MeshCentral2 - Running as an Appliance

MeshCentral is an open source web based remote computer management web site. One of the interesting advantages of MeshCentral version 2 is that the server is written entirely in NodeJS and so, can run on many operating systems, including Linux. In addition, it can run very efficiently on tiny appliance devices with limited, CPU and RAM. For example, you can load it on a ASUS Tinker Board, a Latte Panda, a Raspberry Pi or any of such devices. Once installed, it can easily manage 100’s of devices on a local network including remote management thru Intel® AMT when available. You can often install very light operating systems on these appliances that don’t run X Windows, freeing a lot of storage space and RAM.

The appliance form factor is perfect for an always on server that you can keep attached to a network router. Some of these boards can run using Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) so, only one cable needs to be plugged in. Once you have a device, get started using our MeshCentral Installer’s Guide to get MeshCentral installed on it. The guide has specific instructions for the Raspberry Pi, but other devices should be about the same. Then, you can plug in your device on a network you want to manage and use the MeshDiscovery tool on Windows to find and access the new mini-server. To help users, there is made a quick startup guide.

In LAN mode, the MeshCentral server is setup to operate without a static name or IP address. To work in this mode, Mesh Agents will multicast on the local network to find the server and connect to it. This mode makes is easy to start using MeshCentral on your local network without the need to know anything about you network. It just works.

As usual, feedback very much appreciated.

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






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