Connect to Any Computer with Atlas Reach Quick Support

How Atlas Reach Quick Support works: send a customer a link, they run the Quick Support module and read you a 10-digit code, and more.

Before you begin

  • Atlas Reach enabled for the tenant
  • An Atlas AVD role that can start remote-console sessions on Atlas Reach devices (administrators have it)
  • A customer computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux, with internet access to your Atlas AVD deployment

How it works at a glance

  1. You create a Quick Support link for the customer's operating system and send it to them.
  2. The customer opens the link, downloads the Quick Support module, and runs it. No sign-in and no admin rights are needed.
  3. The module shows a 10-digit session code. The customer reads it to you.
  4. You enter the code in Atlas AVD and click Connect.
  5. The customer clicks Allow. Your console opens and the session begins.
  6. When either of you ends the session, the module closes and removes itself.

Step 1: Send the customer a link

Go to Atlas Reach in Atlas AVD and click Start a Quick Support session at the top of the page. The button appears on every Atlas Reach view.

  1. Under Send the customer a link, choose the customer's computer: Windows, macOS, or Linux. The page the customer opens offers only that download, so they never have to choose.
  2. Optionally, type a ticket reference (for example INC-4821). It is shown next to the session in your Quick Support sessions list.
  3. Click Create link, then Copy link, and paste it into the ticket, an email, or a chat. You can also read it out.

A link works for 7 days and can be used by more than one person, so one link can serve a whole ticket. It is not a permanent way in: when it expires, create a new one. If you start Quick Support from an Atlas Flow ticket, the ticket reference is filled in for you.

Step 2: The customer runs the Quick Support module

The customer opens the link in a browser. The page needs no sign-in and offers the right download for their computer. The link is built into the downloaded file's name, so the customer never has to paste anything.

  • Windows: a signed installer (AtlasReachQuickSupport.msi) for x64, with 32-bit (x86) and ARM64 versions listed too. It installs only for the signed-in user, needs no admin rights, does not appear in Settings → Apps, and uninstalls itself when the session ends. A standalone .exe is offered as a fallback for computers that cannot run the installer.
  • macOS: AtlasReachQuickSupport.app.zip, for Apple silicon and Intel. Unzip and open it; nothing is installed.
  • Linux: AtlasReachQuickSupport.AppImage for x86_64. Make it executable and run it; nothing is installed.

Windows SmartScreen and Microsoft Defender trust the signed installer more readily than the standalone .exe, so point customers at the installer first. If your customers' antivirus blocks Quick Support, see Antivirus Exclusions for Atlas Reach.

Step 3: Enter the session code and connect

The Quick Support window shows a 10-digit code in large type, grouped as 123 456 7890. Ask the customer to read it to you.

  1. In the Quick Support session dialog, type the code into Session code. Spaces and dashes are ignored, so type it however the customer reads it.
  2. Click Connect.
  3. The customer sees a prompt in the Quick Support window asking them to allow the session. Once they click Allow, your remote console opens, just as it does for a managed device.

A code can be used once and expires 10 minutes after it appears. If it has expired, ask the customer to close and reopen the module for a new code. After 10 wrong codes in 15 minutes, code entry is locked for 15 minutes, for you and for your tenant, to stop anyone guessing their way in.

What you can do during the session

You see the customer's screen and can use the keyboard and mouse, with the same console you use for managed devices. Because the computer is not one you manage, a Quick Support session is limited to the screen itself.

  • Available: view and control the screen.
  • File transfer: available only if the customer ticks Allow file transfer in the Quick Support window (and your tenant's policy allows file transfer). They can change it at any time.
  • Not available: clipboard sync, the remote terminal, privacy controls, reboot, scripts, the toolbox, software deployment, updates, power actions, and Wake-on-LAN.

Consent is always required for Quick Support, whatever your consent settings for managed devices. A banner stays on the customer's screen for the whole session, and they can click Stop sharing at any moment to end it.

Ending the session

The session ends when you close the console, when the customer clicks Stop sharing or closes the Quick Support window, or if the connection drops. Atlas AVD then closes the session and revokes the access it granted, so the code and the module can never be used again. On Windows the installer removes itself; on macOS and Linux the customer can simply delete the file they downloaded.

Tracking sessions

Quick Support computers never appear in your device list, groups, or alerts. Instead, the Quick Support sessions panel on the Atlas Reach overview lists each session with the computer name, operating system, the technician who connected, when it started, and the ticket reference.

  • Waiting for technician: the customer is running the module and nobody has connected yet.
  • Connected: a session is live. Click Open console to return to it.
  • Ended: the session is over. The reason it ended is shown underneath.
  • Expired: the code passed its 10 minutes without anyone connecting.

Every step, from creating a link to the session ending, is recorded in the audit log, including wrong codes and lockouts.

Billing

A Quick Support session counts as one Atlas Reach unit for the month, but only when a technician actually connects. A code that nobody uses costs nothing, and a computer is never counted twice: Quick Support computers are not part of your managed device count.

Troubleshooting

  • The code is rejected: check the digits with the customer. If it is older than 10 minutes or has already been used, have them reopen the module for a fresh code.
  • Code entry is locked: wait 15 minutes after the last wrong attempt, then try again.
  • The download page does not offer a download: the link has expired or was revoked. Create a new one.
  • The customer's antivirus blocks or deletes the module: send the Windows installer rather than the .exe, or add the exclusions in Antivirus Exclusions for Atlas Reach.
  • You do not see Start a Quick Support session: your role cannot start remote-console sessions. Ask an administrator.

Next steps