RDP Manager

Windows Remote Desktop manager with an Active Directory-style tree UI, DPAPI-encrypted credentials, and a custom frameless window.

License: GNU General Public License v2.0 (GPL-2.0) Version: 1.2.0

---

Features

• Console tree — organise servers into sites with expand/collapse and context menus
• Secure credentials — DPAPI via electron.safeStorage (same as Chrome/VS Code/1Password). Encrypted per-machine and per-user. Never exported.
• RDP launch — injects credentials via cmdkey, launches mstsc.exe, auto-cleans up
• Server panel — sortable table, search filter, detail pane
• Export as XML — human-readable config backup (no credentials)
• Export as Server List — plain .txt file usable on any machine without the app
• Import — accepts XML (v1.1+) or legacy JSON
• Light and dark themes, persisted across restarts
• Portable ZIP or NSIS installer

---

Build

Only prerequisite: Node.js 18+ — nothing else needed.

1. Extract the source ZIP anywhere (local drive recommended)
2. Double-click BUILD.bat

Output appears in release\:

File	Description
RDP Manager Setup 1.2.0.exe	Full NSIS installer
RDP Manager-1.2.0-win.zip	Portable, no install required
build.log	Full build log — upload here if something fails

---

Export formats

XML export

Human-readable backup of all sites and servers. Can be imported on another machine running RDP Manager. Credentials are never included.

Server List (plain text)

A .txt file listing every site and server with hostname, port, username, description, and last-connected date. Useful as a reference on machines where the app is not installed.

---

Security model

What	How
Credential encryption	electron.safeStorage → Windows DPAPI
Storage	%APPDATA%\rdp-manager\credentials.json (hex ciphertext)
Decryptable by	Same Windows user on same machine only
Exported?	Never — both export formats strip all credentials
In-memory lifetime	Decrypted only during mstsc.exe launch, then discarded
Injection method	cmdkey /add → mstsc → cmdkey /delete (8 s cleanup)

---

Data locations

File	Path
Config	%APPDATA%\rdp-manager\rdp-manager-config.json
Credentials	%APPDATA%\rdp-manager\credentials.json

---

Project structure

src/
  main/
    index.ts                    Electron main process, BrowserWindow
    preload.ts                  Context bridge (window.electronAPI)
    handlers/
      configHandlers.ts         Load/save/export(XML+TXT)/import config
      credentialHandlers.ts     DPAPI encrypt/decrypt via safeStorage
      rdpHandlers.ts            RDP file generation, mstsc.exe launch
  renderer/
    App.tsx                     Root component, modal orchestration
    store/AppContext.tsx         Global state (useReducer + auto-save effect)
    components/                 TitleBar, Toolbar, SiteTree, ServerPanel,
                                StatusBar, ToastContainer, modals/
    styles/global.css           CSS variables, light + dark themes
  shared/
    types.ts                    Shared TypeScript interfaces + IPC constants
installer/
  setup.nsi                     Custom NSIS script (advanced use)
assets/
  icon.ico                      Multi-resolution icon (16/32/48/256 px)
BUILD.bat                       One-click build — double-click to run

---

Development

npm install
npm run dev

Starts the webpack dev server (port 3000) and Electron with hot reload.

---

License

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

See LICENSE.txt or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.txt.