If you would like to beta test, you can download it here.

Announcements 4 Comments December 21st, 2011

We’re thinking about adding the ability to lock down certain portions of the application in a password protected “Limited” mode that is very much like the Parental controls in Windows.

The default mode would be full rights.  You would set it into “Limited Mode” in the program preferences and set the password there also.

Is this something that you would find useful?

General 4 Comments March 26th, 2011

Adobe Flash Player has been the target of many security attacks lately due to its inherent security flaws.  Adobe updates the Flash player frequently. 

It’s very difficult to get all of the systems on your network updated because it requires Administrator permissions to apply the updates.  There aren’t any inexpensive tools for pushing these updates out so I will show you how to do this using Bozteck VNCScan.

Here are the steps in a nutshell:

1. Download the flash player distribution from here
2. Create the script in the Script Manager
3. Add the flash install file to the script window
4. Ensure that you have access permissions to the remote computer(s)
5. Select the computers that you’d like to deploy the script to
6. Select the script from the dropdown
7. Watch it work

Downloading Flash Player

You can download the scriptable Flash player from http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html.  For this tutorial, we’re going to download the Internet Explorer executable.

Create the script

Open the script manager using the Tools => "Scripts and Commands” menu as shown below:

From the window below, choose “New Script”

In the new script window,enter the script title and optionally a folder to group it in as well as any notes on the deployment and then choose to include a file.

Browse to the install_flash_player_10_active_x.exe file that you downloaded to choose it.  You will see the path to the file below:

When the script is executed on the remote computer, the path to the included file will be %systemdrive%\temp\vncscan\install_flash_player_10_active_x.exe.  Any files that you attach to script this way are always stored there.  You’ll need to reference that location by using that in the path of the file that you’re calling.  See the screen shot below:

%systemdrive%\temp\vncscan\\install_flash_player_10_active_x.exe /silent

Choose “Save and Close” to return back to the main window.

Deploy the script

We need to start by ensuring that the administrative access to the remote computer has been set.  One way to do this on a per-computer basis is to right-click the computer and choose properties; and then flip to the “Windows Login” tab.  Enter the Administrator username and password that is valid on the remote computer.  If you’re not on a domain, just leave the domain field at %HOST%.

Now, select the computer in the Managed List.  Now, click on the “Remote Scripts” and choose your new script.

The window below will pop up and the software will be deployed:

 

Keeping Up to Date

You can keep this script up to date easily because Adobe always names the file the same every time.  Simply return to the website and download the latest version, remove the one in the script, and then add this new download.  Simply re-deploy and you’re up to date!

how-to 24 Comments February 26th, 2010

Overview

This guide will describe the procedures and various options when deploying VNC on your network to Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows Server using the tools in VNCScan Enterprise Network Manager (VENM).  We’ll move through each of the screens and give an overview of each of the settings and what they do.  We’ll conclude with a look at what happens during the deployment process behind the scenes.

System Requirements for VNC Push Installs

· The remote computer must be running Windows 2000 or greater

· The Remote Registry must be started on the remote computer (in some configurations, this is disabled by default and needs to be set to “Automatic”)

· In Windows XP, Simple File Sharing needs to be disabled.

· There must be no firewall enabled that is blocking the typical file sharing ports.

· Administrator access to remote computers must be either granted to the account you are logged in as or supplied in the deployment tool at the time of deployment.

Getting Started

VNCScan uses the concept of “Deployment Profiles” to group settings for the remote server.  Instead of choosing options such as the server password, VNC version, and various other settings every time that you deploy VNC, you can create names profiles that contain all of this information; ready to be used on any computer on your network quickly.

These profiles are created using the Profile Editor.  The easiest way to get to this tool is the toolbar under the Managed Groups tab (Fig 1.0)

FIG 1.0

The Profile Editor

Using the Profile Editor, you can create new profiles or edit existing ones.  We’ll start by creating a new profile called “UltraVNC with MS Login”.  To start, click on the button that says “New Profile” as seen below.

FIG 1.1

Required Settings

Let’s take a moment to look at all of the options on the first tab of the deployment profile editor in the image below (FIG 1.2).

· Profile Name – This is what will be used to reference this profile when it’s time to deploy VNC Remote Screen Sharing to a networked computer.

· VNC Version – You have the option of deploying 4 different versions of VNC; UltraVNC, TightVNC, RealVNC Freeware, or UltraVNC Legacy.  UltraVNC is the default and most compatible with modern operating systems.  This is the official version that is best supported in VNCScan.

· The server password must always be set no matter what other settings you choose in the editor.

· The TightVNC Read-Only password will be enabled if you are deploying TightVNC and wish to enable a second password for read-only access to the remote desktop.

· VNC Port – this is the port that VNC will listen on for a connection.  If you alter this, you will need to make sure to edit the computer or group properties in VNCScan to connect on the correct port.

· Java Port – optionally, VNC Server has a built in java web client. If you set the port to 0 it will disable this server.

