DNS: Client can't connect because .local domain isn't in DNS. How can I connect over the WAN to server.domain.local?

Question

So my 2012 server is set up on the LAN with a .local domain name. 
Remote Desktop Services are set up and remoteapp stuff works fine on the LAN.
I've set up port forwarding so I can connect to the server over the WAN too, but remoteapp stuff is a bit different. I can connect to the server by specifying the correct IP address. Giving a Web browser the address
https://serverIPAddress/RDWeb
lets me get the login screen and see the range of apps for me to run. I select one, the connectoid is downloaded correctly (in Chrome) and I click on the downloaded connectoid. 
Unfortunately, rather than pursuing the sensible IP-address approach that I started with, the connectoid has been given the server's name on the LAN:  server.domain.local. Clearly, the client machine tries to look this up but DNS hasn't heard of
it because it's a .local address. 
I cannot be the only one to have come across this apparent oversight on Microsoft's part. Any ideas as to how this can sensibly be overcome? Obviously, I could put the IP address translation into every client's hosts file (and I've done this and shown it
works) but I've got too many clients to mess about like this. Anybody know 'the Microsoft way' to fix this?
Thank you for checking this out -- I am confident the details of the problem are completely specified in this query but, if I'm wrong, please ask.
Many thanks again,
Biffo

Answer 1

Hi,
I would like to suggest you to follow the checklist.
Checklist: Make RemoteApp Programs Available from the Internet
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772415.aspx
Thanks.
Jeremy Wu
TechNet Community Support