Cross-platform remote.it desktop application
The desktop application serves one primary purpose which is to create a Peer-to-Peer connection to a remote.it device. It downloads and installs connectd on the current system and then runs connectd to establish a Peer-to-Peer connection.
- Peer to peer initiator connections
- Local area network (LAN) sharing of initiator connections
- Custom local port and IP address binding for connections
- Custom connection naming
- Connection throughput monitoring
- Quick launch to HTTP(S), SSH or VNC connections
- Registering your system as a target device (traditional registration)
- Run target services as system services
- Jump services to other systems on the network
- LAN scanning
- Multi user system handling
- Remote configuration through web hosted panel on port 29999
- Out of band network detection
- Windows
- Mac
- Raspberry Pi
- Ubuntu
- Headless (No GUI system)
The desktop can also be installed only as a web-service to manage a device in a headless environment. Install and run headless.
curl -O -L https://github.com/remoteit/desktop/releases/download/latest/remoteit-headless.tgz
tar -xf remoteit-headless.tgz
sudo node package/build
To run in the background
nohup sudo node package/build &
Desktop can then be accessed on port 29999, either on localhost or over the local network.
Start as root / admin to have hosted services persist for all users and continue to run even after the remote.it desktop app is quit
Just run as Administrator from the start menu option.
Must be launched from a terminal
sudo /Applications/remoteit.app/Contents/MacOS/remoteit
sudo /opt/remoteit/remoteit --no-sandbox
The desktop app runs a web service at port 29999 for remote access.
- Setup prompt: If you log in to a device through your browser for remote setup it will by default put you on the device setup screen instead of the device list.
If things aren't working the best way to clear everything and start over is to use the Uninstall command line tools menu in the advanced settings screen.
CLI tools
The Desktop installs and depends on the remote.it CLI tools. At startup they are installed here:
Mac /Applications/Remoteit.app/Contents/Resources/mac
Linux /usr/bin/
Windows C:/Program Files/remoteit/resources
Configuration and log files
Mac ~/.remoteit/
Linux ~/.remoteit/
Windows C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\remoteit\
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Temp\remoteit.log
CLI config files
Mac /etc/remoteit/
Linux /etc/remoteit/
Windows C:\ProgramData\remoteit\
Windows installer log
Windows C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\temp\remoteit.log
nvm install
nvm use
npm install
npm start
Start the frontend react dev server
cd frontend
npm start
Command+option+I to open with dev tools.
Tests are written using Jest.
Copy the backend/.env.example
file to backend/.env
and then fill in the values.
To use the fontawesome fonts: Installation Instructions
npm config set "@fortawesome:registry" https://npm.fontawesome.com/
npm config set "//npm.fontawesome.com/:_authToken" [FONT_AWESOME_TOKEN]
On windows: Will need to Install:
- NodeJS 11.6 or higher
- Git Bash
- VS Code (recommended)
To build the whole app for production: npm run build
- But this requires the physical signing key.
To build without signing you must remove the signing credentials from
package.json
- Remove these two attributes under Build > Win:
certificateSubjectName
andcertificateSha1
- Then run
npm run build
To build only for theinstaller.nsh
you can runnpm run copy-install && npm run build-electron
The final build will be produced in thedist
directory
- Remove these two attributes under Build > Win:
In order to be able to build on your local machine:
- Sign into apple id site:
https://appleid.apple.com
withappledeveloper@remote.it
- In the Security section, click the 'Generate password...' button to generate an in app password.
- Add the in app password to your
backend/.env
file:APPLE_ID_PASSWORD=<inapp-password>
You may or may not have to also add it to your keychain.
If it's not working check that the developer account is signed into XCode and the certificates for the dev account are downloaded.
More info can be found in this setup guide: Notarizing on Mac OS
npm run package
To test install a snap package:
sudo snap install my-snap-name_0.1_amd64.snap --dangerous --devmode
To install and uninstall a deb package:
sudo dpkg -i /home/jamie/Code/desktop/dist/remoteit-amd64-installer.deb
sudo dpkg -r remoteit-desktop
You should have an env var set export GH_TOKEN="<YOUR_TOKEN_HERE>"
to publish npm run publish
- Windows machine or VM
- Windows SDK installed
- SafeNet Authentication Client
- The physical USB drive EV Code Signing Certificate
- Token password for the certificate
- Optionally add the signtool to your path:
- Find the path to the signtool.exe by searching in "\Program Files (x86)"
- Open the Environment Variables control panel
- Find the 'Path' variable
- Add the signtool directory
Set the sign tool to auto respond to the password prompt:
With an EV signing cert you cannot automate the token password, but you can set the sign tool to remember the password for the logged in session: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17927895/automate-extended-validation-ev-code-signing
To sign the application follow these steps:
- Insert USB Certificate
npm run build
- Enter the token password for the certificate if prompted (once per login)
- After build is completed copy these four files to the main build directory:
- latest.yml
- remoteit-installer.exe
- remoteit-installer.exe.blockmap
You should now have a fully signed windows app suite with installer, and uninstaller that can be auto-updated.
Note if you run into signing errors "SignTool Error: The file is being used by another process." disable Windows Defender Also it's good to run the signtool command once in console so that the signtool will keep the password in memory for the build
To sign the application follow these steps:
- Insert USB Certificate
- Copy the unsigned windows desktop exe to the Windows machine
- Open command prompt
- Run sign command:
signtool sign /a \Users\<USER>\Desktop\remoteit-desktop.exe
- A token password prompt should appear from SafeNet
- Enter the token password for the certificate
The application should now be signed. It will not support auto-updating.
DEBUG=electron-builder ./node_modules/.bin/electron-builder -w