Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide instructions on how to use Naverisk Remote Control and how to troubleshoot any issues you may come across during its use.
1.0 Technical Background
In this article, references to the Viewer and the Host are made. The Viewer is the one who wants to Remote in. The Host is the machine that the Viewer attempts to Remote to.
Also, all Remote Connections are brokered by the Site Controller (SC). When a Viewer attempts a connection to a Device, both ends of the connection establish a link to the SC of the Remote Device and a ‘Handshake’ is done. Once both sides of the handshake confirm connectivity the Remote connection is available.
2.0 Using Naverisk Remote Control
The 6 options for Remote Control (RC) are:
Naverisk RC
Naverisk has partnered up with Splashtop to deliver World Class Remote Control built-in at no extra cost. Simply enable the Naverisk RC option under the Remote Control settings and your Naverisk RC will be deployed. You will however need the Splashtop for RMM which is used to launch the Naverisk RC. This can be downloaded from the dialogue box that appears after clicking on the Remote Control icon in the Naverisk UI. More information on this at page 5.
Native RDP
This utilizes RDP on the Viewer’s machine (it needs to be installed first). Java is used to create a Bridge between the Viewer and Host. If the Remote Desktop application does not open, then the path to the executable is not registered in the OS. In this case, a Java window will appear with a link that you can copy and paste into Remote Desktop, after you’ve manually opened it. PLEASE NOTE If using a MAC you can only use Naverisk RC to connect to a remote PC as RDP is not supported.
Native RDP (Admin)
Just like Native RDP, this utilizes RDP on the Viewer’s machine (it needs to be installed first). Java is used to create a Bridge between the Viewer and Host. However a Console Session is established instead of a Terminal Server Session. So, it’s as though you’re sitting in front of the machine itself. PLEASE NOTE If using a MAC you can only use Naverisk RC to connect to a remote PC as RDP is not supported.
Native VNC
This uses VNC installed on the Viewer’s computer with Java as a Bridge to the Host. Note that you will have to install a VNC Viewer such as UltraVNC first. For the VNC connections, a password needs to be setup before you can log into any Devices. This can be configured per Device or per Client (in Settings > Remote Control).
After initiating a Native VNC connection you may be prompted to copy and paste a string such as ‘localHost:14400’ into your VNC Viewer. This is because the path to the Viewer does not exist in your PATH environmental variable. If you enter the folder path of your VNC Viewer into the PATH environmental variable, then you will not need to open the Viewer manually and paste in the connection string.
Java Interactive VNC
This emulates the VNC software on the Viewer’s side so it can be used even if VNC is not installed on the Viewer’s computer.
Third Party RC
Naverisk offers integration with multiple RC products. Each of these can be configured by using the integration guides found in the Naverisk Resource Centre. TeamViewer, ScreenConnect and Splashtop is offered for integration. The Splashtop Integration availability is still there for Partners that still have a paid account with Splashtop. If you have another type of Third party Remote product, you can make use of the Third Party URL integration. Please refer to the Third Party Remote Control guide available in the Naverisk Help Tab.
After choosing your method of Remote Control, click the Icon to the left of the drop-down list to initiate the session.
- You can also initiates a Remote connection directly from the Devices Tab.
2. Click on the Remote-Control icon (in this example I am using Native RDP).
3. You will then be advised that an External Remote Control Package will need to be installed. If it does not download automatically, please click on Click Here in the middle paragraph. - The same is valid if choosing Naverisk RC as the preferred Remote-Control method.
4. This will then download the RCNAS.msi package to your computer.
5. If choosing Naverisk RC, the Splashtop For RMM installer will be downloaded instead.
- Simply run the file, as it will auto-configure and auto-install itself. Once finished, you will be presented with this prompt:
- Click OK and jump to step 9.
6. When it has finished downloading, run the installer and click Next.
7. Choose Everyone, then click Next.
8. Click Next and the RCNas will begin installing
9. When the installer has finished, click Close.
10. On the Naverisk website, click on Click Here on the first line. This will then retry the remote control method of your choosing.
11. You should then see your preferred method of remote control starting. Depending on what you chose,
- Naverisk RC (Powered by Splashtop for RMM)
- VNC
- RDP
3.0 Providing Ad-hoc Remote Control Support
It may be necessary to sometimes provide Ad-hoc Remote Control support to your Clients. To do this we recommend the following steps:
Create a Client in your Naverisk system called ‘Ad-hoc Support’.
Navigate to ‘Settings > Remote Control’.
For the ‘Ad-hoc Support’ Client, tick the check box for ‘Install by Default’ to have Remote Control immediately available after Agent installation.
Click ‘Apply’ to save this change for the Client.
Navigate back to ‘Devices > Ad-hoc Support’
From this Client, click ‘New Device’ to generate an Agent Installation Package.
7. Upload it to your MSP website for your Ad-hoc clients to download.
8. After downloading and installing the Agent Package you will be able to initiate a Remote Control session to their Devices. These Devices will be located in the ‘Ad-hoc Support’ Client of your Naverisk Website.
9. After you have completed your Remote support, you can then delete the device from ‘Ad-hoc Support’ or move it to the appropriate client.
4.0 Diagnosing Problems with Remote Control
4.1 Preliminary checks
If you have problems with Remote Control not working, then here are a few troubleshooting steps which may help resolve the problem:
First make sure that the Host Agent is online.
