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realvnc proxy usage

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esp5 at pge

Jun 23, 2006, 7:56 PM

Post #1 of 3 (473 views)
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realvnc proxy usage

hey all,

This may sound a bit of a simple question, and I apologize in advance if it
is a FAQ and RealVNC can do this and I just didn't see it in the docs, but
exactly how do you use realvnc with a proxy? Here's my setup:

1) NO direct ports to the outside are allowed from internal machines.
2) NO changes to the firewall are allowed, ie: no exceptions to number #1.
3) ALL traffic needs to go through an automatic proxy configuration URL, which
returns back a host that is to be used to http tunnel.

Hence, I would like realvnc to have - like every other remote connection software out there
like gotomypc and logmein - the ability to connect to a VNC server through the IE
connection settings alone, ie: to do http tunnelling through a proxy.

For there is NO WAY that I'll be able to SSL tunnel, or otherwise touch the proxy to
install software - and I'm sure I'm not alone here.

So - exactly how do you do this with realvnc? I thought I had the answer when I saw the
Java viewer, but to my dismay I see that you actually need to be able to open a port
connection outbound on port 5901-59?? depending on the display value that is being
used on the server. This restriction instantly renders realvnc useless to me,

Anyways, like I said, sorry if this is a FAQ, but I'd like to get an answer to this
once and for all. I have vnc enterprise edition and am running it on linux.

Thanks much,

Ed
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sbest at best

Jun 26, 2006, 8:40 AM

Post #2 of 3 (428 views)
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Re: realvnc proxy usage [In reply to]

Ed:
Heya. Yup, it's something of a FAQ, but a good one. :) In
order to make a VNC connection either to or from a web-proxied LAN,
you need to first establish a "tunnel" of some sort through the
proxy. There are several utilities which allow this: SSH, Zebedee,
ProxyTunnel, EchoVNC.

IMO, they're all more or less the same in terms of ease in
getting them to work -- you install a client on one side of the
connection and a corresponding server on the other side, then use
the particulars of the application to connect across the tunnel. With
ProxyTunnel or EchoVNC, I think it's one step easier as you don't
need to configure a "server" to accept connections on either side of
the connection.

You can Google for the utilities easy enough, and hopefully
find the connection details you require there. Hope that helps!

cheers,
Scott

> This may sound a bit of a simple question, and I apologize in advance if it
> is a FAQ and RealVNC can do this and I just didn't see it in the docs, but
> exactly how do you use realvnc with a proxy? Here's my setup:
>
>
> 1) NO direct ports to the outside are allowed from internal machines.
> 2) NO changes to the firewall are allowed, ie: no exceptions to number #1.
> 3) ALL traffic needs to go through an automatic proxy configuration URL, which
> returns back a host that is to be used to http tunnel.
>
>
> Hence, I would like realvnc to have - like every other remote connection software out there
> like gotomypc and logmein - the ability to connect to a VNC server through the IE
> connection settings alone, ie: to do http tunnelling through a proxy.
>
> For there is NO WAY that I'll be able to SSL tunnel, or otherwise touch the proxy to
> install software - and I'm sure I'm not alone here.
>
>
> So - exactly how do you do this with realvnc? I thought I had the answer when I saw the
> Java viewer, but to my dismay I see that you actually need to be able to open a port
> connection outbound on port 5901-59?? depending on the display value that is being
> used on the server. This restriction instantly renders realvnc useless to me,
>
> Anyways, like I said, sorry if this is a FAQ, but I'd like to get an answer to this
> once and for all. I have vnc enterprise edition and am running it on linux.
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Ed
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esp5 at pge

Jun 26, 2006, 11:10 AM

Post #3 of 3 (428 views)
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Re: realvnc proxy usage [In reply to]

On Mon, Jun 26, 2006 at 03:40:42PM +0000, Scott C. Best wrote:
> Ed:
> Heya. Yup, it's something of a FAQ, but a good one. :) In
> order to make a VNC connection either to or from a web-proxied LAN,
> you need to first establish a "tunnel" of some sort through the
> proxy. There are several utilities which allow this: SSH, Zebedee,
> ProxyTunnel, EchoVNC.
>

Ok, I'll poke around with it (and thanks for the references), but exactly
*why* is this not integrated into vnc itself? Could the tunneling not
be done inside the java viewer distributed with realvnc itself? Isn't that a
hell of a lot simpler than having to track down a third party product which
basically overcomes a shortcoming in vnc itself?

As it is, I'm going to have track down executables both for the server side
and the client side for the packet relay server (for windows,linux AND solaris),
probably do some messy configuration on both sides, and work with interoperability
issues in order to make the whole configuration work.

Apart from lost time and effort, the configuration will have to be set up on
every single machine which I want to use to connect out. And to top it all off,
the lag time will probably be greater because I've got a couple of extra
executables running with the related overhead for data forwarding!

I would think this is a very common request. Without automatic proxy forwarding,
the whole POINT of the java viewer is in jeapordy. What's the point of having
browser access if you have to jump through all of these hoops to get
something working, especially with something as trivial as making realvnc work
with a proxy?

And to top it off, I'm not sure it will work (with echovnc at least). Our proxy both
filters incoming *and* outgoing traffic, which - with websense - is a practice that
is becoming more common every day. All outgoing traffic *has* to go through the proxy.

I'd like to hear from realvnc on this one..

Ed
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