Steven LafortuneEvery product generates questions, and ours are no exception. Over time, certain topics kept coming up in our Support inbox: deploying Devolutions Remote Desktop Manager for the first time, setting up privileged access management, or integrating single sign-on. Instead of answering them one ticket at a time, we decided to do something more useful and sit down with one of our own experts to tackle them head-on.
Marc Beausejour, Product Marketing Manager and Subject Matter Expert here at Devolutions, took on the most frequently asked questions we get. Here’s what he had to say.
What’s the difference between the Free and Paid versions?
Devolutions products come in two flavours: free and paid. The free tier isn’t a limited trial — it’s the real deal. Remote Desktop Manager Free gives you full access to the core product, on any platform, including for commercial use. No expiry, no hidden paywalls.
The paid tier kicks in when your needs go beyond solo use. Team features like shared vaults and user management require a license, and on the RDM side, so does connecting to external password managers. Not sure which package fits your setup? Head to the Devolutions Store or get in touch with the sales team.
How do I move from a Solo deployment to a Team environment?
Good news: RDM is built to scale with you. When you’re ready to move from solo to team, there are two paths. Devolutions Server is the self-hosted option for teams that want full control over their environment. Devolutions Cloud is the hands-off alternative — a cloud-based workspace if on-premises infrastructure isn’t your thing. Either way, your existing data comes with you through built-in import and export tools.
On the deployment side, the Custom Installer lets you push RDM silently to your team’s devices so users can just log in and get straight to work. Hit a snag along the way? The Devolutions Support team is always there to help.
How do I get started with Devolutions PAM?
Configuring Privileged Access Management in Devolutions is designed to be as straightforward as possible, whether you’re running Devolutions Server or Devolutions Cloud. Head to Administration > Privileged Access Management and the setup wizard takes it from there, walking you through each step starting with your PAM providers — the account sources you want to bring in. Domain accounts are a common starting point, but you can expand to Windows local accounts, Linux, SQL, PostgreSQL, and more. A service account with least-privilege permissions handles discovery, and once you set a schedule, new accounts are pulled in automatically.
From there, policies are where the real customization lives. You decide exactly how access works: fast-track with logging only, or a full approval workflow where requests need to be reviewed before anyone gets in. Password rotation runs automatically in the background based on whatever rules you define — no manual intervention needed. For the specific permissions required to get discovery up and running, the Devolutions documentation has you covered.
How do I configure SSO with Microsoft Entra ID or Okta?
Devolutions integrates with the identity providers you’re already using — Microsoft Entra ID and Okta are both fully supported, whether you’re on Devolutions Server or Devolutions Cloud. The configuration lives under Administration > Authentication, where you’ll find dedicated sections for each provider. For Entra ID, it comes down to app registration — the same process you’d follow for any other SSO-enabled application in your Microsoft environment. Okta works the same way: register Devolutions Server or Devolutions Cloud as an authorized app inside Okta to enable single sign-on.
Once SSO is configured, both providers support user and group-based authentication, making user provisioning straightforward. The Devolutions documentation walks through each setup step in detail if you need a reference along the way.
How do I configure RDP and SSH connections in Remote Desktop Manager?
Everything you’d expect from a dedicated RDP or SSH client is built right into RDM — no third-party tools needed. For RDP, right-click any session and head to Properties to find the full range of options: local resources like clipboard and drive redirection, plug-and-play devices, FIDO2 security keys, network level authentication, gateway settings, and connection experience parameters. If you’ve used MSTSC before, you’ll recognize most of it — and then some, since RDM also exposes advanced options that aren’t surfaced in MSTSC by default. All of this works across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
SSH follows the same logic. RDM essentially replicates what PuTTY offers and builds on it: public/private key authentication, MFA, gateways, GSSAPI, logging, terminal options, syntax highlighting, and session recording. SFTP is built in as well. Right-click any SSH session and open Properties to find everything in one place.
How long does it take to install Devolutions Server?
The Devolutions Server installation is built around the configuration console, which does most of the heavy lifting for you. Before anything else, run the prerequisite check — the console will automatically download and install everything needed to get the server up and running, no manual hunting for dependencies. Once everything comes back green, you move on to the next step. The whole process is guided with visual cues at each stage, so you always know where you stand.
From there, the console walks you through setting up the database and the web application. End to end, you’re looking at 10 to 15 minutes, often less. If you want a hand along the way, step-by-step documentation is available, and Devolutions Academy has a dedicated installation video to follow at your own pace.
Got more questions?
These are some of the questions we hear most often, but they’re far from the only ones.
If there’s a topic you’d like us to cover in a future edition of this series, visit the Devolutions Forum and let us know. Our support team and community members are always happy to help.
And if you found this article useful, stay tuned — more expert Q&A sessions are on the way.
Adam Listek
Marc Beausejour