MeshCentral

[paramedicspecialist]

Hi everyone,

We needed MeshCentral at work, and instead of just running it on our Docker server we decided to package it for Cloudron.

This Cloudron CA does utilize Cloudron's PostgresSQL, Mail, and optionally SSO.

Please note that AI was used in the packaging of the application.

We have only tested the functionality of the regular MeshAgent that works over HTTPS, and have not tested the Intel AMT functionality of MeshCentral.

Repo: https://github.com/paramedicspecialist/meshcentral-cloudron
Install: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/paramedicspecialist/meshcentral-cloudron/main/CloudronVersions.json
CA: https://ca.cloudron.io/app/meshcentral

[joseph]

@paramedicspecialist thanks for packaging this! What exactly is MeshCentral? I don't have much experience with enterprise IT but is this like citrix? Where an IT sysadmin can login to my machine remotely and change settings/push updates?

[paramedicspecialist]

Hi @joseph,

MeshCentral provides an interface that lets you access a fleet of devices via remote desktop or a terminal, along with sending some basic commands like reboot. However, it's not a full-featured RMM that handles automatic patching and updates; we get around that with powershell scripts on the Windows side and unattended-upgrades on Linux.

Our team is relatively small, and has about 6 desktops and laptops. MeshCentral primarily gives our IT team an easy way to remote in, install an app, or help walk a user through a process.

[vitetj]

@paramedicspecialist Thanks for packaging this! I’ll definitely give the Cloudron package a try.

@joseph Just to add some context about MeshCentral: it’s actually quite a bit more powerful than a simple remote desktop tool. It’s a long-standing open-source remote management project, originally developed with strong Intel involvement, particularly around Intel AMT/vPro.

I personally use MeshCentral in production to manage around 300 devices across 3 countries.

With the regular MeshAgent, you can remotely access desktops, terminals and files, run commands/scripts, manage devices, and tunnel protocols such as RDP or SSH.

Where it gets especially interesting is with Intel vPro/AMT hardware. You can get true out-of-band management: remotely power a computer on/off, reboot it, access hardware KVM, boot to BIOS or another boot device, etc. This can work independently of the operating system — even when the machine is powered off, as long as AMT remains powered and reachable.

So while it’s not a full RMM in the same sense as products with integrated patch management, MeshCentral can be a very capable self-hosted management platform, especially when combined with scripts or another software deployment/patching solution.

Really happy to see it packaged for Cloudron!