Manage ANY PC or Server Remotely! - TinyPilot KVM over IP

There's one tool that was always too costly when I was a SysAdmin... a KVM-over-IP server. The concept is simple. Just capture video from servers or PCs you want to manage, spoof a keyboard and mouse, then make it accessible from an HTML5 web browser. But why did it always seem impossible???

But first... What am I drinking???

From Single Hill Brewing (Yakima, WA), it's the Eastside IPA at 6.8%. A surprisingly malt-forward IPA, all of the hallmarks of a tradition West Coast are there, but made into a much sweeter and richer beer. Definitely recommend you get one of these for yourself.

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Music:
Opportunity Walks by Kevin MacLeod

[frankjosephjr]

I was cruising along to video thinking “pshh this is worthless if you can’t see bios .... “ paused the video at 11:19 to say I am very impressed!

[patrikwyde]

Wow! So glad you found this project and did a video on it. Thanks Jeff!

[sixtyinsix]

Thank you for 10:43 onward. I'm just teaching myself Remmina and this explanation was very helpful for remote access vs kvm access.

[WeatherWX]

Will you be doing a review of the PiKVM?

[john-r-edge]

The fancy back-plane devices used on higher end servers also allow remote hard restart. That feature is not included on this unit - but maybe not too hard to do, connect from the gpio pins to a mains voltage relay. That has to be something which is a must-have when dealing with a frozen or otherwise unresponsive server in a data center.

[sd]

@Craft Computing If you like KVM over IP. I can recommend to have a look on the one from BifrostConnet. I just tested it the last weeks... Keyboard, Video and Mouse over USB-C or HDMI/USB. It also have 4G Mobile access, WiFi and Ethernet. Build in Battery, charged over USB-C, Micro-USB or PoE. It also have RS232 Serial port.
Bluetooth so it local can use Bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse and connect it like a USB device...

[gabrielmanole]

Jeff thanks for the wonderful videos! You are the one I choose to watch as soon as I open the youtube app. Source-critical correct and honest content of your videos means that the quality is at the highest level! Continue Continue continue !!!

[Gamrman]

Holy crap thank you for making this video!! I had just seen the TinyPilot yesterday and immediately dismissed it because of the price. I had no idea it was open source! I now have a new project!

[dionelr]

Back when I managed a server room, this would have been amazing. With some added security controls, this could be a great remoting solution. I agree with you that adding more hdmi inputs and a function to switch between them in a 1U form factor would be necessary for a more commercial environment. I like what I’m seeing.

[ShuhDonk]

I was just searching for something like this about a month ago, sweet. I used to have a raritan, was over 3000 dollars.. worked fantastic though.. had it set up in canada at a friends house and remoted into it from the US so I could play online poker (pokerstars). :)

[Veebrg]

My belkin kvm allows key sequences to change the kvm input. You could use this with a kvm that supports input switching via keyboard command to get your wish.

[Im_Ninooo]

I've been looking for something like this for years!

[AlbertoMarchioro]

This is a great idea! In commercial use, you can block via firewall all the remote IPs except your to access to this device, so you can take an old pc and install this open source OS. It's just an idea

[MBoosted]

For home users the hobbyist kit is the way to go. I actually might pick one up when I remote mount all my networking equipment in my garage.

[karloa]

It seems like the pikvm is a better product

[lightmn]

I had heard of PiKVM but not this project before.

[TimIgoe]

You could always take a free tinypilot, and hide it behind a reverse proxy to provide authentication and encryption. It might add a tiny little latency but not unmanagable.

[ShinyTechThings]

Shows BSOD screen while advertising Linux hosting at Linode. EPIC!😎

[John.strong]

This is seriously cool, I'd buy a switch with 8 or 12 inputs if / when the new budget comes around

[RileyCastine]

Yeah, this looks cool. For handling one server, nice. I would love to have a Pi based solution that could handle 5 devices. That would totally make my day.