Remote Control / RDP / VNC

[I.P.]

a remote control feature would put pc monitor on a new level and open new markets.

i am already doing this trick by firing a command script from pc monitor that opens a ssh tunnel from the target machine to my enterprise server running a ssh server allowing a server2client tunnel from enterpriseserver:30001 to localhost:3389 and then i can connect to enterpriseserver:33001 with any RDP client and can remote control the target machine.

but this is a hacking trick and not usable in an efficient way for all agents, if pc monitor comes with this functionality just opening a tcp connection to a localhost tcp port of choice it would be enough

one step further would be an integrated VNC functionality, afaik VNC is free to use in own applications, but only opening a tunnnel would be great

[Marius]

We plan to add it

[I.P.]

i know you plan to rule the world

is there already something more specific? because i will have to decide to buy a netviewer/teamviewer/citrix assist/bomgar license within the next months to be able to remote control my servers as many remote control tools do not work anymore since server2008r2.

[Marius]

Nothing specific just yet, sorry. We're still evaluating and testing all the options here.

[Paul]

Have you considered LogMeIn? They offer free remote control.

[I.P.]

no, have not tried till now. my favourite is teamviewer but i registered at logmein now and give it a try - thank you

[digbyp]

Also with logmein, to secure behind firewall (it is generally running as a service all the time), you can choose to have logmein 'disabled' at startup and use powershell to re-enable and disable as you please.

I have the scripts if you need them

[I.P.]

i registered with logmein yesterday and i am not sure by now what stays for free and what is only a trial period but the product itself seems to be very usable for unattended remote access.

digbyp: can you send me the scripts? this is a very good idea to control the service with pcmonitor.

[Paul]

Well you can just set the LogMeIn service's startup type to: Manual, have PC Monitor manage the service and just start and stop the service via the mobile application, why would you use scripts when everything is already covered by Mobile PC Monitor?

[I.P.]

because i would want to see the integration of the scripts and if this method has any advantages or disadvantages over starting/stopping the service from pc monitor.

[digbyp]

I.P. - if you PM/DM me your email address I will provide config file

[peter]

Hi, thought I would see if there were any updates on the RDP / VNC type functionality.

[Paul]

We are all waiting for this feature. I bet it's threated as a priority by the development but we can only wait for an official announcement.

It's on the roadmap so *crossed fingers* .

[digbyp]

Herewith Powershell Scripts

Enable LogMeIn + Start Service

$status = Get-WMIObject win32_service -filter "name='LogMeIn'" -computer "."

#Write-Output ($status.StartMode);

if ($status.StartMode -eq "Auto")

{

Write-Output ("LMI Service is already Automatic");

}

else

{

Set-Service LogMeIn -startupType Automatic

Start-Service LogMeIn

sleep -Milliseconds 500

$status = Get-WMIObject win32_service -filter "name='LogMeIn'" -computer "."

"LMI status is now"

$Status.startmode

}

Disable LogMeIn + Stop service

$status = Get-WMIObject win32_service -filter "name='LogMeIn'" -computer "."

#Write-Output ($status.StartMode);

if ($status.StartMode -eq "Disabled")

{

Write-Output ("LMI Service is already Disabled");

}

else

{

Set-Service LogMeIn -startupType Disabled

Stop-Service LogMeIn

sleep -Milliseconds 500

$status = Get-WMIObject win32_service -filter "name='LogMeIn'" -computer "."

"LMI status is now"

$Status.startmode

}

[Paul]

Why not keep LMI enabled and startup as automatic?

[I.P.]

LMI has 2 services. LMI and LMI Maintenance. LMI Maintenance starts LMI automatically if it is not in state disabled.

i am using this solution in real world and i am happy with it, works very well. start LMI with PC monitor and then connect via LMI dashboard. very secure and straight.

[digbyp]

I have found (as IP reports), if LMI not disabled, then LMI will start service. So, leaving as manual start will potentially cause a security issue. I prefer to leave LMI completely disabled and control with Powershell scripts. Thats just me!!!

[Paul]

The best solution would be to use PC Monitor to control the computers. No more third-party software to add more security holes.

[digbyp]

Absolutely

[I.P.]

i don't think so in general. pc monitor should not loose its focus and not try to become a "PC Everything" instead of pc monitor. don't get me wrong, a remote screen control would be a great feature to pc monitor but it is not what the original architecture of pc monitor provides, a data stream from client to agent.

but providing this it _must_ be more expensive and becomes less secure.

[Paul]

It is one of the most requested feature IMO. And as PC Monitor's motto says: "Your computers, managed." managing a computer involves remote access sometimes.

I don't think any feature that will be added to PC Monitor will pull down any security layer that's already being used.

Also direct data streams are not the only way to achieve remote control. I've got full trust that Mobile PC Monitor's developers know what they are doing and will not expose our computers to any risk by using the cloud solution.

[I.P.]

yes, but claiming a motto does not change the world

managing does not neccessarily mean full screen access. i do not only think but i am sure that "adding everything" can make a product lose its focus and simplicity. there are monitoring solutions out there that have a much bigger funcionality range than pc monitor but can be outperformed by pc monitor by simplicity and ease of use.

if remote access can be provided without losing the push-architecture and without making the whole product more expensive i will welcome it, i only have doubts that this is possible without negative impacts.

yes, a data stream is the only way to achieve a good remote control, i am sure with that. of course not direct, i didn't say that. but especially when managing a data stream over the enterprise server for instance causes many traffic issues and although this all can be solved it must make the product more expensive for the end user.

[rickyaliasgar]

PC monitor is a great tool for monitoring and managing IT infrastructure. In addition to it, one can even deploy on premise remote support appliance such as RHUB or Bomgar Appliance in order to remotely monitor computers, desktops, laptops etc. 

 

[Paul]

Having an appliance that contains the monitoring gateway doesn't change much to Mobile PC Monitor's current solution:

 

Mobile Client -> RHUB -> End Client

Mobile Client -> PC Monitor Enterprise Server -> End Client

 

I believe that Remote Desktop will be a great addition to PC Monitor and I don't think it will influence it's price too much, but hey let's see what happens.

 

Just a curiosity what do you prefer? On Premises vs Cloud Hosting? Can you explain your decision?

 

I like keeping a lot of things hosted in the Cloud due to the bad internet connection I get but this is just my mumbojumbo, what about you guys?

[I.P.]

yes, but it is a different product for a different market. the pc monitor architecture would also be well prepared for video conferencing, grid computing or cloud storage. in my eyes the destination market is well defined and you can use it as a solid reliable solution as it is. if it wants to be also a remote support solution, or snmp management, or something else, it looses focus and becomes a worse product in its primary function.

 

a good idea in my mind could be to build a remote support appliance like bomgar and the like with the pc monitor core functionality, name it different and let it have no interferences.

 

compare it to microsoft, they have all technologies to launch windows software but they created "word", "excel" and "powerpoint" and not the "everything" that can write letters, calculate spreadsheets and combine everything to a fancy self-extracting presentation.