Want to access your computers from anywhere using just a Web browser? Look no further than
Apache Guacamole, a "clientless remote desktop gateway" that supports standard protocols like VNC, SSH, and RDP and requires no plugins or client software.
Apache Guacamole allows users to access their computers from anywhere while also providing administrators with a way to configure, manage and control access to remote desktop connections. You can also combine it with a cloud-hosted desktop operating system to benefit from the flexibility and resilience of cloud computing.
Bitnami has released an up to date and secure image that you can use to launch Apache Guacamole
locally or in the
cloud. Choose the platform you want to run it on and immediately benefit from having your desktop reachable from any part of the world and from any device.
This blog post shows you how easy it is to deploy the Bitnami Stack for Apache Guacamole on the Microsoft Azure Cloud. It also walks you through the process of creating a remote connection with a Windows machine running on a Microsoft Azure server.
These instructions are for the Microsoft Azure Portal, but you can also run Apache Guacamole on an AWS instance, an Oracle server, and soon on a Google Cloud Platform server. You can also play with it on your local machine by
downloading a virtual appliance.
Glyptodon Enterprise also available for Apache Guacamole
For those users and organizations that require enterprise-class scalability and management,
Glyptodon Inc. offers a commercial solution powered by Apache Guacamole:
Glyptodon Enterprise.
This package includes streamlined installation and maintenance, and timely security updates.
It also offers long-time support for major releases for at least five years and receives regularly scheduled updates. Updates to new releases ensure compatibility, facilitating administrators to keep their installations always up to date.
Glyptodon Enterprise is packaged in RPM repositories and compatible with any Red Hat Enterprise Linux or CentOS release.
Deploy the Bitnami Stack for Apache Guacamole
Deploying Apache Guacamole from the Bitnami Launchpad for Microsoft Azure is easy; everything is included in the image that Bitnami provides for Apache Guacamole. Thus, the application will run on an Azure server without issues. This image uses the latest version of Apache and it includes SSL auto-configuration with Let's Encrypt certificates.
Let's take a quick look at the Bitnami Stack for Apache Guacamole default configuration. There are three major components included in the image:
- Apache Guacamole Server
- Apache Guacamole Client
- Database
Apache Guacamole Server
It is a daemon server (guacd) that talks to the remote desktops and accepts connections from the users logged in to the Web application.
Apache Guacamole Client
It is the frontend of Guacamole, implemented as a Java application that runs on top of Apache Tomcat.
Database
The user authentication for Apache Guacamole is configured to work with PostgreSQL.
Launch the Apache Guacamole image
To launch Apache Guacamole, follow these steps:
1. In the
Apache Guacamole deployment offering page, click the “Single-Tier” button to display the deployment options for the cloud.
2. Select the cloud where you want to deploy the application. This post uses Microsoft Azure, but the deployment process is similar in other clouds.
Make sure that your Microsoft Azure and Bitnami accounts are connected. Check the
Get Started with the Bitnami Launchpad for Microsoft Azure guide for more information on this.
You will be redirected to the Bitnami launchpad to create a new virtual machine on Azure.
3. Enter a name for your server, select the server size, and the region where you want to deploy the solution. As you can see in the image below, the image type is selected by default:
4. Confirm your selection by hitting the “Create” button at the end of the page. The Bitnami Launchpad will now begin spinning up the new server. The process usually takes a few minutes, and a status indicator on the page provides a progress update.
Access the client
Once the cloud server has been provisioned, the status indicator will show that it is “running”, and the Bitnami Launchpad page will display the server details, application credentials, IP address, and the SSH keys and command for connecting to the server remotely.
You can manage your application from the Bitnami Launchpad user interface or by accessing the Azure Console through the “Manage in the Azure Console” button.
To access the Apache Guacamole Client:
1. Click the “Go to the application” button.
2. Log in to the client by using the credentials provided in the “Application Info” section.
Use Apache Guacamole
To start managing users and connections, navigate to the user profile and select the “Settings” option from the drop-down menu.
Create a new connection
To enable a new remote connection, follow these instructions:
1. Navigate to the “Settings -> Connections” tab. Click the “New Connection” button.
2. In the resulting form, enter a name to identify the connection, location, and protocol.
3. Select “ROOT” as location. Then select the protocol you want to use to connect to the machine.
In general, the protocol used for connecting with a Windows machine is RDP. In case you want to connect to a Linux server, then use the VNC protocol.
4. Fill the rest of the required values such as the connection limit, load balancing details, or the Guacamole proxy parameters.
5. In the “PARAMETERS -> Network” section, enter the public IP address of your machine in the “Hostname” field and the port. In the “Authentication” section, enter the username and password associated with your machine.
NOTE: Make sure that the server where the Windows machine is running. It should be publicly accessible to ensure that Apache Guacamole is able to connect remotely to it.
6. Click “Save” to create this new connection.
Create a user
Once the connection is created, you need to create a user and associate the connection with it.
1. Navigate to the “Settings -> Users” tab. You will see the admin user in the list of enabled users. To add a new user, click the “New users” button.
2. In the resulting form, enter the username, password, and personal info. Define the account restrictions and permissions and click “Save” to make the changes take effect.
3. In the “CONNECTIONS” section, you will find the connection you have created. Activate the checkbox to associate the user with that connection. Click “Save” to make the changes take effect.
Connect remotely to your machine
To start using the new connection, back to the “Home” page and click the RDP connection.
Apache Guacamole will connect you directly to your machine:
Learn more about how to use the Bitnami Stack for Apache Guacamole in the
Bitnami documentation page or the
Apache Guacamole official manual. Remember that if you need enterprise-class scalability and management,
Glyptodon Enterprise is the best choice for you. Start working remotely!
