Bozteck takes pride in making complicated tasks simple.  That has been the philosophy behind VNCScan for the past 13 years.  We’re making some really COOL changes to the product to do just that.

Historical Overview

When the first versions of our VNC Manager were released way back in 1999, the data was stored in a Microsoft Access database.  Despite the popular (and often justified) opinion of Microsoft’s Access database, there are some applications that use data “just right” for that platform and VNCScan was one of them.

After frustrations with requiring multiple runtimes for Access, the decision was made to move the data to an XML format.  A lot of code was written to manage that process smoothly on the thousands of existing VNCScan installs deployed all over the globe.  The XML format has been working pretty well over the past 10 years but there are some pretty serious issues that the time has come to address.

Issues with XML Databases

The largest sacrifice of moving to XML was the ability to share one set of data with many administrators.  When the back end was database driven, multiple computers could pull from the same data at the same time with very good performance and reliability.  After moving to flat XML files, doing so often led to groups disappearing and data files that became corrupted so badly that it prevented the program from starting up.  We had to remove any support for sharing data with XML. because of this.

For example, if John and Mike both point their VNCScan consoles at the same data location, they will constantly be stepping on each others changes.  An XML file must be read into memory, modified, then placed back onto the disk as a complete file (overwriting whatever is there).

If John reads the data into his console, then Mike makes a change to the group, and then John makes a different change to HIS copy of the group, Johns change will wipe out Mikes change even if they change different properties of the group.  If they both try to write their changes simultaneously, they end up with a corrupted XML file.

The Great Database Debate

A while back, I made a blog post asking opinions of using an Access back end verses using a Microsoft SQL Server back end.  I received a lot of emails with great responses from so many of you!

On one hand, the Access database format needs to be compacted and repaired from time to time to get rid of orphaned data and “white space” in the database.  It also does not do well with a lot of threads hitting it at the same time.

On the other hand, Access is a very portable database format that requires no runtime (any more) to use in your program and holds up well with the type of data accesses that VNCScan performs.  I’ve also taken performance heavily into consideration with each line of code that I have written to mitigate any “over use” of the database.

If we were to use a SQL database, we would need to deploy the Microsoft SQL runtimes (MSDE) or require that every customer has a SQL server on premises.  For the style of data that VNCScan employs, both of those options seemed like overkills at this point.

The Future

The initial database version of VNCScan will be backed by a Microsoft Access database.  The code was written in a way that will make it VERY easy to port it to a SQL database in the near future.  While we have tested VNCScan extensively on the Access database, we will be watching “wide eyed” for any indication that the platform isn’t good enough.

I believe that by June, we will have a version that will have a choice between Access and SQL. We’re only releasing the first version as Access based to cure the ills that plague the XML.  Even with its shortcomings, Access databases are a hundred times better than XML.

The Beta

We are in the final stages of “dog fooding” the database version.  That means that we’re using it internally so that we feel any hardships before the beta testers do.

Within the next day or so, you will see a bog post with instructions and a link to try the beta.  I strongly suggest that you back up your <My Documents>\VNCScan folder before installing the beta.

Announcements, Blog No Comments January 24th, 2012

 

[Download VNCScan 2012.1.1]

 

Change log

• Updated to the latest version of UltraVNC for remote deployment
• Redesigned much of the interface to make things even more intuitive.  You can see a screen shot of the new form here.
• Added a button to the main form common tasks to enable RDP Remote Desktop on computers remotely
• Rewrote the XML data handling engine to improve performance when navigating data in the application
• We all hate bugs so we killed a bunch of them
• MUCH more room for the RDP tab.  By default, the RDP sessions take advantage of the increased real estate.

Uncategorized No Comments January 4th, 2012

The latest release of VNCScan (2011.3.27) has started the move from the old UltraVNC msrc4plugin_noreg.dsm encryption plugin to the newer and more supported SecureVNCPlugin.dsm.

The main reason for this move was the lack of 64 bit support in the old plugin as well as its requirement for a manually generated RC4 encryption key to be shared at both ends of the connection.

VNCScan has historically done a pretty good job at making this seamless for our users but it’s a lot of extra work around code that can finally see it’s sunset.

What this means for you

If you are currently using VNCScan to deploy UltraVNC with encryption enabled, chances are you’re using the old msrc4 type of encryption.  To take advantage of the new higher security, you will need to edit the deployment profile that you used when deploying it the first time or create a new one from scratch.  You will, then, need to deploy that new profile to the computers who you want to secure.

Here, I will walk you through creating a brand new profile and deploying it to a computer.

