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Remote access home PC to test remote access to the work PC (europe.pub)
submitted 1 week ago by cRazi_man@europe.pub to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world
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I was having trouble with access to my work remote desktop from home. Each time I was told the issue was fixed, I went home and it didn't work again.

So, I used my work PC to use remote desktop on my home server, and use that to remote access the work remote desktop again. Managed to troubleshoot the problem and complete the steps I needed to do on site to get this working.

I'm new to self hosting and am really enjoying having access to my home services. I chuckled at remote desktop inception, but it's been really helpful in solving my problem.

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[-] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 16 points 6 days ago

Congrats on fixing your issue and progressing in your self-hosting journey... but... from a security standpoint it is not really a good idea to log in to your home server from your work PC.

Anyone else who is able to run code on your work PC (your employer, rogue coworkers, hackers targeting your employer, hackers randomly exploiting the 15-year-old version of Office or other software you're running there, etc) could easily discretely retain the access which you gave them to your hopefully-better-secured (or at least differently-secured) Debian home server.

[-] cRazi_man@europe.pub 6 points 6 days ago

Thanks. Still learning about security.

Although this stance makes me think I should never use remote desktop at all. There's no place where I could use a computer outside my house where I'm certain that they're following good security practices.

I've had trouble incorporating the TOTP plugin for Guacamole, so I do keep the Docker container stopped until I specifically need it. I do need to get back to trying to troubleshoot TOTP on Guacamole.

[-] cypherpunks@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 days ago

Although this stance makes me think I should never use remote desktop at all

Yeah, generally speaking, remote access logically puts the remote system (or whatever resources are being remotely accessed) in the same "security domain" as the endpoint being used to do the remote access. So, system administrators and other security-conscious people indeed tend not to SSH or remote desktop in to important systems from other people's computers :)

[-] percent@infosec.pub 8 points 6 days ago

home server

I acknowledge that this is a silly question, but what does a Windows home server do? I'm sure there are many possibilities, but most of my server experience has been Linux-based, so I'm just curious.

If I were to run Windows on my home server, I'd probably just end up running a lot of services in WSL out of habit 😆

[-] pogodem0n@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

I think the home server is probably Linux, since the middle panel is from KDE Plasma.

[-] cRazi_man@europe.pub 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yup. Windows work PC, accessing the Debian home server, which is coming back to access work's Windows remote desktop.

Although my brother is running an N100 NUC with desktop Windows as a server. He doesn't want to learn a new system and has just found it easier to install Jellyfin, qBittorrent, etc on a standard desktop OS. I'm offering him support to learn Linux and Docker, but he's still rocking desktop Windows for now.

[-] percent@infosec.pub 1 points 6 days ago

Maybe a few *arr services configured in a docker-compose file might be appealing to him 🙂

[-] percent@infosec.pub 1 points 6 days ago

Ahh you're right. I totally overlooked that 🤦🏻‍♂️ KDE's not my daily driver

[-] Black616Angel@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 6 days ago

Had the following setup for a while:

Home PC -> terminal server -> RDP into my work Laptop -> SSH into servers

I did this, because my desk had no space for the laptop and I wanted to browse the web without ads while working and some things just didn't really work from the terminal server

[-] unconsciousvoidling@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 days ago

My work is full lock down to the point where you need to use elevated permissions to install apps or start and stop services. Then they shut off rdp. Need to use something called beyond trust which is approved by corporate in order to access things remotely. They keep tightening the screws on everything. Can’t really mix home with work computer and honestly don’t want too anymore. It seems like they have mass surveillance going on anyways.

[-] billwashere@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I’d hate to work in an environment like this. I’ve gotten to be friends with the Desktop IT folks to get them to remove me from 99% of the stuff they push through JAMF on my mac. Mostly because I’m very unorthodox in how I set up my machine primarily because my job is mostly research and trying to figure out things. Trying to shoehorn me into a normal user would cause them way more headaches than it would solve. It also helps I know as much or more about most of the tech stuff and I’ve been there as long or longer so I have some “seniority”-ish.

With all that being said, my go to right now for anything remote is Tailscale. It’s super easy to setup and understand. I have networks setup in all three of my data centers and also for home. It makes everything super easy to access. I know that this doesn’t work for most people with a super restricted environment but I thought id mention it for folks that can. I do not work for them nor do I get any sort of compensation. I just use it because it makes my life easier.

[-] Cabbage_Pout61@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I work at the IT of a big bank, don't even have permission to change my windows wallpaper. The corporate struggle is mind-boggling sometimes.

^(edit: typo)

[-] billwashere@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

I know it’s a thing. My son is a cop (a pretty good one with actual empathy which is rare I know). Carries a gun and various other non-lethal weapons. Makes life or death decisions frequently enough. But the IT dept won’t even let him rearrange the icons on his work phone. I swear it looks like a stock boost mobile phone with all kinds of annoying shit everywhere. Laptop (windows mind you) is the same way. It’s kinda ridiculous.

[-] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 days ago

I wish my job used Macs. I prefer Linux, but MacOS is still so much better than Windows.

[-] tehmics@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

TeamViewer to hypervisor then rdp to domain controller so I can test if a user's rdp vm can be accessed on the domain is a real workflow for me

[-] OR3X@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago

Is that fucking Word 2010??

[-] carotte 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

last good version of office tbh

[-] otacon239@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago

No one tell this person what OS most ATMs run on…

[-] purplemonkeymad@programming.dev 2 points 6 days ago

I remember being pissed when an ATM crashed with my card in it and came up with a nt4.0 splash screen. At least it wasn't win98 like the shop till.

[-] OR3X@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

Used to be OS/2 of some description but I think it's more likely to be windows embedded these days. I fail to see how that's revelant to this dude using an ancient version of office on his work PC though.

[-] listless@lemmy.cringecollective.io 8 points 1 week ago

hahaha nah bro, they on windows xp. sauce

[-] sundray@lemmus.org 2 points 1 week ago

Hey, only 20 years, that's pretty young for an industrial operating system!

[-] otacon239@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

As of 2020, they’re still running XP

Edit: just saw the comment from listless. Different source, so leaving it here.

[-] sundray@lemmus.org 1 points 1 week ago

Go way back and they were IBM 3624's.

[-] cRazi_man@europe.pub 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

😆 might be. I never paid attention. It's updated to Windows 11 since taking this picture. I'll see if Office updated as well.

Edit: I've checked again at work. Yup, they're all on Office 2010.

[-] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Updating to windows 11 will have zero effect on what version of Office is installed. The OS is not the apps installed on it.

[-] cRazi_man@europe.pub 5 points 6 days ago

I know. My point was that they've pushed a bunch of updates recently and Office may have updated as well......it hasn't.

[-] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Gotcha.

this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2025
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