Getting Started with Visitor Desktop Sharing
Start your journey to the next level of network computing
Visitor desktop sharing, available in Cloud Server products, is designed for collaboration in the workgroup with security in mind. Users who login with a system account to a Cloud Server can then log in as visitors on Cloud Server nodes. Visitor users are just like guest users, with all their flexibility and security, but when coming from a Cloud Server, the user accepting them will know who they are. Visitor desktop sharing must be enabled on the Cloud Server and also on the cloud server node. Just like with guest desktop sharing, visitor desktop sharing requires the desktop owner to be present on the desktop in order to accept an incoming connection. Read on to know how to get started with NoMachine's exciting new feature.
- On the cloud server machine, open NoMachine and proceed to Server Settings. If you prefer, you can remotely connect to the cloud server via 'Server admin' from your Player's connection panel.
- In Security, tick the 'Visitor desktop sharing' box.
Fig. 1 - 'Visitor desktop sharing' must be enabled on the Cloud server
- Visitor desktop sharing must also be enabled for each node according to your needs. This is done in the 'Edit node' panel on the cloud server it belongs to.
- On the cloud server, browse to the node in the Server tree panel. Right click to bring up the menu. Select 'Edit node'.
- Make sure the box for 'Allow visitor access to this node through the cloud server' is ticked.
Fig. 2 - Right click on the chosen node and select 'Edit node'
Fig. 3 - Enable visitor desktop sharing in the cloud server's 'Edit node' panel
- After the steps above are executed by the NoMachine administrator, users login on the cloud server using their system account.
- The user selects the node they want to connect to and a connection is started.
Fig. 4 - The user selects which node to connect to
- The connecting user is presented with a log-in form where they can select how to log in to the remote node. If the Visitor option is not there, it means that visitor desktop sharing has not been enabled on the desktop node.
- Choose 'Request access as a visitor for desktop sharing' and click 'OK'.
- An authorization request is sent to the desktop owner. The desktop owner must authorize the connection to allow the visitor to connect (Fig. 6).
Fig. 5 - Select 'Request access as a visitor for desktop sharing'
Fig. 6 - The desktop owner must authorize the connection to allow the visitor to connect
- Visitors, like guests, can be disconnected at any time.
- To do that, go the !M icon in the system tray where you can check who is connected by selecting 'Connected users'.
- Select 'Disconnect' of a specific user or all users (Fig. 7).
- The desktop owner can also toggle between interactive and view-only mode (Fig. 8)
Fig. 7 – The desktop owner can check who is connected from the !M icon in the system tray
Fig. 8 – Toggle between interactive and view-only mode
