Implementing and using the NetSupport Connectivity Server
Contents
1. using the NetSupport Manager Deploy tool to other Client machines For further details relating to NetSupport Manager deploy see the Online Help or the NetSupport Manager User Manual www netsupportsoftware com Before you can connect to a NetSupport Client using a NetSupport Connectivity Server you must add the Connectivity Server to your Control Console To do this follow the steps below a Run the NetSupport Manager Control In the left hand pane select the Internet Gateways group Double click on the Add a Gateway icon On the first window enter the name and description and click Next Here you can enter any details you wish that describe the Connectivity Server Enter the IP address of the Connectivity Server and the port number that the Connectivity Server is configured to use default is 443 If required check the Use Proxy Server box and enter the proxy server IP address and port number Click Next Click the Set button and enter the Gateway Key Note If the Connectivity Server is configured with multiple Gateway Keys when you browse for Clients on this Gateway you will only see the Clients that are using the same Gateway Key as entered If Operators have been configured on the Connectivity Server click Set and enter in the matching username and password Click Finish It is possible to configure multiple Connectivity Servers in the Control Console with the same IP address but with di2. Server installs as a service The Connectivity Server is not installed by default To install the NetSupport Connectivity Server run the standard NetSupport installation package When prompted for an installation type choose Custom The next screen should then display a list of NetSupport components From this list of components select Connectivity Server and continue through the installation At the end of the installation the NetSupport Connectivity Server Configuration Utility will be displayed as shown below gt NetSupport Connectivity Server Configuration Utility i xi l General Here you can set the port number that the Connectivity Server will accept incoming connections on The default port is 443 and this number is registered to NetSupport When installing the Connectivity Server onto a machine that already has Internet Information Services IIS installed the port number is required to be changed from 443 to either 3085 also registered to NetSupport or another port number The default port for the HTTP protocol on the internet is port 80 and you can configure the Connectivity Server to accept connections on However some Internet Service Providers ISPs utilise cache or proxy servers that cache HTTP traffic on port 80 If your ISP uses a cache or proxy server then the Connectivity Server connections will fail The Connectivity Server can be configured to listen on sp
3. Client in a browse Testing1 Testing1 Testing1 Client connects Control can connect to the Client and see the Client in a browse Testing2 Testing1 Testing2 No connection from Client or Control Testing2 Testing1 Client connects Control can Testing2 connect to the Client and see Test3 the Client in a browse Logging and monitoring the NetSupport Connectivity Server The Connectivity Server runs as a Gateway32 service and is displayed as an icon in the system tray Right clicking on the icon will display a shortcut menu with options for Open Configure Connectivity Server or About Selecting Open will display the NetSupport Connectivity Server Console window as shown below The Clients tab shows a list of all the NetSupport Clients currently connected to the Connectivity Server 3 NetSupport Connectivity Server Console Bile Help A 1 Cient s connected 0 Web Clients 0 Agent s connected Web Clients 0 Max Clients 180 Max Agents 250 E Features J Clients active Sessions EI Agents i Services cient IP Address MAC Address _ Channel ExtemaiP__ sea CJMNTPC 1 gt 10 0 1 56 0003FF335A90 10 0 1 56 9R IbjgaF4KqJufvSil wAA The Active Sessions tab displays a list of current connections between a NetSupport Control and a NetSupport Client with the date and time that the connection started 3 NetSu
4. Implementing and using the NetSuppsst SSE Summary With the increased use of the internet common questions asked by customers using NetSupport Manager are Can connect to and remote control a machine behind a firewall and Does NetSupport Manager work with Network Address Translation NAT Both have been possible in previous versions of NetSupport Manager however to do so involved complex configurations of firewalls to allow incoming connections Now NetSupport Manager includes a Connectivity Server Gateway component that will simplify the method of connection and remove the need for complex firewall configurations a i cease h a LAN LAN Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Le 2 p zz __ __ CLIENT CONNECTIVITY SERVER CONTROL The NetSupport Connectivity Server is a component in NetSupport Manager which provides a stable and secure method for connecting Clients and Controls via the internet using HTTP and delivers web based remote control without the need for modifications to existing firewall configurations The Connectivity Server acts as a go between for a NetSupport Control and NetSupport Client and when using a Connectivity Server there is no direct communication between the Client and Control When the NetSupport Client is configured to use the HTTP protocol the Client connects to the Connectivity Server at start up A user at a NetSupport Control can then connect to the Gateway us
