Open Source Guacamole Puts VNC On the Web 180
tbitiss writes "A new open source project dubbed Guacamole allows users to access a desktop remotely through a web browser, potentially streamlining the requirements for client support and administration. Guacamole is an HTML5 and JavaScript (Ajax) VNC viewer that makes use of a VNC-to-XML proxy server written in Java. According to its developers, Guacamole is almost as responsive as native VNC and should work in any browser supporting the HTML5 canvas tag. Supporting 10 Linux desktops in 10 browser tabs? I like the sound of that."
Slashvertisement? (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually, I have not problem with Slashvertisements that would obviously interest the slashdot community, such as this. Just tag it as such!
Re:Slashvertisement? (Score:5, Informative)
Ack! TFA (yeah, I went for it) splashes some ad that didn't make it past my hosts file. You might want this link instead, which goes to the sourceforge page and not the techworld blog:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/guacamole/ [sourceforge.net]
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Ax? James? No, that's Arty for sure.
Hmmm... (Score:2)
Where's GuacamoleAnalogyGuy when you need him???
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And once an open source project is abandoned by it's primary developers how many of those aforementioned projects actually get revived after that point? I doubt you'll find it's more than few percent or so.
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Who know? I don't and likely you don't either. However, personally, I've never had an open source project that I've relied on cease development and leave me in a lurch as a result.
At least with open source, you have the option of continuing development either on your own or hiring people to do it for you. What do you do when a closed source project is abandoned by its developers?
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Rev up your legal team and go after the company and/or its board of directors ?
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And while you are conferring with your legal team, make sure they brief you on your rights of making copies of software that has been abandoned. Hint: in most jurisdictions this is still a breach of copyright, hence, legally, you can't. A good example of this, is the educational titles that were developed by MECC. TLC, who got the copyrights from B
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bucng of layers (Score:3, Funny)
Please, can't we have some more abstraction layers? My machine is just so fast I can't handle it. (Yeah, I know, we use the extra performance to services which were unfeasible earlier blah, blah...)
Re:bucng of layers (Score:5, Funny)
Please, can't we have some more abstraction layers?
Maybe we should make a new project called "BeanDip" ... it has 7 layers, including Guacamole.
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Damn, is anyone else getting hungry? I think I have some coupons for Mexican restaurants around here somewhere..
Layers? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm sorry, but I must not be the only one who's facepalming over a post about Guacamole being posted on Cinco de Mayo.
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Happy to be of service. I'm here all day.
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Recursive Abstraction [wikipedia.org]
Apparently, such a thing exists.
-l
Viewing Own Desktop (Score:2)
..well, actually you could use recursive abstraction layers!
That's where you make a webpage link back to the users own desktop.
Re:bucng of layers (Score:5, Informative)
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> Either way I look forward to your HTML5 X11 client!
Why would anyone want that? You appear to be confusing your X terms, remember the display is the server. Anyway, if I'm already running an X server why would I want to nest one in a browser?
And since I was viewing VNC sessions in Netscape 4 this really isn't much new other than moving the Java part onto a backend server.
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10 desktops (Score:2, Interesting)
There, fixed it for you
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That was my first thought when I saw this. I immediately started trying to figure out how to configure our firewalls and web filters to block this.
Old news (Score:2)
It's called LogMeIn.
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GBridge does quite a decent job too IMHO ... tries to be much more than just what you ask for, but so far I've only used it for about 2 weeks, solely for remote access to "all my pc's all over the world" so I can't comment much it's other capabilities but it allows me to connect from work (megafirewall) to home (non-configured NAT) without any problem. It's using a "built-in" Ultr@VNC which is great for my XPHome pc, but can also work with Remote Desktop (which I prefer on the XP Pro machines)
http://www.gbr [gbridge.com]
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1) It doesn't support linux
2) Requirement to install an agent on the target machine is an unnecessary complication for the end user
3) It is third party
Of course a good thing about it is the encryption, although I could not see from the logmein site whether that is end to end or merely encrypting across each internet leg.
