Looking for a small scale IT deployment solution

[fairchild]

Im new to networking, and have managed to connect via RDP to multiple computers at the same time (using Royal TS), but the problem im running into is that its cumbersome to manage. I'm looking for a program that will allow me to connect to multiple computers across the internet and issue commands or run scripts on them simultaneously. Will a VNC program do the trick or is there a better way of doing this? I'd search this info myself, but i dont know what to search for.

[B]

Neither RDP nor VNC type of programs are really intended to kick off scripts or run commands -- they're more for real time screen and keyboard remote control.

Depending on exactly what you're trying to do, some kind of VPN solution or ssh might work better if you're mostly using the command line. Look into ssh daemons on the platforms involved (you'll have to deal with port forwarding at each location) and/or something like OpenVPN for VPN connectivity. Hamachi is probably easier?

If you can put everything behind a VPN you can use native OS tools (the Windows and SysInternals tools for Windows, the normal Unix tools for Unix/Linux/OSX) for command line stuff and scripting.

[fairchild]

Well my setup would be one command center controlling a potentially unlimited number of computers across the internet. I would be setting up the computers initially so i could configure them how i want, but after the fact it would have to be controlled remotely.

Ideally i imagine that i could setup my connections in groups and then opt to connect to one or more groups and run a script which would execute remotely onto their systems (instead of downloading anything). I would also need to be able to transfer files as well. The remote computers would then return a message of whether the script or file transfer was successful or not. All of this would have to be secure of course.

These may be common functions, but i have no idea of how to go about doing any of this. Ive spent all yesterday looking for "remote desktop management" software but havent found anything that can do this.

[fairchild]

I forgot to mention that this will all be windows 7 professional x86 based.

[B]

It sounds as if you're creating a botnet.



Again, I don't think VNC is the right tool for the job.

If your intent is malevolent "one command center controlling a potentially unlimited number of computers across the internet... setup my connections in groups and then opt to connect to one or more groups and run a script which would execute remotely onto their systems" then I'm sure there's plenty of information out there. Just not here.

If your intent is benign, unfortunately I still don't have a recommendation... Maybe some of the "distributed computing" projects (Folding@Home, etc.) would be the right model to follow?

[fairchild]

a botnet in which i initially have physical access to the computers?

folding@home has nothing to do with remote management.

nevermind, vnc just a consumer toy then.

[B]

Folding@Home, if you checked it out even the slightest, is one of a number of distributed computing projects whose <b>entire purpose</b> is to establish "groups and run a script which would execute remotely onto their systems".

Unfortunately it sounds as if you really don't know what you need to know, and that you're not inclined to research it. Sorry I can't be of more help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_computing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_di ... g_projects

(Do you even grasp the differences among remote control, remote management, remote script execution, remote program execution, clustering, distributed computing, and ordinary networking? Any idea of the incredible number of niggling issues involved? You seriously expect to establish a "command center controlling a potentially unlimited number of computers across the Internet" and yet say you currently are "new to networking"??)

[fairchild]

@home projects are designed for computational science. I just want to change a setting to a group of computers. Not exactly the same thing.

[kissson]

u can drop execute binary on every client monitoring the server through a protocol(http?) periodically for new commands. and if the command is new or for certain group of machine, the client then eat it and execute it