From 7d949cde828c9119671d57b1c6fb4fa60f67146b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paul Gaiduk Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2024 16:33:40 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Add documentation for VNC support in ECOs Signed-off-by: Paul Gaiduk --- docs/VNC.md | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 22 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/VNC.md diff --git a/docs/VNC.md b/docs/VNC.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..608b713298f --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/VNC.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +# VNC + +There is an option to connect to every ECOs UI via VNC. +To enable it, the flag [EnableVnc](https://github.com/lf-edge/eve-api/blob/a2b011fedf87918e924bf11b5be3216b3d5d13a8/go/config/vm.pb.go#L121) needs to be set in the respective EdgeAppConfig. + +The VNC support is built into the KVM/QEMU hypervisor and is available for all types of ECOs. +However there is a special case for the container applications: the flag `EnableVnc` let's the user connect to the container's UI via VNC, however if the user wants to be able to connect to the shim VM as well, the flag [EnableVncShimVm](https://github.com/lf-edge/eve-api/blob/a2b011fedf87918e924bf11b5be3216b3d5d13a8/go/config/vm.pb.go#L141) needs to be set additionally. +Please note that `EnableVncShimVm` can only be activated if `EnableVnc` is set to true. +If both flags (`EnableVnc` and `EnableVncShimVm`) are enabled the user will be able to switch between the container and the shim VM session by pressing a key combination. + +## Guacamole + +EVE has a [guacamole](https://guacamole.apache.org/) server running as a service, which allows the user to connect to the ECOs via a web browser. +Alternatively to connecting over guacamole, the user can configure the forwarding of the VNC port to the host machine and connect to the ECOs via a VNC client. + +## Switching between the container and the shim VM session + +When connecting to the QEMU instance via VNC the user will first be presented with a view of the currently running process (container's entry point). +To switch to the shell of the shim VM the user will have to press 'Ctrl+Alt+2' and then 'Enter' to get the login prompt. +Due to inability of some VNC clients to change the resolution of the display, the client might crash. +However upon the client restart the new virtual console will appear as expected. +The user can then switch back to the previous virtual console by pressing 'Ctrl+Alt+1'.