Getting started with your WorkSpace

After your administrator creates your WorkSpace, you receive an invitation email. Complete the following tasks to start using your WorkSpace.

Complete your user profile

After your administrator creates your WorkSpace, you must complete your user profile within seven days; otherwise, your invitation expires. If your invitation expires, ask your administrator for another invitation.

To complete your user profile

1. Open the link in the invitation email.

2. Enter your password. Passwords are case-sensitive and must be between 8 and 64 characters in length, inclusive. Passwords must contain at least one character from each of the following categories:

   • Lowercase characters (a-z)

   • Uppercase characters (A-Z)

   • Numbers (0-9)

   • Non-alphanumeric characters (~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;"'<>,.?/)

3. Choose Update User.

You can change your WorkSpaces password anytime. For more information, see (Optional) Change your password.

Choose a client

You can connect to your WorkSpace using the client application for a supported device or a web browser. To run the WorkSpaces client application, you must have a Windows or Linux PC, Mac, iPad, Kindle, Chromebook, or Android tablet or phone. To run WorkSpaces Web Access, you must have a Windows PC or a Mac running a Chrome or Firefox web browser, or a Linux PC running a Firefox browser.

Note

Ubuntu, Rocky Linux, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux WorkSpaces currently supports Windows client application and Web Access.

For information about connecting to your WorkSpace, see the following client documentation.

• Android Client Application

• iPad Client Application

• Linux Client Application

• macOS Client Application

• PCoIP Zero Client

• Web Access

• Windows Client Application

Determine your client version

To see which version of the WorkSpaces client you have, choose Amazon WorkSpaces, About Amazon WorkSpaces, or click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and choose About Amazon WorkSpaces.

Determine your streaming protocol

Device or feature support might differ depending on which streaming protocol your WorkSpace is using, either PCoIP or DCV. In the 3.0+ versions of the macOS and Windows client applications, you can see which protocol your WorkSpace is using by choosing Support, About My WorkSpace. The iPad, Android, and Linux client applications currently support only the PCoIP protocol.

Verify networking requirements

To ensure a good experience with your WorkSpace, verify that your client device meets the networking requirements.

To verify networking requirements for 3.0+ clients

1. Open your WorkSpaces client. If this is the first time you have opened the client, you are prompted to enter the registration code that you received in the invitation email.

2. Depending on which client you're using, do one of the following.

   If you're using...	Do this
   Windows or Linux clients	In the upper-right corner of the client application, select the Network icon .
   macOS client	Choose Connections, Network.

   The client application tests the network connection, ports, and round-trip time, and reports the results of these tests.

3. Close the Network dialog box to return to the sign-in page.

To verify networking requirements for 1.0+ and 2.0+ clients

1. Open your WorkSpaces client. If this is the first time you have opened the client, you are prompted to enter the registration code that you received in the invitation email.

2. Choose Network in the lower-right corner of the client application. The client application tests the network connection, ports, and round-trip time, and reports the results of these tests.

3. Choose Dismiss to return to the sign-in page.

Save your credentials

You can choose whether to save your sign-in credentials securely so that you can reconnect to your WorkSpace without re-entering your credentials while the client application remains running. Your credentials are securely cached in RAM only. You can disable this feature and enable it again at any time.

To save your credentials for 3.0+ clients

1. Open your WorkSpaces client.

2. On the client login screen, select or clear the Keep me logged in check box to enable or disable this option as required.

To save your credentials for 1.0+ and 2.0+ clients

1. Open your WorkSpaces client.

2. On the client login screen, choose the gear icon (Windows) or the Option menu (macOS), and choose Advanced Settings.

3. Select or clear the Remember Me check box to enable or disable this option as required.

(Optional) Change your password

You can change your WorkSpaces login password at any time.

To change your password

1. Open your WorkSpaces client.

2. On the client login screen, choose Forgot Password? under the Sign In button.

   Note

   If Forgot password? isn't available on your login screen, contact your WorkSpaces administrator for assistance with resetting your password.

   Forgot Password? is not available in the AWS GovCloud (US-West) Region.

3. Enter your user name, and then enter the characters you see in the image.

4. Choose Recover Password.

5. You will receive an email with a password-reset link. Follow the instructions in the email to change your password. Passwords are case-sensitive and must be between 8 and 64 characters in length, inclusive. Passwords must contain at least one character from each of the following categories:

   • Lowercase characters (a-z)

   • Uppercase characters (A-Z)

   • Numbers (0-9)

   • Non-alphanumeric characters (~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;"'<>,.?/)

   Ensure you don't include non-printable unicode characters, such as white spaces, carriage reture tabs, line breaks, and null characters.

   Note

   If you receive an error, contact your AWS Managed Microsoft AD administrator.

(Optional) Integrate with WorkDocs

If your Amazon WorkSpaces administrator has enabled it, you can integrate your WorkSpace with Amazon WorkDocs. You can use Amazon WorkDocs to store, sync, and share your files. WorkDocs can automatically back up documents on your WorkSpace and sync documents to and from other devices such as a PC or Mac, so that you can access your data regardless of which desktop you are using.

Note

WorkDocs isn't available for use with Linux WorkSpaces.

To install WorkDocs on your WorkSpace

1. Choose (double-click) the Install Amazon WorkDocs desktop shortcut on your WorkSpace.

2. In the Amazon WorkDocs Setup dialog box, choose Get Started.

3. Ignore the prompt to provide a WorkDocs site URL, and instead choose Enter a WorkSpaces registration code under the Next button.

4. In the Registration Code box, enter the registration code that you received in your WorkSpaces welcome mail, and then choose Next.

5. Enter your WorkSpace login credentials, and then choose Sign In.

6. In the next dialog box, a folder is suggested for the location of your synced files. The default folder is D:\Users\WorkSpaceUserName\WorkDocs. To specify a different folder, choose Change. After you've made your choice, choose Next.

7. Choose which files you'd like to sync (either Sync only the files and folders I select from WorkDocs or Sync all files and folders from WorkDocs). To finish setting up, choose Next.

8. Open Windows File Explorer. You should now see your new D:\Users\WorkSpaceUserName\WorkDocs folder. To back up and sync your files, make sure to save your files to this location.

9. Install WorkDocs Drive on any other computers or devices that you'd like to sync files between. You can download the WorkDocs Drive client from https://amazonworkdocs.com/clients. When you log in to WorkDocs Drive, make sure to use your WorkSpace registration code, username, and password, as described earlier in this procedure.

   Important

   If you're installing WorkDocs Drive on a Mac, follow the instructions in Installing Amazon WorkDocs Drive in the Amazon WorkDocs Administration Guide in the Amazon WorkDocs Administration Guide.

For more information about working with WorkDocs Drive, see Amazon WorkDocs Drive in the Amazon WorkDocs Administration Guide.