5. P connections to the Connectivity Server on the configured port number This would be similar to having a web server installed on the DMZ and making it publicly available to users on the internet The advantage of this location for the Connectivity Server is that the machine running the Connectivity Server is now protected from external attack by a firewall However this configuration does require some configuration changes to the firewall at the Control site NetSupport CLIENT NetSupport CONNECTIVITY SERVER NetSupport CONTROL In this scenario the firewall at the NetSupport Client site would need to be configured to allow incoming HTTP connections to the Connectivity Server on the configured port number This would be similar to having a web server installed on the NetSupport Client network and making it publicly available to users on the internet The advantage of this location for the Connectivity Server is that the machine running the NetSupport Connectivity Server is now protected from external attack by a firewall However this configuration does require some configuration changes to the firewall at the Client site www netsupportsoftware com Installing the NetSupport Connectivity Server The NetSupport Connectivity Server can only be installed on an NT based operating system XP Vista 2003 2008 2008 R2 Windows 7 Windows 8 and Server 2012 as the NetSupport Connectivity
6. amp User Validation GI NAAFE N LDCGD F I Access Privileges amp User Acknowledgement 3 To override the Comms Management Packet Smart Card Interval set at the gateway please specify a value 3 Connect here 3 Disconnect 3 Protect Configuration Use a proxy server to connect to the gateway File Transfer amp 3 Replay Files 3 Event Logging Port 4 Remote Control 3 View 3 Show Gateway Address 192 168 2 8 Secondary Gateway optional 192 168 2 14 Address e To enable HTTP you will need to check the Use HTTP option Enter the port number which the Connectivity Server you are going to use is configured for the default being 443 Enter the IP address of the primary NetSupport Connectivity Server Enter the optional secondary Connectivity Server IP address and port number Press the Set button to enter the Gateway Key The Gateway Key entered must be identical to one of the Gateway Keys added to the Connectivity Server Enter the proxy server details if the Client is connecting to the internet via a proxy server Once the required configuration details have been entered click OK to save the configuration and restart the NetSupport Client The Client should then connect to the Connectivity Server The entire configuration for a NetSupport Client is stored in the client32 ini configuration file This file can be easily copied or Deployed
7. d to start Gateway This event is logged when the Connectivity Server fails to start Gateway stopped This event is logged when the Connectivity Server is stopped Listening on port lt port_number gt This event is logged when the Connectivity Server starts listening on the specified port This occurs during start up and when a change in the Connectivity Server port is applied in the Connectivity Server Configurator Failed to bind to listening port lt port_number gt This event is logged when the Connectivity Server fails to assign the specified port to listen for incoming connections The port is probably being used by another application Reloading configuration This event is logged by the Connectivity Server when the administrator has used the Connectivity Server Configurator to apply configuration changes Listen port has changed All current connections and sessions will be terminated This event is logged by the Connectivity Server when the administrator modifies the listening port in the Connectivity Server Configurator and then applies the change whilst the gateway is running Reloading Gateway Keys This event is logged by the Connectivity Server when the administrator has used the Gateway Configurator to apply configuration changes which may have included additions or removals to the list of Gateway keys Client lt Clientname gt connected This event is logged when a Client connects to the Co
