MeshCentral Blog

MeshCommander is a web-based Intel® AMT management console that is available in many versions including as a standalone tool, as part of MicroLMS and built into MeshCentral2 . However, one of the most intriguing versions of MeshCommander is the one that can be loaded directly into Intel® AMT 11.6 and higher flash storage . This version of MeshCommander allows remote hardware management of a computer with nothing else but a browser, making it super convenient for many applications. Never as it been easier to make use of Intel® AMT when you need it. Today, I just released the new MeshCommander firmware loader that comes as a single Windows executable. You can get it on MeshCommander.com , it super easy to use and in less than a minute your Intel® AMT 11.6+ will be upgraded with a powerful management console built right into the computer. Just login using your favorite browser and start remotely managing your computer. As if it could not already be easier, I have a YouTub...

Today, MeshCentral2 is going Beta2 with many more improvements, new features and improved stability. MeshCentral2 is a light weight open source remote computer management web site. In marking this version as Beta2, it broke compatibly with Beta1 and so, everyone will need to create new user accounts, create new meshes and re-install MeshAgents. The compatibly break is going to be annoying for existing users, but was necessary to move MeshCentral2 to the latest cryptographic algorithms. With improvements in both general computing and possibly quantum computers in the years to come, it’s important that any product that will be used in the long term use strong cryptography. Starting with MeshCentral2 Beta2, all hashing is done using SHA384 instead of SHA256 . This means that all node identifiers, certificate signatures, binary update hashes, password hashing and more are all using the new longer and stronger hashing function. This has a wide ranging impact on MeshCentral...

Today, MeshCentral2 has an even easier and faster way to get setup with a new Microsoft Windows MSI installer . Now, you can download and install MeshCentral2 in a few minutes even if you know nothing about NodeJS, NPM or installing a server. Just download the MSI installer , launch it and answer a few questions. MeshCentral2 will run in the background and turns into your own personal web based remote management solution. It’s never been easier. Because MeshCentral2 supports LAN mode, you don’t even need a fixed IP address or DNS name to run your own server and manage computers on your local network. Here are the highlights this week: New Windows MSI installer , makes MeshCentral2 super easy to install. Once installed, you have the option to keep the server always updated to the latest version. To show this off, we have a new YouTube demonstration video . Goes into details of how the installer works and each of the configuration options. Thanks to Ariel Silverman for his...

MeshCentral 2 is a free open source web-based remote computer management solution allowing administrators to setup new servers in minutes and start remotely controlling computers using both software agent and Intel® AMT. The server works both in a LAN environment and over the Internet in a WAN setup. Now, I just released a new version with support for server-to-server peering allowing for improved fail-over robustness and scaling. Some technical details: Servers connect to each-other using secure web sockets on port 443. This is just like browsers and Mesh agents, so you can setup a fully working peered server installation with only port 443 being open . Server peering and mesh agent connections use a secondary authentication certificate allowing the server HTTPS public certificate (presented to browser) to be changed. This allows MeshCentral2 peer servers to be setup with different HTTPS certificates. As a result, MeshCentral2 can be setup in a multi-geo configuration...

Quick note to say that lots more updates and fixes are going on with MeshCentral2 . Updates are coming pretty much every day. Yesterday, I added server self-update capability. You can now update the server with just a few clicks on the web site (if you are administrator). Hopefully, we are getting close to Beta2 that will be quite usable for day-to-day use. Also, at work this morning, I had MeshCentral2 cupcakes. Figured I share a picture since they look so yummy! Ylian http://www.meshcommander.com/meshcentral2

MeshCentral 2 development keeps moving forward. So much is going on, we have to just make a list of new features and changes. MeshCentral2 is still very much in beta , lots work still to be done before it is ready for day-to-day use. This said, much progress is being made. Here is a main recap of the last few weeks: Location and mapping support . The MeshAgent 2 can now attempt to get its location using its public IP address. MeshCentral 2 then records this information and can display location information on a live map along with colored pins showing the connectivity status of the device. Default mapping information uses OpenStreetMap . Network interface information . The latest MeshAgent 2 and MeshCentral 2 now cooperate to gather device network interface information. This is useful for all sorts of usages including remote device wake-up. Server Wake-on-LAN support . When MeshCentral 2 is not in WAN-only mode, it will not send out wake-on-LAN packets upon request. ...

MeshCentral2 development keeps moving forward and this week, we got two really interesting new features added. As you will see, MeshCentral2 is positioning to be a server that can be used in a wide array of usages. From small networks with a few computers on a local network to larger deployments on a commercial cloud services. MeshCentral2 is being designed to handle both and everything in between. Added support for LAN and WAN modes . This is one of the big innovations that will get MeshCentral2 noticed. Historically, you always needed a fixed IP/Host to setup MeshCentral, making things difficult for small deployments. Now MeshCentral2 has a new “LAN mode” where mesh agents discover the server location using multicast. For small deployments, it’s easier than ever to get a management solution setup. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two modes noting that it’s possible to run MeshCentral2 in both modes simultaneously, offering both feature sets at the same...