Can you run two VM's with VRDP

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calmond
Posts: 28
Joined: 13. Jun 2007, 14:19
Location: Parkersburg, WV U.S.A.
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Can you run two VM's with VRDP

Post by calmond »

Hello - I have been working to try to set up a host computer with two VM's, both accessible remotely via RDP. I have tried changing the RDP port, and only the one with port 0 is available via NAT based on an nmap scan. I'm running CentOS 5 as my host OS with no IP Tables, and using VBox 1.4.

I need to be able to connect to two or more VM's at the same time via RDP. I prefer the NAT setup because the host interface is available to RDP sessions even when the VM reboots, allowing the remote connection to watch the computer reboot (very nice by the way! ). Is it possible to create two logical interfaces (eth0:1 and eth0:2) and attach the VRDP sessions to those, or is there a way to use two RDP sessions simultaneously with bridging and still connect to the machine when the guest OS is booting?

Thanks in advance for any help
Mito
Posts: 18
Joined: 24. May 2007, 23:15

Post by Mito »

Yes it's possible, and I do it all the time. Right now though, it's a little more complicated since there is a new bug in the 1.4 release (but they have already fixed it for the next release).

The workaround for right now is described here:
http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=435

The easiest way to do it permanently though would be to change the VRDP port in the VM's preferences. The default port (the one that is used when you have it set to 0) is actually port 3389. I generally count up from there, and have my others manually set to 3390, 3391, 3392 etc.

When you connect to these via your workstation, in the RDP client, you must add the port to the IP. So instead of connecting to 192.168.1.20 you would connect to 192.168.1.20:3391

Also, note that if you want to run these "headless" (where the VM doesn't show on the host machine) then it is best to use VBoxVRDP to start the VM and not VBoxManage.
calmond
Posts: 28
Joined: 13. Jun 2007, 14:19
Location: Parkersburg, WV U.S.A.
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Using non-standard ports works great!

Post by calmond »

I set the RDP port to a non-default like you suggested, and it works great! This keeps the port the same for a particular virtual machine all the time, and is ideal for what I want to do. Thanks for the help!
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