Connect to a desktop
Find a desktop in the Billet app, read its status, and open a session. Also covers links and files from the portal, and opening a desktop in a browser tab.
- For
- Users
- Applies to
- Billet 1.0
- Updated
From the app
- Open Billet and sign in if you have not already.
- Find the desktop in the list. Type / to filter by name, desktop, tenant or address.
- Press Connect beside it, or select it and press Enter.
A session window opens with the desktop in it. To leave, close the session window. The desktop keeps running.
What the status means
Each desktop shows its state as a word beside a coloured pill:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Online | The desktop is up and nobody is using it. You can connect. |
| Connecting | Your session is starting. |
| Connected here | You have it open in a session window from this copy of Billet. |
| In use by you | You have a session open somewhere else: another computer, or a client this copy of Billet did not start. |
| Open in a browser | You have it open in a browser tab. |
| In use | Someone else is using it. |
| Offline | The desktop is not reachable. It may be switched off, or its Billet Host service is not running. Tell your IT team if it stays this way. |
| Saved | A desktop you saved yourself, with no live status, for example from another portal you are not signed in to. |
The list refreshes by itself. Press Refresh to ask the portal now.
If the list is empty
| Billet says | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not signed in to a portal | Sign in first. See Sign in. |
| No desktops are assigned to you here | You are signed in, but nobody has given you a desktop on this portal yet. Ask your IT team. |
From the portal in a browser
Your organization's portal also has a page listing your desktops. Its Connect button opens the Billet app: the portal hands over a billet:// link, or a .billet file to download, and Billet opens the session.
If Windows or macOS asks which program to open the link with, choose Billet. The link works once and only for a short time, so press Connect again rather than saving it.
In a browser tab, without the app
Where your administrator allows it, a desktop also has Open in browser. The desktop opens in a new tab, with a toolbar for keys, the clipboard and disconnecting. The app gives the better picture and more controls, so use it where you can.
Opening a ticket by hand
If someone sends you a ticket file or a billet:// link, choose New connection, then Open a ticket, and give the file's path or paste the link.