Introducing the iMKS Virtual Appliance

DanM — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:26:00 GMT

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.

The iMKS Weblog

Introducing the iMKS Virtual Appliance