Bouncer Server similar to GoToMyPC

DeanEBedford · Post by **DeanEBedford** » 2004-06-24 05:57

To Whom It May Concern:

I was directed here from the RealVNC list because I am interested in the ability to use UltraVNC between two boxes with Dynamic IP Addresses. Similar to how one can connect two Dynamic IP boxes using GoToMyPC.com. My understanding is to initiate such a connection, there would need to be a 'Bouncer' box to basically connect the two.

I suggested that I would be willing to make a donation to assist in the development of such a system since it is very important for us to be able to assist people using dial-up connections. Before you laugh regarding dial-up, much of our work is done with educating young developers in Serbia, and the cost of GoToMyPC is prohibitive for them.

Any and all input and education about such a 'DirectVNC Bouncer' system would be wonderful.

All the best from Prague,
Dino

lenisham · Post by **lenisham** » 2004-06-24 07:10

ever try one of the services like dyndns.org. you register a dns name anf then run software to initiate an update everytime it's online or detects a change.

RobH · Post by **RobH** » 2004-06-28 12:39

lenisham wrote:ever try one of the services like dyndns.org. you register a dns name anf then run software to initiate an update everytime it's online or detects a change.

That doesn't work if you are both behind NAT with no port forwarding.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2004-07-30 06:06

just ssh tunnel

Duffin · Post by **Duffin** » 2004-07-31 06:07

There is no way to do what you want to do without modifying the server code to automatically check to see if a connection is requested at set intervals. SSH will not work. Nor will dyndns, as there would need to be port forwarding.

To make a connection to a computer behind a NAT with no port forwarding you must modify the source to support connection request checking, have a third computer setup to receive those request and broker the connection, and know the ip address of the brokering machine.

This whole thing would be a lot easier if there was some way to port forward on the server machine (client doesn't matter).

Cheers
-Duffin

kidrhino · Post by **kidrhino** » 2004-08-11 22:44

I'm looking for this feature also.

I have a NAT/firewall situation at both ends, and our VPN is notoriously rocky.

I have found that GoToMyPC has no problem, since the connection is brokered, and since both the server and the client are "reaching outward" through the firewall, port forwarding is no longer a problem.

A "listen for client via broker" feature would be very useful indeed.

I could quit battling with the IT crew and just get work done.

Post by **Rudi De Vos** » 2004-08-11 22:54

NAT 2 NAT support is a real challenge to add to ultravnc when
we start on BETA2.

Not that easy and require a dedicated external server to get connected.

VNCGUY · Post by **VNCGUY** » 2004-08-12 19:05

NetworkStreaming has this exact feature that you guys should really check out. It is similar to the "Go to my PC" model but it is a one time price. The info is at http://www.networkstreaming.com/products/gateway.html

bnapier · Post by **bnapier** » 2004-08-16 17:59

There is a program called vnc_reflector that will do exactly what you ask. However, I am not sure that it is compatible with some of UltraVNC's "Extensions", I have only tried it with TightVNC and it worked great.

Post by **Rudi De Vos** » 2004-08-16 19:26

vnc_reflector works as the repeater, data can be forwarded to the a real viewer....

For nat to nat you need to make use of a service provider, like
gotomypc, networkstreaming......

Or wait a year ......doing vnc nat2nat tests, without a gateway

Yep, it is possible, making use of p2p technology.

Pascal Fuks · Post by **Pascal Fuks** » 2004-09-03 08:50

I have another suggestion.
Use remote ssh tunnel.
1) you obtain a shell account on a unix box at a provider (they are a lot, even free ones) with ssh support.
2) from the VNC server, you create a remote tunnel to this ssh server (e.g. with putty)
3) from the client, when you need to connect to your vnc server, you create a local tunnel (e.g. with putty) to the ssh server.
4) from this client, you establish the vnc session directly to localhost. That's all.

If you have any problem implementing this, feel free to contact me on my eMail (p.a.s.c.a.l@financial-art.be - remove all the dots from pascal, this is just for spam)

Hope this helps

lenisham · Post by **lenisham** » 2004-09-03 10:36

kidrhino wrote: I have a NAT/firewall situation at both ends, and our VPN is notoriously rocky.

Ever look into OpenVPN http://openvpn.sourceforge.net/ ?

Dus10 · Post by **Dus10** » 2004-09-25 16:20

This should not be difficult with the reflector. What I would like it a Java Client that has the "Listen Mode"... This way, the users do not have to install any software on their systems. This would be very similar to GoToMyPC.

