How do I troubleshoot Remote Desktop Connection issues to my Amazon EC2 Windows instance?

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I can't connect to my Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Windows instance with Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Resolution

Troubleshoot the error message "An internal error occurred"

If you receive the RDP error message "An internal error occurred", then see Step: 1 Check the RDP port on the Microsoft website.

Troubleshoot using an instance screenshot

You can view an instance screenshot for visibility into the instance's status. If the screenshot indicates that the instance operating system (OS) boots successfully but fails instance status checks, then complete the following steps:

  1. Create a secondary network interface.
  2. Attach the secondary network interface to the instance.
  3. Test connecting to the instance through RDP again.

Verify that you're using the correct IP address

If the instance is in a subnet that uses a NAT Gateway, make sure that you're connecting to the instance's private IP address. The instance is unreachable on the public IP address behind the NAT Gateway.

Verify that port 3389 isn't blocked

Verify that port 3389 isn't blocked by your AWS security group, network ACL, OS firewall, or antivirus software.

Confirm you're using the correct firewall and network configuration

1.    Open a PowerShell window from your local device, and then run the following command:

Test-NetConnection -ComputerName yourdomain.exampleco.com -Port 3389

2.    In the output of the preceding command, verify that TcpTestSucceeded is True. This indicates that the EC2 instance is responding over the network and you can reach the required RDP port. For more information, see Test-NetConnection on the Microsoft website.

Additional troubleshooting

If the preceding steps don't resolve the issue, use the AWSSupport-TroubleshootRDP automation document with AWS Systems Manager to troubleshoot and fix common RDP-related connection issues. You can run the automation document without installing the SSM agent on your instance. Also, the instance doesn't need to be managed by AWS Systems Manager to run the automation document.

For manual troubleshooting steps, see Remote Desktop can't connect to the remote computer.

Related information

Troubleshoot EC2 Windows instances

How can I use EC2Rescue to troubleshoot issues with my Amazon EC2 Windows instance?

Connect to your Windows instance

AWS OFFICIAL
AWS OFFICIALUpdated 3 years ago
4 Comments

These instructions are useless. Step 1 refers to an article listing commands to be run on the instance: THIS CANNOT BE DONE IF THE AWS CUSTOMER CANNOT CONNECT TO RDP Step 2 is only if the AWS Instance control panel reports failed checks. THIS IS USELESS IF THE AWS PANEL DOESN'T REPORT ANY ERRORS AND DOESN'T SAY WHAT IT TESTED! Step 3 depends if the network is using an AWS NAT Gateway, but the link is a general concept introduction and DOESN'T DIRECTLY SAY HOW TO CHECK IF AN INSTANCE THAT CANNOT BE REACHED IS DOING THAT Step 4 asks the AWS customer to remotely check if port 3389 is open on the public IP, and then refers to the overly generic documentation for the TCP test command on the AWS customer's own PC. THIS PROVIDES NO INFORMATION ON WHAT TO DO IF THE TCP PORT ISN'T OPEN ACCORDING TO THE TEST!

replied 4 months ago

Thank you for your comment. We'll review and update the Knowledge Center article as needed.

profile pictureAWS
MODERATOR
replied 4 months ago

I echo what AWS-User-4644975 said. I tried step 4 (remotely check if port 3389 is open on the public IP using powershell command), the test failed but there is no information on what to do next. What should the next steps be to open this port?

replied 4 months ago

Thank you for your comment. We'll review and update the Knowledge Center article as needed.

profile pictureAWS
MODERATOR
replied 4 months ago