FIG 1.2

Connection Options

The connection options are optional and work fine as the defaults for most scenarios.  If you’d like to modify them, here’s what they do:

· Authorized Host Connections – this allows you to say who can or cannot establish a connection to the remote server based upon IP address. You can get more information about the AuthHosts here,

· Disconnect Actions allow you to do certain actions on the remote computer upon disconnect such as log off or lock the workstation

· When checked, you can make the server ask the logged on user for permission before connecting.

· The next checkbox compliments the one mentioned above by automatically accepting the connection if the logged on user doesn’t respond after x number of seconds.

· For performance reasons, you can also choose to remove the remote desktop wallpaper, pattern, or user interface effects while remotely connected.

FIG 1.3

Performance Options

There are additional performance options listed below. Things operate fine at their defaults.  Changing them can get a bit more geeky and should be done with care.

· Use VNC Hooks… – That will use “hooks” into the operating system to detect which areas of the screen has changed and need to be updated in the viewer.  This just gives a little better quality with screen updates.  The downside is the increase of CPU required at the remote computer.

· Poll the whole screen – this will poll the entire screen for updates on each cycle instead of just the foreground window(s).  As expected, it can cause a performance hit on the remote computer.

· Filter Events that have no effect – This filters out changes on the remote system that aren’t visible on the monitor.  I’d leave that checked unless there’s a specific need to uncheck it.

· Sharing – This determines at the server level what happens if two different consoles attempt to remote control the desktop at the same time.

o Always Shared – no matter what setting the connected client(s) have set, the server will override them and allow the desktop to be shared by all connections

o Never share – no matter what setting the connected client(s) have set, the server will override them and disallow the desktop to be shared by all connections

o Use Client Defaults – This lets the client settings decide.  If the connecting client is set to disallow sharing, all existing connections will be dropped in favor of the newly connecting client.

· Accept Pointer Events – to accept mouse input from the connected clients or not

· Accept Keyboard Events – to accept keyboard input from the connected clients or not

· Accept clipboard Updates – When checked, anything copied to and from the clipboard at either computer is passed through the VNC connection to the remote computer.  If this is enabled, be careful of what you copy into the clipboard while in a VNC session.

· Send Clipboard Updates – this controls whether anything copied to the clipboard on the server is sent back to the client’s clipboard for pasting.

· Clipboard events affect the screen saver – If enabled, the screen saver will be disrupted on the server if the client copies something to their clipbard

· Disable local inputs – This will disable the remote servers keyboard and mouse while someone is connected to the server.

Special Options

Here’s where we can set some things that are specific to UltraVNC along with other settings that you may be interested in.

· Disable Tray Icon – This hides the VNC icon on the remote computer.  Normally, while the service is running, there’s a little icon by the clock that gives information about the server and allows users to change settings.  Hiding the icon can take away the temptation to tamper.

· Allow users to shut down VNC – When this is checked and the user right-clicks the icon in the task bar for the server mentioned above, the option to shut down the server will be grayed out.

· Allow users to change and access settings – When this is checked and the user right-clicks the icon in the task bar for the server mentioned above, the option to open the settings window for the server will be grayed out.

· Use DSM Encryption – This is specific to UltraVNC.  It enables encryption for the IP traffic between the server and the viewer.  This happens using a shared private key file.  If the server is deployed with this check box checked, it will refuse connections from any viewer that is not configured for encryption with the same private key.  More information on this is here.

· MS Authentication – This is also specific to ULtraVNC.  It will ignore the password configured in the “Required Settings” tab and use Windows authentication to control the connection instead.  The ACL lingo is explained here.

Custom

The custom section of the profile editor is getting a little out dated.  In older versions of VNC, settings were stored in the registry.  Now they are most stored in a file in the same folder as the server.  If you’re still deploying older registry based VNC versions, this section could come in handy to you.

You can add custom registry keys to the remote computer during the deployment using this screen.  If you chose UltraVNC DSM encryption in the previous tab, a path will be specified here to the rc4.key private key file that will be used on the server end.  If you’ve created your own key, be sure that the same key file is in the folder where your vncviewer.exe is located.  Again, more information on this can be found here.

That’s it!  Save your settings and you’re ready to deploy it to a workstation.

Deploying the Profile

We’re going to start with the premise that the computer you are wishing to deploy VNC remote desktop to is not already added to a group in your console.  We’ll start by right-clicking a group and choosing to register a new computer manually.

FIG 2.0

Now, type in the workstation name, then hit the button that says “Resolve From HostName”

FIG 2.1

You can optionally enter any other information in this dialog but this is all that is required to continue.  Press the OK button to return to the main window.

Click the “VNC Deployment” toolbar and select “Deploy to Selected”

FIG 2.3

The following window is displayed (FIG 2.4).  Let’s go over some of the options that you see here.

· Selected Computers – these are the computers selected to have VNC deployed to

· Deploy Profile – this is the profile of settings to be applied to the selected computers once VNC has been pushed to them.  Look familiar?