8. ecified IP interfaces or on all IP interfaces on the machine CMPI Secs When configured for Connectivity Server connections the Client workstation confirms its availability by periodically polling the Connectivity Server By default a network packet is sent every 60 seconds but you can change this if required You can also specify the location and maximum size of the Connectivity Server log file The logging functions of the Connectivity Server are explained in detail later in this document Keys You can add a Gateway Key by selecting the Keys tab Gateway Keys are used to authenticate NetSupport Clients and Controls therefore ensuring that unauthorised users cannot connect to and use the Connectivity Server You must set at least one Gateway Key before you can apply the configuration as the Connectivity Server will not accept any connections unless at least one Gateway Key is configured Operators The Operators tab will allow you to restrict remote control access to a list of specified users At the Control a user will be required to configure a username and password in order to browse a Connectivity Server and connect to the Clients Licenses The Licenses tab displays all of the NetSupport licenses that have been applied to the Connectivity Server The Status field shows if the license has been activated If the license has not been activated the Activate button can be used to initiate the activation process This activati
9. entname gt from lt public_ip_address gt This event is logged when the Gateway Key provided by the Control during a connection request to a Client does not match the Gateway Key supplied by the Client Further Information If you require any further information regarding NetSupport Manager you can contact the NetSupport Technical Support Team using the following details UK Office NetSupport Limited Technical Support Department NetSupport House Towngate East Market Deeping Peterborough PE6 8NE United Kingdom Telephone 44 0 1778 382 272 Email support netsupportsoftware com Visit us www netsupportsoftware com
10. fferent Gateway Keys Once you have a Gateway configured in the Control Console the browse option can be used to display the list of Client machines currently connected to the Connectivity Server The Connectivity Server will support multiple Gateway Keys Each Gateway Key must be a minimum of 8 characters Gateway Keys can be added to the Connectivity Server dynamically without disrupting any current Client connections The Connectivity Server will not accept connections from a NetSupport Control or Client unless a matching Gateway Key configured the Client or Control has also been entered on the Connectivity Server Clients can only be configured with one Gateway Key whereas the Control Console is able to support multiple Connectivity Servers each with a different Gateway Key All Gateway Key data is sent encrypted between the Client Control and Connectivity Server Once connected to the Connectivity Server all Client and Control security such as User Validation Security Keys etc will function normally A Control can only connect and browse for Clients that are using the same Gateway Key as the Control Gateway Key Connection Matrix Control Gateway Key Gateway Gateway Keys Client Gateway Key Result Testing1 Testing2 Test1 No connection from Client or Control Testing2 Testing1 Testing1 Client connects to Connectivity Testing2 Server but Control cannot connect to this Client or see the
11. ing the HTTP protocol and browse for connected Clients then connect to any number of Clients that are attached to the Connectivity Server As there is no direct connection between the NetSupport Client and Control and the protocol used is HTTP it means that each of the machines can be situated behind a firewall configured to use NAT without the need to make configuration changes to the firewall In order for the Connectivity Server to connect a Client and Control both the NetSupport Control and Client must be able to connect to the Connectivity Server using the HTTP protocol on the Connectivity Server s configured port the default port is 443 The Connectivity Server can be located in various different network locations as shown in the following example scenarios A secondary Connectivity Server can also be installed and Clients configured with the secondary Connectivity Server information This allows for Connectivity Server redundancy When the primary Connectivity Server is not available the Clients will automatically switch to using the secondary Connectivity Server Once the primary Connectivity Server is available the Clients will switch back to the primary Connectivity Server and the secondary Connectivity Server will go into a standby mode again This process does not disrupt any active remote control sessions that are in progress www netsupportsoftware com Scenario 1 NetSupport Connectivity Server on the public interne
