Checking out the vCloud Client for iPad to access resources hosted at Stratogen

During last week’s VMware PEX event the vCloud Client for the iPad was released. I have access to a few VMs hosted in a public vCloud Directory deployment thanks to the guys at Stratogen, which I use from time to time. Up till now, while I can access these VMs on my iPad via RDP with something like the PocketCloud App from Wyse, the web browser interface for the management of these VMs through vCloud Director was not supported through the Safari browser. So I thought I would check out the new client for the iPad.

Configuration is  unsuprisingly simple, enter the URL given to you by the hosting provider and pick any of the other options relevant. Note: currently it seems that the only two RDP clients available are JumpDesktop and Remoter - hopefully more clients (such as PocketCloud) will be added in the future.

Once the credentials have been saved, you’ll be taken to the logon screen for your hosting provider.

Then after signing in with your credentials, you’ll be presented with your vApps.

Checking out details of your vApps:

I then went to see if I could provision a new VM. Initally it looked promising:

However, it doesn’t seem like it is possible to deploy from OS templates yet:

Better success though with managing existing VMs. I was able to check out details of the VMs:

View the hardware configuration, although unfortuantely not edit it.

Have options for the power state:

When using the power buttons, you need to press down on the button for 5 secs, during which time a cool countdown begins and whizzes around. (sadly, I quite enjoyed that!)

Conclusion: A great start! The client has a really swish feel to it and I enjoyed using it. Being able even to have basic management capabilities from the iPad is really useful. Features such as editing VM hardware, deploying from template and additional RDP clients would be great, but I’m sure they will appear in good time.