Set up unattended access

Unattended access lets you connect to a computer nobody is sitting at — your own office PC, a server or a customer's point-of-sale machine — without waiting for someone to approve each connection. It has two parts:

• The Polpo Desk service: keeps the client running from the moment Windows starts, even before anyone signs in. With the service installed, User Account Control (UAC) prompts and other administrator screens are visible to the operator too.
• A permanent access password: unlike the one-time session password, which changes every time, this is a fixed password you choose. Connections made with it are accepted without asking for approval.

You only need to do the first two steps once, on the remote computer (the one you will connect to).

1. Install the service

1. Open the Polpo Desk client on the remote computer. If the client isn't installed yet, first install the Windows client.
2. If the Service not installed for admin support banner appears at the top of the window, click Install.
3. Approve the Windows administrator prompt.
4. When installation finishes, the Service installed — admin support ready. notification appears and the banner disappears.

Once the service is installed, the client adds desktop and Start menu shortcuts and starts automatically when you sign in to Windows.

2. Set the permanent access password

1. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner of the client.
2. Switch to the Security tab.
3. Type your password into the Fixed password (min 4) field.
4. Click Set.
5. A confirmation that the permanent access password has been set appears, and the Enable unattended access switch turns on.

The password is stored on the server as a hash, not as plain text. To change it, type a new password and click Set again. To turn unattended access off, switch off Enable unattended access; the fixed password is deleted and can no longer be used to connect.

3. Connect as an operator

1. In the operator console, type the computer's 9-digit ID in the Connect to Remote Device box, or click Connect on its card on the Devices page.
2. In the Connecting to device… window, type the permanent password into the Session password (optional) field.
3. Click Connect with Password. If the password is correct, the session opens without waiting for approval.

If a wrong password is entered 5 times within 15 minutes for the same device, password connections to that device are blocked for 15 minutes and its session password is renewed. During that time you'll see Too many failed password attempts. Please try again in 15 minutes.

Let the console remember the password

So that you don't have to type the permanent password every time, the console can remember it:

1. Before connecting, leave Remember details for this device ticked on the home page (it is ticked by default; your choice is saved to your account).
2. Connect with the permanent password as described above. The Remember password for future connections box in the Connecting to device… window (and in the Connection failed window) takes its default from the home page box; you can change it for this connection only.
3. From then on, when you connect to that device from this console, the remembered password is used automatically: you don't need to type it and the remote side isn't asked for approval.

Good to know:

• Only the device's permanent access password is remembered. If you connected with the one-time session password, you see Password not remembered: only the device's permanent access password can be remembered (one-time passwords change each time).
• The password isn't stored in your browser or on your computer. It is stored encrypted on the Polpo Desk server, tied to your operator account and to that device.
• If the permanent password has been changed on the remote computer or unattended access has been turned off, the console forgets the remembered password and sends an approval request instead. The connecting window then shows Saved password invalid — enter it again.

Sign-in screen or desktop?

With the service installed, you decide what you see when you connect. The Connecting to device… window (where you wait for approval or can type the password) offers a Session to show choice:

• Active session (default): the desktop of the signed-in user (e.g. an RDP session).
• Sign-in screen: the Windows sign-in / lock screen on the computer's own physical console.

If the chosen session is a different one, Polpo Desk restarts in that session on the remote computer and the console reconnects automatically within a few seconds, without asking for the password again. On a normal PC, where the person at the screen is also the active user, both options show the same thing.

To open a device in the same session every time — for example when the console remembers its password and connects without this window — set Session to show in the device's Edit Device window on the Devices page. See Devices, address book, groups and favorites.

During a session you can also switch from the Actions menu with Switch to sign-in screen or Switch to active session; these commands only appear when the computer has a separate sign-in session. Switching is refused while another operator is connected to the same computer. When the last operator disconnects, the computer returns to the active session by default.

Without the service, nothing is asked: you see the session of the user running the client.

About "Ask for approval on every connection"

If Ask for approval on every connection on the Settings → General tab is turned off, connections are accepted automatically while the client is open — even when no password is entered. You do not need to turn this setting off for unattended access: connections made with the permanent password never ask for approval anyway. For your security, we recommend leaving it on. For all client settings, see Client security settings.

What else the service enables

With the service installed, you can restart the remote computer during a session and reconnect automatically when it comes back, without a password or approval. See Remote restart for details.

If you can't connect, try the steps in Can't connect to a device.