Hello,
The company I'm working for really wants to use VNC in the Ignition client and not as a separate program running on the side and they also don't want to use Linux, so is there a way that anyone knows how to get VNC running in the Ignition client?
I have currently a project in Vision but if it is possible with perspective I would also like to know. Or if it is coming in one of the next updates of ignition.
Thanks in advance!
No, it's not included in the installer package bundled. And even if you were able to do some custom module (I don't think so.) you would still need it separately installed. It would be more hidden at best.
A great example would be Java. You no longer have to install it, because it comes bundled. But if you look at your installed apps it will still be there (separate).
I don't really see a reason for this request.
That's not how modules work, or how the bundled JAVA works that comes with Ignition. The JAVA that comes bundled with Ignition now is part of the folder structure where Ignition is installed and isn't "installed" like Java used to be. And modules aren't a part of the OS anyhow. They are installed into Ignition proper.
For @Stef_Velers IA doesn't provide a first party VNC client in either Perpsective or Vision. You might be able to leverage https://guacamole.apache.org/ and the web browser module in a Vision client.
TBH I would assume that a module would have to be created that leverages the JAVA foundation of Ignition. And if you did create one... you might be able to sell it. The topic has come up a few times.
Looks like it used to be possible, but not any more.
Pointing the Web Browser component at a Guacamole gateway seems like the most realistic option to me.
I've done testing because we have a client wanting the same thing. I did my testing with Guacamole in docker, but you could install it manually too. You can pass the username/password to the connection for auto-login as well formatted similar to this (just copy the URL from your connection when connected, and append the username/password information:
http://IP:PORT/guacamole/#/?username=USER&password=PASS
Thanks for all the answers! My company really doesn't want to use Linux, so I'll try to convince them that this is the only correct way to use VNC at this time. I hope that in the future there will be a way to use VNC in the client itself on a Windows PC.
When your Linux-based system is the only thing not taken out by a ransomware attack, you might be thanking this VNC requirement.
I know a lot of companies are hesitant to move to Linux, but many times it's just a lack of understanding or knowledge by the people involved. I get it that if you're used to one GUI, then you throw a Linux server at them with only a CLI, it can be daunting, but eventually they'll really enjoy how easy it is to work with, and how quickly things can be done.
I recommend for every project that we use Linux instead of Windows for the Ignition projects. I'm successful more than I'm not, but if I'm not the one supporting it, I understand if they don't have the resources/knowledge to manage it.
I have a client right now talking about moving away from Wonderware and going to Ignition, and when their IT/server support was told it would run on Linux they were ecstatic that they could move away from Windows. A vast majority of servers on the internet are running Linux, which says something about it.
You can turn a Windows desktop into web page with NoVNC. I had to struggle with it, but it did work. From there is could go into the web browser component in Vision.
Update, this is actually quite nice to have in the scada system. After some effort I managed to get it working and it works very well. My company thinks this is a great solution too, so thanks for your suggestion!!