The Bomgar Blog

A Blog on Enterprise Remote Support

Bomgar Release 10.4.5 (February 3, 2010)

February 3, 2010 – 12:03 pm

This maintenance release of Bomgar 10.4 resolves the following two issues:

Resolved an issue where the Customer Client could become unresponsive while parsing event logs on the remote machine
Resolved an issue where Bomgar Buttons could uninstall after upgrading a 10.3.x site to a 10.4.x site

This release has been certified for physical appliances (B100, B200, B300 and B400).

This release requires base software 3.1.6 or higher.

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Bomgar Base 3.1.7 (February 3, 2010)

February 3, 2010 – 10:07 am

The Bomgar software that allows you to administer and configure your appliance is referred to as your “Base” software. It can also be referred to as firmware.

This latest release of Bomgar’s Base software, version 3.1.7, is certified for the Virtual Appliance only.

Feature Enhancements:

Check For Updates Progress Bar enhancements (Note that these enhancements will not take effect until after Base 3.1.7 has been installed)
- The progress bar is shown immediately upon pressing the Download button
- The progress bar now shows download and installation progress. It will first show the percentage complete for the package being downloaded and then show more granular information the installation progress as it completes.
The entire certificate chain for an installed SSL certificate is now displayed on the IP Address page(s)
Added better diagnostic information to the SMTP relay configuration to help troubleshoot configuration errors
Added automatic tabbing whenever a “.” is entered during Static Route configuration

Issues Resolved:

Text Changes
- Renamed “B300v” to “Virtual Appliance”
- “Security Patch” has now been changed to “Service Patch”.
- Resolved an issue where the Build Date on the Status page was not reflecting the correct time zone
- Removed the redundant “Local Time” label from the status page
- Resolved an issue with Check For Updates returning error messages that were not escaped
- Increased the Copyright year to 2010
Functional Changes
- Resolved an issue where an IP that was deleted could still respond to traffic
- Resolved an issue where hostname changes would not take effect until the appliance was rebooted
- Resolved an issue with timeouts occurring when the download of a Bomgar package was slow
- Resolved an issue with Server Listen Port entries not being honored
- Resolved an issue where the default Bomgar site was not being set correctly on initial installations
- Resolved an issue where the SMTP relay feature was failing in certain scenarios
- Resolved an issue where interrupting a package downloads could cause installation problems
- Resolved an issue with Failover where an IP conflict could occur when a Primary site comes back online

Note that this version of NS Base includes Service Patch 8.

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Bomgar Release 10.4.4 (January 21, 2010)

January 21, 2010 – 2:00 pm

Bomgar 10.4.4 introduces the new keyboard handling enhancements and a good list of resolved issues to the latest version of Bomgar. Check out the list below for a full list of enhancements and resolved issues for this release.

Please note: If you are currently running an earlier major version of Bomgar, such as 10.2.x or 10.3.x, please be sure to contact our Support team today to discuss any prerequisites that you may need to meet prior to upgrading.

[UPDATED 3-Feb-2010]
Requirements for 10.4.4:

This version of Bomgar has been certified for use with all Bomgar appliances, physical and virtual
Physical appliances (Bomgar B100, B200, B300 and B400) require appliance base software versions 3.1.6 or later before installing Bomgar 10.4.4
Virtual appliances require appliance base software version 3.1.7 or later before installing Bomgar 10.4.4

New Features and Enhancements:

Keyboard Enhancements
- Added new Keyboard Handling code for customers experiencing keyboard mapping issues. Previous functionality is maintained as “Legacy Mode” and is the default mode. This can be configured via the /login interface on the Configuration -> Options page.
- Ctrl+Click now sends a right mouse button to controlled Windows, Linux, or Mac customer clients
Presentation Enhancements
- Presenters may now select a color depth from the Rep Console when presenting to attendees

Issues Resolved:

Resolved an issue with failover that could potentially occur if session recordings have never been enabled
Resolved an issue where attempting a local Jump to a Windows XP machine would sometimes fail
Resolved an issue with deploying a Jump Client through RDP on Windows Server 2003

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Bomgar Release 10.3.8 (January 21, 2010)

January 21, 2010 – 1:50 pm

Bomgar 10.3.8 starts off the new year with some powerful enhancements to both scalability and keyboard handling. Check out the list below for a full list of enhancements and resolved issues for this release.

Please note: If you are already running Bomgar version 10.4 or higher, this release does not apply to you. Click here for the latest 10.4 release information. This maintenance release of Bomgar 10.3 is recommended for all customers who are currently running a version of 10.3. If you are currently running an earlier major version of Bomgar, such as 10.2.x, please be sure to contact our Support team today to discuss any prerequisites that you may need to meet prior to upgrading.

Requirements for 10.3.8:

This version of Bomgar has been certified for use with Bomgar physical appliances (Bomgar B100, B200, B300 and B400)
This version of Bomgar has been certified for use with appliance base software versions 3.1.6 and later.

