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Getting started with Yandex Cloud Desktop

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Updated at April 22, 2025

Note

Follow this guide to create and set up a desktop group. If you received a link to the user desktop showcase from an administrator, go to Get the connection credentials.

Cloud Desktop is a service to manage virtual Linux-based desktop infrastructure.

Create a Yandex Cloud Organization user group and deploy a Cloud Desktop desktop group for it:

  1. Get your cloud ready.
  2. Create a user group.
  3. Deploy a desktop group.
  4. Configure an ACL for the desktop group.
  5. Create a desktop.
  6. Get the connection credentials.
  7. Connect to the desktop.

Getting started

  1. Log in to the management console or sign up. If not signed up yet, navigate to the management console and follow the on-screen instructions.

  2. On the Billing page, make sure you have a billing account linked and its status is ACTIVE or TRIAL_ACTIVE. If you do not have a billing account yet, create one.

  3. If you do not have a folder yet, create one.

  4. Assign these minimum roles to your Yandex Cloud account:

    If you have a primitive admin role for a folder, you do not need to assign any additional roles.

    Note

    If you are unable to manage roles, contact your cloud or organization administrator.

  5. To make sure your desktops have access to the internet, set up a NAT gateway for the subnets that will host them.

Create a user group

  1. Log in to Yandex Cloud Organization using an administrator or organization owner account.

  2. In the left-hand panel, select Groups.

  3. In the top-right corner of the page, click Create group.

  4. Enter a name and description for the group.

    The name must be unique within the organization and follow the naming requirements:

    • It must be from 1 to 63 characters long.
    • It may contain lowercase Latin letters, numbers, and hyphens.
    • It must start with a letter and cannot end with a hyphen.

  5. Click Create group.

  6. On the page that opens, go to the Members tab and click Add member.

  7. In the window than opens, select the users to deploy a desktop group for.

  8. Click Save.

Deploy a desktop group

  1. In the management console, select the folder where you want to create your desktop group.
  2. In the list of services, select Cloud Desktop.
  3. Click Create desktop group.
  4. Enter a name for the desktop group.
  5. Select Group type: Personal. Desktops are assigned to users on their first sign-in and remain reserved for them.
  6. Under Desktops, specify:
    1. Maximum desktop group size: 2, maximum number of desktops per group.
    2. Hot standby: 1, number of desktops kept always loaded for quick user access.
  7. Under Computing resources on the Standard tab, click Basic.
  8. Select Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for the OS image.
  9. Under Disks:
    • Select SSD for the boot and data disk types.
    • Set the boot disk size to 60 GB.
    • Set the data disk size to 4 GB.
  10. Under Network settings, select the cloud network and subnets where your desktops will reside.
  11. Under Desktop users, click Add users and specify those the desktops will be available to:
    • User groups.
    • Individual users.
    • Any user's mail address. The user will be sent an invitation to your organization and assigned a role for desktop access.
  12. Click Create.

Configure an ACL for the desktop group

Cloud Desktop leverages Yandex Identity and Access Management roles and access control lists (ACL) to manage access. This example shows how access control works in Cloud Desktop.

  1. To the right of the desktop group you created earlier, click and select Configure ACL.
  2. In the ACL editing window, select the user group you created earlier, specify the vdi.viewer role for it, and click Add.
  3. Click Save.

Create a desktop

  1. In the left-hand panel, select Desktops.

  2. Click Create desktop.

  3. Select the desktop group you created earlier.

  4. Specify the subnet for the desktop.

    Note

    Make sure to configure a NAT gateway in this subnet, so your desktop will have internet access.

  5. Specify the desktop user.

  6. Click Create.

Get the connection credentials

  1. In the management console, select the folder with your desktop.
  2. In the list of services, select Cloud Desktop.
  3. In the left-hand panel, select Desktops.
  4. Select the desktop you want to connect to.
  5. Under Desktop user, next to the user account, click and select Reset password.
  6. Confirm the password reset.
  7. Save the new password from the pop-up window that appears and close the window.
  8. At the top right, click Download RDP file.