Step 1 – Create the profile

1. Launch the profile editor

2. Create a new profile

3. Give the profile a name and a password.  Make sure that UltraVNC is selected

4. Choose the SecureVNC encryption plugin.  Make sure that the checkbox is set for Encryption

5. Save the profile then close out of the profile selector

6. Select the computers that you want to deploy this profile to, then choose “Deploy to selected” from the dropdown menu

7. Make sure that your new profile is selected in the deployment window and that you have supplied an Administrator level username and password on the remote systems.  Press Go to complete the deployment

 

Once the deployment has completed, you should be able to connect to the remote computers and see the following in the title bar of the viewer:

 

Troubleshooting

It is worth pointing out how VNCScan tells the vncviewer.exe to use the encryption plugin while connecting because that is typically the thing that trips people up from time to time.

When the deployment tool is completed, it locates the computer in VNCScan and sets some properties for it that can be viewed by right-clicking the computer (in VNCScan) and choosing “Computer Properties”.

The most important settings for this to work right are shown below.

As you can see, these must match the settings for the deployment profile that you used when deploying.  Eventually the MSRC4 plugin will completely go away so you will want to do this to all of your computers soon.

Please leave comments and suggestions for these changes below.

howto 3 Comments March 27th, 2011

Update: The latest releases of VNCScan no longer require this work around for CTRL + ALT + DEL (SUPER).  It is supported natively.

—————————————————

UltraVNC has had some pretty big issues with sending the CTRL + ALT + DEL combination to Windows 7 when UAC (User Access Control) is turned off (or on in some cases).  We have heard from many users that sending this sequence has no effect on the remote computer.

To date, the developers at UltraVNC have not released a fixed version for this.  We’re impatient around here so we decided to create our own working fix and release it in VNCScan Enterprise Network Manager version 2010.9.21.

The updated deployment tool adjusts settings on the remote system during deployment to fix this issue.  This means that if you ever toggle UAC on the remote system for any reason, you will need to re-deploy UltraVNC to it using the deployment tool in VNCScan.  For most people, this is a “set it and forget it” feature in Windows so.

You may also need to deploy again if you have deployed UltraVNC in the past with previous versions of VNCScan or if you installed UltraVNC manually.  Those previous versions do not have knowledge of this work around and the settings were not toggled.

If you do turn UAC on or off after you have deployed UltraVNC to the computer, you will need to first reboot the desktop, then deploy UltraVNC to it again using the deployment tool inside VNCScan.

While this is an exciting development for users of VNCScan, I know that this isn’t the best fix in the world.  It’s the best that we can do until the great developers at UltraVNC release an officially patched release of their server software.

Steps for changing UAC on a computer

1. Turn on or off UAC using the control panel applet
2. Deploy UltraVNC to the computer
3. Reboot the computer

You can download the latest release here.

Releases, Updates, VNC Deployment No Comments September 20th, 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

If you’ve been having problems with your groups and computers reverting to the default upon the previous update, this version should resolve that issue.  I apologize for the rough process in the last version upgrade.  Measures have been put into place to prevent this  from happening again.  Please let us know if you experience any problems with this new version.

Just as a reminder, you should always make a good backup of your data before upgrading to new versions.

Download Link

Releases No Comments February 10th, 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

What’s New?

• Fixed the Windows Logon (mslogon) in UltraVNC fo x64 – When pushing a deployment of UltraVNC to a remote x64 system, the mslogonacl.exe tool was refusing to apply the correct permissions.  This has been fixed.

Download Here

Announcements No Comments January 26th, 2010

Introduction

Bozteck VENM Console can deploy UltraVNC with session level encryption enabled. This is recommended in network environments where you fear that your VNC session may be “sniffed” from the network and replayed back without your knowledge. The risk of someone successfully doing this on your LAN is very low as it does require a moderately high level of “hacker skill”. Some networks, however, need extra protection even against low risk attacks such as this.

This document will explain the principles behind the VENM supported UltraVNC encryption as well as how to deploy and enable it from the console. The skill level to use this information successful varies. If you simply accept the safe defaults, the skill level required is low. If you choose to make modifications such as creating a custom rc4.key file, the skill level required is much higher.

This document is for Admins who want to customize the encryption, get to know how it works at a lower level, or are having DSM errors when connecting to an encrypted server. Anyone else can skim through or read this document as they wish.

Basic Principles

vncviewer.exe –> {RC4.KEY} ===> (Network) ===> {RC4.KEY} ==> [msrc4plugin_noreg.dsm] –> winvnc.exe

There are two key files that are fundamental to UltraVNC session level encryption and they are “msrc4plugin_noreg.dsm” and “rc4.key”. These will be refered to as the DSM and KEY files respectively through the rest of this document.

