Enable WebMKS for vCenter

This page describes how to enable WebMKS for vCenter in environments that are using VNC.

Before you begin:

Install WebMKS proxy
Brand the WebMKS interface as required. See Branding WMKS.

Upgrade notes

For VMs captured in a powered on state from vCenter 6.5+, the administrator can manually remove the VNC configuration from the VM definition file on the hypervisor. They can then power-cycle the VM and test the remote access via WebMKS.

Do not modify remote access or VNC configurations when WebMKS is activated because this will cause an error
VMs with WebMKS active will always have remote access enabled, and you cannot change it in the VM (e.g. you cannot disable it)

To enable the WebMKS functionality for remote access to vCenter VMs, edit the abiquo.properties file and:

Enable WebMKS for all VMs with no VNC configuration.
```
com.abiquo.esxi.webmks = true
```
1. You cannot disable remote access for VMs using WebMKS
2. VMs with existing VNC configuration will still use VNC
3. Changing the remote access configuration or the VNC configuration will cause an error
To transition VMs that are using VNC to WebMKS, set the force property to true. When you are ready, you can #Change VMs from VNC WebMKS.
```
com.abiquo.esxi.webmks.force = true
```
Define the WebMKS proxy path.
```
com.abiquo.esxi.webmks.proxypath = api.cloud.example.com/wsdata
```
The value of the proxy path property is the FQDN and Location of the proxy in Apache on the Abiquo Server (without the protocol).
Optionally set or check the remote access properties.
```
com.abiquo.esxi.discovery.networkinterface.networks = 10.40.18.5, 10.40.18.7
```
List the interfaces of the hosts of the DC that Abiquo will use for remote access.
This is part of the remote access configuration for VMware. For more details, see Detect vCenter management IPs

Change VMs from VNC to WebMKS

When you are using the "force" option, to switch a VM over to WebMKS:

Edit the VM in Abiquo and disable Remote access (you can use hot reconfigure)
- This tells Abiquo to delete the VNC configuration
Do not make any changes to the VNC configuration, such as the password, because this will trigger an error.
Save the VM
Restart the VM to activate WebMKS

After you switch a VM to WebMKS, remote access will be always available (you cannot disable it when you edit the VM).

Notes about WebMKS

The VNC user and password are not valid for WebMKS.

Users will now be able to access VM console via WebMKS when:

They are the VM owner
They have the privileges to Access virtual datacenters view and Manage virtual appliances. By default the standard user has these privileges

For more details of the WebMKS properties, see Abiquo Configuration Properties#esxi.