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My move to Waterloo from Bermuda made this release late, but iMKS b404 is ready to roll.

Bug fixes:
VMware Server 2.0 console would not start when launched from iMKSfox.
(Thanks go out to Eric Klopfer for the report)

Package Updates:
FreeNX 0.7.3 - Improved session stability
VMware Server remote console (vmware-vmrc) updated to 2.0-final

Feature enhancements:
Add VNC mirroring capabilities to NX and console sessions; useful for screen sharing or accessing Virtual Infrastructure with an iPhone running Jaadu VNC.

If you're using iMKS feel free to post your observations/comments in this blog. Over 3TB of bandwidth has been consumed serving out this appliance and it would be very helpful to get input on how people are using iMKS. Mac OS X users looking for a VMware Server 2.0 or VI3 Remote Console appear to be the majority of users, but iMKS is a universal WAN-optimized display proxy so that's just one of many scenarios. Share your experiences!

The following images show an iPhone running Jaadu VNC, logged into a VNC-mirrored iMKS session. First image is managing ESX Server and the second is a VMware Server Console connected to a P2V'd Ferrari 3400 I won at VMworld a few years ago. Jaadu VNC mouse/keyboard/screen performance in remote consoles is very good and the Web Interface is quite useable over WiFi, haven't tried it over EDGE yet.

So close, yet so far away!

With a weekend of ThinApp and WINE tweaking/hacking atop iMKS Project's WINE install, this is as far as I could get running the VI Client on my PbG4. Interestingly, I tried the VI Client in a WINE-only environment as well, and got just as far with that as my Thinstall bundle. I did an end-run around schannel.dll issues by disabling SSL on my host. Once past that, I get an error parsing the server's config.xml file. I think this is due to the VI Client failing on a .dll somewhere in the winsock/network stack. There's also more issues pointing to XML-parsing problems in WINE's .Net install. If this can be made to work with ThinApp on-top Wine, we will have a VI3 Client that essentially runs on PowerPC Macs, Solaris and Linux (Oh yeah, WinTel too. Heh...)

There was one nice take-away from this failed VI-Client-on-everything mission... I got Office 2003 running in WINE and I've figured out a couple of wierd FreeNX/X11/Wine issues that were annoying the heck out of me. It's unbeleivably cool how close iMKS has gotten to being a free and open alternative for running Windows software over the 'Net, acting as both application and terminal server.

Go to the iMKS Download Page at DesktopECHO.com

What is iMKS?

• The iMKS Virtual Appliance presents the VMware Remote Console in a simple, secure, and cross-platform fashion.
• Impressive console rendering over any IP network -- LAN, WAN or Internet.
• FreeNX + NX GPL back-end, NoMachine NX Client front-end (download for Mac OS X, Solaris, Linux and Windows.)
• iSCSI target (IET 0.4.16) built-in, and a basic Webmin GUI for iSCSI target editing.
• Network PDF Printer: Macs (or PC's with Bonjour) can autodiscover and install the iMKS PDF print driver.
• PDF's automagically wind up in your home folder or the public web share at http://imks.local/public

Remote Consoles supported:

• VMware ESX 2.x and ESX 3.x
• VMware Server 2.x and Server 1.x
• Microsoft RDP and SeamlessRDP
• VNC and Apple Remote Desktop (ARD)
• Cirtix ICA and Java-based consoles work when their respective plugins are installed

Challenges: (What problems can iMKS solve?)

• VMware's Remote Console (RemoteMKS) is designed for high-fidelity reproduction of screens to other computers on a LAN. Performance over Cable/DSL Internet is therefore (expectedly) terrible or unusable.
• Mac users suffer with terrible ARD/VNC performance over WAN/Internet.
• RemoteMKS consoles pumped over RDP/Citrix work ok, but issues with "drunken mouse syndrome" or "screen-in-screen lagmonster" can make for unhappy experiences.
• VMware Remote Consoles are only available for Windows and Linux on x86.
• Mac (Intel/PPC) or Solaris users have no free and reliable way to run
• VMware GSX / Server/ ESX 2.x / ESX 3.x Remote Consoles.

Design:

• Start the iMKS VM - Set passwords - DONE.
• Unlimited users -- The ceiling is hardwarwe and bandwidth, not licensing.
• Engineered with attention to being small, good-looking and dead-simple to use. CD size or better (b315 is 502mb)
• iMKS (strictly speaking) is a Virtual Appliance, there is no desktop per-se. Remote applications are seamlessly integrated into the local desktop
• ZeroConf/Bonjour aware, remote SMB filecopy, discoverable PDF printer for the network.
• Windows Remote Desktop (RDP protocol) supported through an improved GUI rdesktop, and provides accessibility to Win2000 / XP / 2003 / and Vista RDP sessions.
• SeamlessRDP support; integrating rdesktop/SVN, third-party patches and a tuned version of TSclient 1.50. Past work on the TSclientX project for MacOS became the breeding ground for the refinement seen here.
• A VNC Client with tabbed windows, ZeroConf/Bonjour autodiscovery, Apple VNC and Keychain support: Vinagre, wow.
• Secure enough to live in the perimeter. One incoming port required for functionality; authentication and data streams are protectd by SSHv2.
• Fast, secure remote access to a Mac OS X Desktop when used in conjunction with the excellent Vine Server, it can transform Mac OS X into a multi-user Terminal Server.

Tips:

• There are lots, I need to post some.

Known Issues:

• There are lots, I need to post some.

ChangeLog:

• June 18, 2008 - Build 315. Initial Release

Everything Else:

• This package is provided "AS-IS" with no warranty - explicit or implied - from anyone.

Thanks go out to:

VMware: The remote console binaries packaged in iMKS are VMware's code, (c)VMware, Inc.

The rest of iMKS is made up of free and open source software.
CentOS/RedHat, FreeNX, NoMachine NX, XFCE, GNOME, KDE, OpenVM-Tools,
and at least one kitchen sink. Hack away, let us know if you can make iMKS better!

Questions or feedback? E-Mail me, or post questions in an appropriate VMware Community Forum.

Daniel Milisic.