When a vncviewer.exe file wants to talk to an UltraVNC server that is set to use encryption, it starts by looking for it’s copy of the KEY file. If found, it encrypts it’s connection attempt using the data in the KEY file. It, then, sends a connection request to the remote server using this encrypted mode of communication that would seem like garbage to anything else on the network.

On the other end, the server hears a connection being requested. Because it is also configured to require encryption, it consults it’s copy of the KEY file and uses the data in the KEY file to decrypt the communication request coming from the viewer. If the keys match up, the data is correctly deciphered and the two commence communication in this encrypted tunnel.

If the keys do not match, the connection attempt is rejected and the viewer presents an error to the user stating that possible reasons could include the failure to find a DSM file and a few other suggestions. The error message is vague but it pretty much just means that either:

• The remote server is not configured for encryption but you are sending an encrypted request
• The server is configured to require encryption but you are sending an unencrypted request
• Both ends are configured for encryption but the KEY files do not match

More About the KEY and DSM Files (Server End)

The DSM file is a plug-in to the winvnc.exe service file. For reference, the winvnc.exe is the actual server executable for UltraVNC that is deployed to the remote computers and installed as a service. The DSM file must reside in the same folder as the winvnc.exe file. Don’t worry too much about that because the Bozteck VNC Deployment Tool does that work for you. When the DSM file is in the same folder as the winvnc.exe file and the configuration for the server has been properly set, the server will attempt to encrypt communication for any client that attempts to connect to it.

The KEY file also must reside in the same folder as the winvnc.exe file. The Deployment Tool also make sure that this happens as long as you do not modify things too much. If you simply tell the Profile Editor to enable encryption, it takes the KEY file that is located in c:\fastpush\vnc7\ultra and copies it to your Deployment Profile’s folder for easy deployment every time that you push that profile out to a computer.

Because this KEY file must match the KEY file on the Viewer end, it is best practice to only use one KEY file for your entire network. You do not gain sufficient security advantage by using multiple KEY files to make up for the headache required to keep them all straight and matched up. If you choose to generate a new KEY file, you must push that new KEY file out to each and every computer on your network that has encryption enabled to ensure proper connectivity.

By default, the UltraVNC Server is installed to either “C:\Program Files\orl\vnc” or “C:\Program Files\ultravnc” depending on the version of UltraVNC you are using. If you choose to distribute the KEY file using some method other than a VNC Push from VENM, it must in somehow make it’s way into that path on the remote computer end. Again, the VNC Push from VENM does this for you.

More About the KEY and DSM Files (Viewer End)

The KEY file is required to be in the same folder as the vncviewer.exe file. This KEY file must be an exact copy of the KEY file that is located at the server end as described above. By default, VENM uses the vncviewer.exe located in “C:\Program Files\Bozteck\VNCScan Console .NET” or whatever location you have installed VENM to.

You have the ability to customize the location of your vncviewer.exe file using either the main preferences (Support Files section), group properties (VNC Settings section), or the computer properties (VNC Settings section). If you choose to modify the location of the vncviewer.exe file, you need to make sure that a copy of your RC4.KEY file is moved with it.

Creating Custom KEYs

The Profile Editor has a button in the “Customs” section that allows you to generate a new key. This is an advanced level function and should never really need to be done in normal circumstances. To my knowledge, there has never been a tool released that allows someone to decrypt an encrypted UltraVNC stream for later playback. You should only need to generate a custom key if this is ever done. The KEY file does not control who can access you server. It only controls the way that the session is encrypted. You will still need to authenticate with the remote server using your password even if the KEY files match up.

If you do choose to create a custom KEY file, pressing this button is the easiest way to make sure that everything is placed in the correct locations for easy deployment. You may need to manually copy the new KEY file to the location where your vncviewer.exe resides, however. The newly generated key is always placed in c:\fastpush\vnc7\ultra.

Conclusion

I hope that this was a good in-depth overview of how the UltraVNC encryption works and how it interacts within the Bozteck VNCScan Enterprise Network Manager (VENM).

how-to, White Papers 1 Comment February 20th, 2009

I just wanted to put out a quick blog post to let you know about a couple of new updates.

First, the VNCScan 2009.2.10 package has been updated to deploy the UltraVNC version 1.0.5.3 server and contains the latest 1.0.5.4 version of their viewer. You can download it here.

I also wanted to point out that we’ve updated the link for the recommended TCPIP.SYS patcher for Vista. The link is on the download page or you can just click here.

General No Comments February 12th, 2009