When connecting to a server that is running a Windows operating system, you may be presented with the following warning.

"The identity of the remote computer cannot be verified. Do you want to connect anyway?"

This warning occurs most frequently when connecting to a server for the first time and is expected behavior. It occurs when using a hostname (such as "server.yourdomain.com") or an IP address for which there is no matching SSL certificate in the server's certificate store.

If you are certain that you are connecting to the correct hostname or IP address, you can safely disregard this message and click the Yes button to continue connecting to the server.

To prevent this message from appearing each time you connect to your server, you may optionally check the "Don't ask me again for connections to this computer" checkbox before clicking the Yes button to continue.

If you wish to secure your Remote Desktop connection with an SSL certificate, which will also satisfy the requirements needed to prevent this message from appearing, you will need to purchase, install, and configure a dedicated SSL certificate. (See "Dedicated SSL for your Website" for details.)

Free SSL certificates (such as Let's Encrypt) technically can be used in this scenario but are NOT recommended for use with Remote Desktop connections given their low assurance and their brief life spans (90 days in most cases). For these reasons, our Support team will not assist with configuring free SSLs for Remote Desktop connections.

However, if you have a dedicated SSL certificate (or would like to purchase one) and you require assistance in configuring an SSL certificate for your Remote Desktop connections, please contact our Support department.