Re: [Xen-users] How to create a Persistent VNC connection to a VM?

[Andrew Bobulsky <rulerof@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

Just thought I'd chime in.  I use UltraVNC on Windows to connect to
the DomU, and it doesn't have any issues with resolution changes.  I
got into UltraVNC because it's open source and supports AD
authentication and various encryption methods.

It does, however, require a reconnect after DomU reboots.  I had
thought that this was a side effect of the DomU ID changing upon
reboot, something with Xen stopping the VNC server and then bringing
up a new one.... but Casey's note here about the OS X VNC viewer seems
to indicate otherwise :)

Cheers,
Andrew Bobulsy

On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 2:27 PM, Shane Johnson
<sdj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I use the VNC option on all my HVM DomU's but I still have to do xm
> vncviewer {host} everytime the resolution changes. which is a pain but
> I can still see the entire boot process.I will usually have 3-5 run
> command windows open so once it crashes, I can immediately open the
> new connection to the DomU.  I have only use the console option on a
> PV domain for boot debugging because once the DomU is fully booted,
> the console stops responding - I don't know if this is the way it's
> supposed to work, but it's how mine does.
>
> Shane
>
> On Fri, May 25, 2012 at 11:49 AM, <cyberhawk001@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> On 5/25/2012 3:05 AM, Simon Hobson wrote:
>>
>> James Harper wrote:
>>
>> I was actually looking into this a little while back. One thing I decided 
>> though was that qemu would need to make a 'reverse vnc' connection so that 
>> it connects to the proxy as the server, which would remove the need for the 
>> proxy to poll the server (or even know which physical server IP the client 
>> was running on). For some reason though, qemu has its own implementation of 
>> vnc rather than using libvnc (or whatever it is called), so this change is 
>> more than a one-liner, although maybe still not that difficult.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> The other advantage of this for me is that in a cluster of physical machines 
>> where the VM's float around depending on load etc, they all still just 
>> connect to the same proxy.
>>
>>
>> Would it be better to connect to the guest machine itself ? Ie set up the 
>> machine to run a shared virtual desktop rather than the virtual console 
>> display ?
>> That way, you never need to know where the guest is (ie which host it's on, 
>> or which port it's console is on), you just connect to it's IP address and 
>> it'll just work (as long as it's actually up at the time).
>>
>> ------------- ------------- -------------
>> What do you mean by "connect to the guest machine itself"? By guest machine 
>> you mean the Guest VM (aka DomU), or you mean the Host Machine (aka host 
>> server or Dom0)?
>>
>>
>> I was really hoping not have to try things like trying to write my own proxy 
>> server and etc. But, I have also heard about a "reverse vnc" and i think it 
>> could be what TightVNC calls a "listening" mode that you can select when you 
>> run the VNC Client. I guess most VNC clients have this option, BUT not 
>> figured out how it even works or how to use it yet.
>>
>>
>> I guess one option would be something like what is written here 
>> http://www.realvnc.com/products/viewerplus/index.html This VNC client uses 
>> the Intel Active Management Technology (AMT 6.0+) that is located on some 
>> Intel motherboards that, as the article states, "...enabling permanent 
>> remote access and control...". But, that is just one option if you have that 
>> type of motherboard.
>>
>>
>> I was also looking in the "xl" command man page, and under in there it says:
>> ------------- ------------- -------------
>> create [configfile] [OPTIONS]
>>
>> OPTIONS
>>
>> -V, --vncviewer   ## Attach to domain's VNC server, forking a vncviewer 
>> process.
>>
>> -A, --vncviewer-autopass   ## Pass VNC password to vncviewer via stdin.
>>
>> -c    ## Attach console to the domain as soon as it has started. This is 
>> useful for determining issues with crashing domains and just as a general 
>> convenience since you often want to watch the domain boot.
>> ------------- ------------- -------------
>> At first glance i thought the --vncviewer option allows you to connect the 
>> VNC server started once VM is created and attach it to the Dom0 VNC server 
>> (assuming you have on installed and running as there is not one by default), 
>> GRANTED not even sure what they mean by "forking a vncviewer process". BUT, 
>> i am sure that is not how that works at all, so it was merely a snappy 
>> thought.
>>
>>
>> Which also brings up another question. Since there are a lot of VNC type 
>> options under the vfb=[' ', ' '] option in the DomU Configuration options, 
>> does the vfb=[ ] option only works with PV type DomU's, such as Linux types, 
>> AND will not work with HVM guests such as Windows?
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Xen-users mailing list
>> Xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> http://lists.xen.org/xen-users
>
>
>
>
> --
> Shane D. Johnson
> IT Administrator
> Rasmussen Equipment
>
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> http://lists.xen.org/xen-users

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