Lance Boley:Welcome everyone ... We will get started in a few minutes.
Rasmus Haslund:Hello all
Gerry Forde:Hi
Lance Boley:Hello ... Welcome Gerry & Rasmus ...
BVTechie:hello from the frozen tundra of New England...
Lance Boley:Hello ...
Dennis Smith:Hey guys
Jerron:helllo
hypervfan:Hi
Shawn (rolltidega):Hi everybody!!!
MichaelD:Afternoon gents
Lance Boley:Welcome everyone ... today we have experts on the line to chat about iDRAC Enterprise
Lance Boley:I will turn it over the the team to kick things off.
Lance Boley:Welcome Michael and Shawn ...
Rajesh Patel:Welocme everyone, Hi This is Rajesh Patel from Dell Development team for iDRAC7 Enterprise
Khaled Omar:hello everyone
Rajesh Patel:We would like to give you introduction to the VNC support feature added as part of recent iDRAC7 release
Rajesh Patel:As you must be aware of virtual console feature available with iDRAC7
Rajesh Patel:Virtual console feature enables user to control host video from the remote management system
Rajesh Patel:This would allow you to see physical video of the host server and control KVM from there
Lance Boley:Does everyone use iDRAC in their Dell servers today?
Rasmus Haslund:Yes!
Gerry Forde:yes
Shawn (rolltidega):If I have blades that are iDRAC6 can those be upgraded to iDRAC7? Seems like all the new features are iDRAC7. :-(
MichaelD:Don't use the iDRAC regularly, but it's a life saver when problems arise.
Lance Boley:@Shawn, no it is hardware specfic
Rajesh Patel:With the existing vConsole feature there is need of Activex/Java based plugins on the client side to launch vConsole
Rajesh Patel:With the introduction of VNC server support on iDRAC7,
Lance Boley:So @Michael, what do you like best when you use it?
Rasmus Haslund:Man I wish you guys would make iDRAC java plugin work with Google Chrome :) It just downloads the jnlp file but with incorrect extension, meaning I need to rename the file to include .jnlp and THEN I can launch it
MichaelD:Remote power cycling, remote console access, mounting ISOs
Shawn (rolltidega):I use the iDRAC regularly for sure. Especially to watch servers reboot and such.
Lance Boley:So who uses VNC?
Gerry Forde:we use it alot ultravnc
MichaelD:I have in the past, but have always disliked it's lack of native encryption
Rasmus Haslund:Used it in the past as well, but found faster alternatives.
Rajesh Patel:Any standard VNC client (open source) can connect once VNC server is enabled on iDRAC7
Lance Boley:So would using VNC to access your Dell server be a plus ?
MichaelD:Currently only use it with our XenServer VMs (via XenCenter) when updating images.
Rajesh Patel:We have SSL encryption support with this VNC
Rajesh Patel:so it works in either mode with/without SSL encryption
MichaelD:IMO it would depend largely upon performance and features. VNC historically has been sluggish on redraws
@JGamblin:We use the VNC protocal with SSL encryption. Without is would be crazy to use.
MichaelD:Good to hear it supports encryption
Rajesh Patel:VNC performance is equivalent to legacy vConsole
Lance Boley:I just like the fact I can pull up my open source VNC client and not have to open the web interface.
Lance Boley:What about mobile?
MichaelD:Will you be able to attach remote media, or access media attached via the legacy console?
Gerry Forde:i find the performance of vnc much better than the likes of dameware,rdp etc
Rasmus Haslund:I like that there is no need to login to web interface
Rajesh Patel:It supports mobile based VNC client
Rasmus Haslund:Gerry: You must be joking, VNC faster than RDP?
Lance Boley:@Michael ... you mean the web interface?
Rajesh Patel:VNC client dose not have vMedia like legacy vConsole feature as of today
MichaelD:@Lance - yes,
Lance Boley:Okay, so you attache media like before, just use VNC to access the console.
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:To configure the VNC server using the inetrfaces, once we configure the VNC configuration( Like Enable/disable, Port, Password, Encryption enable/disable, Timeout), VNC server will start running on IDRAC.. There on we don't need to login to any GUI interface to access the Remote console Screen..
Rajesh Patel:that's correct
Rajesh Patel:There are VNC clients available for Mobile devices, we can use them as well to connect to Host console from mobile
Lance Boley:@Rasmus, Gerry, has his networked tuned for performance :-)
Lance Boley:network that is
Lance Boley:Who uses mobile, either tablet or smartphone to access there servers? Or do you every need to?
Lance Boley:their servers ... (I can not type today)
Gerry Forde:yes servers never seem to give trouble 9 to 5
Ben Gray:I do- eaiser to access the server remotely on my smartphone when I'm out and about than lugging my laptop around.
