New Virtual Server Management Tool

Administrators of Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005 R2 hardware virtualization software will welcome a new free administration tool, VMRCPlus, that bypasses Virtual Server’s much-maligned Web-based administrative console. VMRCPlus allows administrators to manage, monitor, and configure local or remote Virtual Server hosts, and establish remote console sessions with the virtual machines (VMs) running on them. However, the tool is unsupported and has a limitation that may make it unusable in some security scenarios.

Web Console Alternative

Even before Microsoft acquired Virtual Server from Connectix, the product was designed to be configured and monitored through a Web-based administration console. This console allows administrators to view the status of VMs on a host and control them (e.g., pause, stop, start), as well as to connect directly to individual virtual machines, a feature called Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC). With VMRC, the virtual machine’s video displays within a window on the administrator’s desktop, and all keyboard/mouse actions are appropriately redirected.