Lantronix SpiderDuo
Details
Nice KVM over IP with USB port for remotely connecting virtual media. The current price as of 2021-02-05 is $559 although I think I got it for less than that years ago. There are more and cheaper solutions out there today, but this still works.
Modern Open Source Alternatives
For a long time there were no alternatives to devices like this, but now finally there's a cheap DIY project that can accomplish the same thing for much cheaper: Pi-KVM Project (Open and cheap DIY IP-KVM based on Raspberry Pi). It only costs between $30 and $100 for parts!
Resources:
- Pi-KVM - DIY CHEAP Raspberry Pi KVM over IP Prototype Version 3 Review! on YouTube
- Pi-KVM - Raspberry Pi Zero W Installation and Review on YouTube
Firmware
On 2020-06-30, version: 4.2.0 (Build 38135) was released. I have confirmed that this version supports the HTML 5 KVM mode.
- See release notes here: spider-v4.2-38135_2020-06-30-release_notes.txt
- Download here: spider-v4.2-38135_2020-06-30.zip
On 2020-02-26, version: 4.1.2 (Build 38134) was released. The release notes imply that this version supports the HTML 5 KVM mode but I have not tested it.
- See release notes here: spider-v4.1-38134_2020-02-26-release_notes.txt
- Download here: spider-v4.1-38134_2020-02-26.bin
On 2019-05-15, version 3.00.31 (Build 38120) was released. This version did not support HTML 5 KVM mode.
- See release notes here: spider-v3.0-38120_2019-05-15-release_notes.txt
- Download here: spider-v3.0-38120_2019-05-15.bin
On 2018-12-17, version 04.00.08 (Build 38118) was released. This was the first version to support HTML 5 KVM mode, but the download was taken down from the Lantronix website shortly afterwards. See this reddit thread for details. Nobody really knows what, if anything, is wrong with this firmware. It has been made available by a third party for posterity. The links below are not directly provided by Lantronix.
- See release notes here: spider-v4.0.8-38118_2018-12-17_User_Release_Notes.txt
- Download here: spider-v4.0.8-38118_2018-12-17.bin
Installing an SSL certificate
Unfortunately, this little appliance doesn't allow you to simply upload an SSL certificate. Rather, you need to create a certificate signing request (CSR) and send that to your SSL certificate provider / authority.
Step 1: Generate a certificate signing request on the Spider Duo portal. If your hostname for your lantronix spider duo is spider, you would go here: https://spider/cert.asp
Fill out all fields and change the key length to the highest available (currently only 2048). Then click the "Create" button.
Step 2: Download the CSR file and save to csr.txt
Step 3: Use the certbot tool to create the certificate. This will require validation of the fact that you control the domain (common name) of the certificate. In this example, I use the webroot option and the common name of the certificate is certificate-example.mydomain.com:
jeremy@latitude /tmp/cert $ DIR_CONFIG=./config jeremy@latitude /tmp/cert $ DIR_WORK=./work jeremy@latitude /tmp/cert $ DIR_LOGS=./logs jeremy@latitude /tmp/cert $ mkdir $DIR_CONFIG $DIR_WORK $DIR_LOGS jeremy@latitude /tmp/cert $ certbot certonly --cert-path cert.pem --key-path key.pem --csr csr.txt --config-dir $DIR_CONFIG --work-dir $DIR_WORK --logs-dir $DIR_LOGS Saving debug log to /tmp/cert/logs/letsencrypt.log How would you like to authenticate with the ACME CA? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1: Spin up a temporary webserver (standalone) 2: Place files in webroot directory (webroot) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Select the appropriate number [1-2] then [enter] (press 'c' to cancel): 2 Plugins selected: Authenticator webroot, Installer None Enter email address (used for urgent renewal and security notices) (Enter 'c' to cancel): youremail@mailprovider.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Please read the Terms of Service at https://letsencrypt.org/documents/LE-SA-v1.2-November-15-2017.pdf. You must agree in order to register with the ACME server at https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (A)gree/(C)ancel: A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Would you be willing to share your email address with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a founding partner of the Let's Encrypt project and the non-profit organization that develops Certbot? We'd like to send you email about our work encrypting the web, EFF news, campaigns, and ways to support digital freedom. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Y)es/(N)o: N Performing the following challenges: http-01 challenge for certificate-example.mydomain.com Input the webroot for certificate-example.mydomain.com: (Enter 'c' to cancel): /var/www/html Waiting for verification... Cleaning up challenges Server issued certificate; certificate written to /tmp/cert/cert.pem Cert chain written to 8 Cert chain written to 9
Step 4: Upload the cert.pem file to the Spider Duo portal.
Step 5: Rest easy that there's no man in the middle.