MeshCommander can connect to MeshCentral2

This week is a big one for the standalone version of MeshCommander as version 0.7.1 was released with an improved user interface and more significantly, the ability to connect to a MeshCentral2 account and manage computers over the Internet. Up until now, the standalone MeshCommander has been a break-fix Intel® AMT management console limited to your local network, but this limitation is removed with this new release as MeshCentral2 can act as a Management Presence Server (MPS) for MeshCommander. This new feature allows MeshCommander to perform WSMAN and KVM, SOL, IDER sessions over Intel® AMT remote connections (CIRA) greatly enhancing the capability of an already feature rich tool. There is a new YouTube demonstration video that shows off all the latest improvements. In detail:
  • MeshCommander now has an improved user interface, especially the computer selection screen. The basic idea was to make MeshCommander look a lot like the new user interface of MeshCentral2 which makes a lot of sense if you going to connect the two more tightly. The new left side tool bar allows users to select between computer management, certificate management and the setup.bin editor for USB activation of Intel® AMT.
  • MeshCommander can now connect to MeshCentral2. You have to setup your own MeshCentral2 server first, but once you do, you can login with MeshCommander and start managing your Intel® AMT computers. Note that only computers with Intel® AMT support will show up in MeshCommander. Just hit connect and start doing everything you normally do with Intel® AMT, except that this time, all the management traffic will be routed thru MeshCentral2.
  • Connection between MeshCommander and MeshCentral2 is real-time. The web interface of MeshCentral2 is built in such a way that any change in state will be immediately reflected in the web page, no need to press a refresh button. This feature extends to MeshCommander. Once you connect MeshCommander to MeshCentral, any change in state will be shown immediately on the user interface in near real-time.
  • MeshCentral2 servers as a MPS server for MeshCommander. Increasingly we want to make use of Intel® AMT features over the Internet, not just for computers on the local network. You can setup Intel® AMT to connect using Client Initiated Remote Access (CIRA) to MeshCentral2 so that wherever the computer is, it connects back and is managed by MeshCentral’s MPS server. By having MeshCommander connect to MeshCentral, we can manage computers that use CIRA. One notable usage that is enabled by this is performing IDE-redirect (IDER) over a CIRA session to remotely boot a computer into a recovery operating system.
MeshCommander and MeshCentral are now more than ever joined with a similar user interface style and more complementary features. As usual, feedback very much appreciated.

Enjoy!
Ylian
MeshCentral2: http://www.meshcommander.com/meshcentral2
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meshcentral



 

 YouTube Demonstration Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsqF1uOCJx4

Popular posts from this blog

Starting work at Microsoft

Image
Hi everyone. It’s been a while since the last blog post and I wanted up update everyone on what is going on. As many of you know already from a discussion on GitHub , Bryan and I have been laid-off from Intel in early November 2022. This was quite a surprise as MeshCentral, MeshCommander, MeshCMD and other tools where widely used. This said, Intel has been having poor financials and Bryan and I where part of a very large first wave of downsizing by the company that involved many people that I know and worked with for a long time. I had been working for Intel for over 25 years having started in September 1998. Over the years I worked on IPsec key negotiation, Universal Plug & Play, DLNA and Intel® AMT. I loved working on all these projects and especially loved working with the open-source community on Mesh projects. Obviously, this was not my decision and Bryan and I had look for what comes next. One option was to continue working on MeshCentral as part of another company or with
Read more

MeshCentral - Windows ARM64, NodeJS v11, NPM Packages

Image
Hi all. It's been a while since I last posted and now that I am settling a bit more in my work at Microsoft, I have a bit of time to occasionally look after MeshCentral again. It's about time, there where a bunch of things that needed to get fixed. Before that, I want to say that I am doing great. I am working on Microsoft Forms which is one of the offerings of Microsoft 365. For kicks, I started a YouTube channel on Microsoft Forms here during a Microsoft hacking week. I tried to up my game since the videos I last published for MeshCentral. Also, I wanted to share pictures below. I was at a Tesla Supercharger last weekend and, by luck, got to see a Tesla Cybertruck in person. It's very big. Obviously, this is a release candidate driven by a Tesla employee. I saw it after attempting to see the solar eclipse over Oregon, but sadly, too many clouds and saw nothing. In any case, back to MeshCentral. In the last few months a few things have happened with the new releases. Wind
Read more

MeshCentral - New Windows Agents - Installation Dialog, Customization and Server Lock

Image
Lots is going on with MeshCentral, just yesterday Bryan Roe released a new MeshAgent for Windows with many improvements. An improved installation dialog box, logo customization and, to continue MeshCentral’s leadership in security, a new agent code signing locking feature that will surely be used by many to improve trust and security of their MeshCentral installation. In addition to this, we have many more server improvements to cover. In detail: MeshAgent with improved installation dialog box . The new MeshAgent for Windows is much improved with months of changes and bug fixes. The most noticeable feature is by far the new installation dialog with the new logo and connection details button. The new installer is a lot friendlier and easier on end-users. MeshAgent with improved customizations . In addition to all the existing agent customizations available in prior versions, the MeshAgent has new server settings for the installation text and logo. You can now set your own 200x200 PNG c
Read more