New Features and Enhancements:

Keyboard Enhancements
- Added new Keyboard Handling code for customers experiencing keyboard mapping issues. Previous functionality is maintained as “Legacy Mode” and is the default mode. This can be configured via the /login interface on the Configuration -> Options page.
- Ctrl+Click now sends a right mouse button to controlled Windows, Linux, or Mac customer clients
Scalability Enhancements
- Several optimizations to failover have been made to support appliances with very high loads
- The time taken to list all Jump Clients in the Representative Console has been greatly improved when thumbnails are disabled – especially helpful as the number of your deployed Jump Clients grows

Issues Resolved:

Resolved an issue with failover that could potentially occur if session recordings have never been enabled
Resolved an issue with the Customer Client configuration page where the “Disable Hardware Acceleration” checkbox was not reflecting the correct state
Resolved an issue where attempting a local Jump to a Windows XP machine would sometimes fail
Resolved an issue with deploying a Jump Client through RDP on Windows Server 2003

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

How to Get Bomgar Product Information in Your Inbox

January 12, 2010 – 4:08 pm

Last night we launched a completely redesigned version of the Bomgar website. The redesign makes a number of things more prominent than before. Here are just a few of them:

1. Customers

We have a number of new video case studies in the customers section of the site. Watch as real Bomgar customers tell how Bomgar helped them overcome some of the challenges to remote support in their environments. A number of the featured customers were able to replace multiple legacy remote control solutions or eliminate the security risks of using hosted remote support solutions.

2. Solutions by Use

Bomgar’s includes such a broad amount of functionality in the core product that multiple support groups in your organization can use it. We’ve highlighted a number of those more popular multi-use cases under Solutions. Did you know you can use Bomgar to support customers; service your IT Infrastructure; access remote Kiosk & POS systems securely; support Linux, Macs and smartphones; offer integrated support from your service desk; train up to 15 people at a time; and manage vendor access into your network?

3. Updated Products Section

We’ve made an attempt to highlight some of the advanced remote desktop control features Bomgar offers. You’ll also find a complete list of features if you’re the type that likes to dig deeper into the details. You’ll also notice a new link to What’s New, where you can see current and past release information.

4. Get Product Information in Your Inbox

Finally, there’s an easy way to get product information, press releases and blog posts in your inbox whenever we post something new. We release between 2-4 major product releases annually, and include quite a few minor releases between them. All you have to do is enter your email and confirm you want to receive product updates, as the video below explains. If you’d prefer to use your email client or rss client, there are links to the feeds on the side of this blog.

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.

We’re excited about starting a new year with a new website!

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Bomgar Release 10.4.3 (December 7, 2009)

December 7, 2009 – 4:39 pm

The following enhancements and resolved issues are included in this latest maintenance release of Bomgar 10.4.

New Features and Enhancements:

Several optimizations to failover have been made to support appliances with very high loads
Added improved status & error messages for sync events between Primary and Backup site instances

Issues Resolved:

Administrative Interface
- Resolved an issue with failover that could potentially occur if session recordings had never been enabled
- Resolved an issue that could occur when using SMTP relay with authentication
- Resolved an issue with the Customer Client configuration page where the “Disable Hardware Acceleration” checkbox was not reflecting the correct state
- Resolved an issue with Outbound Events where unformatted error messages could be displayed in Status column
Representative Console
- Resolved an issue where the “Automatically Lock Computer When Finished” setting was not being honored with sessions initiated via Click-to-Chat
- Resolved an issue with Screen Sharing where using the scroll bars could leave artifacts on the Rep Console’s viewer
- Resolved an issue with Shell Jump where exiting a session could result in an unknown error
Presentation
- Resolved an issue where generic names could be displayed for attendees who joined the presentation early
- Resolved an issue with the Mac presentation client not working properly when the Attendee Agreement was enabled

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Lt. Governor Phil Bryant Visits Bomgar

December 7, 2009 – 4:02 pm

Joel Bomgar hosted Lt. Governor Phil Bryant at corporate heaquarters in Ridgeland, Mississippi, last week. Lt. Governor Bryant was excited to see fellow Mississippians involved in the software industry making an impact not only in the state but around the world.

By Justin Brock, Manager of Product Marketing | Posted in Announcements | Comments (0)

Bomgar Base 3.1.6 Release (November 25, 2009)

November 25, 2009 – 9:49 pm

The Bomgar software that allows you to administer and configure your appliance is referred to as your “Base” software. It is also referred to as firmware.

This latest release of Bomgar’s Base software, version 3.1.6, is certified for the Physical Appliances only (B100, B200, B300 & B400).

Feature Enhancements:

Support was added for the new Bomgar B400 appliance
Check For Updates Progress Bar enhancements (Note that these enhancements won’t take effect until after Base 3.1.6 has been installed)
- The progress bar is shown immediately upon pressing the Download button
- The progress bar now shows download and installation progress. It will first show the percentage complete for the package being downloaded and then show more granular information the installation progress as it completes.

