Deploying Guacamole RDP: A Seamless Remote Desktop Experience

Accessing your computers remotely has never been easier, thanks to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) solutions like Apache Guacamole. Guacamole is a free and open-source client-less remote desktop gateway that supports standard protocols like VNC, RDP, and SSH. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to deploy Guacamole RDP, ensuring a smooth remote desktop experience.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following:

  • A server running Ubuntu 20.04 or later.
  • Sufficient privileges to execute administrative commands.
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed on your server.

Step 1: Install Docker and Docker Compose

If you haven’t already installed Docker and Docker Compose, run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose
sudo systemctl enable docker

Step 2: Download Guacamole Docker Compose FileStep 2: Download Guacamole Docker Compose File

Create a directory for your Guacamole deployment and navigate to it:

mkdir ~/guacamole
cd ~/guacamole

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apache/guacamole-client/master/guacamole-docker/bin/start.sh

Step 3: Configure Guacamole

Modify the start.sh script to include your desired Guacamole username, password, and database credentials:

nano start.sh

Ensure the following lines are updated with your credentials:

# Database properties
DATABASE_NAME='guacamole_db'
DATABASE_USER='guacamole_user'
DATABASE_PASSWORD='some_password'

Save and exit the file.

Step 4: Launch Guacamole

Now, it’s time to launch Guacamole using the Docker Compose file:

chmod +x start.sh
./start.sh

This script will pull the necessary Docker images and launch Guacamole.

Step 5: Access Guacamole

Open your web browser and navigate to http://your-server-ip:8080/guacamole/. Log in with the username and password you set in the start.sh script.

Step 6: Configure Your Remote Connections

Once logged in, click on Settings > Connections > New Connection to set up your remote desktop connections. Fill in the necessary details for your RDP, VNC, or SSH connections.

Conclusion

You’ve successfully deployed Guacamole RDP on your server, allowing for a client-less remote desktop experience. With Guacamole, managing and accessing remote desktops is now a straightforward process, enabling you to work efficiently, no matter where you are.