Unusual problem in using uVNC

[yogeshvachhani]

I have run into a very unusual problem in trying to configure uVNC on a remote Windows 2003 server so that I can access it using internet.

Here I will try to give detailed description with a hope that someone can help me out.

We have got 4 centers which are miles away from each other.

In center 1 we have installed a server which runs on Windows 2003 server. On the server we have created 4 accounts as follows:
Center1
Center2
Center3
Center4

After this I installed uVNC server on the Windows 2003 server and it is working.

The ISP that we use for internet access cannot provide us with a real or static IP.

From center 2, 3, 4 we want to access this server on internet. For this I tried to configure the ADSL router to open and forward port 5900 as this is required (as per my understanding). But still I am not able to connect the view from centers 2, 3, 4 to the server. PC in Center1 does get connected to the server as it is in the same network.

What can be done so that Centers 2, 3, 4 can connect remotely to Windows 2003 serve located in Center1?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Yogesh

[B]

If you're port forwarding correctly at the router, and if you know the current public IP address or host name of the router, and if the port is forwarded to the local private IP address of the server, then it SHOULD work. Is all that correct?

[yogeshvachhani]

If you're port forwarding correctly at the router, and if you know the current public IP address or host name of the router, and if the port is forwarded to the local private IP address of the server, then it SHOULD work. Is all that correct?

No all is not correct.

I have setup the router to open port 5900 and is show that port as open on local network. But when I try to ping it or test using following web site:
http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/

I get the message that the ports are close.

What must be the problem here? I did talk to our provider but they say that the IP that they have provided is static and port forwarding has to be configured on the router that they have provided to us. I am confused as to how to solve this problem.

In such situation can we use a repeater or are there any servers that provide repeated service?

Regards,

[supercoe]

What is your intention if the port forwarding was setup correctly?
Are you expecting that every center will be able to VNC into the same server concurrently?

[yogeshvachhani]

Yes you got it! Every center will be able to VNC into the same server concurrently.

Regards,

[B]

If you're port forwarding correctly at the router, and if you know the current public IP address or host name of the router, and if the port is forwarded to the local private IP address of the server, then it SHOULD work. Is all that correct?

No all is not correct.

I have setup the router to open port 5900 and is show that port as open on local network. But when I try to ping it or test using following web site:
http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/

I get the message that the ports are close.

What must be the problem here? I did talk to our provider but they say that the IP that they have provided is static and port forwarding has to be configured on the router that they have provided to us. I am confused as to how to solve this problem.

In such situation can we use a repeater or are there any servers that provide repeated service?

Regards,

And is that "open port 5900" on the router FORWARDED to the correct private IP address of your target VNC server?

Yes, there are some public VNC repeaters but I don't have their addresses handy.

[supercoe]

But isn't the real problem here what OP is trying to accomplish?
Is it possible to run concurrent VNC servers on each logged in account, yes.
Would if the server needed to be restarted? You'd have to log into each account and get the VNC server started again.
Does it make sense to try to do it this way? I don't think so considering RDP would be a much better option.
(I'm not even sure if Server 2003 lets you have more than one session active at a time without TS CAL's so RDP might be the only option.)


Keep in mind that if you are running concurrent VNC servers you will have to have a different Viewer port for each one.

Maybe I'm completely lost here but to me it seems as though the OP is expecting to use one VNC server that he want to log into with 4 different Viewers (one for each account).

OP, if you could explain in more detail what you are trying to do I think it would help us answer your questions.

[B]

Okay, you're reading way more into this than I was. I didn't think they were all trying to hit separate login sessions; at most I thought they might occasionally add view-only users to an existing session.

Notice that from the description, NONE of the remote users are getting in. Only the LAN user is.

So I thought we are talking about an ordinary remote access / port forwarding problem?

[supercoe]

I agree with you that there is a port forwarding problem happening here.
At first I was on the same page as you with the "let's help the user figure out their network config" problem but the more I read the post the less it made sense what was being accomplished.

I hope OP can chime in here and let use know what the envisioned senario is so we can determine if it's a lost cause.
No sense in going down the path when it doesn't lead you to what you're looking for.

[yogeshvachhani]

OP, if you could explain in more detail what you are trying to do I think it would help us answer your questions.

I must say that you nailed my requirements precisely.!

Actually I did try to explain in my first post my problem to the best of my capabilities. I will try to explain again.