Post by **Rudi De Vos** » 2004-09-26 12:33

I agree that you can use stunnel/openvnp or other
to overcome the Nat/Firewall problem.

Put hom many users are able to set it up.
A one click installation to give remote support for somebody
behind a Firewall ?

But why should we reinvent the wheel, when some great opensource project already have the functionality...

--Openvpn, require a extra driver, and is a bit overkill just for
a vnc session. Complicated code, and hard to play with.

--Stunnel looks beter, smaller code, does not contain any encryption (seperate dll maintained by opensll). For a oneclick install, we could merge stunnel code with vnc code and compile it as 1 exe. Stunnel is then responsible for the invers connection. And vncserver behave the same for invers or not.

lenisham · Post by **lenisham** » 2004-09-27 00:36

Rudi De Vos wrote:
--Stunnel looks beter, smaller code, does not contain any encryption (seperate dll maintained by opensll). For a oneclick install, we could merge stunnel code with vnc code and compile it as 1 exe. Stunnel is then responsible for the invers connection. And vncserver behave the same for invers or not.

Are you looking to encapsulate VNC packets in stunnel? I have concerns with TCP encapsulated with in TCP see http://sites.inka.de/sites/bigred/devel/tcp-tcp.html for a detailed explaination.

This covers why stunnel and ssh tunneling are currently only done by the technically inclined. Those that are willing to roll with the punches and can bring the connection back. SImular to the majority of UltraVNC users that use the unstable test versions thast you guys so generously create and release to us.

Post by **Rudi De Vos** » 2004-09-27 08:31

I haven't looked insite the Stunnel code yet, but when it works
like the repeater, tcp is not encapsulated, but repackaged.

The repeater remove the ip headers, rebuffer the data and
all is send as a new tcp packet. The impact on speed is little.

Encapsulation is only needed when you want to vpn to the other site, all ports need to pass over a single stream. The full
ip packet need to be intact when it arrive at the other site (for routing and local port handling)

For Vnc
-we only need 1 port
-all packets go to the same destination
-The initial tcp header is not needed,we only need to move the data.

Need to check if Stunnel does it this way, else a double repeater and dsmplugin will also do the job

redge · Post by **redge** » 2005-06-08 11:34

Rudi De Vos wrote:Or wait a year ......doing vnc nat2nat tests, without a gateway Smile
Yep, it is possible, making use of p2p technology.

....

Put hom many users are able to set it up.
A one click installation to give remote support for somebody
behind a Firewall ?

But why should we reinvent the wheel, when some great opensource project already have the functionality...

Any great news after the very good sound like almost 1 year passed for killing some very expansive remote control, remote support, teaching demo, meeting software for end user to end user usage easy usage, low budget of small enterprise, school, as shareware or free under GPL ?

iampedro · Post by **iampedro** » 2005-06-09 15:22

http://www.teamviewer.com/

Here is some software that works like go to my pc

iampedro · Post by **iampedro** » 2005-06-09 15:35

Rudi De Vos wrote:NAT 2 NAT support is a real challenge to add to ultravnc when
we start on BETA2.

Not that easy and require a dedicated external server to get connected.

It would be great of someone makes a Nat 2 Nat connector so we can utilize having this done for us guys who don't have lots of money and would like to have a service like GoToMyPC.

novallis · Post by **novallis** » 2005-06-10 14:56

Found this today at SourceForge.net: http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=472417

EchoVNC is a secure remote-access tool based on VNC. With it, a Windows PC can be remotely accessed regardless of firewall or router configuration. EchoVNC makes standard VNC installs "firewall friendly" with no port-forwarding requirements. EchoVNC is built upon the open-source echoWare SDK developed as part of the Kaboodle project. With echoWare, any peer-to-peer or client-server Internet application can interconnect via a 3rd-party relay server, making all data traffic appear to be "outgoing" to any client-side firewalls or routers. Via the OpenSSL library, connections between the two applications can have their data content secured with a Diffie-Hellman key-exchange and 128-bit AES encryption. The relay-server supported by echoWare clients is a shareware application called "echoServer" -- together with EchoVNC, it provides an overall remote-access solution that is "firewall-friendly", highly secure, and extremely low cost.

For more information on EchoVNC please visit http://www.echovnc.com

Could this be a solution ?

Regards
- Novallis

bongdud · Post by **bongdud** » 2006-03-13 09:04

Does anyone know about a betterhelp file for the vnc reflector, i am running vncreflector in windows and i cannot seem to figure out the control signals. Does not say how to apply them. also the -a option as well.
thanks

UltraVNC