Geek Software of the Week: Remotely!
Looking for a free, and Open Source, replacement for Teamviewer? I used to love Teamviewer, until they got greedy and stopped doing a free version. Then, they would nag you over and over to sign up for the paid version. Man! Anyway, there is a great alternative! It is “Remotely!” Check it out at:
“Instantly connect to remote desktops either unattended or by invite. Invites are started from a single-file, portable executable that’s easy for customers to download and use.
Remote Scripting
Save time on quick fixes and ad-hoc scripting with an interactive console that lets you execute commands against multiple remote machines simultaneously, with instant results.
Use the shell of your choice: PowerShell Core, Windows PowerShell, CMD, or Bash.
Rich auto-complete for cross-platform PowerShell Core increases speed and accuracy of commands. You can even tab-complete folders and files on the remote machine.
Scheduled Scripts
Set up scripts to run on Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly schedules. Optionally send alerts to your email and/or to the Remotely web interface.
Alerts will send when there was an error running the script, or you can trigger them manually within the script based on some logic.
Integrated Chat
Ask end users for permission to remote in, or just chat it up a little, with integrated chat.
Notable Features
- Support for Windows and Linux devices
- Unattended and attended access
- Remote scripting for Windows PowerShell, PowerShell Core, Bash, and CMD
- Optional WebRTC for secure peer-to-peer screen transfer on Windows agents, which reduces load on the server
- Drag-and-drop file transfer
- Remote audio streaming (Windows only)
- Bi-directional clipboard sharing
- Custom branding for desktop apps
- Integrated chat
- Scheduled scripts
- Device alerts
- 2-factor authentication
How It Works
The Remotely client has two parts: the service and the remote control. The service is responsible for maintaining a persistent connection to the server and executing remote commands. The remote control is launched as needed for remote control sessions.
Both applications make outgoing websocket connections over secure SSL/TLS protocol. Because the connections are outgoing, you don’t need to open any ports in your firewall, and the service won’t accept any incoming connections.
The Remotely service will register with your Remotely organization ID, which is generated when you create your account or join an existing organization. On the first connection, the service generates a separate unique ID and sends it to the server. Upon each subsequent connection, the server must send back that ID before anything else, or else the service will uninstall itself immediately. This is an additional layer of security that ensures the service is communicating with the original server.
Users and computers are grouped into an organization, and they can’t interact with resources outside their organization. Microsoft’s Identity framework is used for all login and authentication to verify users.”