We have multiple (4) centers which are spread out far and wide geographically.

We have installed a Server in our Head Quarter on which is running Windows 2003 server with terminal services. We have created User accounts for each center on the server.

We have installed UltraVNC on server and is running as service. As per my understanding running a service means that this particular service will be available to each user when they log in.

We want to give facility to the users in our remote centers to connect to the HQ's Server and log in to their own account (that we have created) concurrently and work.

I hope now I have clarified one part of my requirements.

The second part of my requirement: I talked with our ISP for getting a real/static IP. They did give me an IP, but when I open any IP detection sites like:
http://www.whatismyip.com/
http://whatismyipaddress.com/
http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/

All of them reports the same address and this address matches with the IP that our ISP provided to us.

We have configured the device (ADSL modem cum router) as provided by our ISP to open required ports.

Now the problem is that when we try to ping the IP provided by our ISP it fails with message that the address is unreachable or at time is shows request timeout.

When we tried to check whether the ports are open or not using http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/ it shows that port is close. We even get port 80 as closed. I am confused as to what must be the problem. We talked with the ISP but they said that they do not have to configure anything at their end we have to do all things our end. We have tried everything possible but are not able to make the ports open.

Here is the IP that was give to us by our ISP: 59.96.86.97

I hope I have manged to clear all facts of my requirements.

TIA

Yogesh

[supercoe]

Thanks for the clarification.

Let's set the network issues aside for a minute and focus on this:
We have installed UltraVNC on server and is running as service. As per my understanding running a service means that this particular service will be available to each user when they log in.

This is what I was suspecting you were trying to accomplish and sadly it doesn't work that way.

If you need concurrent users logged into your Windows server you WILL have to use terminal services unless you resort to the (illegal) hacks.

Can you use UltraVNC once you are logged into an RDP session? Yea, BUT you will still need to pay for the TS CAL's anyways so why not just use RDP?


Keep in mind that UltraVNC will allow you to view any available session on a Windows computer with the right configuration, it's Windows that will limit the amount of sessions you can have without the proper licenses.

[B]

And allow me to get back to the port forwarding question. Yogesh, you keep saying that you've configured the ADSL modem/router to "open" required ports, but you've not yet told me that you are in fact FORWARDING those ports to a local private IP address of a target server in your LAN. Are you?

For example, your router might be configured to forward port 5900 to local IP address 192.168.1.10.

So what do you mean, exactly, by "open"?

[yogeshvachhani]

And allow me to get back to the port forwarding question. Yogesh, you keep saying that you've configured the ADSL modem/router to "open" required ports, but you've not yet told me that you are in fact FORWARDING those ports to a local private IP address of a target server in your LAN. Are you?

For example, your router might be configured to forward port 5900 to local IP address 192.168.1.10.

So what do you mean, exactly, by "open"?

Yes it is configured to forward the port to a local IP in our case it is 192.168.1.99.

Regards,

Yogesh

[yogeshvachhani]

Let's set the network issues aside for a minute and focus on this:
We have installed UltraVNC on server and is running as service. As per my understanding running a service means that this particular service will be available to each user when they log in.

This is what I was suspecting you were trying to accomplish and sadly it doesn't work that way.

If you need concurrent users logged into your Windows server you WILL have to use terminal services unless you resort to the (illegal) hacks.

We have 100 user license for TS.

I know we can use Remote Desktop for this but even for using RD we need to have a static/real IP. But what is provided by our ISP is not working so I was thinking of using UltraVNC if possible with repeater so that we get the users to connect to server on internet easily. My personally observations is that UltraVNC uses less bandwidth compared to RD.

Regards,

Yogesh

[B]

So do you mean that NO inbound tests are working? No RDP and no VNC?

The repeater would be fine (though slower) but if your inbound ports are a problem you'd have to host the repeater somewhere ELSE.

Try going to ShieldsUp (google it) and run a few inbound port scans. Are you sure the ADSL modem/router is the only firewall or router device in the mix?

(Also, RDP is almost always way more efficient than VNC.)

[yogeshvachhani]

Thanks everyone who willingly helped me in solving my problem.

Ultimately we had resorted to a different solution. In this we have modified our desktop software to store and retrieve data from a web server.

Once again thanks everyone for extending a helping hand.

Regards,

Yogesh