The shadow feature returns with Windows Server 2012 R2. Shadow allows server administrators to either view or take control of RDP sessions. It can be very helpful in a variety of scenarios such as IT administrators assisting users.
New in Server 2012 R2 is Server Manager Integration. From a Server Manager RDS Collection simply select the session you wish to shadow, right-click and select Sshadow. You will be prompted to either view or take control of the session.
Command line invocation is still supported, but now it is integrated within the Remote Desktop Client. This allows you to shadow a session without first TS’ing into the server. From an elevated command prompt on the server, run QWINSTA to get a list of the sessions available to be shadowed. Then run mstsc /shadow:<SessionIDToShadow> to shadow a session along with optional parameters such as /control or /noConsentPrompt.
Controlled by Group Policy
By default, an administrator has full control with user’s permission. If set to user’s permission, when an administrator attempts to shadow a session, the user will be notified and they must give their consent to allow the session to be shadowed.
Use gpedit.msc to manager Shadow group policy settings. Shadow Group Policy can be set either at the computer or user level and is located under Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Servers\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections\Set rules for remote control of Remote Desktop Services user sessions.
Five different levels of control are available:
No remote control allowed Full control with user’s permission Full control without user’s permission View Session with user’s permission View Session without user’s permission
New in Server 2012 R2 Integration with Server Manager Integration with Remote Desktop Client Shadowing of virtual machine-based desktops Improved auditing in the event logs Multimon and smart sizing support The following table shows which Microsoft RD clients can be used by an administrator to 'shadow' a session or VM:
Host (that the admin wants to shadow)
Clients (that the admin is using)
Windows 7 SP1 (guest)
Windows 8.1 (guest)
WS 2012 R2 RDSH
Servermanager
No
Yes
Windows 8.1 mstsc
Windows 7.1 w/ 8IP update
Windows Store RD client
iOS
MacOS
Android
An external article showing 'how to' use the Shadow feature in Windows Server 2012 R2 is here. A short video demonstrating Shadow in Server 2012 R2 is available here.