Where did the /console switch go ?

If you use Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to remotely manage servers you are probably used to the /console switch (to access the console session on the server). This means that you have 3 sessions on a Windows 2003 server (2 sessions + console session).

If you have upgraded to RDP 6.1 (comes with Vista SP1 and Windows 2008 server) the /console switch doesn't connect to the console session. To be able to attach to the console session you need to use a new switch /admin to successfully connect and use the console session.

It is possible to a post to install the RDP 6.1 on other computers, but requires some work (link).

RDP 6.1
mstsc connection file /v:server:port /admin /f /w:width /h:height /public /span /edit "connection file" /migrate

<connection file>	Specifies the name of and .rdp file for the connection
/v:server:port	Specifies the remote computer to which you want to connect (and port)
/admin	Connects you to the session for administering a server
/f	Starts in full-screen mode
/w:width	Specifies width
/h:height	Specifies height
/public	Runs RDP in public mode When the TS client is running in public mode it does not persist to disk or the registry any private user data (e.g. username, domain, password, etc.) on the machine which it is running, nor does it make use of any saved private data that may exist (e.g. trusted sites list, persistent bitmap cache, username, etc). In essence, the client operates as if there is no registry or secondary storage present for private data. However, the client still honors GP settings.
/span	Matches the remote desktop width and height with the local virtual desktop, spanning across multiple monitors if necessary. To span across monitors, the monitors must all have same height and be aligned vertically
/edit	Opens the specified .rdp file for editing
/migrate	Migrates legacy connection files that where created with Client Connection Manager to new .rdp connection files