Issues Resolved:

Resolved an issue where RAID alerts sometimes contained the 169.254.x.x IP address*
Resolved an issue with false RAID alerts being sent*
Added “Please contact Support” verbiage to the RAID alerts*
Resolved an issue where the SMTP relay feature was failing in certain scenarios

* These items apply to the B300 and B400 only

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Bomgar Release 10.4.1 / 10.4.0 (November 16, 2009)

November 16, 2009 – 10:22 am

We are pleased to announce the release of Bomgar 10.4, our second major release of 2009. This release introduces a few new features such as Rep Invite, Equilibrium and Shell Jump, as well as a long list of enhancements to existing Bomgar features.

The highlights of this release are listed below. To learn more and to request your upgrade, visit the Bomgar Support portal.

Requirements for 10.4:

This version of Bomgar has been certified for appliance base software versions 3.1.2 and later
For virtual appliances, this version of Bomgar has been certified for appliance base software 3.1.1 and later

New Features and Enhancements:

Management Enhancements
- Equilibrium* – automatically route new sessions to your support reps’ personal queues based on rules that you define
- Reporting Permissions – administrators now have more options for granting and revoking access to the reporting interface
- Send File from Chat Permission – just like turning off File Transfer permissions, you can now grant or revoke support rep’s ability to send files via the chat interface
- API Permission – tighten security by allowing XML API access to only specific users
Support Enhancements
- Rep Invite – invite any external vendor into a support session, even if they don’t have Bomgar
- Mac Elevation – when supporting remote Mac customers, now you can elevate the customer client to run with administrator privileges. This brings additional features such as reboot & reconnect, fast user switching, and better Jump Client support.
- Ubuntu Rep Support – the Bomgar Representative Console is now officially certified to run on Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04
- Post-Session Customer Redirect – specify a URL to send your customers to after a support session
Jump Technology Enhancements
- Jump Zone Proxy* – support Bomgar clients on a remote network where a native connection to the Internet does not exist
- Shell Jump – connect to any SSH- or Telnet-enabled device through a Jumpoint on a remote network using only the Bomgar Representative Console
- Jump Client Password – add a layer of security to Jump Clients by requiring a password to access them
Customer Client Enhancements
- Windows 7 Support – Bomgar 10.4 is officially certified to support the latest version of Windows for support reps and customers
- 64-bit Linux & Windows Clients – reach more customers with Bomgar’s native 64-bit Customer client and Representative Console
- MSI Installer – Bomgar Buttons, Jump Clients and the Representative Console can now be installed via MSI installer package, creating more deployment options for administrators

But wait – there’s more!

With special thanks to our Early Adopters for their help, we’re also pleased to announce the following features, enhancements, and resolved issues that were spotted early enough to be included in 10.4.1 as well as changes that were incorporated into version 10.3.6!

Administrative Inteface
- Enhanced Clipboard Controls now allow synchronizing between the Rep’s and Customer’s clipboards. A new setting is located under the Management -> Security page labeled “Clipboard Synchronization Mode”.
- Administrators can now configure how long logging information and session recordings are stored on the appliance; this new setting is located on the Management -> Security page
- A Back button has been added to the add/edit embassy page for better navigation
Representative Console
- The Rep Console now inherits high contrast themes from the operating system
- New image overlays have been added for the BlackBerry Tour and BlackBerry Curve, giving a more accurate support view to the support representative
- New default skins for unknown BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices have been added, emulating the basic hardware buttons
- Several updates to the File Transfer interface have been added
- When viewing System Information on a remote Windows machine, the MAC addresses are now included
- Now the shell window can be resized after the session is connected
- The Close / Disconnect Session window is now more user-friendly
Customer Client
- If a Bomgar Button has any problems connecting to the appliance, now the Support Portal is opened.
- Elevation requests in Click to Chat sessions are now inline with the chat text rather than above the chat area
API
- Now the Click-to-Chat client can be downloaded via the API
- Added “rep_username:<username>” support to the queue_id parameter to Command API’s generate_session_key action. This allows a session key to be generated for a rep’s queue via the API by providing the rep’s username.

Notes:

The API version has been incremented to 1.3.2 with this release
Features with an asterisk (*) require an Enterprise license.
Non-English translations for Bomgar 10.4 will be available in an upcoming maintenance release. If you need to provide remote support in a language other than English, ask our support team about Bomgar 10.3.6, our latest translated release.

By Bomgar Software Development Team | Posted in Product Information | Comments (0)

Remote Desktop Control for Ubuntu and RedHat

November 2, 2009 – 8:21 am

Today we’ve announced an expansion of our already-broad Linux support. Since 2007, Bomgar has provided support technicians on Windows™, Mac™ OS X or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop the ability to support remote desktops running Linux. Now we’re widening Linux compatibility on both sides of the remote support session.

Bomgar 10.4, which is coming out in November 2009, will certify our remote support software on multiple Linux distributions. Support technicians will be able to run Bomgar on Ubuntu, RedHat and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. This marks a significant expansion of Linux support on the technician side of the remote support session. We’re also expanding compatibility on the customer end, too.

Read more about our expanding remote desktop support for Linux.

Ubuntu Running the Bomgar Representative Console

RedHat Running the Bomgar Representative Console

By Justin Brock, Manager of Product Marketing | Posted in Announcements | Comments (0)