder and save it in a safe location as a backup.
• Run the Installer
• Right-click the downloaded installer file.
• Select Run as Administrator.
• Follow the setup wizard instructions to complete the installation.

Follow the Step-by-Step Guide given below to configure RD Web MFA

1. Download 2FA for RD Web Module

• Login into miniOrange Admin Console.
• Go to Apps. Click on Add Application button.



• In Choose Application Type click on Create App button in Desktop application type.



• Search for RDWeb in the list, if you don't find RDWeb in the list then, search for API Desktop and you can set up your application via API Desktop.



• In the Basic tab, enter the following details:

Basic Tabs	Description
Display Name	Enter the Display Name (i.e., the name for this application).
Description (Optional)	Add a description if required.
App Secret	You can find App Secret by clicking the icon as shown below.




• Click on Save to continue. You will be automatically redirected to the Policies section.



• Click on Add Policy
• A dialog box will appear prompting you to enter the following details:

Group Name	Select the group for which you wish to add this policy. For multiple groups, you can click here to add a multiple/separate policies for each group.
Policy Name	You can give a name for the authentication policy.
First Factor	Select the login method as Password and Password-less. You can enable 2-Factor Authentication (MFA), Adaptive Authentication and Force MFA On Each Login Attempt if required.




• Click on Submit to add the policy.
• Once submitted, the newly added policy will appear in the list.

1.1 Configure Web.Config

• Open the following file in a text editor (such as Notepad++): C:/Windows/Web/RDWeb/Pages/web.config
• Locate the configuration section and update the following values:
• CustomerID
• ApiKey
• ApplicationName



• To fill in these details, login to your miniOrange admin account on Cloud or On-premise.


• Click on the Settings icon on the top right corner.



• Copy the Customer Key and Customer API key.



• Now, Go to Apps and copy the name of the API application created.




Note: Ensure that you input the correct values provided by your 2FA service provider.

1.2 Test the RDWeb Login

• Open your browser and navigate to your RDWeb login portal.
• Sign in using your usual username and password.

1.3 Choose 2FA Option

• After logging in, you will be prompted to choose a Two-Factor Authentication method.
• Select your preferred 2FA method (e.g., push notification).

1.4 Complete 2FA Verification

• Accept the push notification or use the configured method on your mobile device.
• Once verified, the system will proceed with the login.

1.5 Successful Login

• After successful 2FA verification, you will be logged in to Remote Desktop Web Access (RDWeb).

2. Configure ​Two-Factor Authentication(2FA) for RD Web

• To enable 2FA/MFA for RD Web endusers, go to 2-Factor Authentication >> 2FA Options for Endusers.
• Select default Two-Factor authentication method for end users. You can select particular 2FA methods, which you want to show on the end users dashboard.
• Once Done with the settings, click on Save to configure your 2FA settings.



• Login into your End-User Dashboard using end user login URL.



For Cloud Version

The Login URL for end users will be available after setting up Organisation name.

(You can follow these steps and use the login URL present in the Branding section.)





For On-Premise version

The Login URL will be the same as of Admin Login URL.

• Go to the 2-Factor Authentication >> Setup 2FA
• For now, we have selected the "OTP over SMS" as our 2FA method for RD Web Access. You can explore the guide to setup other 2FA methods here.
• Click on Configured "OTP over SMS".



• Click on the Edit option.
• After that, click here to update your phone number



• Now add your mobile number on which you want to receive the OTP.



• click on the Save button on the top bar to set this as your 2FA method.
• Admin can change the second factor of the End user from the User List.



• Under Action click on Select and then select Change Second Factor.

3. Configure Your User Directory (Optional)

miniOrange provides user authentication from various external sources, which can be Directories (like ADFS, Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, OpenLDAP, Google, AWS Cognito etc), Identity Providers (like Okta, Shibboleth, Ping, OneLogin, KeyCloak), Databases (like MySQL, Maria DB, PostgreSQL) and many more. You can configure your existing directory/user store or add users in miniOrange.

• Setup miniOrange as IDP
• Setup AD as User Directory
• Setup External IDP

• To add your users in miniOrange there are 2 ways:

1. Create User in miniOrange

2. Bulk Upload Users

1. Create User in miniOrange

• Click on Users >> User List >> Add User.



• Here, fill the user details without the password and then click on the Create User button.



• After successful user creation a notification message "An end user is added successfully" will be displayed at the top of the dashboard.



• Click on Onboarding Status tab. Check the email, with the registered e-mail id and select action Send Activation Mail with Password Reset Link from Select Action dropdown list and then click on Apply button.



• Now, Open your email id. Open the mail you get from miniOrange and then click on the link to set your account password.
• On the next screen, enter the password and confirm password and then click on the Single Sign-On (SSO) reset password button.



• Now, you can log in into miniOrange account by entering your credentials.

