Secure Virtual Mobile Platform Project

SVMP 2.0.0 Released

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

SVMP 2.0.0 brings some major changes across many parts of the system. First and foremost is an upgrade of the virtual phone image to the latest Android 4.4.4. New user-facing features include sound streaming from the VM to the client, and the addition of an HTML5 based client app in addition to the native Android app.

Behind the scenes the server architecture and network protocol have changed significantly. The client to server connection now uses a new transport based on websockets instead of the custom TCP protocol previously used. The server has been split apart into separate components completing the refactoring work begun back in SVMP v1.4. User and VM management is now handled by a central controller, svmp-overseer, leaving svmp-server the sole role of forwarding data from clients to their personalized virtual device. This new architecture makes it much easier to scale to larger numbers of users through load balancers and reverse proxying.

Detailed Change Log

Network Protocol

Client -> Server protocol significantly altered to use websockets as the underlying transport for protobuf messages instead of raw TCP.
User login moved to a separate HTTP-based REST API within the new svmp-overseer server component, which yields a time-limited login token. Login now works more like a traditional web app as a result.
Extraneous and obsolete messages removed from the protocol buffers definition.

Android Client

Network code swapped out for new websocket-based protocol

Web-based Client

Updated to work with the new websocket-based protocol
Code merged into the web-based user management console within the svmp-overseer

SVMP Server

Split apart and component-ized:
- Overseer: Login service, session management API server, web-based user registration console, and serves up the HTML client. Centralizes all user database and cloud API interactions.
- svmp-server: Handles websocket connections from clients, interacts with the overseer to setup VMs, and forwards user data to and from those VMs.
- svmp-server-cli: Command line user management utility. Formerly included within the svmp-server package.
Added support for Amazon AWS cloud API in addition to Openstack. However, the Android VM does not yet run correctly on EC2.
Added user self-registration option to the Overseer’s web console.
Switched configuration file format over to YAML from JSON.
Updated Puppet module for installing and configuring server and overseer instances.

Rebased to Android 4.4.4. And made it in before L was released!
Sound streaming enabled. Audio from the VM is now forwarded and replayed on the client.

SVMP 1.5.0 Released

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

New in SVMP 1.5.0 is the long awaited single-app mode for the Android client app. Other major additions include an all-new more flexible build system for the Android VM image, and an early preview of a new HTML5-based client application.

Detailed Change Log

Android Client

Single-app mode. Now individual remote applications can be mapped to shortcuts on the client’s homescreen instead of having a whole 2nd “desktop” to manage.
New icons and graphics
Sends current default timezone to the VM
New connections now default to SSL encrypted

Web-based Client

Early preview of HTML5-based client application (requires a WebRTC-enabled browser, such as Chrome or Firefox)

SVMP Server

Supports in-client password changes
Pinned all the NPM dependency versions. No more random breakage due to unexpected module changes.
npm install -g will now create executable links for the server and configuration tool

All new build system with lots of new features
- Menu-based configuration
- New targets for multiple virtual disk and VM platforms types
- OVF/OVA appliance building for VirtualBox and VMware
- Disk sizes configurable from BoardConfig.mk (including /data)
- New “all-in-one” build target combining /system and /data into a single disk image
Now bootable on hypervisors using pygrub and pvgrub (e.g., Xen PV-mode)
Kernel updates
- Updated kernel to linux-stable 3.4.98
- Revamped the default configuration to add more hypervisor support (i.e. Xen) and remove unnecessary features
svmpd can now handle multiple connections without blocking (prior connections are kicked)
VM timezone settable by client
Fixed notification forwarding again
Moved /cache partition to the system disk. The contents of /cache are tied more closely to the ROM version and should not be persisted long-term like /data.

Introducing Single-app Mode

Tue, 15 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

With this release, we’ve added a new way to access your remote virtual machine (VM)! Single App Mode will allow you to more seamlessly interact with apps on your remote VM, as if they were normal apps on your device.

What Changed?

Older versions of SVMP used a Desktop Mode, connecting you to your remote VM’s home screen so you could interact with it. While this was useful, it could get tedious when switching back and forth between apps on your local device and your remote VM.

With Single App Mode, the Android client now keeps track of what apps you have on your remote VM. You can open the App List for a connection to see what apps are available. If your remote VM has a lot of apps, you may want to add certain ones to your Favorites. You might also want to add shortcuts for remote apps to your home screen. Access both by long-clicking on an icon in the “All Apps” screen.