Check Programs and Features in the Control Panel and ensure that the RCNAS application has been installed on the Viewer device.
Is the Naverisk Website name defined correctly in Naverisk > Settings > System Settings?
Can you ping the Website name from the Device that you have just installed an agent on? If ICMP echoes are disabled for that URL, then can you at least trace it to ensure you can reach it? PING and tracert in windows both use ICMP echo requests. If ping does not work, tracert won’t either. At most, you will see where ICMP requests are being blocked, but that can be any firewall with standard security.
What happens when you run a Port Test in Settings > System Settings? If you receive crosses for any of the ports in the test then this will need to be resolved before continuing.
9990 - Remote ControlListen Port8092 - Agent ListenPort9999 - NetworkController Listen Port9202 - ACT Listen Port
Make sure you are running the latest Java runtime (http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp)
If you’re having problems with a Native VNC connection, kill any winvnc.exe processes and restart the Naverisk Remote Control Service on the Device you can’t remotely control.
If you cannot connect with RDP, make sure that the RDP version of the computer you are connecting to matches the version you are using to initiate the connection with. For example Remote Desktop protocol version 8 (used by Windows 7 SP1) will not connect to Remote Desktop protocol version 7 (used by Windows 7 unless this is installed individually as a windows update).
4.2 Making sure there are no DNS Issues
Set the RCInternalAddress parameter of the site controller configuration file to match the external URL of the site controller (normally located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Naverisk\SiteController\NaveriskSiteController.exe.config). By default you will see:
<add key="RCInternalAddress" value="FQDN" />
Please change this to match your Naverisk URL, for example:
<add key="RCInternalAddress" value="Naverisk.yourdomain.com" />
4.3 No VNC or RDP Windows
If you initiate a Remote Connection on a Mac but only get a Java window, please follow the below steps:
From the desktop, launch the System Preferences.
Under System Preferences, select the Sharing.
Enable Remote Management within the Service list and Allow Access for All Users.
Click Computer Settings... to show the VNC password setting, and set your password.
Click OK to save your settings.
Another possibility is that the time required to initiate a session on a Mac is longer than the timeout period. If this is the case, setting the Max Block Size in the RC Package configuration file to 16383 (the maximum) should resolve this problem. For information about how to do this please review the Agent Package Parameters guide found in the Naverisk Resource Center.
4.4 Native VNC does not open your VNC Viewer Automatically
If Windows does not know how to automatically open your VNC Viewer Client, then these steps describe how to configure it to do so (UltraVNC is used as an example in this case):
Download and install UltraVNC: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ultravnc/
Navigate to your environment variables and under system variables please search for the Path variable.
Select Edit
Under Variable Value please insert C:\Program Files (x86)\uvnc bvba\UltraVNC at the end of the line.
Select OK and restart your machine.
Under the Naverisk Console select the Device that you wish to Remote Control, ensure that a password is set and select the Remote Control option.
The VNC Viewer should now open automatically.
4.5 Java Runtime Alternative
4.6 Java Related Errors when Starting a Remote Connection
If any Java updates cause problems with Remote Connections then the steps below may help to resolve the problem:
In Control Panel, open the Java Control Panel.
Navigate to the Security tab.
Add the following URLS to your Site Exceptions list:
- The URL of your Naverisk Site Controller.
- The PassthroughRC.jar file of your Site Controller (screenshot on following page).
- In the General tab of the Java Control Panel, click 'Settings' then 'Delete Files'. This will clear you Java cache.
Note: The interactive Services Detection must be enabled to allow Java VNC connections as shown below. This may be disabled for Windows 8.
4.7 Remote VNC is very slow when connecting to Devices with Aero Enabled
If the Device you are connecting to have Aero enabled, then this can significantly reduce the screen refresh rate of VNC Remote sessions. One way to get around this problem is to turn off Aero prior to your Remote Control session with the Console command:
Net stop uxsms
After your Remote Control session you can re-enable Aero with the Console command:
Net start uxsms
4.8 Remote Control Package has not been Downloaded
If you encounter an error stating that the RC package has not been downloaded fully, just wait and it should complete within a few minutes. Do not reinstall, as this will just resend the request and increase the wait time.
4.9 Identifying which Part of the Remote Connection is failing
This is for Naverisk Support Diagnostic purpose.
If you search the SC logs around the time of the failed RC attempt, you should see a line which starts with RC connection state. This is a diagnostic report on the Remote Connection attempt, explained below.
The RC connection state is made up of 3 elements:
1.Bridge establishment (the relay created by the Site Controller)
If the SC Remote Connection relay is created, you will see True in the first section of the readout. Otherwise you will see False.
2.Viewer connection
If the VNC Viewer has successfully connected, you will see +Viewer, otherwise you will see – Viewer.
3.Server connection
If the VNC server has successfully connected, you will see +Server, otherwise you will see – Server.
4.9 Unsupported Displays
Remote control via VNC is not compatible to any Mac Retina Display device, however, other options are available for remote connection.
Naverisk integrates with the TeamViewer / ScreenConnect / Splashtop software which allow remote connection to Mac Retina Display Devices. More details on these can be found in the Resource Center in your Naverisk instance.