2. Bulk Upload Users in miniOrange via Uploading CSV File.

• Navigate to Users >> User List. Click on Add User button.



• In Bulk User Registration Download sample csv format from our console and edit this csv file according to the instructions.



• To bulk upload users, choose the file make sure it is in comma separated .csv file format then click on Upload.



• After uploading the csv file successfully, you will see a success message with a link.
• Click on that link you will see list of users to send activation mail. Select users to send activation mail and click on Send Activation Mail. An activation mail will be sent to the selected users.

• Click on External Directories >> Add Directory in the left menu of the dashboard.



• Select Directory type as AD/LDAP.



• STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION IN MINIORANGE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in miniOrange. If the active directory is behind a firewall, you will need to open the firewall to allow incoming requests to your AD.
• STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION ON PREMISE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in your premise and only allow access to AD inside premises. You will have to download and install miniOrange gateway on your premise.




• Enter LDAP Display Name and LDAP Identifier name.
• Select Directory Type as Active Directory.
• Enter the LDAP Server URL or IP Address against the LDAP Server URL field.
• Click on the Test Connection button to verify if you have made a successful connection with your LDAP server.



• In Active Directory, go to the properties of user containers/OU's and search for the Distinguished Name attribute. The bind account should have minimum required read privileges in Active Directory to allow directory lookups. If the use case involves provisioning (such as creating, updating, or deleting users or groups), the account must also be granted appropriate write permissions.



• Enter the valid Bind account Password.
• Click on the Test Bind Account Credentials button to verify your LDAP Bind credentials for LDAP connection.



• Search Base is the location in the directory where the search for a user begins. You will get this from the same place you got your Distinguished name.



• Select a suitable Search filter from the drop-down menu. If you use User in Single Group Filter or User in Multiple Group Filter, replace the <group-dn> in the search filter with the distinguished name of the group in which your users are present. To use custom Search Filter select "Write your Custom Filter" option and customize it accordingly.



• Click on the Next button, or go to the Authentication tab.
• You can also configure following options while setting up AD. Enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP. Click on the Next button to add user store.




Here's the list of the attributes and what it does when we enable it. You can enable/disable accordingly.

Attribute	Description
Activate LDAP	All user authentications will be done with LDAP credentials if you Activate it
Fallback Authentication	If LDAP credentials fail then user will be authenticated through miniOrange
Enable administrator login	On enabling this, your miniOrange Administrator login authenticates using your LDAP server
Show IdP to users	If you enable this option, this IdP will be visible to users
Sync users in miniOrange	Users will be created in miniOrange after authentication with LDAP

• Click on the Next button, or go to the Provisioning tab.

User Import and Provisioning from AD

• If you want to set up provisioning, click here for detailed information. For now, we are skipping this step by clicking Skip on Provisioning.

Attributes Mapping from AD

• By default userName, firstName, lastName, email are configured. Scroll down and click on Save Configurations. To fetch additional attributes from Active Directory, enable Send Configured Attributes. On the left side, enter the name that you wish to release to the applications. On the right side, enter the attribute name from Active Directory. E.g., if you wish to fetch company attribute from Active Directory, and send it as organization to configured applications, enter the following:

  Attribute Name sent to SP = organization
  Attribute Name from IDP = company

Test Connections

• You will see a list of directories in External Directories. Go to the directory you have configured, click Select, then go to Test Connections and click on it.



• Click on Test Connection to check whether you have enter valid details. For that, it will ask for username and password.



• On Successful connection with LDAP Server, a success message is shown.

Test Attribute Mapping

• You will see a list of directories in External Directories. Go to the directory you have configured, click Select, then go to Test Attribute Mapping and click on it.



• A pop-up will appear to add the username. After clicking Test, you will see the Test Attribute Mapping Result.

Set up AD as External Directory configuration is complete.

Note: Refer our guide to setup LDAP on windows server.

miniOrange integrates with various external user sources such as directories, identity providers, and etc.

• Okta
• ADFS
• Ping
• AWS Cognito
• Many more

Not able to find your IdP or Need help setting it up?

Contact us or email us at idpsupport@xecurify.com and we'll help you setting it up in no time.

4. Creating User Groups(Recommended)

• Select Groups >> Manage Groups from left panel.



• Click on the Create Group button on the top.
• Enter windowsMFA as Group Name and click on Create Group.



• Assign various members to the group using the Assign User option associated with the group in the groups list.



• Select the Users that are required to be make default to this group. Then Select Make Default in Select Action Dropdown. Then click Apply.

External References

• 2FA/MFA for Microsoft Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway)
• Enable MFA for windows logon and Remote desktop protocol (RDP)
• MFA for Linux machines and SSH access
• Secure Remote Access: Explained by miniOrange
• Self-Service Password Reset for Windows devices
• MFA for Remote Desktop
• Explore Windows Server MFA Solution