Apache Guacamole installation in Docker Container-- Browser based RDP and SSH

 

Step by  Step Installation and configuration  Apache Guacamole as Docker Container

Apache Guacamole is a clientless remote desktop gateway and browser  based SSH. It supports standard protocols like VNC, RDP, and SSH. This guide will walk you through the installation and configuration of Apache Guacamole using Docker containers on a Linux machine.

Prerequisites

A Linux machine with the server IP: 192.168.10.10

OS Ubuntu, Redhat, Centos, Rocky Linux

Basic knowledge of Docker and Linux command line

Step 1: Install Docker Engine

Ubuntu:

Update the package index and install packages to allow apt to use a repository over HTTPS

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common

Add Docker’s official GPG key:

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo apt-key add -

Add the Docker repository

sudo add-apt-repository "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable"

Update the package index again and install Docker:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install docker.io -y

Red Hat, CentOS, and Rocky Linux

Install required packages:

sudo yum install -y yum-utils

Add Docker’s official repository:

sudo yum-config-manager --add-repo https://download.docker.com/linux/centos/docker-ce.repo

Install Docker:

sudo yum install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Start and enable Docker:

sudo systemctl start docker

sudo systemctl enable docker

Step 2: Download Apache Guacamole Server and Client Docker Images

Next, you need to download the necessary Docker images for Apache Guacamole and its dependencies:

docker pull guacamole/guacamole

docker pull guacamole/guacd

docker pull mariadb

To verify the downloaded images, you can list them using:

docker images

Step 3: Run MariaDB Container

docker run -d --name mariadb \

   -p 3306:3306 \

  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=Mysql#135 \

  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=guacamole \

  -e MYSQL_USER=guacamole \

  -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=guacamole \

  mariadb:latest

Note: Replace <mysql root password> with a secure password of your choice.

Step 4: Initialize Guacamole Database

Initialize the Guacamole database schema by running the following command:

docker run --rm guacamole/guacamole /opt/guacamole/bin/initdb.sh --mysql > /root/guacamole-initdb.sql

Then, import the generated SQL script into the MariaDB container:

docker exec -i mariadb mysql -u root -p<mysql root password> guacamole < /root/guacamole-initdb.sql

Step 5: Run Guacamole and Guacd Containers

First, run the guacd container which is the Guacamole proxy daemon:

docker run --name guacd -d -p 4822:4822 guacamole/guacd

Then, run the guacamole container:

docker run --name guacamole \ -e GUACD_HOSTNAME=192.168.10.10 \ -e GUACD_PORT=4822 \ -e MYSQL_HOSTNAME=192.168.10.10 \ -e MYSQL_PORT=3306 \ -e MYSQL_DATABASE=guacamole \ -e MYSQL_USER=guacamole \ -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=guacamole \ -e MYSQL_AUTO_CREATE_ACCOUNTS=true \ -e LOGBACK_LEVEL=info \ -d -p 8081:8080 guacamole/guacamole

To verify the running containers you can list them using:

docker ps

Step 6: Access Guacamole

Once all containers are up and running, you can access the Guacamole web interface by navigating to:

http://192.168.10.10:8081/guacamole

Log in using the default credentials:

• Username: guacadmin
• Password: guacadmin

Conclusion

You have successfully installed and configured Apache Guacamole using Docker containers on your Linux server. You can now configure and manage remote desktop connections through the Guacamole web interface. Don't forget to change the default password for security reasons