That’s not all though – there are other big changes included in this release, too.

We heard from users that it was confusing to have two navigation bars (one for your device and one for your remote VM). Now, your remote VM doesn’t have a navigation bar anymore; while you’re connected to your remote VM, your device’s “Back” button (and “Menu” button, for older devices) will get forwarded to it.

Keyboard Forwarding

Along with that, we’ve added support for using hardware keyboards with your remote VM. When you connect a keyboard to your device, your remote VM will hide its soft keyboard and receive any keys that you type.

If you prefer to use the old Desktop Mode, you can re-enable that in the Preferences menu. All of these changes were added to make using SVMP a more fluid and natural experience; it’s this type of functionality that makes SVMP unique.

SVMP 1.4.1 Released

Thu, 29 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

SVMP 1.4.1 fixes a few bugs discovered just after 1.4.0 went out the door. A kernel patch added at the last minute apparently didn’t get tested and broke the VM build. One of the sub-commands of the svmp-server’s command line utility was producing visually incorrect (although factually correct) output. A few updates for the Android client were ready to ship as well.

Detailed Change Log

Android Client

Added buttons to the notification bar entry to jump straight to the remote desktop or log off
Fixed several synchronization bugs related to the background service state machine transitions

SVMP Server

Fixed incorrect output from command line tool’s ‘devices’ option

Fixed broken kernel build because of incorrect upstream patch merged in 1.4.0
Merged upstream linux-stable kernel updates through v3.4.91

SVMP 1.4.0 Released

Fri, 16 May 2014 20:00:43 +0000

The 1.4 release of SVMP brings some major changes to the the Android client and SVMP server. The Android client was substantially rewritten to move logged in server connections into a persistent background service. The SVMP server receiving a thorough refactoring for better modularity, maintainability, and scalability. The clients and VM image were updated to a newer upstream release of the WebRTC library, improving video performance and stability in the process. Various other minor features and bug fixes were implemented too. Read on for more details.

Detailed Change Log

Android Client

Moved client socket handling into a persistent background service
Substantial code refactoring to support the background service
Easier, more automated method for enabling server SSL cert pinning
Updated to WebRTC 3.52 and ported over useful fixes from AppRTCDemo
Adding “debouncing” filter for screen rotation updates
Fixed some bugs with displaying notifications from remote apps
Support wider variety of ICE server JSON syntaxes from the server
Cleanly shut down the socket connection to the server in more error cases
Wipe stored session tokens for a connection if the connection is edited
Do not attempt session token-based re-authentication if token is known to be expired. Fixes extraneous auth fail on first login.

iOS Client

Updated WebRTC library to v3.52 (not yet finished)
Fixed build for iOS 7.1 SDK
Added universal build support for both iPhone and iPad
Remove internet connection test that doesn’t work on private networks
UI tweaks

SVMP Server

Refactored and better modularized the code
Switched protocol buffer library used to ProtoBuf.js
More robust processing of protocol message framing
No more message fragmentation or desync problems with debug and silly log levels
Send session token expiration time to clients along with the token value
Ignore session tokens when using TLS client cert authentication
Added command line tool option to wipe all session token entries for a user
Added a 60 second timeout to client socket connections to work around problem with svmpd
Improved config file documentation
Fixed schema error if using too new a version of the mongoose module by pinning the old version

Updated WebRTC to 3.52
Can now stop and restart video without restarting or crashing svmpd
Support wider variety of ICE server JSON syntaxes from the server
Init waits for the /data partition to become available before continuing boot
Made the VM think it has a fully charged battery
Made the VM think wifi is connected so apps that check won’t give ‘no connection’ errors
Fixed fbset so that the refresh rate is set accurately at all screen resolutions
Added an optional 64-bit kernel config

SVMP 1.3.1 Released

Wed, 26 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The 1.3.1 release of SVMP fixes some outstanding issues found while deploying the 1.3 version for testing. There are no tags in the git repositories corresponding to this release, although there are branches in the Android client and SVMP server. Most are backported fixes from the development branches of the forthcoming 1.4 release. Changes to the Android VM image went directly into the master or svmp-1.1 branches, and will be picked up in future tagged releases. Major changes include better support for VMs with tablet-sized screen dimentions and orientation, more resilient /data volume mounting, and a pair of critical Android client bugfixes.

