KACE Desktop Authority 11.2.1 - ExpertAssist User Guide

Telnet Server

This page allows you to view and modify Telnet related options. For a complete explanation of the Telnet server, please see Computer Management.

TCP/IP port to listen on / address to listen on 

Here you can specify which port / address you want ExpertAssist to listen on for telnet connections. This defaults to the standard telnet port of 23, and all available interfaces. Changes take effect when ExpertAssist services are restarted.

Accept ExpertAssist connections (secure)

Allow the ExpertAssist’s built-in terminal emulator connections to the remote computer. If disabled, the built-in Java client available via Computer Management|Command Prompt page cannot be used to access Telnet.

Accept Telnet connections

Specify whether telnet connections will be accepted from the standalone telnet clients on the specified TCP/IP port. If disabled you will only be able to telnet the remote computer using the ExpertAssist’s built-in terminal emulator via Computer Management|Command Prompt page.

Show login banner

Enable or disable the logon message sent by the ExpertAssist’s Telnet Server when a connection is established. The logon message includes the version of the operating system and ExpertAssist.

If you do not want to let anybody who connects to the Telnet ports know the version of the operating system and ExpertAssist, disable this option.

Maximum simultaneous connections

Here you can specify the maximum number of connections to the Telnet Server. It's a good idea to set a reasonable limit, especially on computers connected to the Internet. Every new connection uses resources on the computer.

Timeouts

Login/Idle/Session recovery timeout

Here you can set the login timeout (number of seconds the user may remain idle during the login process), the idle timeout (number of seconds the user may remain idle during a Telnet session) and the session recovery timeout. When a Telnet connection is broken ungracefully (that is, the user does not type exit at the command prompt) it is possible to reconnect to the session and continue work where it was left off for a period of time. You can specify the amount of time for which you want the lost telnet session to remain available. Any and all running programs started by the user in the Telnet session will be available when the session is resumed.

Telnet Client Default Parameters

Here you can specify the default parameters for the ExpertAssist’s built-in Telnet client . This client is available from the Command Prompt page under the Computer Management object.

Columns

Specify the number of columns to be used in the Telnet client window. This number determines the width of the window.

Rows

Specify the number of rows to be used in the Telnet client window. This number determines the height of the window.

Console mode

Select the Console mode from the drop-down list. Select from Stream, Full (ANSI colors) and Full (monochrome).

Ask console parameters

Select this checkbox to allow the system to prompt the user for the console parameters.

Custom Pages

ExpertAssist is able to act as a simple HTTP daemon and serve files from a specified directory. The default Custom Page path and index file is defined in the Custom Pages section on the Appearance page of the Preferences section. All other custom pages are reached from a link on the Custom HTTP default index file.

WAP and PDA Interface

ExpertAssist supports limited access via wireless devices using the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). These devices are usually mobile phones, with limited screen size, limited memory, and limited processor capacity. For this reason, they do not understand HTML – pages displayed on WAP devices are written in WML, which is based on XML. Graphics are simple black-and-white images.

When you access ExpertAssist via the WAP interface, you are prompted to log in. Enter your username and password using the phone’s controls then click the OK link. If ExpertAssist does not recognize your WAP device as such, it might cause your WAP browser to display a message regarding unknown content, a compile error, or something similar. In this case, you can edit the contents of the WapClients.cfg file found in your ExpertAssist folder to make the user agent known as a WAP device. Further information on the format of the file is found inside. It is a plain text file and can be edited using any text editor.

Security Precautions

With HTTP and the browser interface, you have a fairly simple job securing your communication: simply create an SSL certificate, install the certificate in your browser, and use HTTPS as the protocol.

With the WAP interface, things are more difficult, since your phone does not directly communicate with ExpertAssist. WAP devices connect to a WAP gateway that acts like an intelligent proxy server:

• The phone issues a request to the gateway. The phone and the gateway communicate via UDP (connectionless IP).
• The gateway issues an HTTP or HTTPS request to ExpertAssist and waits for the reply.
• The gateway compiles the received WML into bytecode and sends it to the phone.

While this is of no concern when browsing WAP pages for stock quotes or weather forecasts, it raises two issues when a secure connection is required:

1. The phone must be able to communicate with the gateway via a secure channel. This is done via the WTLS protocol that requires that the phone ‘trusts’ the gateway – that is, it has its WTLS certificate installed.
2. The gateway must be able to communicate with ExpertAssist via HTTPS. This requires that the gateway ‘trust’ the ExpertAssist installation in question – it should have its certificate installed.

When using a commercial gateway (such as the ones provided by cell phone companies) the first issue is usually not a problem. However, your cell phone provider will probably not install your self-generated ExpertAssist certificates, so the secure connection between the gateway and ExpertAssist will not be established.

When accessing ExpertAssist from your phone, always use the HTTPS protocol by specifying HTTPS:// in the beginning of the URL. This will encrypt the data sent and received between the gateway and the ExpertAssist installation.

Here is a brief description of how to configure a Nokia7110 to use a WAP gateway:

1. Select the Services menu. Select Settings. The 7110 allows you to store 5 different sets of WAP connection settings. Highlight the current settings, or one of the unused settings on the phone, and select Options. Select Edit to edit the selected settings.
2. Homepage should be set to the ExpertAssist installation you most frequently access - or any other WML page. You can use the Bookmarks feature of the phone to store your ExpertAssist URLs.
3. Connection Type should be set to Continuous.
4. Connection Security should be set to On, this will encrypt the data sent and received between the phone and the gateway.
5. Bearer must be set to Data.
6. Dial-up number must be set to the phone number of your dial-in server.
7. IP Address must be set to the address of your WAP gateway.
8. Authentication type can be set to either Normal or Secure, depending on the configuration of your dial-in server. This setting specifies how the username and password are sent to the dial-in server, and does not have any affect on actual WAP communications.
9. Data call type can be set to either Analogue or ISDN, depending on your mobile operator network and the type of dial-in connection that you will be using.
10. Data call speed can normally be left to Autobauding.
11. User name specifies the user name associated with your dial-up connection.
12. Password specifies the password associated with your dial-up connection.
13. Once you have configured all of your settings, use Back to return to the previous level of menus, and then Activate your configuration.

Info Screen

You will be greeted with an Info screen that displays some essential information about the computer.

At the bottom of this screen (and at the bottom of every screen) you will find the main menu that allows you to select ExpertAssist functions accessible via the WAP interface.