Remotely controlling a device through a web browser

Administrators can remotely 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
  • Why choose browser-based remote control over the classic BCM console view
  • Before you begin
  • Establishing a remote control session
  • Remote session popup
  • Ending remote sessions
  • Configuring settings
  • Extending the remote-controlled device to multiple monitors
  • Switching to a full-screen mode
  • Sending information to a remote controlled device
  • Requesting information from a remote controlled device
  • Feature comparison between Browser-based remote control and BCM Java console
  • Logging in to the BCM browser-based console using Remedy SSO credentials
  • Related 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

• Enable capability to remotely control devices
• Enable access rights to remotely control devices
• Installing an SSL certificate
• Choosing the user interface locale

Enable capability to remotely control devices

As a superadministrator, you can give administrators remote control capability. 

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

Enable access rights to remotely control devices

As a  superadministrator, you can give administrator remote control access rights on devices/device groups.

1. On the BCM console, click Global Settings > Administrators.
2. Double-click an administrator from the list (must not be the superadministrator), and then select Security Profile. 

3. In the Static or Dynamic Objects tab, you can set the following access rights for remote control access.

   Access right	Value
   Remote Control Access	Allow - Allow administrators to remotely control devices.  Deny - Do not allow administrators to remotely control devices. Inherit - Inherit access rights of the administrator.
   Session Popup	Show Session Popup - An acknowledgement popup appears on the remotely controlled device indicating that the device being remotely controlled. The session popup cannot be closed, but can be minimized and moved on your screen. Allow End Session - Allows the end user of the remotely controlled device to disconnect the session.
   Acknowledgment Popup	This access type defines if an acknowledgment by the end user is required when trying to access a device remotely via the Remote Control functionality. Possible values are: Required  acknowledgement is needed to access Not Required the acknowledgement is not required with the specification on when they are not required, for an absent user or a closed session or both

   Note: By default, the Allow End Session is not selected, which means that the session popup appearing on the remotely controlled device does not display the End Session button. So, the end user of the remotely controlled device cannot disconnect the remote session.

4. Set OK.

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:

• In the browser window, enter the URL of the web console, https://<IPAddressMaster>:<MasterHttpPort>/webconsole.
• 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 the device thumbnail of that device.

Remote session popup

When a remote session is in progress, a remote session popup is displayed on the end user's desktop. Users can view the remote session on their screen including information about users who are connected while maintaining the aspect ratio of the remote session. The remote session popup displays details about the Administrators connected to your system. If multiple administrators are connected  at the same time, the end user can change the administrator displayed by clicking the right-arrow image on the remote control session popup.

The remote session popup cannot be closed, but can be minimized or moved.

Ending remote sessions

BCM displays a session popup when a device is remotely controlled. Note that Allow End Session parameter must be enabled if end users must be given the ability to disconnect remote sessions.

The end user can choose to end a remote session of a particular administrator by clicking End 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.

• Defining pagination limits on the browser-based console
• Defining auto-logout delay value
• Configuring administrator-level settings
• Customizing connection settings for an individual remote control session

Defining pagination limits on the browser-based console

Define the number of remote devices that can be displayed on a single electronic page. 

1. On the BCM java console, at the top right corner, click Preferences.
2. On the Preferences window, click Tables.
3. Under Paging Settings, in the Table Rows per Page, enter a value that represents the number of rows displayed on a single page.

The search results for devices extend to multiple pages depending upon the value set in Table Rows per Page field. For example, if you set the Table Rows per Page value to 50 and search results fetch 60 devices, 10 devices are displayed on the second page.

Defining auto-logout delay value

1. On the BCM java console, at the top right corner, click Preferences.
2. On the Preferences window, click General.
3. In the Web Console section, define the time in seconds after which the administrator is auto logged out.

Configuring administrator-level settings

To configure connection settings at an administrator-level, for all the remote control sessions, follow these steps:

1. On the remote control browser, top right corner, click the administrator profile > Preferences 

   

2. On the Preferences window, set the connection settings.

   Preferences	Description
   Auto-logout delay (sec)	The number of seconds after which the administrator is logged out. The default value is 300 seconds.
   Color Scheme	Select the color scheme: Monochrome, Color, or Automatic.
   Color Resolution	Select the depth of the color or the bit depth.
   Display Cursor of Remote Device	Enable this option if you want to view the cursor of the remote device.
   View Only	Enable this option to disable any action on the remote device.
   Disable Wallpaper	Enable this option to disable the remote device's wallpaper. This option is not available if the View Only mode is enabled.
   Fit to screen	Fits the remotely controlled screen to the controlling device while maintain the aspect ratio of the controlled device.
   Lock client mouse and keyboard	Disables the remote device's mouse and keyboard. This option is not available if the View Only mode is enabled.
   Hide Toolbar	Enable this option if the toolbar should not be viewable on the host screen.

   

3. Click OK.

Customizing connection settings for an individual remote control session

As an administrator, you can customize connection settings for each remote control session. 

• After you start a remote control session, click Configure the connection. 

• On the Connection Configuration window, set the following settings.

  Setting	Description
  Auto-logout delay (sec)	The number of seconds after which the administrator is logged out. The default value is 300 seconds.
  Color Scheme	Select the color scheme: Monochrome, Color, or Automatic.
  Color Resolution	Select the depth.
  Display Cursor of Remote Device	Enable this option if you want to view the cursor of the remote device.
  View Only	Enable this option to disable any action on the remote device.
  Disable Wallpaper	Enable this option to disable the remote device's wallpaper.
  Fit to screen	Fits the remotely controlled screen to the controlling device while maintain the aspect ratio of the controlled device.
  Lock client mouse and keyboard	Disables the remote device's mouse and keyboard.

3. Click OK.

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:

1. 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:

1. Double click the device thumbnail that appears when you start a remote control session.
2. Click 
3. 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

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