Internal VNC functionality through host interface in ESX Server? (RemoteDisplay.vnc)

[sboyce]

Greetings again!

When we had a GSX server years ago we could do the following and have a way into the virtual machines from the host interface via an internal VNC server by adding the following lines into each .vmx file:

RemoteDisplay.vnc.enabled = TRUE

RemoteDisplay.vnc.port = 5901

RemoteDisplay.vnc.password = somepassword

Apparently this does not work on ESX Server 3?

Is there a way to hack this functionality in with a configuration change/3rd party utility/etc.?

Basically our students need a way into and to control their individual virtual machines through the host's interface without having access to the entire VI console. RDP is accessible through each guest's interface but I need the students to be able to do this through the host's interface.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Humbly,

Sean

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Hi Sean, you could use the web interface for this and then be able to access the remote console via the web interface. You can also create a URL that just opens the remote console. If you select a VM in the web interface, you'll see the shortcut Generate Remote Console URL on the right side of the page.

[piuhapofuhpaosf]

Just an FYI - we use this exact functionality (the RemoteDisplay.vnc.enabled, port, and password config options) to connect to our VM's that are running on ESX hosts. It works fine for us.

[maishsk]

By default this is blocked on by the firewall on ESX 3, but on ESX 3i it is open by default

In order to allow this you would have to open a firewall rule on your ESX 3 Host.

I wrote a blog post about this subject with a follow-up

Maish

Systems Administrator & Virtualization Architect

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Also remember that the VNC password is limited in character count and most modern systems can brute force the password pretty quickly..... If you have the MD5 string then well, it is even easier and faster. In addition, VNC usage bypasses all Roles and Permissions controls setup within your virtual infrastructure.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator
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Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.
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