A couple of newbie grievances

[msing]

I just stopped using TightVNC when I finally came to terms with its limitations. I tried RealNVC but disliked it a lot. UltraVNC seems well done, especially with the MS logon and plugin abilities.

There's just a couple things I've noticed after installing and testing it out that are bugging me. Maybe you guys can help me out to make this the perfect program.

First off, even when the option is unchecked the server allows loopback connections. It's not a huge deal, but I would like it to be genuinely turned off.

And second I thought I had the same problem with the wallpaper removal option. It seemed as though even when checked it would not remove the wallpaper when accepting a connection. However on closer inspection it seems as though it does infact remove the wallpaper, but that the wallpeper is immediately changed back. Again not the biggest problem, but having the wallpaper removed for good until the connection is closed will save me having to remove it every single time.

Besides those problems I just have a few questions about options I haven't dealt with before in other programs.

It seems intuitive enough, but what is the loopback only option? Does it really mean that only connections from the local machine are allowed? I guess I don't really understand the whole loopback thing, which is why I've always disabled it.

Also if the descriptions for these options are documented in detail already somewhere, then please point me there. Otherwise could someone give a little insight on these options: User Impersonation (under File Transfer), Enable Blank Monitor on User Request, and what is the difference between Refuse the New Connection and Refuse All New Connection (under Muti Viewer Connections).

Thanks for any help, and I'll try to check it out on my own a little for now, but if anyone would like to throw in any info about security plugins, that would be a big help too.

== Matt

[msing]

Nothin huh?

[UltraSam]

Hi,

- Loopback : allows the viewer to connect to the server that runs on the same machine (localhost (127.0.0.1)). It creates a "visual larsen" like when you film your TV screen with your camescope pluged on... your TV.

- Loopback only: the server only accepts loopback connections, ie viewer running on the same machine.

- User Impersonation: when unckecked, the FileTransfer part on the server is run as LocalSystem which means that it has access to ALL file system wihtout restrictions. When checked, the FT is run on the server with the logged in windows user credentials with their rights limits.

- Enable Blank Monitor on User Request: In the viewer's toolbar you have a button that toggles server's keyboard/screen state: disabled/blanked or enabled/visible
If this option is chekced, the servers screen is blanked when required by the viewer.

[msing]

Hey thanks a lot!

That's what I thought loopback was, I guess I just don't see the point in it lol.

Also, with user impersonation, when it's checked, does it use the rights of the user who is logging in remotely, using their MS Logon II, or the rights of the user who's logged into the server locally?

If it's the former, then how could that work if MS Logon II (or MS Logon I for that matter) is disabled? Just curious, since I will always use MS Logon II anyway.

Ah, I realized that the reason loopback seemed to never disable, was because I kept accessing the server from it's outside IP. So the request was leaving my network, and coming back with the router's source info. Duh. Accessing it from it's internal IP indeed gave me a loopback disabled error.

As for the background problem, it magically solved itself. Dunno why it wasn't working before. For all I know it might start acting up again tho...

Last thing for this post: Can someone tell me what the difference is between "Refuse the New Connection" and "Refuse All New Connection" (under Muti Viewer Connections)?

Thanks,
== Matt

[msing]

Okay, so I'm still wondering what the difference is between "Refuse the New Connection" and "Refuse All New Connection" (under Muti Viewer Connections). Anybody?

Also, what is this video hook driver about, what does it do?

[mattice06082]

I actually have the UltraVNC server set up to only allow loopback connections. This is useful when tunneling the VNC through an SSH connection. I remotely connect to OpenSSH running on my home PC and then tunnel to the VNC server using the loopback. In that way I can encapsulate the relatively insecure VNC with a very secure shell.