How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with NICE DCV

This guide shows users step-by-step how to easily connect to your AWS Server with NICE DCV as well as how to login to a Windows or Linux server using DCV.

To connect to the AWS cloud server, users can use 2 different DCV clients:

  • DCV native client – e.g. installable or portable client – which can be downloaded from https://download.nice-dcv.com/ or
  • DCV web client (conveniently available in the web browser offering slightly less performance in some cases)

In the AWS instances page you can find the address as per below found in the EC2 console under Public IPv4 DNS:

How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - EC2 console under Public IPv4 DNS

In the native client you just enter the DNS or IP address. The URL to connect to the DCV web client will look similar to below in the browser including port 8443:

After a security warning related to the dynamically created certificate, which can be ignored, the DCV landing page appears.

How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - Security warning
How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - Security warning details

Alternatively users can connect via the native DCV client by entering the same address, which leads to the same login screen:

How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - DCV Landing Page
DCV Login Screen

How to login to a Windows server with NICE DCV

The login information can be retrieved via the EC2 console and the Connect functionality for your instance:

How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - Login to a Windows Server via EC2 console and the Connect functionality

Users must select the Remote Desktop Protocol on the following page, where they can see the username Administrato and click on Get Password:

How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - Login to a Windows Server via EC2 console and connect using RDP client/ Get password

Users have two options. They can either

  • upload their private key .pem file directly or
  • copy and paste the content of the file.
How to Connect to your AWS Cloud Server with DCV - Login to a Windows Server: upload private key .pem file or fill in the content of the file, then decrypt password

After hitting Decrypt password, users can enter it in the DCV login password field, whether through the browser or native DCV client, to access their Windows server:

Enter trough browser or native DCV client, to access Windows server

After signing in this desktop screen will appear:

Login to a Windows Server: Desktop Screen after login

How to login to a Linux server with NICE DCV

For the remote desktop connection we will use the NICE DCV high-end remote desktop software. 

To login to DCV you first need to create a password for the user on your Linux server. For this you login to your cloud server with the following command (here for Ubuntu – please replace the user name with the respective user for your operating system):

ssh -i <your-pem-key> ubuntu@<public-dns> sudo passwd ubuntu

In case of other operating system use and replace the user name with the following users:

  • Amazon Linux: ec2-user
  • Centos: centos
  • Ubuntu: ubuntu
  • Rocky: rocky

Using the respective user highlighted above and password set above you are now ready to login to DCV:

Login to a Linux Server: DCV login password field

Please also see our walk trough video: NICE DCV Remote 3D on AWS – NI SP DCV AMI.