12. nnectivity Server Client lt Clientname gt Disconnected This event is logged when a Client disconnects from the Connectivity Server Control lt controlname gt connected to Client lt Clientname gt This event is logged when a Control connects to a Client Control lt controlname gt disconnected from Client lt Clientname gt This event is logged when a Control disconnects from a Client Licence exceed Rejecting connection from Client lt Clientname gt lt real_ip_address gt lt public_ip address gt This event is logged when a Client connecting to the Connectivity Server would exceed the licensed number of Clients Security check failed for Client lt Clientname gt lt real_ip_address gt Terminating connection from lt public_ip_address gt This event is logged when a new Client connection fails to provide a valid Gateway Key Security check failed for Control browse Terminating connection from lt public_ip_address gt This event is logged when a Control fails to provide a valid Gateway Key during a browse Clients request Security check failed for Control lt controlname gt Rejecting connection request to Client lt Clientname gt from lt public_ip_address gt This event is logged when a Control fails to provide a valid Gateway Key during a connection request to a Client Client Control security check failed for Control lt controlname gt Rejecting connection request to Client lt Cli
13. on process is either performed automatically over the internet or manually by contacting the NetSupport Technical Support team or the local reseller who can supply an Activation Code Security From the Security tab the option to Enable encryption of communications to remote computers is available When this option is enabled all communication in the connection process over the Connectivity Server is encrypted Note The remote computers Controls and Clients need to be running NetSupport Manager version 11 00 0005 or later to use the encryption option There is an additional option Block any remote computers not using encrypted communications Enabling this option will prevent earlier versions of the NetSupport Manager Client that do not support the enhanced level of encryption from connecting to the Connectivity Server www netsupportsoftware com Configuring Clients to use the NetSupport Connectivity Server To configure a Client to use the HTTP protocol you will need to run the NetSupport Manager Configurator e Run the NetSupport Manager Configurator and select the Advanced option Expand the Connectivity group and select HTTP you should then see the HTTP configuration shown below NetSupport NetSupport Manager client32 ini Master Profile 4 8 Connectivity HTTP TCP IP 7 Use HTTP amp 3 IPX 3 NetBIOS 3 HTTP 3 PIN Server 3 Dial in Bridge amp 3 Advanced 4 2 Security Gateway Key
14. pport Connectivity Server Console file Help 1 Client s connected 0 Web Clients 0 Agent s connected Web Clients 0 Max Clients 180 Max Agents 250 E Features E3 cients I Active Sessions Agents Services PETER B MNTPC 1 Thu Jul 10 14 42 38 2014 The NetSupport Connectivity Server creates a log file that records activity for the Connectivity Server The log file name is GWxxx log and it is stored in the location specified in the Connectivity Server configuration window GW001 log example 29 Jan 14 16 15 32 Connectivity Server stopped 29 Jan 14 16 11 20 NetSupport V12 00 running on Windows NT 6 0 Service Pack 1 build 6001 platform 2 29 Jan 14 16 11 20 Connectivity Server started Max Licensed connections 5 Listening port 443 The following is a list of events that are written to the NetSupport Connectivity Server log file lt product_name gt lt product_version gt running on lt operating_system gt lt operating_system_version gt lt operating_system_ service_ pack gt build lt build_number gt platform lt platform_number gt This event is logged when the Connectivity Server is first started A typical example would be as follows NetSupport V12 00 running on Windows NT 6 0 Service Pack 1 build 6001 platform 2 Gateway started Mac licensed connections lt max_connections gt This event is logged when the Connectivity Server is first started Faile
15. t Scenario 2 NetSupport Connectivity Server on the NetSupport Client network with a NetSupport Control on the public internet La NetSupport Le CONTROL NetSupport NetSupport CLIENT CONTROL In this scenario the NetSupport Connectivity Server is installed on the public internet In this example no configuration changes would normally need to be made to either of the firewalls However the machine that is running the NetSupport Connectivity Server is freely available on the internet and could be open to an attack CLIENT A Cos LAN NetSupport NetSupport CONNECTIVITY SERVER In this scenario the firewall at the NetSupport Client site would need to be configured to allow incoming HTTP connections to the Connectivity Server on the configured port number This would be similar to having a web server installed on the Client network and making it publicly available to users on the internet This example could be used to provide remote access to users working from home www netsupportsoftware com Scenario 3 NetSupport Connectivity Server on a DMZ NetSupport CLIENT Scenario 4 om d e e LAN I I I ae NetSupport NetSupport CONTROL CONNECTIVITY SERVER NetSupport Connectivity Server on the Client network In this scenario the firewall at the NetSupport Control site would need to be configured to allow incoming HTT
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search