Ben Gray:rather than*
MichaelD:Device of last resort imo. More likely to tether my laptop & phone
Lance Boley:So @Ben would a mobile VNC client help you ?
Ben Gray:I use whatever's availalbe. Just get the job done. Mobile VNC client would be another useful addition to the toolbag, for sure.
Lance Boley:@Michael, I know you always carry a laptop, but for those you don't this would be a great option.
MichaelD:The problem with phones especially is the limited screen real estate and doing precise input with a finger.
Rajesh Patel:This feature is available on 12G servers with iDRAC7 1.50.50 version
Dell_Ajit P:Any iDRAC7 version later 1.50.50
Ben Gray:I agree. The mobile VNC client would need a zoom feature, like PocketCloud has. And it works great for VNC and RDP.
MichaelD:Rather than a movile VNC client, what about HTML5. Detect the device (or display resolution) and adjust layout accordingly.
Lance Boley:So if customers do not have that version can they flash the iDRAC7 and get it?
Rajesh Patel:yes, they need to flash iDRAC7 1.50.50
Rajesh Patel:and get this feature enabled
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:@Michael, HTML5 is currently not implimented and but its in pipeline for next releases.
MichaelD:Good to hear :)
Lance Boley:I am really excited about this, and can not wait to test it out in the lab with our Venue 8 tablets.
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:@Lance, At the end of your test, you will love it for sure..
Lance Boley:I am sure, this will really make lab work for me smooth and easy.
Lance Boley:So how do we configure the VNC server option in the iDRAC?
MichaelD:Is 1.50.50 available for download today?
John A - Dell:@Michael - actually get 1.51.51
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:@lance, You can configure VNC server using GUI, Racadm and Wsman..
Rajesh Patel:VNC server can be configured using iDRAC GUI or RACADM CLI or WSMAN interface available iwth iDRAC7
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:In GUI, You can navigate to IDRAc settings->Network -> Services to configure
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:In racadm, "racadm get idrac.vncserver" command to get config data
Rajesh Patel:minimal configuration required would be to enable VNC and set VNC server password
Rajesh Patel:and you are ready to connect any standard VNC client available to get server console
Lance Boley:Very nice, so the setup can be scripted with RACADM and multiple servers.
MichaelD:For blades, is it in the pipeline to be able to configure this via the CMC like is currently possible with the iDRAC?
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:@Lance, Yes. we can use scripting to configure on multiple servers
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:@Michael, From CMC, You can do SSO directly to IDRAC and Configure it just like other configuration....
Gerry Forde:I am using system center looking at openmanage can you connect direct from openmanage?
MichaelD:I was thinking more of an integration with the current "Deploy iDRAC" page under Chassis Overview->Server Overview->Setup->iDRAC
MichaelD:Give the iDRAC it's IP and enable VNC all in one shot.
Lance Boley:@Michael .. .not today, but good idea
Rajesh Patel:@Gerry openmange does not have this feature today
Lance Boley:So what does everyone think, something you will use? I know I will.
Ben Gray:Yes
Rasmus Haslund:Yes, a welcome addition
Lance Boley:We got just a few more minutes. Are there any more questions for the team?
Gerry Forde:@Lance yes
Rasmus Haslund:Just the one from previous regarding Google Chrome, iDRAC and jnlp files missing the jnlp extension
MichaelD:Definitely something to try out, especially when not needing remote media/power control
Lance Boley:@Rasmus, just configure the iDRAC for VNC and you will not have to worry about Chrome and java.
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:@Rasmus, Java works with google Chrome as well. we dont need to change the extension... May be Chrome settings might be limiting in this case..
Rasmus Haslund:Lance: That will only help for iDRAC7, but since there is no 6 -> 7 upgrade path it would be nice if that was fixed anyway
Rasmus Haslund:@AppaRao: Just try it yourself and see what happens
MichaelD:I've seen the same when forgetting I'm in Chrome
Rasmus Haslund:The new VNC feature is great, however having VNC should not mean adding support for Java plugin with Google Chrome not happening :)
Lance Boley:I have not had any issues that I remember with Chrome. I can take a look next time I am in the lab.
Rasmus Haslund:Lance: I have seen this many many times at many different customer sites. I dont remember it ever working as expected with Google Chrome.
Lance Boley:Thanks everyone ...
Rasmus Haslund:Anyway, great tech chat as always! Thank you for providing this update
Gerry Forde:Thanks
Ben Gray:thx
Dell_AppaRao_Puli:Thanks Everyone..
Lance Boley:Sure thing. Chat with everyone next time.