Connection Proxy in version 7.4

[fatg3erman]

I’ve just upgraded to version 7.4 (Linux and Windows) and it looks like the proxy configuration has changed, or I’m being stupid.

In the past I was able to configure a separate proxy for each connection, but now I can only have one global proxy setting?

One single proxy doesn’t work for me, I need different proxy settings for different clients. The only workaround I’ve found is to manually edit the connection files using a text editor, which is not friendly 🙂

Am I missing something?

[Tor]

Hi. Version 7 introduced a big overhaul of the graphical user interfaces, and among those changes the proxy settings were moved from connection to client configuration. We understand your need, however adding also the configuration of the proxy in connection settings would be slightly confusing and impact the usability improvements we did to cover the most generic user needs.
You could try a different solution not requiring to edit connection files, by using the client command line option --config to select a custom configuration file. Configure the proxy and rename the file %USERPROFILE%\.nx\config\player.cfg (Windows path) for every configuration you need. Create a shortcut by copy-pasting the one created by default on desktop, edit properties of the new shortcut and add the option --config C:\Users\<username>\.nx\config\<config filename>.cfg to the Target field. You can name the shortcut to identify the proxy configuration and use it. This is the procedure for Windows, but on Linux and Mac it’s very similar.

[phoyd]

Moving the proxy settings to client configuration was an awful idea. For example, I connect to my home network directly when I’m at home and via SOCKS5 when I’m away. So I have a config for “home_server(direct)” and “home_server(socks)” and I launch the right one depending where I am. With the changes introduced in 7, I can’t do this anymore. Or at least, I can’t edit the configs anymore, because as it seems, the proxy settings from the old configs still work as before. Anyway, it’s a really bad idea, really. I mean: fiddling with player.cfg or manual edits in connection files, please! Bring proxy settings back to the connection config!

 

[muxa]

Please return the proxy setting to the connection settings. Let them remain in the advanced tab and not be visible to users who do not need it.
I have to use multiple ssh tunnels with different ports and edit the file every time, a bad idea.

And version 7 seems to be slower.

[Britgirl]

Hi all, thanks for your feedback.

We understand that this can be problematic. If you think about it the problem was also there in the past, where connecting to the same machine from 5 different places would mean having to create 5 individual nxs files.

The current mechanism does actually make perfect sense for a user that connects to multiple computers from the office, where you presume that there is a proxy in place, or from home via their ASDL to computers anywhere in the world by simply toggling on and off in the Player settings. This is how browsers work as well.

How to use automatic proxy settings with NoMachine
https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/AR05S01129

How to configure proxy settings manually with NoMachine
https://knowledgebase.nomachine.com/AR05S01130

We placed considerable importance on the automatic/manual configuration of the proxy either based on the configuration of the operating system or the LAN. We imagined that this “automatic proxy configuration” would work and resolve the question in most settings. (By the way, please tell us if you tried it and if it worked).

We can evaluate whether to give the possibility to choose the most appropriate proxy setting at the start of the session. That said, please, check that the automatic configuration of the proxy on your network is usable, it’s a standard in all OS and all network configurations via the DHCP protocol.

[kaiyoti]

@Britgirl, I really don’t know how global proxy solves the problem of 5 individual files. It would make more (not all) sense if you can create global proxy profiles that you can toggle between. Because between the 5 nxs files and and having to change between 5 different proxies manually in global settings, I’d pick the 5 nxs files. Copying how browsers work should not be a priority given that the number of private networks you are connecting to via NoMachine is going to greater than private networks in a browser. Most people using a browser will likely never touch proxy settings. NoMachines behind proxies is done for security.

Automatic configuration is a good workaround, but this is not always available. And while it can be generated, this is IMO a step backwards from the UI option for per config setting.

I’m just curious why it was removed when a global and per config can co-exist where specificity overrides the general one.  Was there a technical reason why it was removed?

 

[Britgirl]

NoMachine, just like a browser, needs to pass through a proxy to connect to the server. Just like your browser works in every network you move to, the NoMachine client will correctly connect by using the proxy system settings. Imagine having to manage & edit tens of session files (which users do have).  As I wrote before, now it’s just a question of toggling on and off in the Player settings. Thanks for your feedback in any case.

[fatg3erman]

@Britgirl you’re missing the point.

NoMachine is nothing like a browser. The use case is completely different. When you’re setting up a browser to access the internet, everything you could ever want to connect to is behind the same proxy. I.e. you need the proxy in order to get *out*. When you’re remotely managing computers not accessing servers, you need the proxy to get *in*. If you’re managing multiple groups of computers, all behind different NAT firewalls, you will need a different proxy to access each group of computers. No automatic proxy setting can cope with that. This is why it’s essential to be able to set the proxy setting on a per-remote-computer basis, not on a per-installation basis.

[kaiyoti]

I think you missed my point about the similarities to browser really only end at how proxy would work. Browser general use case is not intranet or used behind secured networks, while NoMachine is.

And to be fair, I dislike the browser proxy configuration. It’s why I install plugins like SwitchyOmega which behind the scenes just uses auto proxy config because users should not have to deal with.

In my opinion, I think the concept of “manage and edit tens of session files” is a problem no one had. Yes, in the prior system, rather than 1 config for same settings, people had 3 for each network they are on, but “manage” really ends at the creation of these session files. I enjoy the ability to just connect to a session without having to make changes beforehand. Depending on where you are, you connect from a different session file. If there’s a concern for how this might balloon for roles like IT, there are other ways to organize configurations like session folder structuring. There’s also an inherent assumption that system proxy settings would be adequate, that is hardly how proxies are commonly being used. Many resources behind secured networks are not in the same network as where the client is connecting from. A NoMachine client on a single network may require 4 different proxies to access 4 different hosts, potentially concurrently. The current set up makes that difficult and require auto proxy configurations.

The analogy should not be made to browsers but should be to something like SSH given it’s an authentication method your product uses. Putty is one I use and it does not require me to mess configurations when I move because I would have variations of the session depending on where I am.

[Britgirl]

Thanks for the additional information about how you are using NoMachine. This clarifies things a lot 🙂
We’ll evaluate what can be done from a UI-perspective, and I don’t know at this stage in what version a possible modification might be included. But you should know that backward compatibility with proxy settings per session was kept when we changed to global proxy settings, so you can actually still use session files by manually editing the proxy related keys.

[Author]

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