Recording workstation screens (Screen Capture)

Screen Capture records what's on a workstation's screens, every monitor, while someone is working. A small program, RockRecorder Screen Capture, runs on each Windows workstation and sends the changes on screen to RockRecorder, where each workstation is its own channel.

You need to be a SuperAdmin, and the server needs the Screen Capture license, which sets how many workstations can be recorded.

How it works

• The workstation connects out to RockRecorder over HTTPS (port 443). Nothing on the workstation is opened to the network.
• It records only while there's activity: motion on screen, keyboard or mouse input, or both, as chosen in the settings. A blinking cursor or a clock doesn't count as motion.
• Each stretch of activity is one recording, ending after a set time with no activity.
• If RockRecorder can't be reached, the workstation keeps what it records (up to 500 MB) and sends it when the connection is back.

1. Add the Screen Capture interface

1. Open the user menu (top right) and go to Administration > Recording > Recording Interfaces.
2. Click New recording interface, give it a name and choose Type: Screen Capture.
3. Click Create interface at the bottom of the page.

Before workstations can install the program, the server needs it: go to Administration > Updates and, under RockRecorder Screen Capture, upload the .rragent file that comes with your license (Upload & check, then Install).

2. Install it on each workstation

On the interface's Workstations tab, click Install on a workstation and Download the setup program. On the workstation (Windows 10 or later, 64-bit):

1. Run RockScreenCaptureSetup.exe.
2. Enter the RockRecorder server's address, the one you open RockRecorder at in a browser, without https:// (for example recorder.example.com or 192.168.1.50).
3. Finish. The last page shows the workstation's Agent ID.

To install on many workstations at once with Group Policy, Intune or PDQ, use the silent install shown under Many workstations at once:

RockScreenCaptureSetup.exe /S /SERVER=recorder.example.com

It installs a Windows service, RockRecorder Screen Capture, which starts with Windows. It trusts RockRecorder's own certificate automatically, so there's nothing to set up for that.

3. Approve the workstation

The workstation appears on the interface's Workstations tab under Waiting for approval, with its computer name, Agent ID, address and signed-in user.

1. Check the Agent ID matches the one the workstation shows.
2. Click Approve and choose A new channel (named after the computer, which you can change) or An existing channel, to replace a workstation that was there before.

Recording starts within seconds. Reject turns a workstation away. Workstations left waiting are dropped after 7 days.

To skip this step for your own workstations, enter their network under Approve workstations automatically from these networks on the Settings tab (for example 10.20.30.0/24). Each one then gets its own channel automatically, while the license has room.

On the workstation

The status window (Start menu > RockRecorder Screen Capture) shows whether it's connected and recording, the recorder and channel, the agent ID, the signed-in user and the monitors.

• Stop turns recording off on this workstation until it's started again here. It needs Windows administrator rights. RockRecorder then shows the workstation as Offline.
• View log and Change recorder need administrator rights too.

From a command prompt

Everything in the status window can also be done from a Command Prompt run as administrator on the workstation, which is handy over a remote session or in a script. Go to the program's folder first:

cd "C:\Program Files\RockRecorder Screen Capture"

Command	What it does
RockScreenCapture status	Shows the agent ID, the recorder, and whether it's connected and recording
RockScreenCapture set-server recorder.example.com	Connects to a different RockRecorder server
RockScreenCapture stop	Stops recording on this workstation. It stays off, even after a restart, until it's started again
RockScreenCapture start	Starts recording again
RockScreenCapture trust-reset	Forgets RockRecorder's certificate, after the server's certificate was replaced
RockScreenCapture uninstall	Removes the service. The workstation keeps its identity, so a reinstall needs no new approval; add --remove-data to delete that too
RockScreenCapture version	Shows the installed version

Settings

On the interface's Settings tab:

Setting	What it does	Default
Recordings start and keep going with	Motion and keyboard or mouse, motion only, or keyboard or mouse only	Motion and keyboard or mouse
A recording ends after no activity for	30 seconds to 5 minutes	1 minute
Longest recording	Longer activity continues in a new recording	30 minutes
Changes sent at most	How often changes on screen are sent, 1 to 10 times a second	2 times a second
Image quality	60 to 90, or lossless (larger)	80
Keep workstations up to date	Workstations update themselves when a new version is uploaded	Ticked

Changes reach the workstations within about 10 seconds.

Managing workstations

On the Workstations tab, each workstation shows its channel, computer, status (Connected, Offline), version, signed-in user and last change.

• Rename renames its channel. New recordings use the new name; earlier ones keep theirs.
• Revoke stops recording within seconds. Its recordings and channel are kept.
• Update to … updates one workstation now, when Keep workstations up to date is off.

Approving, rejecting, revoking and renaming are all written to the audit log. To remove the program from a workstation, uninstall it in Windows' Apps & features, and revoke the workstation in RockRecorder.

Playing recordings

On the Recordings page, a Screen Capture recording opens in the screen player:

• Follow shows the monitor being used; with several monitors, All or 1, 2… shows them all or one.
• Zoom with the mouse wheel or + / −, drag to move, double-click for actual size.
• Skip to the previous or next change, play at up to 16× speed, or go full screen.

Download gives a .html file that plays the recording in any web browser, offline, with nothing to install. Screen Capture recordings play on a computer, not on phones, and they can be encrypted and archived like audio.

If it doesn't work

Problem	What to check
The workstation never appears	On the workstation, open https:// and the server's address in a browser: it must reach RockRecorder on port 443. Check the address in the status window, and that the RockRecorder Screen Capture service is running
It stays Waiting for approval	Approve it on the Workstations tab. A reinstalled workstation that lost its identity needs approving again, onto its existing channel
Offline	The workstation is off, can't reach the server, or recording was stopped in its status window
Connected, but no recordings	Nothing is happening on screen, or Recordings start and keep going with doesn't match how it's used

The workstation's log is C:\ProgramData\RockRecorder\ScreenCapture\rr-screen.log; the server's is /opt/rockrecorder/logs/screen.log.