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Web Console (noVNC)

VirtUI Manager includes a built-in feature to launch a Web Console for any running Virtual Machine. This leverages websockify and noVNC to provide a VNC client directly in your web browser, eliminating the need for installed client software on the viewing machine.

Overview

The Web Console creates a bridge between the VM's VNC socket and a WebSocket, allowing modern browsers to display the VM's screen.

  • Secure: Supports HTTPS/WSS when certificates are configured.
  • Flexible: Can run locally on your management machine or directly on a remote server.
  • Accessible: Ideal for accessing VMs from devices where you can't install a native viewer (e.g., tablets, restricted workstations).

Configuration Dialog

When you select Web Console from the VM Actions menu, you are presented with a configuration dialog.

Web Console Configuration

Settings

  • Remote or Local:

    • Local (Default): The websockify process runs on the machine where you are running VirtUI Manager. This is the standard mode.
    • Remote: The process runs on the remote Libvirt server itself. This requires websockify and noVNC to be installed on the remote server. See App Configuration for setup details.

  • VNC Quality (0-9):

    • Controls the visual fidelity of the stream. Lower values reduce bandwidth usage but may look blocky.

  • VNC Compression (0-9):

    • Sets the compression level. Higher values save bandwidth but require more CPU processing.

Running the Console

Once you click Start, VirtUI Manager sets up the necessary tunnels and proxies. A confirmation window will appear with the unique URL for your session.

Web Console Running

Key Behaviors

  • Single Session: By default, websockify is configured to handle a single WebSocket connection and then exit. This means the link is valid for one time use. If you disconnect or refresh the page, you will need to restart the Web Console service from VirtUI Manager.
  • Bandwidth: Running the console remotely can consume significant bandwidth if high quality is selected. It is recommended to use Low Quality (0-3) and High Compression (7-9) for remote connections over slower links.

Requirements

To use this feature, the following must be installed (either locally or on the remote server, depending on your choice):

  • websockify
  • noVNC assets (HTML/JS/CSS)

Paths to these resources are defined in your configuration file.

SSL/TLS Encryption

To enable secure connections (WSS) for the Web Console, you can provide SSL certificates.

  1. Generate a self-signed certificate and key on the remote server:

    Log in to your remote libvirt server and run the following command. Replace your.remote.host.com with the server's actual hostname or IP address. This is important for the browser to trust the certificate.

    openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -sha256 -days 365 -nodes -subj "/CN=your.remote.host.com"

  2. Place the generated files in the correct directory on the remote server:

    virtui-manager will automatically detect cert.pem and key.pem but for remote server the file must be in System-wide path*: /etc/virtui-manager/keys/

    sudo mkdir -p /etc/virtui-manager/keys/
sudo mv cert.pem key.pem /etc/virtui-manager/keys/

If the certificate and key are found, virtui-manager will automatically start websockify with SSL/TLS encryption and use a wss:// URL. If not, it will default to an unencrypted ws:// connection.