Late one afternoon, a critical legacy server dropped offline. A diligent security admin rushed to the air-gapped data center floor to fix it, but ran into a familiar barrier: clipboard redirection was disabled by policy. Forced to manually transcribe a complex, 30-character randomized password on a rack keyboard, a single slipped finger triggered an immediate account lockout – snowballing a routine five-minute fix into a high-stress, multi-hour P0 incident.
This is a broken workflow every SysAdmin and network engineer knows all too well. To bypass this daily frustration, teams often resort to risky workarounds like scribbling temporary passwords on sticky notes or weakening password complexity so credentials are easier to type. For years, maintaining high security and operational practicality in restricted environments has felt mutually exclusive – until now.
Introducing “Copy to YubiKey” in Devolutions Remote Desktop Manager (RDM)
To solve this challenge, Yubico and Devolutions have partnered to introduce a powerful new feature in Devolutions Remote Desktop Manager (RDM): Copy to YubiKey.
This new solution directly bridges the gap between legacy credential requirements and modern hardware security. Instead of forcing admins to choose between compliance and sanity, it turns the YubiKey they already carry into a secure, automated credential injector.
Designed to be incredibly seamless for an admin already deep in the RDM dashboard, this feature works once a YubiKey is connected to their workstation. A new “Copy to YubiKey” action dynamically appears on credential entries within RDM. From there, the process takes only a few seconds:
- Select the Credential: The admin locates the vaulted, high-entropy password within RDM.
- Choose the Slot: They trigger the “Copy to YubiKey” action and select which hardware slot on the YubiKey they want to temporarily use (Slot 1 or Slot 2).
- Program the YubiKey: RDM securely programs that specific credential directly into the chosen YubiKey slot as a static password.
Because the YubiKey can act as a standard USB keyboard (Human Interface Device), a single physical press of the key instantly injects the credential into any text field—no software, network connection, or clipboard required.
Security without the friction
“Copy to YubiKey” is about more than just convenience; it’s about fortifying the security posture for the gatekeepers of your infrastructure. By combining Devolutions’ connection management with Yubico’s gold-standard phishing-resistant, hardware-backed passkeys, the joint solution delivers immediate operational advantages:
- Passwords that work where ‘copy-paste’ doesn’t
Acting as a hardware keyboard, YubiKey instantly injects complex passwords into restricted interfaces like server consoles and BIOS prompts. - Eliminating the clipboard attack surface
Bypasses system clipboards entirely, preventing risks from clipboard history, cloud syncing, and monitoring malware. - Maintaining strict governance and auditing
Keeps credentials vaulted in Devolutions RDM so YubiKeys only store deliberately and traceably copied data. - Maximizing the hardware you already carry
Uses existing YubiKey configuration slots to safely transport privileged credentials alongside standard MFA workflows.
Instead of spending hours manually relaying authentication information between a phone and a terminal, administrators can now bypass the process entirely. Because the credential injects perfectly on the first try, users shift from being a reactive firefighter to a proactive architect. Instead of staring at account lockout screens, they are able to focus on high-value projects that push the business forward.
Through this integration, Yubico and Devolutions are ensuring that when you must use a password, you can do so with the speed, accuracy, and physical assurance that modern enterprises demand.
Ready to eliminate manual password typing in your restricted environments?
- Ensure your team is running the latest version of Devolutions Remote Desktop Manager.
- Check out the Devolutions RDM Listing in the Works with YubiKey Catalog for technical compatibility and setup details.
