Guides - Deploying Apache Guacamole through the Linode Marketplace

Apache Guacamole is an open source HTML5-based web application used as a remote desktop gateway. With the Guacamole Marketplace App, you can access your Linode with a graphical VNC session using the XFCE desktop environment from any device. This Marketplace App installs and configures Guacamole on a Linode, complete with an SSL certificate generated by Certbot for your domain.

Deploying a Marketplace App

The Linode Marketplace allows you to easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using the Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.

1. Log in to the Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.

2. Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.

3. Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.

4. Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.

To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.

Note

Estimated deployment time: Apache Guacamole should be fully installed within 5-20 minutes after the Compute Instance has finished provisioning.

Configuration Options

• Supported distributions: Debian 10
• Recommended plan: All plan types and sizes can be used with Guacamole.

Guacamole Options

• The limited sudo/VNC user to be created for the Linode (required): The VNC username created for this Linode with sudo permissions. This is used for your VNC session.
• The password for the limited sudo/VNC user (required): Password for your sudo/VNC user. This is used for your VNC session.
• The username to be used with Guacamole (required): Your Guacamole Username. This is used to log in to Guacamole.
• The password to be used with Guacamole (required): Your Guacamole Password. This is used to log in to Guacamole.

Limited User SSH Options (Optional)

• SSH public key for the limited user: If you wish to login as the limited user through public key authentication (without entering a password), enter your public key here. See Creating an SSH Key Pair and Configuring Public Key Authentication on a Server for instructions on generating a key pair.
• Disable root access over SSH: To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes (recommended). You can still switch to the root user once logged in and you can also log in as root through Lish.

Custom Domain (Optional)

If you wish to access your application using a custom domain, fill out the following fields.

• Linode API Token: If you wish to use the Linode’s DNS Manager to manage DNS records for your custom domain, create a Linode API Personal Access Token on your account with Read/Write access to Domains. If this is provided along with the subdomain and domain fields (outlined below), the installation attempts to create DNS records via the Linode API. See Get an API Access Token. If you do not provide this field, you need to manually configure your DNS records through your DNS provider and point them to the IP address of the new instance.
• Subdomain: The subdomain you wish to use, such as www for www.example.com.
• Domain: The domain name you wish to use, such as example.com.

• Admin Email: The email address to register with Certbot when generating an SSL certificate for your absolute domain. This field is required along with your API Token and Domain for HTTPS access to your Guacamole remote desktop.

Getting Started after Deployment

Access your Guacamole App

After Guacamole has finished installing, access the dashboard over http:// or https:// with your Linode’s IPv4 address or absolute domain name, depending on your setup choices.

1. If you set up a domain name for your Guacamole App during setup, skip to step 3.

2. If you didn’t set up a domain name, find your Linode’s IPv4 address by clicking on Linodes in the Cloud Manager sidebar to see a list of all your Linodes. Find the Linode you just created. Under the IP Address column, copy the IPv4 address.

3. Enter your Linode’s absolute domain or IPv4 address into a browser window (for example, http://192.0.2.0) to access the Guacamole login page. Enter your Guacamole username and password.

   Note

   The Guacamole login page may take several minutes to become available while the Application completes the creation process.

4. Once you’ve completed the login process, you have full access to your Linode from your Guacamole remote desktop using VNC and the XFCE desktop environment.

5. Additional tasks can be performed remotely through your web browser. For example, you can install the Firefox web browser for use with your Guacamole remote desktop by entering the following command in its Terminal Emulator:

    sudo apt install firefox-esr
   

   When prompted, enter the password you chose for the limited sudo/VNC user. You can now browse the web on your Guacamole browser from within your local browser.

Note

Currently, Linode does not manage software and systems updates for Marketplace Apps. It is up to the user to perform routine maintenance on software deployed in this fashion.

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

• Guacamole Documentation