vcd-console-access.adoc

Remote Console Access to {vcd-provider-full}

Remote console is a graphical window that allows you to view desktop of a virtual machine, and to interact with that virtual machine in a similar way to a physical machine.

{vcd-provider} supports establishing remote console against running virtual machines. Console window is opened in browser using VMware HTML5 WebMKS Console SDK. Due to VMware licensing restrictions, Red Hat cannot ship the WebMKS SDK in {product-title}.

Note	{vcd} itself needn’t be accessible from user’s browser directly since {product-appliance} serves as proxy between the two. Remote console feature should work as long as browser can access {product-title}.

Prerequisites

Following prerequisites need to be met in order to be able to use remote console access:

• VMware WebMKS SDK must be installed on {product-appliance}.

• VMware WebMKS option must be selected as default VMware Console Support.

• Virtual machine that we’re establishing remote console against must be powered on.

Installing VMware WebMKS SDK on {product-appliance_title}

Remote console for {vcd-provider} requires VMware WebMKS SDK to be installed on {product-appliance}. Following steps are needed to install it:

1. SSH to the {product-console} as root user.

2. Create a new directory webmks in the /var/www/miq/vmdb/public/ directory.

   /var/www/miq/vmdb/public/webmks

3. Download and extract the contents of VMware WebMKS SDK into the webmks directory.

Directory structure similar to the one shown below should now reside in the newly created webmks directory.

webmks/
├── css
│   ├── extended-keypad.css
│   ├── main-ui.css
│   ├── trackpad.css
│   └── wmks-all.css
├── img
│   ├── touch_sprite_feedback.png
│   └── touch_sprite.png
└── wmks.min.js

Configure VMware WebMKS as Default Console Type for {vcd-provider-title}

1. Log in to the {product-gui} as an administrative user.

2. From the settings menu, select Configuration.

3. Click on the Settings → Zones accordion and pick server from your zone.

4. In Server tab scroll down to VMware Console Support section and pick VMware WebMKS option.

5. Click Save.

Note	VMware Console Support setting will affect both {vcd-provider} as well as VMware vSphere provider. It is currently not possible to use different setting for the each.

Using Remote Console Access

Log in to the {product-gui} and open details page of a running {vcd-provider}'s virtual machine. Menu option Access → VM Console appears in center menu.

Click it and remote console will open in a popup window. Focus console by left-clicking into the remote desktop section to start using virtual machine remotely (mouse moving, mouse clicking and keyboard typing). Close popup when you’re done.

Note	If nothing happens when you click on VM Console button, please make sure popus are not being blocked by your browser. See image below.