  1. Open the User desktop showcase.

  2. Sign in with your Yandex ID or using Single Sign-On (SSO).

  3. If the desktop you want to connect to has the Stopped status, run it by clicking and then confirming the action.

    Wait for the desktop status to change to Active.

  4. Click and confirm the password reset.

  5. Save the new password from the pop-up window that appears and close the window.

  6. Click Download RDP file.

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud CLI yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id settings.

  1. See the description of the CLI command for getting RDP file data:

    yc desktops desktop get-rdp-file --help

  2. Get a list of desktops in the default folder:

    yc desktops desktop list

    Result:

    +----------------------+------------------+--------+----------------------+---------------------+
|          ID          |       NAME       | STATUS |   DESKTOP GROUP ID   |   CREATED (UTC-0)   |
+----------------------+------------------+--------+----------------------+---------------------+
| e3vmvhgbgac4******** | my-cloud-desktop | ACTIVE | e3v1rbln45tl******** | 2024-10-09 22:42:28 |
| e3vio1bc5ppz******** | reserved-desktop | ACTIVE | e3v1rbln45tl******** | 2024-10-09 21:35:17 |
+----------------------+------------------+--------+----------------------+---------------------+

  3. Select the ID or NAME of the desktop you need, e.g., my-cloud-desktop.

  4. Reset the desktop user password.

  5. Request the data:

    yc desktops desktop get-rdp-file --name <desktop_name>

    Result:

    full address:s:my-cloud-desktop
gatewayhostname:s:rdg.vdi.cloud.yandex.net:3839
gatewaycredentialssource:i:5
gatewayusagemethod:i:1
gatewayprofileusagemethod:i:1
gatewayaccesstoken:s:ver=1;desktopUserToken=0174a9f2-...V6DQ
networkautodetect:i:0
bandwidthautodetect:i:1
connection type:i:6
username:s:.\alice-little
domain:s:
bitmapcachesize:i:32000
smart sizing:i:1
audiocapturemode:i:1
audiomode:i:0
authentication level:i:0

  6. Save the received data to an .rdp file.

Use the getRdpFile REST API method for the Desktop resource or the DesktopService/GetRdpFile gRPC API call.

To reset the password, use the resetPassword REST API method for the Desktop resource or the DesktopService/ResetPassword gRPC API call.

Connect to the desktop

To establish a desktop connection, use the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

  1. Right-click the downloaded RDP file and select Edit (in Windows 11, select Show more options → Edit).
  2. In the Remote Desktop Connection window, open the General tab, select Allow me to save credentials, and click Connect.
  3. In the security window that opens, select Don't ask me again for connections to this computer and click Yes.
  4. Enter the password you saved previously, select Remember me, and click OK.

To reconnect to the desktop, run the RDP file you saved.

  1. Install and run Microsoft Remote Desktop, the official free RDP client for macOS.
  2. Open the Connections menu amd click Import from RDP file.
  3. In the window that opens, select the downloaded RDP file and click Import.
  4. In the Microsoft Remote Desktop menu, select Settings.
  5. In the window that opens, navigate to the User Accounts tab.
  6. Select the account you want to connect to from the list on the left, and paste the previously saved password into the Password field.
  7. Close the settings window.
  8. In the PCs tab, run the desktop you added.
  9. In the security window that opens, click Continue.

To reconnect to the desktop, run it from the PCs tab in the Microsoft Remote Desktop client. In the security window that opens, click Continue.

See also

  1. Install Remmina, a free RDP client for Linux, by running the following commands in the terminal:

    sudo apt-add-repository ppa:remmina-ppa-team/remmina-next
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install remmina remmina-plugin-rdp

  2. Start Remmina.

  3. In the top menu, click and select Import. Select the downloaded RDP file and click Import.

  4. Right-click the added desktop and select Edit.

  5. In the Remote Connection Profile window, set up the connection:

    • In the Username field, remove the first two characters: .\.
    • In the Password field, enter the previously saved password.

  6. Click Save and Connect.

To reconnect to the desktop, run it in the Remmina client.

See also

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