If this project addresses any of the three points above I will be very interes
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Gmail and most other free email providers block the exe extension so you have to append junk to the end of it (exe.temp). Then they have to remove that junk (hopefully their system is already set to show all extensions). Ugg
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I had the impression that stuff like LogMeIn allow users to go to some website, and then voluntarily allow OTHER people to control their computer by also visiting that same site. This is quite convenient when you can't or do not want to reconfigure the firewalls and NAT devices.
Does Guacamole do that?
It's not the same thing if Guacamole involves users running a VNC server and then configuring firewalls, NATs etc to allow remote access to their computer.
In which case you can already do the same thing with ex
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You don't appear to understand what LogMeIn does.
To be like LogMeIn (or similar stuff e.g. GoToMyPC see: https://www.gotomypc.com/en_US/ourTechnology.tmpl [gotomypc.com] for their architecture ) would require a way of allowing other people to control your machine without you having to change your firewall or NAT settings (beyond allowing "normal" outbound connections[1]).
See the LogMeIn architecture in http://www.infosecurityproductsguide.com/technology/2007/wp_lmi_security.pdf [infosecuri...sguide.com]
From what I see, Guacamole cannot do the same
Great.... (Score:5, Insightful)
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I think I'm a few years out of date here, but wasn't that because Remote Desktop sends mostly just window hooks, and VNC sends entire images of the remote screen?
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I don't care how they do it. I just know RDP works amazingly well and VNC is bloody awful. I see no need to apologize for an inferior protocol simply because it's open source.
Re:Great.... (Score:5, Informative)
Also, RDP is a Windows-specific, proprietary protocol, so while there are Unix RDP clients that can connect to a Windows server, the fundamental differences in the way X and Windows generate their displays make it difficult to create a good RDP server for non-Windows systems. VNC's performance is usually pretty awful, but because it's just moving blocks of pixels around it's fairly easy to create a VNC server for any operating system.
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You keepa using that word [wikipedia.org]. I donna think it means what you think it means.
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The X11 folks tried to fix that by creating Low-Bandwidth X (LBX), which may be what you're thinking of. It never really took off, both because it didn't really help much and few commercial Unix vendors (remember them?) bothered to implement it.
Nah, he probably just got his acronyms mixed up. My bet is he really meant the Differential X Protocol Compressor [vigor.nu], or DXCP for short. DXCP would be the precursor technology that lead to NX.
Back ... TO THE FUTURE! (Score:5, Informative)
Plain old vncserver had this capability since at least 1998. I remember using it once at a customer site and their staff gathered around gawking. "He's got xterms in Netscape!"
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Yeah, but not with XML, Javascript and HTML5. That was a Java applet. So not cool.
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This piece of crap is a JavaScript/HTML5 hack plus a server-side Java process. The worst of both worlds!
Re:Back ... TO THE FUTURE! (Score:5, Interesting)
How is that the worst of both worlds, or a hack? This uses Java and Javascript both in the environments in which they work best. And I'm not even sure why you would call this a hack. Do you have a problem with working with XML in a Java server? Java is far from my language of choice, but thats hardly a hack. Or is it the drawing in an HTML5 canvas that you consider a hack? Because thats exactly what its for.
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The hack is in using XML (which has a high-overhead due to it being a "human-readable" plain-text format) to transfer large amounts of data that have no need to be "human-readable" or interpreted by different parsers.
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Javascript's gotten fast/mature enough to be taken seriously as a real programming language. Google in particular have made some truly impressive progress [geek.com] with Chrome.
Although the server-side Java applet seems annoying to have, and indeed hack-y, it's awesome that we're starting to see "real" applications in the browser.
We'll hopefully start seeing lots more of this sort of thing, thanks to Apple's "war on flash."
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OK you got me there. That would indeed be worse. Does anyone even do server-side javascript any more? I know you used to be able to do that with Netscape Enterprise Server back in the dark old days but I haven't heard of people doing it lately.
