About Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC)
Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC) is a feature of Virtual Server 2005 that you can enable, disable, and configure from within Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2007.
The VMRC client connects to an instance of Virtual Server on a host and allows you to access its virtual machines. Through VMRC, you can use a virtual machine as if you were using it through the Virtual Server Administration Web site. However, VMRC does not provide the administrative capabilities available in the Administration Web site, such as creating a new virtual machine or changing a virtual machine configuration.
You can also use VMRC to access the guest operating system of a virtual machine much like you can access Windows by using Remote Desktop. However, unlike Remote Desktop, VMRC allows you to access a virtual machine prior to the guest operating system startup.
You can enable and configure VMRC settings when you add a host or after you have added the host.
You can specify VMRC access accounts to give administrators access to all virtual machines on all managed hosts. To gain access to a virtual machine through VMRC, an administrator must be logged on under an account that has administrative credentials on the local host computer.
By default, when you add a host to VMM, VMRC is enabled and uses the following settings:
Port 5900 (the default setting for Virtual Server) is assigned.
No connection time-out is enabled.
Only one user at a time is allowed to connect to a virtual machine.
The VMRC connection is not encrypted. (You can modify this setting only after a host has been added.)
Important
It is recommended that you implement Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security for Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC) connections, particularly if you use Basic authentication, which transmits passwords in plaintext.
If you change the VMRC port, the port setting you assign for the hosts must identically match the port settings that are assigned in Virtual Server.
You can allow multiple users to connect to the same virtual machine. However, each user can access the guest operating system without the knowledge of the other users. This is by design for training and lab scenarios where one user wants to demonstrate a task to other users and have them connect to and view the same remote session. Because VMRC connections do not use sessions, allowing more than one user to connect can result in collisions.
You can use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt communications over the VMRC connection by uploading a certificate from an appropriate internal or third-party certification authority. For more information about how to encrypt a VMRC connection, see How to Modify VMRC Settings on a Host.