[Grml] OT: grml in remote VirtualBox

[T o n g]

Hi,

Anyone has rdesktop to remote VirtualBox grml before?

I want to run grml in remote headless VirtualBox, but also want to have a
local X env for other people who does not have local X, using rdesktop
connecting to grml.

So far I haven't been able to:

$ rdesktop 192.168.2.103 &
ERROR: 192.168.2.103: unable to connect

Has anyone done that before, or knows how?

Thanks

[Darshaka Pathirana]

Hi!

Post by T o n g
Anyone has rdesktop to remote VirtualBox grml before?
I want to run grml in remote headless VirtualBox, but also want to have a
local X env for other people who does not have local X, using rdesktop
connecting to grml.
$ rdesktop 192.168.2.103 &
ERROR: 192.168.2.103: unable to connect
Has anyone done that before, or knows how?

I created a Virtualbox-Machine ("grml") without a HDD and inserted a
grml.iso as virtual cd and did:

$ vboxheadless -s grml

On the VBox-Host I did:

$ rdesktop localhost

On a remote machine I did:

$ rdesktop $IP_OF_VBOXHOST

Works flawlessly!

How did you start your virtual machine? Are you sure you enabled the
remote display?

Regards,
- Darsha

[T o n g]

Thanks a lot for your answer, Darshaka.

OK, so I know it is now a purely Virtualbox thing.

Post by Darshaka Pathirana
I created a Virtualbox-Machine ("grml") without a HDD and inserted a
$ vboxheadless -s grml
$ rdesktop localhost
$ rdesktop $IP_OF_VBOXHOST
Works flawlessly!

Alright, I followed your instructions, create a Virtualbox VM booting
from grml.iso, then,

VBoxManage startvm Grml2011C --type headless

which should be exactly the same as vboxheadless -s. However, I just
can't connect:

$ rdesktop localhost
ERROR: localhost: unable to connect

Here are some diagnostic info:

$ VBoxManage showvminfo Grml2011C | grep -i VRDE
VRDE: enabled (Address 0.0.0.0, Ports 3389, MultiConn: off,
ReuseSingleConn: off, Authentication type: null)
VRDE Connection: not active

$ rdesktop localhost:3389
ERROR: localhost: unable to connect

$ netstat | grep 3389 || echo not found
not found

$ netstat | grep vbox
unix 3 [ ] STREAM CONNECTED 1970431 /tmp/.vbox-
root-ipc/ipcd
unix 3 [ ] STREAM CONNECTED 1954856 /tmp/.vbox-
root-ipc/ipcd
unix 3 [ ] STREAM CONNECTED 1200559 /tmp/.vbox-
root-ipc/ipcd
unix 3 [ ] STREAM CONNECTED 973926 /tmp/.vbox-
root-ipc/ipcd

$ rdesktop 192.168.2.105
ERROR: 192.168.2.105: unable to connect

Thanks

[Ulrich Dangel]

Post by T o n g
Thanks a lot for your answer, Darshaka.
OK, so I know it is now a purely Virtualbox thing.

Did you install/add the VirtualBox Extension Pack? AFAIK it is required
to use RDP

Ulrich

[T o n g]

Post by Ulrich Dangel
Did you install/add the VirtualBox Extension Pack? AFAIK it is required
to use RDP

No, I didn't. But according to Darshaka' setup, (running grml from live
cd), it seems not required.

[Ulrich Dangel]

* T o n g wrote [27.01.12 21:59]:
Hi,

Post by T o n g

Post by Ulrich Dangel
Did you install/add the VirtualBox Extension Pack? AFAIK it is required
to use RDP

No, I didn't. But according to Darshaka' setup, (running grml from live
cd), it seems not required.

? Darshaka never talked about installing virtualbox. And according to the
documentation you have to.

But from the Virtualbox homepage:

,----[ VirtualBox 4.1.8 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack ]
| Support for USB 2.0 devices, VirtualBox RDP and PXE boot for Intel
| cards. See this chapter from the User Manual for an introduction to this
| Extension Pack. The Extension Pack binaries are released under the
| VirtualBox Personal Use and Evaluation License (PUEL).
`----

And from https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch07.html#idp8971072
,----
| For maximum flexibility, starting with VirtualBox 4.0, VirtualBox implements
| remote machine display through a generic extension interface, the VirtualBox
| Remote Desktop Extension (VRDE). The base open-source VirtualBox package only
| provides this interface, while implementations can be supplied by third parties
| with VirtualBox extension packages, which must be installed separately from the
| base package. See the section called ?Installing VirtualBox and extension
| packs? for more information.
|
| Oracle provides support for the VirtualBox Remote Display Protocol (VRDP) in
| such a VirtualBox extension package. When this package is installed, VirtualBox
| versions 4.0 and later support VRDP the same way as binary (non-open-source)
| versions of VirtualBox before 4.0 did
`----

TL;DR You have to install the Virtualbox Extension Pack to use rdp.

cheers,
Ulrich

[T o n g]

Post by T o n g
$ netstat | grep 3389 || echo not found
not found

Also tried 'netstat -an | grep 3389'. Same result.

Now I think of one thing, do you use NAT or bridge network?

I have to use bridge network so that I can access it other than rdesktop.

Thanks

[Ulrich Dangel]

Post by T o n g
Also tried 'netstat -an | grep 3389'. Same result.
Now I think of one thing, do you use NAT or bridge network?
I have to use bridge network so that I can access it other than rdesktop.

I think you are mixing things. It doesn't matter what network connection
your VM has. The rdp process is executed on the Host system (where
VirtualBox runs) and has nothing to do with the guest.

[T o n g]

The rdp process is executed on the Host system (where VirtualBox runs)
and has nothing to do with the guest.

Oh, that's exactly where my blind spot is.
Thanks a lot Ulrich for your quoting and clarifications.