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I've not RTFA, but I often visit http://some-pc:5800/ [some-pc] - what's so special about this? HTML5?
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NX (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd like to see something like this using the NX protocol as the response time is much faster than VNC.
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You want an X11 server written in HTML5 and JavaScript?
And you thought X was slow before. . .
I second that (Score:2)
VNC is slow. Having multiple VNC sessions in a broswer sounds like torture to me.
When is X11 going to get modern support for sharing displays over a network? Is anyone talking with Nomachine to work on a more integrated solution using NX technology?
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Already does that. NX has supported proxying VNC via the NX protocol for some time. Just make a new connection, set the Desktop to "VNC" and then tell the NX server which machine you want to connect to over VNC. Works like this:
NX client --nxprotocol--> NX Server --vncprotocol--> someotherhost
Now we just need a web-based, fast NX client! Guess I could run nxclient in a x11vnc session via guacamole. haha
As for Guacamole, this is cool technology, but being Java-based is a huge minus. I'm certainly
UltraVNC (Score:2)
TightVNC too (Score:2)
TightVNC had a similar feature as well. I guess we are supposed to be impressed that this uses HTML 5.
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Frankly, it was in the "original' VNC 10+ years ago ... (now real-vnc I believe)
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I think it's pretty sad they use XML instead of JSON, but I can't imagine a java-programmer understanding JSON.
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So they took UltraVNC from a couple of years ago, which includes its own webserver with a Java interface accessible from a browser - and added a conversion program to change the Java into Javascript w/Canvas?
And you read about it on Slashdot! Ready to become a subscriber yet?????/??/11
Supporting 10 linux machines in 10 tabs? (Score:2)
Sounds horrible to those of us who don't regularly support users :-)
I guess if you have "apt" installing a VNC client is not so bad, so I'm not sure I appreciate the advantages that much...
Gee, what are the chances... (Score:5, Funny)
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What better incentive for a deadline than a day famous for drinking? If they missed the target release, they'd be stuck working 12 hours today to rush it out.
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Wait, there's a National Guacamole Day?!? What country do you live in?
Probably yours. [thenibble.com]
I have been known to argue that food is the second most important thing in life, but this is going a bit far.
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Not going too far... without food, you'd have no energy for sex!
Sex is third... (maybe fourth... books > sex?)
Any guesses on first?
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What's old is new (Score:5, Interesting)
Heh, all the way back since the late 90's I've been logging in to my VNC sessions via the built-in java client (just go to http://vnchost:5801/ [vnchost] instead of vnchost:1 ). I guess that means that HTML5 + JIT compiled Javascript is the new Java?
If you like Guacamole, you'll probably also like AJAXterm, which can give you a webpage-based shell. It works well with GNU screen. It's nice for workplaces that block SSH but have an HTTPS proxy. Can't find a definitive webpage for it, but it's not too hard to set up from the debian repository. But it does seem to work a bit better than Mindterm (the Java ssh client from the 90's).
For mobile phone use, I've been fairly content with the java MIDPSSH [xk72.com]. Unless your smartphone has a native ssh client, of course.
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The difference between a 4-digit user ID and a 7-digit user ID becomes increasingly clear.
Re:What's old is new (Score:4, Funny)
I've got 10 digits but I'm only using two of them to type this message
carde: VNC and RDP via Apache httpd module (Score:2)
Searching for this capability a couple of weeks ago turned up carde, a project with similar goals. Nothing released yet, but they mention RDP as well as VNC, supported via an Apache httpd module.
http://code.google.com/p/carde/ [google.com]
Same speed as VNC.... (Score:2)
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So it'll be slow as hell? Perfect! *ducks*
So true! VNC no matter the "flavor" (tightVNC, ChickenoftheVNC,etc) is painfully slow compared to others I use such as Windows Remote Desktop or Citrix. The latest version of Windows 7 Remote Desktop is fantastic in features and speed.
