Using the VMRC Plug-In and the API

This chapter contains the following topics:

■	Starting the VMRC Browser Plug-In

■	Connecting to a Remote Host and Virtual Machine

■	Calling VMRC API Methods on a Virtual Machine

■	Disconnecting and Shutting Down the VMRC Browser Plug-In

After your Web application has loaded and otherwise prepared the VMRC browser plug-in, you can use the VMRC API to connect to a virtual machine and perform operations. Depending on which mode you choose when you start the VMRC browser plug-in process, you can use VMRC API methods to interact with the virtual machine’s user interface (mouse, keyboard, and screen) or the virtual machine’s devices. The VMRC API also contains general-purpose methods that you can use regardless of the VMRC browser plug-in mode.

To use the VMRC API, your Web application must typically perform the following steps.

1	Initialize and start the VMRC plug-in.

2	Connect to the remote host of the target virtual machine.

3	Call methods that correspond to the desired console or device commands on the target virtual machine.

4	Disconnect from the remote host.

5	Shut down the VMRC plug-in.

The VMRC API methods generate exceptions if a failure or an error occurs when you call a method. It is a best practice to use try and catch blocks in your web application code to handle any exceptions generated by the VMRC API methods. As many VMRC API methods do not return a value, handling the exceptions is the only way to handle errors and failures.