Windows – Start /WAIT RDP FIle in Windows 8

batchrdpremote desktopwindowswindows 8

I am not sure if I should post this one here or in StackOverflow.

I want a BAT that opens a RDP connection file and then, when the connection is closed, logoff the machine.

start /WAIT "ConnectionFile.rdp"
logoff

But the logoff happens instantaly, it doesnt wait for exit.
I also try this using C# and Process.WaitforExit().

What should you do? I think is a issue with mstsc.exe when the parameter is a RDP file.

Update: I was testing and this works well in Windows 7, but in Windows 8 and in Windows 7 Thin PC it doesnt work.

Update Using powershell I advance a little.
I my bat looks like this, launchin the process in Powershell it works.

powershell -version 2.0 -Sta -ExecutionPolicy UnRestricted Start-Process -Wait -FilePath mstsc -ArgumentList ConnectionFile.rdp; logoff

But if the RDP is a valid file when windows asks the credentials it fails and continue with next process. For demo purposes I changed the logoff for a calc.
enter image description here

Best Answer

Try this:

START /WAIT !_MSTSC! !_FILE! !_CONSOLE!

where

  • !_MSTSC! is the path to MSTSC.EXE
  • !_FILE! is a path to a saved RDP file, containing hostname, login and pwd, perhaps the name of a file to execute on connection, blah blah blah
  • !_CONSOLE! is set to either "" (null) or "/ADMIN" as needed

This hinges WAIT on MSTSC explicitly, not just the "successful open" of your RDP file. As such, it should (!) work a little better.

And... here's an interesting caveat from the START helptext:

    If Command Extensions are enabled, external command invocation
    through the command line or the START command changes as follows:

    When executing an application that is a 32-bit GUI application, CMD.EXE
does not wait for the application to terminate before returning to
the command prompt.  This new behavior does NOT occur if executing
within a command script.

So... what may be needed here is to wrap the MSTSC command and parameters into a CONNECT-REMOTE.CMD file, and wait for THAT to terminate.

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