Question : Help starting to use DameWare Mini Remote Control

I've just downloaded the 30-day trial version of DameWare Mini Remote Control but don't know how to begin using it.  I had expected to find some step-by-step description on how to connect.

I'm looking at the remote connect dialog and it's not at all clear how one fills in the necessary fields.  I understand that one needs the ip address of the host computer (the one you are trying to connect to.)   How do you find this?   What action has to be taken on the host computer to allow mini remote access?  

Could someone give me an idea how to start on this?
Thanks,
Al  

Answer : Help starting to use DameWare Mini Remote Control

The user ID does not have to be password protected; you can use whatever userid is logging on automatically. Just leave the password field blank on the Dameware Remote Connect screen. You can also use Administrator which every win2k/xp machine has. I'd recommend for security that you use the proprietary challenge/response; it will not affect your customer's logins at all. I'm a bit unclear on a few things. It sounds like:

1. Your customers are at a remote location, behind an internet router of some kind.
2. They have automatic logon for their machines or are not on a domain.

If my assumptions are correct, you will need to visit the remote site initially to set up the software on the host machines. For stability, you will need to give the machines static IP addresses. Then install the dameware host piece. The fastest way to do this is to do the main Dameware install on one machine, then use it to push-install the host software to all the others. While you are there it will be a simple matter to push it out to the machine name; the first time you try to connect to the machine it will inform you that the host software is not installed; would you like to install it now?

BEFORE you click OK:

1. Click Install Options... and put a checkmark in "Copy Configuration File DWRCS.INI."
2. Then click Edit and give each machine name a different port number (default is 6129). This has to be done separately when connecting to each machine for the first time. What I did was give the first machine 6129, the second one 6130, etc. The port numbers have to be different so you can use port redirection to connect once you are outside the router. Also at this screen put a checkmark in "Allow Proprietary Challenge/Response" and assign the userid and password you want to use. It can be the same for all machines for simplicity. Once you have done that, click OK, then OK again on the Install Options dialog. Then OK one more time to actually start the install.
3. Go into the router's configuration and set up port redirection. Redirect port 6129 to the IP address of the machine to which you assigned 6129, 6130 to 6130, etc. Also get the public IP address of the router; you'll need that to connect once you are gone.

Now that you are back at the office, you need to set up your hosts so you can get to each machine. On the Remote Connect dialog, enter the IP address of the customer router, under alias give it a name you can identify, change the authentication type to proprietary challenge/response and add the id and passwrod you assigned, and put a check in Remember Security Credentials. Then click Settings. Make sure the port number is correct and click OK, then click the Save button. Do this for each machine, making sure the port number is correct for each entry.

For example: let's say you have two machines at the remote location, Bobby and Glenda, set up thusly:

Bobby   192.168.0.24
Glenda  192.168.0.25

Install Dameware:
Bobby -  port 6129
Glenda - port 6130

Allow proprietary challenge/response on both, user id alansilverman, password namrevlisnala.

Add port redirection entries to router (may be called virtual servers, pinholes, etc depending on router manufacturer/firmware)

6129 -> 192.168.0.24:6129
6130 -> 192.168.0.25:6130

If the router wants a port range just enter the same port number for the start and end.

Now let's say the router has a public IP address of 65.254.196.87. Back at the office, you will create two host entries in Dameware:

Host: 65.254.196.87
Alias: Bobby
Authentication type: proprietary challenge/response
User id: alansilverman
Password: namrevlisnala
Check "Remember Security Credentials"
Settings/Port Number: 6129

Host: 65.254.196.87
Alias: Blenda
Authentication type: proprietary challenge/response
User id: alansilverman
Password: namrevlisnala
Check "Remember Security Credentials"
Settings/Port Number: 6130

Set the Remote Connect dialog to sort by Alias.

That's it! Now when you want to connect to Bobby, just double-click Bobby on the host list.

The one "gotcha" you may still face is if they have dynamic IP addressing on the router. One solution for that is to set them up with a domain name (you can register a domain for 10-15 bucks per year these days; I use tera-byte.com but there are lots of registrars), then use a dynamic IP service to map the IP to the domain name:

http://www.dyndns.org/
http://www.zoneedit.com/doc/dynamic.html

DynDNS is also a registrar so you can get the domain name through them as well as the dynamic DNS hosting.

If you go that route, then replace the public IP in the examples above with the domain name you've registered for them.

Good luck.