rob thijssen
fe5e766dc6
Covers architecture, building, configuration, deployment, port switching with Avocent OSCAR (tested hotkey syntax with recommended pause settings), full hotkey syntax reference, and protocol heritage naming the Peppercon e-RIC/LARA lineage. Completes success criterion 5: source on git.lair.cafe with a README that names the Peppercon e-RIC heritage. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
143 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
143 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
# blekin
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A Rust proxy that translates the Belkin OmniView Remote IP Manager's proprietary
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e-RIC RFB protocol (Peppercon LARA, originally served via a Java applet) into a
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modern HTML5 KVM console. No Java anywhere in the stack.
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## What it does
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```
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Browser (Vite + TypeScript)
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│ WebSocket (binary, RGBA blits + input events)
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▼
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blekin proxy (Rust, tokio + axum)
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│ HTTP session (cookie + APPLET_ID extraction)
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│ TCP to OmniView:443 (e-RIC RFB)
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▼
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Belkin OmniView Remote IP Manager → downstream KVM switch → servers
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```
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The proxy authenticates with the OmniView's web interface, establishes an e-RIC
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RFB session over TCP, decodes the proprietary 8bpp protocol to RGBA, and bridges
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video frames and input events to a browser-based console over WebSocket.
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## Features
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- Full KVM console: keyboard, mouse, scroll wheel
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- Encodings: Raw, CopyRect, Hextile, Tight (with zlib), IIP tile cache, Raw-tile
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- Send Key menu for browser-intercepted keys (Print Screen, Scroll Lock, etc.)
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- Port switching with downstream KVM support (Avocent OSCAR tested)
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- Port configuration: naming, hotkeys, visibility
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- Auto-reconnect with exponential backoff
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- Session persistence across page refreshes
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- Dark theme, fullscreen mode
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## Building
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```sh
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# Backend
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cargo build --release -p ericrfb-proxy
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# Frontend
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cd crates/ericrfb-frontend
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npm ci
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npm run build # outputs to ../../dist/
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```
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## Configuration
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The proxy reads `config.toml` or falls back to the `BLEKIN_HOST` environment variable:
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```toml
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bind = "0.0.0.0:3000"
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static_dir = "dist"
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[omniview]
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host = "10.3.0.130"
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http_port = 80
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rfb_port = 443
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```
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## Deployment
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The systemd unit runs the proxy as a service. Nginx serves the static frontend
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and reverse-proxies `/api/` to the proxy:
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```sh
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# Backend
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sudo cp target/release/ericrfb-proxy /usr/local/bin/
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sudo cp asset/systemd/blekin.service /etc/systemd/system/
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sudo systemctl enable --now blekin.service
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# Frontend
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sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/blekin.example.com/
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sudo cp asset/nginx/blekin.example.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/
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sudo ln -sf /etc/nginx/sites-available/blekin.example.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
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sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
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```
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## Port switching with downstream KVM
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The Belkin OmniView can control a downstream KVM switch (e.g., Avocent AutoView)
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by sending configurable hotkey sequences when switching ports. Configure these
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in the Ports page of the blekin interface.
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### Avocent OSCAR setup
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The Avocent OSCAR menu is invoked with Print Screen, then expects the port's EID
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(Electronic ID) typed as digits, followed by Enter. Each phase needs a pause to
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let the OSCAR process the input.
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**Recommended settings:**
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- **Key pause:** `1000` ms (in the Ports page global settings)
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- **Hotkey format:** `PRINTSCREEN-***<EID digits>-***ENTER`
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The `*` character inserts a pause of the configured duration. Three `***` = 3
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seconds, which gives the OSCAR reliable processing time.
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**Examples** (with key pause = 1000ms):
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| Server | Avocent EID | Hotkey |
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|--------|-------------|--------|
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| server-a | 01 | `PRINTSCREEN-***1-***ENTER` |
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| server-b | 05 | `PRINTSCREEN-***5-***ENTER` |
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| server-c | 17 | `PRINTSCREEN-***1-7-***ENTER` |
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| server-d | 22 | `PRINTSCREEN-***2-2-***ENTER` |
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| server-e | 31 | `PRINTSCREEN-***3-1-***ENTER` |
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Note: don't type the leading zero in EIDs (per Avocent OSCAR convention).
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### Hotkey syntax reference
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The Belkin hotkey syntax uses key names connected by operators:
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| Operator | Meaning |
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|----------|---------|
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| `+` | Press additionally (hold previous, press next) |
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| `-` | Release all pressed keys |
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| `>` | Release most recently pressed key only |
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| `*` | Pause for the configured key pause duration |
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Key names: `A`-`Z`, `0`-`9`, `F1`-`F12`, `PRINTSCREEN`, `ENTER`, `ESCAPE`,
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`LCTRL`/`CTRL`, `LALT`/`ALT`, `LSHIFT`/`SHIFT`, `SPACE`, `TAB`, `DELETE`,
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`INSERT`, `HOME`, `END`, `PAGE_UP`, `PAGE_DOWN`, `UP`, `DOWN`, `LEFT`, `RIGHT`,
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`BACK_SPACE`, `NUM_LOCK`, `NUMPAD0`-`NUMPAD9`, `NUMPADPLUS`, `NUMPADMINUS`,
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`NUMPADMUL`, `NUMPAD/`, `NUMPADENTER`, `SCROLL_LOCK`, `BREAK`, `CAPS_LOCK`.
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## Protocol heritage
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The e-RIC RFB protocol is a proprietary variant of VNC/RFB developed by
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Peppercon (later acquired by Raritan) under the name "LARA" (LAN Attached
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Remote Access). It was used in several KVM-over-IP products including the Belkin
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OmniView Remote IP Manager (F1DE101H). The protocol shares structural
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similarities with standard RFB but uses its own handshake, pixel format
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negotiation, and encoding extensions.
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This implementation was reverse-engineered from the CFR-decompiled `rc.jar` Java
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applet that originally provided the browser-based console.
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## License
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MIT
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