Detailed Change Log

Android Client

Fixes for running on landscape orientation tablets
Hide client-side navigation bar buttons
Remove code that altered client-side audio settings preventing the phone from going into silent or vibrate mode.
Remove an unnecessary wakelock.
Updated WebRTC library to v3.52
More accepting ICE candidate JSON parsing

SVMP Server

Add a timeout on client sockets to prevent deadlocks if clients do not cleanly close their connection to the server

Disable VM-side UI animations that slow down rendering
Improved mount options for the /data partition to reduce chances of it being corrupted by a hard reset
Let launcher rotate to landscape orientation if using a low resolution VM with a tablet client
Dead code removal and other housekeeping in smvpd JNI code

SVMP 1.3.0 Released

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 20:41:04 +0000

SVMP now has an iOS client! It’s fairly basic at the moment compared to the Android client application, but the two will converge over time. The SVMP server received an overhaul and now includes more logging options and fully automated lifecycle management of the Android virtual machines when used with an OpenStack cloud. Some remaining issues with the VM’s virtual SD card were fixed. Another focus of this release is on improving security. PKI certificate based user authentication was added as an option. The Android client now supports server certificate pinning. And we had a security code review performed that resulted in a number of smaller improvements.

Detailed Change Log

Android Client

Added PKI certificate based authentication using the Android keystore
Build-time option to create a server certificate pinning database
SSL/TLS cipher suite list hardening
Locked down intent receiver filters
Removed unused “Domain” field from connection settings
More graceful error handling if the server cannot connect to the user’s VM

iOS Client

All new client application for iOS including:
- Multi-touch gesture forwarding
- Remote desktop video playback
- Username / password authentication
- No sensor, notification, or intent forwarding currently

SVMP Server

Added support for SSL certificate-based user authentication
Command line configuration utility can now create and associate user data volumes
Full VM lifecycle management
- Create VMs on demand and attach data volume when users login
- Destroy idle VMs after a configurable period of time
- Optionally configure floating IPs if needed
Update to the latest upstream pkgcloud library for better Openstack support
Add detailed debug output logging mode
SSL/TLS cipher suite list hardening (as much as Node.js 0.10.x allows)
Stronger session token generation
Update Puppet module to account for all the configuration file changes

Fully fixed the emulated SD card
Optional forwarding of logcat to a UDP syslog server
Fixed problem with location forwarding
Locked down intent forwarding filter to just dialer intents
Locked down framebuffer read permissions
Fixed intermittent bootloop related to audioflinger and init.rc ordering

SVMP 1.2.0 Released

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:12:35 +0000

The 1.2 release of SVMP saw changes mostly to the gateway server component. The Java-based test proxy is retired with this release and will not be receiving any further updates. Accordingly, the Node.js based svmp-server received better support for use in dev and testing environments. Notable improvements include making more options customizable through the configuration file and support in the command line tool for manually mapping VM IP addresses to user accounts for testing and small-scale deployments. There is also now a Puppet module available for installing and configuring the server. The VM now contains an SSH server as a supplement to ADB. See the VM build script for instructions on how to embed an authorized keys file and enable the server.

including a Puppet module for

Detailed Change Log

Android Client

Fix the application display name string

SVMP Server

Implemented a maximum length timer for user sessions
Deprecated the test proxy in favor of the single svmp-server
Command line tools can now manually associate VM IP addresses to user accounts
Added a configuration file schema validator that produces good feedback on config errors
Made certain configuration variables optional with default values appropriate to most installations
Made many hardcoded settings customizable via the config file
- Session management TTLs
- TLS cert and key files
- Log file location
- PAM authentication enablement
Added a Puppet module for configuring and installing the server, complete with an init script

Enabled openssh server in the VM giving PKI-based logins to a root shell
Added missing iptables support to the kernel config
Repaired stock Email application building, also fixing Exchange account-related crashes showing up in logcat
Removed busybox and the unused volume mounting changes to init that needed it

Secure Virtual Mobile Platform Project

SVMP 2.0.0 Released

Detailed Change Log

SVMP 1.5.0 Released

Detailed Change Log

Introducing Single-app Mode

What Changed?

Navigation Update

Keyboard Forwarding

SVMP 1.4.1 Released

Detailed Change Log

SVMP 1.4.0 Released

Detailed Change Log

SVMP 1.3.1 Released

Detailed Change Log

SVMP 1.3.0 Released

Detailed Change Log

SVMP 1.2.0 Released

Detailed Change Log