Clone computers with Connect#

Build your golden image without Jump Desktop Connect, then install and register Connect separately on each deployed host. If Connect has already been installed, uninstall it and delete its leftover settings and registration data before capturing the image. IT administrators can use the same cleanup to repair hosts that were copied with a shared registration.

An installed Connect service creates a computer identity even before you add an account or team. Leaving it unregistered, renaming the host, or uninstalling the app alone does not ensure that an image is free of that identity. Copies can appear as one computer in Jump Desktop or the Teams dashboard, with connections reaching the wrong copy.

Applies to#

• Hosts running Connect on Windows or macOS, or Linux Alpha in test environments.
• Personal accounts and Jump Desktop for Teams.
• Administrator access to uninstall Connect and remove its leftover data.

Build the golden image#

1. Leave Connect out of the image. If it has ever been installed, follow Remove Connect and its data, even if it has already been uninstalled.
2. Complete your operating system's imaging procedure and capture the image with Connect uninstalled and its data removed.
3. Restore the image to each host, complete the operating-system setup, then install and register Connect separately on each host.

Do not reinstall or start Connect on the master before capture. If you use the master as a host afterwards, install and register Connect on it separately too.

Repair copies sharing one registration#

1. Record the existing computer IDs and any settings you need to restore. Use Verify distinct computers to find the IDs.
2. On every affected copy, including the master if it shares the registration, uninstall Connect and remove its data.
3. Reinstall and register each host separately, then verify that every host has its own ID.
4. After verification, remove stale team entries.

Remove Connect and its data#

Uninstall Connect first using Uninstall Connect. Confirm that Connect and its service have stopped before deleting the entries below. A missing key, file, or keychain item needs no action. Keep Connect uninstalled until after image capture, or until you are ready to register a repaired host.

Delete only the Connect entries listed for your platform. Do not delete the parent Jump Desktop folder or registry branch, whole keychains, or operating-system identity files.

Windows#

After uninstalling Connect, open Registry Editor as an administrator. Remove these keys if present:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER means the user running Registry Editor. Deleting only that user's key leaves the system service's registration in place. For other user profiles, remove the equivalent Software\Jump Desktop\Connect key in that user's hive. If you run the Connect service under a different account, clean that account's key too.

Confirm that the listed Connect keys are absent before capturing the image.

macOS#

After uninstalling Connect, remove its preferences and shared settings:

Use defaults to remove preference domains so a cached copy is not written back. In Terminal:

sudo defaults delete /var/root/Library/Preferences/com.p5sys.jump.connect
defaults delete com.p5sys.jump.connect
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.p5sys.jump.connect
sudo rm -f "/Library/Application Support/Jump Desktop/Connect/sharedconfig.plist"

Run the user-level defaults delete com.p5sys.jump.connect in each included user's session. A message that a domain does not exist means there is no preference domain to remove.

Older installations can also leave Connect credentials in a keychain. In Keychain Access, check the System keychain and each included user's login keychain. Delete any remaining items with these exact names:

• JumpConnect_ServerAuthTokensEncoded
• JumpConnect_ServerSelfSignedCertDer
• JumpConnect_ServerSelfSignedPrivateDer
• JumpConnect_ProxyPassword
• JumpConnect_ProxyURL

Deleting the plist alone is insufficient if a legacy keychain item remains. Confirm that the listed preference files, shared settings file, and keychain items are absent before capturing the image.

Linux#

Connect for Linux is in alpha and is intended for test environments.

After removing the jump-connect package, delete /var/lib/jump-connect/. This includes the service's settings at /var/lib/jump-connect/.config/Jump Desktop/Connect.conf and its registration credentials under /var/lib/jump-connect/secrets/. Package removal, including Debian or Ubuntu purge, intentionally retains this data.

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/jump-connect

For every user account included in the image that has run Connect, also remove these Connect-specific locations if present:

• ~/.config/Jump Desktop/Connect.conf
• ~/.config/jump-connect/secrets/

If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, use that directory instead of ~/.config. If you customized the service's home or configuration directory, remove its Connect configuration there too. Do not remove the whole .config directory.

Confirm that the listed settings and secrets are absent before capturing the image.

Install and register each host#

After each restored host completes its operating-system setup, install Connect and add that host to your account. For a team, use a pre-configured installer or the team's Connect Code separately on every host.

• Windows: use the MSI with a Connect Code, as described in Windows deployment.
• macOS: install the PKG, apply the Connect Code, and grant the required macOS permissions on each host.
• Linux Alpha: use the install script with --component connect --connectcode 123456789 in test environments only.

See Deploy Connect to many computers for complete installation and enrollment commands. For a personal account, see Set up unattended access. Reapply any Connect settings you recorded before cleanup.

Verify distinct computers#

After each host starts and connects to Jump, record its deviceId using Connect's --info command. On Windows, JumpConnectCli.exe --help lists this command and its JSON output fields:

$connect = (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Jump Desktop\Connect\Shared").ConnectPath
$cli = Join-Path (Split-Path $connect) "JumpConnectCli.exe"
& $cli --info

"/Applications/Jump Desktop Connect.app/Contents/MacOS/JumpConnect" --info

/usr/libexec/jump/jumpconnect --info

Every host must report a different, nonempty deviceId. For a personal account, check that users includes the expected account. Different computer names alone do not prove that registrations are distinct.

For a team, a nonempty users list does not prove enrollment. Confirm that each new ID appears as Machine ID in a separate entry under Computers in the Teams dashboard.

Confirm that every host appears separately and online in Jump Desktop, or under Computers in the Teams dashboard. On a team, verify each new computer's remote access permissions, Access Groups, and Connect Configuration.

Remove stale team entries#

After every affected host has a distinct registration, remove the old entries under Computers in the Teams dashboard. Open each entry's details and compare its Machine ID with the IDs recorded before cleanup and during verification. Ignore spaces in the dashboard's Machine ID when comparing. Keep the new registrations. See Remove a computer for single and bulk deletion.

Deleting an old dashboard entry does not repair the hosts. Complete the host procedure first. Deletion also removes that entry's connection history; export any logs you need beforehand.

Related#

• Install and uninstall Connect
• Reset Connect
• Deploy Connect to many computers
• Connect Configurations