What are the benefits of this? (Score:2, Insightful)
The client (read:web browser) doesn't need Java installed. That's about it.
If you have Java installed on your machine you can run a Java-based VNC client. The Java-based VNC client could be stored on a web server. So the benefits of cross-platform compatibility or use-anywhere accessibility aren't new or unique to the HTML5 client.
But you don't need Java. But you do need an HTML5 capable browser. Both solutions require you install an application of some kind. But everyone has a browser, you say. Well, HTML5
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You talk about HTML5, but it just needs part of the canvas spec. that's it. It doesn't need all features. I haven't checked but I wouldn't be surprised if every current browser except for IE already has that.
Name? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Name? (Score:5, Funny)
Dude, your username is DaFallus.
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Re:Name? (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course there is a happy medium, descriptive plays on words and acronyms (Rhythmbox, Gnumeric, Gedit, etc.) But why not have totally off the wall names like Pidgin, Gimp, Bluefish, etc. It makes things distinctive. Open source is about having fun (usually) so why box it in?
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"RADPU-BE" sounds pretty decent to me!!! =P
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So, what's in a name? Geeks think it's cute, and the people with the buying power pass it over, that's what.
Though if done again now, he'd probably spring for it, since it's now Juniper and not Funk.
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Given all the use of XML and Javascript, and how some of us still consider normal client apps to be a valid solution to some problems, I would propose a slightly different name which would be extremely useful and self-descriptive...
Internetwork Remote Access -- Professional Edition
I RAPE.
Pidgin is a good name (Score:2)
Pidgin is actually a very sensible name [wikipedia.org]. From Wikipedia: A pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common.
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I don't know about what other peoples motivations may be, but I'd name a project something silly just to fuck with people who think marketing is cool. The name doesn't matter for the merits of the project and truth, not made up manipulative shit, is what should make the world go round. Fuck marketing.
A decade late? (Score:2)
Didn't VNC used to come with the ability to go to host:5900 or :5800 (whichever isn't the default) with a browser and get a Java viewer, like, forever ago?
But is it firewall friendly? (Score:2)
Why we use Logmein is because we can tunnel through the firewall and do remote support even if the person standing at the terminal at the other end is a non tech. They just go to a website, download the Logmein Rescue installer, we can log in, and after the session is over the program deletes itself.
The only problem is that we can only use it from Windows and only on Windows and Macs. That leaves clients who would like to use BSD or Linux out in the cold.
What's the use-case? (Score:2)
I understand why you'd want to develop apps natively for the browser. I understand why you'd sometimes want native apps.
But this really seems odd. Why would I ever want to do this from anything other than a native VNC app? KRDC already has a tabbed interface anyway. The only place this seems useful is if you want remote access to your desktop from any random, untrusted terminal, which is a bad idea to begin with.
Car Analogy? (Score:2)
I was disappointed to not find an appropriate car analogy while skimming the comments. Almost as fast as VNC sounds like an auto manufacturer hyping up their new model by claiming that it's almost as fast as a Yugo.
I'm sure it was at least non-obvious and a good project to work on though.
SPICE? (Score:2)
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If you type passwords into a VNC session, you definitely want to tunnel it through something secure.
Fortunately, HTTP has been tunneled over TLS [wikipedia.org] since TLS was called SSL.
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Having not bothered looking anything up about it, what is the big benefit of using it over any other proxy, such as squid?
Tom...
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Well apparently version 1.0 was released in 2006 so it's not that new.. but I've definitely noticed that too.. like I'll have never heard a word before in my life and then it'll turn up two or three times in as many weeks..
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which is awesome until you need to launch that one single GUI app and due to enterprise level policies you can't run an Xserver of some type on your Windows desktop in order to tunnel the display back to your PC.
Personally, I think remote admin cards on the servers (ala Dell DRAC) or KVM consoles you can hit remotely via a browser are a better choice since it is just like you are the physical keyboard/monitor and can access BIOS, your RAID cards, etc.
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