Private Server

Read the Updated Get Console FAQ Here, and post additional Questions that we should be answering

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simon
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Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 2:48 pm

Private Server

Postby simon » Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:34 pm

What is Get Console Private Server
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The Get Console Private Server allows a user to host their own cut down version of the Get Console backend software within their own network. This allows iOS devices running the Get Console app to tunnel their serial console connections into a server that the user owns, controls and secures rather than the Get-Console.com public servers.
In addition to the greater security provided by an all private network solution, the Get Console Private Server (GCPS) offers the following additional benefits:
- Flexible Remote Access Client: The GCPS allows the remote access PC user to access the iOS device console session via any telnet client, such as SecureCRT or putty rather than the basic web-based client available on the Get Console website.
- Faster Remote Access Performance: As the GCPS is hosted within the clients own network, it will offer a lower latency connection to remote access PC users � which in turn results in better end to end terminal speed than the Get Console public service.
- SSL Certificate Option: Secure access with a yourcompany.com SSL certificate rather than the get-console.com SSL certificate
- Detailed Appliance Logging: Record who connected to what and when � useful for audit reports and troubleshooting
- Local Web Access Client: The GCPS also provides a dedicated web based console to access the remote iOS device serial session, which includes many common commands shortcuts and local session logging.

How is the Get Console Private Server Packaged?
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The Get Console Private Server (GCPS) is supplied as a Virtual Appliance, in the OVF format. The Open Virtualization Format is an open standard for packaging and distributing virtual appliances for installing on many different virtualization hypervisors.

The GCPS has been extensively tested with VMWare (vSphere 4.0, VMWare Player, VMWare Server 2.0, VMWare Workstation 6.5), but should also work with other Virtualization software such as Xen, VirtualBox and RedHat.

We distribute the Virtual Appliance as a single .OVA file, which is a compressed OVF directory. Instructions for installing on VMWare are included.

What are the Virtual Server Hardware Requirements?
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The GCPS is configured with the following virtual resources, which should be met or exceeded by the physical host machine:
1 CPU (Single Core)
1 Gb Ram
5 Gb HDD
1 Network Card

What are the Get Console App Requirements?
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The �Private Server� option is supported in version 1.4 and later of the Get Console iOS application.

How does the Get Console Private Server Work?
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The GCPS works in much the same way as the public Get Console server works. Once a Private Server details have been configured in the iOS app settings, and the �Private Server� option is selected in the �Remote Server� options, all session sharing connections will go exclusively to the GCPS. The transport wrapper is either in HTTP or HTTPS (if the �Secure Connection� option is selected) using the same proprietary compressed and accelerated packetization of serial data used in the public service.

This encapsulation method generally performs significantly better than SSH, as it more easily traverses firewalls, proxies and also has an intelligent algorithm for improving performance over laggy 3G networks.

Once the session sharing connection is made to the GCPS, the server generates a session code. The remote PC/Mac user can then telnet to the GCPS IP address, and when prompted, enter the session code to be transparently connected to the iOS device�s console session.

Note that the Secure Connection option is only available if a valid SSL certificate has been installed for the GCPS via the GCPS Web Console. The certificate must be issued from a Certificate Authority trusted by the Apple iOS device � this includes most major CA�s. Full instructions on obtaining and installing an SSL certificate are provided in the GCPS Manual.

What is the Difference between the GCPS and the Public Get Console Site?
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There are some differences in the features available in the GCPS as opposed to the publicly available servers. In version 1.0 of the GCPS the following features available on the public servers are not available in the GCPS version:

a) Ability for iOS device to upload log files from iOS device to GCPS. This feature will be available in a later release, however in the meantime the logs files can either be uploaded to the Get Console public server, or extracted from the iOS device via iTunes.

b) Ability for iOS device to download configuration templates from GCPS. This feature will be available in a later release, however in the meantime configuration scripts files can be downloaded via another iOS app (such as mail) and then pasted into the clipboard of the Get Console app.

c) While any PC/Mac client can be used to connect to the remote iOS devices console session, the version 1.0 of the GCPS only supports Telnet as transport on TCP port 2323. SSH Client access, and the ability to change the port will be a later release update.

All other major Get Console remote access features are available on the GCPS, in addition to the GCPS advantages of speed, security and access flexibility.

How is the Get Console Private Server Licensed?
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The Get Console Private Server (GCPS) is free to download, however each unique iOS device wishing to connect to the GCPS uses a Client Access License (CAL) that must be purchased in advance from the Get-Console.com shop. Licenses are priced from under $14 each depending on the number required.

The CAL is enforced when the user tries to connect to the GCPS for the first time. On first connection, the iOS device will initially make a check with our license server to see if that particular GCPS has free licenses available, and if so will store the iOS device UDID against that GCPS and decrement the number of free licenses available.
The GCPS owner can delete unwanted UDIDs consuming CAL�s by contacting us at support@get-console.com (a self service web portal for this purpose will become available later in the year).

The software is offered as a yearly CAL or perpetual CAL. See the shop for more details

How is the Get Console Private Server Supported?
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There are 2 support models for the GCPS.

1) Community support via our forum is free, as is access to our FAQ. The manual that is included with the GCPS is also comprehensive and covers most usage cases. We participate in the support forums but offer no SLA to respond to questions. Minor revisions and bug fixes for the virtual appliance are free to download. Major revisions (for example v2.0) will require new CALs purchased to use.

2) Telephone and Email support is available for an additional charge. Under this model we offer a telephone helpdesk (business hours) as well as email support. We will respond to email enquiries within 4 hours (during business hours). In addition all minor and major releases of the virtual appliance are free for valid CALs.

Pricing for the optional Telephone and Email support is available in the shop

Where can I get further information?
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If you have other questions please contact Simon Hope at simon@get-console.com

If you would like to be notified about updates to the GCPS or Get Console in general, then signup at http://www.get-console.com and tick the newsletter option, or follow us on twitter (getconsole)

Troubleshooting - Known Issues in V1.01
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- Installation and configuration of the ethernet card address from the CLI sometimes fails to save the changes. We have a fix for this issue in v1.02 that is now available from the downloads page. For customers not wanting to re-download 850Mb, please contact us and we can walk you through fixing your v1.01 version.

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