· Add computers to group – Once the push process has been initiated, the computer(s) will be added to the group selected

· Use alternative login credentials – This will be the user account used to access the remote computer and its registry.  Make sure that it’s a user account with administrative access to each computer in the selected computers list.

· Do not copy start menu icons – this prevents the icons for VNC server from showing up on the remote computer’s start menu

· Deploy UltraVNC video driver – When checked, the push script will attempt to install the UltraVNC performance enhancing video driver on the remote system.  Be aware that Windows Vista, 7, and server 2008 have driver signing restrictions that may cause a prompt to show up on the remote computer during deployment.

FIG 2.4

FIG 2.5

You’re done!  If everything went right, you should be able to connect to the remote computer and remote control it by simply double-clicking on the computer in the main window.

how-to No Comments February 11th, 2010

We’ve posted the latest release of Bozteck VNCScan Enterprise Network Manager (VENM) to our downloads page today!

If you saw that there was a version 2010.2.3 and downloaded it before we could correct the error, you probably downloaded a (less than stable) beta version instead of this release.  Please re-download the update to be sure that you’re on the stable code base.

We’ve done some more work to make moving your data files around much easier.  You can modify the root location (the folder that contains the data, profiles, and jobs folders) in the main program preferences in the “Support Files” section.

If you’re moving the data to somewhere on the same volume, you can simply hit the “Change” button and browse to a folder where you want them to be.  When prompted, let the program move the files for you into that location.

If you’re moving to a network location or another volume, manually create that destination folder and copy the data, profiles, and jobs folders into that new destination folder.  After this is completed, follow the steps above and answer “No” when asked if the program should move the files for you.

Releases 1 Comment February 4th, 2010

View the Video

Learn how to remotely enable RDP Terminal Services on remote computers using VNCScan!

how-to, Videos No Comments November 21st, 2009

New in this release:

• New: SSH has been added to VNCScan due to popular demand! You can rght-click a computer, choose connect and then choose SSH as the method. Alternatively, you can set SSH as the default connection method in the group or computer properties depending on the desired scope. You can expect more development in this area in the future.
• Fix: The Location and User fields have been placed back into the main list of computers
• Fix: The quick edit feature now works as expected.
• Fix: Telnet now works in Vista
• New: You can now select Telnet as a default connection method in the group or computer properties (depending on the desired scope).

Download Here

Releases No Comments January 6th, 2009

We’ve completed the initial phase of our website redesign!

In the next few days, we’ll be editing all of our old pages with redirects to the equivalent page at the new website. Some of the pages already redirect property and a few of them (like the main home page) automatically do so after a second or two.

We want to keep the old site in place for a while to let the search engines catch up with the move. After about a week, we’ll move all of the old pages into an archived subset of our new website for historical purposes only.

We’ve painstakingly recreated every page on the old site in the new design so that all of your important information is still there in the new one. The first advantage of the new site is the great site-wide search function.

The move was done for a couple of reasons. First, our old site was looking pretty aged. It was created by hand in static HTML. It has been tiresome to edit and keep up to date because of this. I think that the design looked OK but it was based upon Windows XP – which contributed to the “yesterdays web” look.

So, we moved to a CMS based upon Joomla 1.5. It was a significant learning curve but I was able to draw upon the knowledge of people smarter than me to get me on the right path. I am immensely greatful for everyone who has helped me switch paradigms into the world of Joomla.

Now that the initial change-over phase has been completed, we can start looking for ways to make the website more interactive and social. I’m very excited about the possibilities. There are so many smart and talented people using VNCScan in ways that I never imagined. You guys deserve a website that can let you share that knowledge and help each other out.

Any comments on the new website will help steer it’s direction.

Announcements, General 2 Comments July 11th, 2008

Download: http://www.bozteck.com/vncscan.2007.11.21.exe

This was supposed to be just a bug fix release but I decided to slip in a couple of features to make it worth the download. I know that the new features weren’t blockbuster features but there are more coming that should make up for it.

The main visible new addition is the support for TightVNC view-only password in the deployment wizard. This has been requested a number of times so I hope that it is something that makes VENM more valuable to you.

I know that a lot of people are eagerly awaiting Vista support in the VNC deployment wizard. We’ve been waiting on the guys at UltraVNC to finish the 1.0.4 release that will be fully Vista compatible but until then, there has been a lot of behind the scenes coding inside the VENM software in preparation.

One small hint of that development can be seen in a new file that is created in your My Documents\VNCScan\profiles\ folder called ultravnc.ini. The new version of UltraVNC server will use this file for it’s settings instead of the registry. Theoretically, you could download the setup from http://www.uvnc.com, install it, and copy the binary files into c:\fastpush\vnc7\ultra and deploy it to Vista. This has’t been fully tested, yet, but that’s the idea.

Thank you for taking an interest in VNCScan Enterprise Network Manager.

Sincerely,

Steve Bostedor

Releases No Comments November 28th, 2007