Option to connect to IP instead of hostname

Hello Lars,

I have a possible solution for you that already exists within RDM.

From what I understand you have a folder configured this way, with a host and an IP:


And sometimes the DNS is not available so instead of using the host, it should use the IP.

To achieve this, you can configure the entry in the folder to have $COMPUTER_HOST$ (or a different prefix if you are using a different type of folder) in its host field like so:


And in the Description tab, you can configure the alternate host to $COMPUTER_IP$, while configuring the mode to Ping for example:


This will make it so RDM first tries to ping the host configured in the main entry. If unable to ping, it will then try pinging the hosts in the alternate host list, and the first one that works will be connected to. There is also the option to do port scan instead of pinging, or even choosing the alternate host manually, depending on what works best in your environment.

Let me know if this helps your situation!

Regards,

I can see the logic, an could use it as a workaround.

My feature request will still stand, as I feel this is complex to set up, given the information is available in the host, a setting on the folder entry to add/use the IP as an alternate host would still be preferable.

unless you deny my Feature request of cause :)

Regards Lars

Hello Lars,

We will consider it but it's not a simple option to add, especially if you are using variables like I've shown, due to how RDM resolves hosts. I've opened a ticket for this.
Also, for the other possibilities you've mentioned at the start of the thread, we will discuss this internally to see if this could be something we can add in one form or another (be it only on DVLS or otherwise).

Regarding the configuration, it could be possible to create a Powershell script to modify the entries you need with these settings, maybe it could help in the mean time.

Regards,

Thank you!

Could I perhaps be so lucky that you have/could provide a Powershell snippet I could use to get me started?
I'm very used to PowerShell, but haven't looked into the RDM PowerShell module.

Regards Lars

You could use the built-in Powershell special action in RDM to achieve this as well. Here would be the steps for that:

1. Select the entries you want to modify. This can work either in the navigation pane directly, or by using the Advanced Search feature (in the ribbon, View > Advanced Search).
2. Right click > Edit > Edit (special actions)
3. Select the "Custom Powershell Command" action

For the script, you would want something like this:

$connection.Host = '$COMPUTER_HOST$';
$connection.AlternateHostMode = 1;
$connection.AlternateHosts = '$COMPUTER_IP$';
$RDM.Save();

For the "AlternateHostMode" value, 1 is "ping" and 4 is "port scan".
Running this will configure the host and alternate host value to what I described in my previous post.

If you'd like to use the Powershell module, we have a knowledgebase article to help get started: https://kb.devolutions.net/kb_rdmpowershellcore.html
We also have a repository of example scripts here: https://github.com/Devolutions/RDMSamples-ps
And a section on our forum where our community can contribute their scripts: https://forum.devolutions.net/forums/42/remote-desktop-manager--powershell-repository

Regards,

hi

Thank you, worked perfectly!.

Regards Lars

Hello again

This workaround has an unfortunate downside, that the server should be pingable. Not all the servers we do that.
So it could be really neat if you can do a "Connect to IP" option in the folder settings some time in near future.

Regards.

Perhaps the "port scan" method instead of the "ping" method could help you for now, as it should check if a certain port is opened (which usually is the one you want to connect to).

Regards,

Ahh, yes of cause.
It much better, I will update my connections to 4 :)

Thanks.

By the way, There is no need to set $connection.Host = '$COMPUTER_HOST$'; Inherited workes fine.

How can I change the connections to Inherited with your above script ?

Glad this works for you!

To configure the entry with an inherited host, you can do the following:
$Connection.HostSourceMode = 2;

Regards,

Thank you, and sorry for my lazyness!

Is there a list of all the variables ($COMPUTER_NAME$, $COMPUTER_IP$, etc.) RDM has?

If you click on the Variables button located in the bottom left of an entry's property window, you will have a list of Variables supported in RDM:



Regards,

Oh, sweet. How simple and right infront of my eyes, it hurt that I hadn't found it.

Thank you!