Remote Command shell
The Remote command shell in WinGate is a new feature, accessed through GateKeeper, that allows users to run multiple copies of the windows NT/2000/XP command interpreter (cmd.exe) in any defined user context on the WinGate server machine.
Similar to a telnet server, yet more secure, since all communications is via the GateKeeper to WinGate encrypted communications channel, this remote command shell allows users to execute console applications on the WinGate server.
This is useful for tasks such as:
- Using ping and tracert to check basic connectivity from the WinGate machine.
- Running route.exe to view or modify the system route table .
- Running ipconfig.exe to renew or release adapter addresses, and get TCP/IP configuration information.
- Running ps.exe (part of the posix resource kit for Windows) to view and terminate running processes .
- Using net.exe to browse networks, map drives etc.
- Running shutdown.exe to reboot the WinGate server, or remote machines.
In short, almost anything you can do by running the cmd.exe on the WinGate server, but accessible remotely.
To use this feature:
- Choose Command Shell from the View menu at the top of GateKeeper.
- This will bring up a login dialog. Use this to specify the Windows user account on the WinGate machine (regardless of whether WinGate itself is using the Windows user database or the WinGate one) that will be used to launch cmd.exe by WinGate.
Limitations:
- This feature is only available from WinGate 6.0 onwards, to WinGate Professional licenses or better, or to users of WinGate VPN.
- Some console applications which launch their own console window do not currently work with this feature, notably telnet.exe, and ftp.exe.
