client not working

[fhenryco]

Hello,

I'm new to Vb,

i have installed it and created an ubuntu VM on a Mageia (linux host).
I can access it successfully locally with rdesktop-vrdp localhost:5010 (i modified the default port)

so i guess everything works fine on the server side,

client side i have a cubuntu where i had to install virtualbox to be able to use the client command rdesktop-vrdp
first question: is it mandatory to install the full virtualbox if i just need the client package ?

Then, even after installation of the extension pack (client side), the command rdesktop-vrdp is still not available (not found), only rdesktop is available. Client side My virtualbox version is 4.3.10_Ubuntu r93012 and my system is Ubuntu 14.04 (x86-64).

Thank you for any help.
best

fred

[Perryg]

Nested virtualization is not supported.

[fhenryco]

Nested virtualization is not supported.

I dont want to do nested virtualization !, no VM in another VM in my case. i have a VM server side and want to connect to it from a remote client machine (where i'm on a cubuntu OS), that's all ... if i could just install the client on this remote machine that would be perfect because i just need to type the command rdesktop-vrdp there... may be should i uninstall Reminna rdesktop (?) if it is somehow conflicting with rdesktop-vrdp ...

[Perryg]

It shouldn't but why not just download and install rdesktop? Sourceforge has it and a lot of other places. google for rdesktop.

[fhenryco]

because rdesktop-vrdp is improved, video forwarding and so on... as far as i have understood from the vb user manual

rdesktop , i already have it client side but then there is another problem : it tells me unnable to connect ...

yet remember that "rdesktop-vrdp localhost:port" perfectly works on my server...
then i found that i should use bridge rather than NAT to get a IP adress for the guest different than the host one.

Then i'm able to ssh my guest remotely using this IP, but still no success with rdesktop.

i still can access my VM through the host itself (as i did before in NAT configuration) also using "rdesktop-vrdp 0.0.0.0:port"

BTW i had always thought that rdp could only access windows . I'm surprised that used with vb it can now also access linux ...

Now back to the other issue:
Server side where the install of rdestop-vrdp was successfull through the installation of the complete virtualbox software, i found a rdesktop-vrdp binary in /opt/Virtualbox. Could i just copy and run it in the client /opt/Virtualbox directory ? If not there is also a rdesktop-vrdp.tar.gz : is that the whole code to install
rdesktop.vrdp (the only thing i need client side) without installing the complete virtualbox software ?

[Perryg]

rdesktop-vrdp localhost:port

Don't use localhost. This is a local loopback ( which every PC has ) and will only work while on the host. You should be able to use any rdp client if you simply use the host actual IP address and guest port ( using NAT ).

[fhenryco]

Thank you , localhost was only for a check

I now have:

- solved the problem of the not available rdesktop-vrdp by reinstalling the latest version of virtualbox (5.0) client side

- solved the problem of the refused connection by using the NAT mode as you adviced, thanks for that

so now it works, however i'm still wondering

- why i could not make it work in the bridge mode ... could it be because my physical NIC does not support bridging which as far as i have understood amounts to completely circumvent the protocol stack of the Host NIC ?

- If i only need a rdesktop-vrdp client on a PC, is it sufficient to unpack and install the content of rdesktop-vrdp.tar.gz or is the full virtualbox software needed ? is there a version (already available or coming soon) of rdesktop-vrdp working on an ARM architecture, and if not do you think it would represent a lot of work to adapt the code to make it work with as good performances on ARM ?

Thank you again for your patience,

best

fred

[Perryg]

https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch07.html

I see no reason to use a specific client. One of many work fine. See the link above.

You don't need to install anything from VirtualBox to be able to use remote ( rdp ) on a client PC. You just need supporting client software.

Also ARM is not supported. Not to say you can not use an ARM device that has an rdp client to access the guest, but here again this has nothing to do with VirtualBox. Just use the IP address and port properly and it will work if there is a network path between the client and host.

[fhenryco]

Arn't there improvements that come with rdesktop-vrdp, such as usb sharing, vga passthrough, video forwarding , which would not be supported by mere rdesktop?

[Perryg]

Not that I'm aware of but you do what makes you feel good. I prefer remmina myself. or simple SSL for CLI guests.