mRemoteNG: Advanced Terminal to Connect to SSH, RDP and VNC

mRemoteNG is one of the most advanced programs to perform remote administration tasks on computers and servers. This program is compatible with Windows operating systems, and will allow us to very easily manage other Windows, Linux and macOS systems, since this program includes compatibility with a large number of network protocols designed to manage remote connections. Today in this article we are going to talk in depth about this highly recommended mRemoteNG program.

Main features

This program has many functions for system and network administrators, it has all the necessary network tools to manage and administer computers remotely, either through the command line or through a graphical environment. Some of the protocols that mRemoteNG supports to function are the RDP protocol (Remote Desktop / Terminal Server), VNC (Virtual Network Computing), ICA (Citrix Independent Computing Architecture), SSH (Secure SHell), Telnet, HTTP and HTTPS, also supports rLogin and even Raw connections.

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The graphical user interface of this program is very intuitive, which will allow us to manage and administer computers remotely in a very easy way, in addition, it has a system of tabs and in each of them we can manage a different computer. Other very important features are that it includes an SCP and SFTP client, therefore, it not only supports SSHv2 connections, but we can also transfer folders and files using the SCP and SFTP protocols.

mRemoteNG is a fork of the popular mRemote, but improving a lot of bugs and incorporating interesting new features, therefore, it is recommended that you use mRemoteNG instead of mRemote. This program is completely open-source and free, so we can download and use it completely free. This program has a large number of configuration options to adapt the graphical user interface as we want, in addition, we have multiple advanced options when connecting to the different servers (SSH, VNC, RDP etc.)

This program has many advantages over other similar programs, for example, we can connect to multiple servers thanks to its organization in tabs, this is ideal for managing and administering multiple computers remotely because you will have all of them “located” in the graphical user interface.

Download and install

This mRemoteNG program is completely free, we can download it from the official website , both in MSI format to install it as well as in a ZIP file without installation. If you are going to install this program on your PC because you are going to use it regularly, then we recommend downloading and installing the MSI format, if you are going to try it and then decide if you are going to install it, you can download and use the ZIP so you don’t have to install it .

The installation wizard of this program will allow us to install it in two minutes. The first thing we do is click on «Next» to proceed with the installation wizard and install it.

In the installation wizard we will have to accept the license of the program, decide what additional software we want to install (our recommendation is to install everything you need to work perfectly), then we click on «Install» and wait a few seconds until it is fully installed . Once it has been installed, we can run the program by clicking on the option “Launch mRemoteNG now” and on “Finish”.

When we start this program for the first time, it will tell us that it has different policies for the update installation. This mRemoteNG program is capable of automatically checking for updates with new improvements, functionalities, etc. We have chosen the option “Use the recommended options”.

Once we have learned how to download and install it, we are going to see all the mRemoteNG options.

All mRemoteNG options

The first thing we are going to see with mRemoteNG is that it is capable of importing all the profiles of the popular PuTTY program for Windows operating systems. In the upper left is where we will have the different menus to connect to remote computers using different protocols. In the central part is where we will have the connections organized by tabs as if it were a web browser.

If we connect to a remote SSH server, the console will appear in the central part, with the background in black and the letters in white, although we can modify the appearance of the console through the “Options” section of the same program, including the letters and their size.

In the upper left area is where we can see all the types of connection that we have available, from here we will enter the domain or IP address, and then we choose the protocol. It will use the default ports, in case other ports are used, then we will have to edit the connection right at the bottom where we will have all the necessary options to connect correctly.

The ” File ” section is where we can create a new connection and a new folder, to organize the connections correctly. We can also create a new connection file, open it and save it, in order to save all connection “profiles” and import them on another computer or save a backup copy of all connection profiles with their corresponding IP / domain, port , protocol and credentials. Other options are to delete, rename folder, reconnect all open connections, etc.

The ” View ” section is where we can add a new connection panel, see the connections, settings and notifications, as well as “configure” the entire graphical aspect of the program. In addition, we will also have the possibility of enabling a bar to make multiple SSH connections simultaneously, etc.

In ” Tools ” is where we can perform the file transfer by SSH, using the SCP and SFTP protocols, we can also use external tools that we will explain later, perform a host and port scan, check the components and enter directly into all the configuration options of the program, to adapt it to our needs.

Finally, in the ” Help ” section we can see the help of the program itself, go to the official website, donate, see the support forum, report a bug, check for updates and see the version of the program that we are using.

As you can see in the lower left, we can put all the connection data necessary for SSH, RDP, VNC etc.

Of course, the first thing we have to do is select the connection protocol, then we will configure all the parameters that it asks for.

We could also create a new empty panel, and configure the graphical interface of said panel as we want.

If we select the option “multi SSH” we can see a bar to make this connection.

The options regarding the transfer of files via SSH with SCP and SFTP are the usual ones, we will have to put the server, username and password, protocol and port, in addition, we will have to choose the local file and click on transfer. It is also true that other programs such as mobaXterm allow drag and drop when we connect to SSH directly, opening a specific SFTP menu when we establish an SSH connection, and all this automatically, without us having to establish a specific connection.

If we run the port scanner, the first thing we will have to enter are the IP addresses or a range of IP addresses, with the initial and final port, as well as the connection timeout. Once configured, click on “Scan” that we have on the right side.

Finally, if we click on «Component check» it will check if we have everything we need installed to have all the options. For example, it will check if we have RDP, VNC, PuTTY and also ICA as well as GeckoFx for HTTP / HTTPS connections.

In the ” Options ” section we can configure the options of the program itself, if we want to save the connections, reconnect the previously opened sessions at startup, allow several instances of the program simultaneously, if we want it in Spanish, the configuration of the tabs and panels that we can launch and also everything related to notifications and alerts.

Other available options are related to the connections and reconnections that the program can make, also with the user credentials, if we want to use the SQL server (experimental) as well as configure the program’s update policy.

Finally, we will have the options related to the «Theme» that we can have in the program to change its appearance, the security if we want to save the connection file, encrypting it with AES-GCM or other symmetric encryption algorithms, and we can also enter the “Advanced” section that will allow us to use a custom PuTTY path, launch PuTTY directly, and more.

As you have seen, this mRemoteNG program is a great option to manage and administer our remote connections from the Windows operating system, it is perfectly compatible with the latest version of Windows 10 and it will allow us great configurability when making connections. , and also a large number of customization options for the program itself.