Remote Desktop to Your Server From a Local Windows Computer

Here are the directions to remote desktop into your server from a local Windows OS

1. Click the Start button. On newer versions of Windows, right click the Start button.
2. Click Run…
   
3. Type “mstsc” and press the Enter key.
   
4. Next to Computer: type in the IP address of your server
   
5. Click Connect.
6. If all goes well, you will see the Windows login prompt.

Remote Desktop to Your Server From a macOS Computer

If you are running macOS, you will need to download the Microsoft Remote Desktop app from the Mac App Store.

Under the PCs tab, click the + (plus) button and then click on Add PC.

Under PC Name, enter your server's IP address. Click on Add.

Double click on your server in the list and you'll be prompted for your username and password.

Additional Information

All Windows servers are deployed with standard RDP open. This port will be open directly on the Internet. Once you are connected, you should secure this port. Changing the port number will prevent bots and scripts from finding it, however a determined attacker will find it through normal scanning. The best course of action is to use a firewall to restrict access via IP. 

Other possible options include using a bastion host and configuring the firewall to only respond to this host. A popular open source option is Apache Guacamole.

Another option would be to implement RDP port knocking.

A program can be added to do this: https://github.com/vigisoft/rdp-port-knocking