Remotely controlling a device through a web browser

In addition to the classic remote control feature through the BCM console, 12.6 release enables administrators to remote control devices through a web browser. This browser-based technology to remote control devices does not require you to run the BCM java console on the device.

This BMC Client Management video (5 mins 37 secs) describes how to remotely control devices through a web browser.

This topic covers the following topics:

Browser and OS compatibility

Browsers:

• Firefox latest version
• Chrome latest version
• Microsoft Edge latest version
• Internet Explorer 11
• Safari latest version

OS:

Only devices running on these OSes and installed with a BMC Client Management agent can be remote controlled.

• Microsoft Windows
• macOS

Why choose browser-based remote control over the classic BCM console view

• No need to install the BCM java console on your device
• Remote control in full screen
• Easily open and manage several remote control sessions in a single browser at the same time

Before you begin

• You must have access to a BCM java console
• URL to access BCM server. Contact a BCM administrator.
• Enable capability for remote access
• Request credentials for remote access

Enable capability for remote access

1. On the BCM console, click Global Settings > Administrators.
2. Click and administrator (must not be admin), and click Security Profile. 
3. In the Capabilities tab, ensure that the Remote Control capabilities are enabled.

Installing an SSL certificate

An SSL certificate installed on the controlling device improves the performance of operations when you use the browser-based console. You should install the certificate authority on your system.

To install SSL certificates:

• Windows devices: Remote devices can be controlled even without an SSL certificate installed on the device.

• macOS devices: Remote devices cannot be controlled without an SSL certificate installed on the device.

For more information, see Certificate installation on systems.

Choosing the user interface locale

To change the locale:

1. In the browser window, enter the URL of the web console, https://<IPAddressMaster>:<MasterHttpPort>/webconsole.

2. At the top of the web page, under Change Language, select the locale in which you want to interact with the user interface and view instructions.

Establishing a remote control session

1. In the browser window, enter the URL, https://<IPAddressMaster>:<MasterHttpPort>/webconsole.

   Where <IPAddressMaster> is the IP address of the master server or the hostname of the server.

   If you face issues connecting to the master server, check your network connection. If issues persist, contact the BCM administrator.

2. Enter the admin credential.

3. If you are searching for specific devices, try one of the following:

   1. Enter * to get a list of all the available devices.
   2. Search using the following attributes:  device name, user name, or OS name or a combination of these attributes.
   3. Search using a boolean combination of the above attributes.
      For example, the search phrase admin and windows return a list of devices with user name admin that are running Windows OS.

   4. Search a specific field expression. For example, name::admin.

4. To start a remote control session, either double-click a device or Click next to a device. It is possible to remote control multiple devices at a time.
5. To switch between multiple remote control sessions, click a device thumbnail to switch to that remote control session.

Configuring settings

Set preferences for remote control sessions - color depth, lock mouse and keyboard and so on. Preferences can be set at an administrator-level or for individual remote sessions.

Extending the remote-controlled device to multiple monitors

Somtimes, you might want to view all the monitors together on your device to perform some checks on the remotely controlled device. In other situations, you might just want to work on a single monitor connected to the remotely controlled device.

To view other monitors connected to the remotely controlled device:

• On the toolbar, in the All Monitors drop-down list, you can select a specific monitor or select All Monitors. 

  For example, if there are 2 monitors, if you select the second monitor, only the second monitor is displayed on your device. If All Monitors is selected, all monitors connected to the remotely controlled devices are displayed on your screen at the same time.

Switching to a full-screen mode

After starting a remote control session, you can switch the remote control screen into full-screen mode.

You can switch to a full-screen mode in one the following ways:

• Double click the device thumbnail that appears when you start a remote control session.

• Click 

To view in default view, press the Esc key or click 

Sending information to a remote controlled device

After starting a remote control session, an administrator might want to copy information from a host device to a remote controlled device.

To send information to the remote controlled device:

1. Start a remote control session.

2. In the Preferences menu, if the Hide Toolbar settings is enabled,  click   to view the toolbar.

3. Copy information to the clipboard of the host device.

4. In the remote controlled device, place the cursor in the text box and enter Control + V.

5. Click Send 

   This action copies that information into the clipboard of the remote device.

6. On the remote controlled device, open a text editor or a similar application and enter Control + V to paste that information.

Requesting information from a remote controlled device

An administrator might want to request information from a remote controlled device to a host device. Information requested could be log data to troubleshoot issues or configuration information or some other information from the remote controlled devices.

To request information from the remote controlled device:

1. Start a remote control session.

2. In the Preferences menu, if the Hide Toolbar settings is enabled, click   to view the toolbar. 

3. Copy information to the clipboard of the remote device.

4. In the remote controlled device, place the cursor in the text box and click Request 

5. This action copies that information from the remote device into the clipboard of the host device.

6. Copy the information available in the text box then paste it in a text editor.

Feature comparison between Browser-based remote control and BCM Java console

You can compare the functionality provided by both the Browser-based console and the classic Java console. You can choose between one of these modes based on the features you want to leverage while remote controlling devices.

Logging in to the BCM browser-based console using Remedy SSO credentials

If Remedy SSO server is enabled and integrated with BCM, the Remedy administrator can log into the BCM browser-based console using Remedy credentials.

For more information see, 

• Managing Remedy SSO parameters

• Integrating with BMC Remedy Single Sign-On

Related topics

Remotely controlling a device through the BCM Java Console

Managing direct access to a device