Add windows server for RDP via browser

Add Windows server into Ezeelogin GUI for one-click RDP via the web browser.

Recording RDP session feature is available from Ezeelogin version 7.10.0

Ensure that the desktop browser has enough CPU( 2GHZ) and RAM( 2- 4 GB ). Close out browser tabs to reduce the CPU footprint so that the browser-based RDP works without slowness.

Web RDP will work only if the web interface is accessed via HTTPS

RDP is still in beta. However many features including NLA are currently supported. Some features like shared clipboard, audio redirection, etc. are not present.

1. On the gateway server, make sure to install nodejs.

On Centos 7

root@localhost:~ yum install epel-release

root@localhost:~ yum install npm

On Ubuntu 16/18 and Debian 10

root@localhost:~ apt install npm

On Ubuntu 20/22

root@localhost:~ apt-get update

root@localhost:~ apt install npm

2. Install n, Node’s version manager:

If you are not using SSL, you need to set the repo to HTTP by running :

root@localhost:~ npm config set registry http://registry.npmjs.org/

root@localhost:~ npm install -g n

3. Install node by running :

To install the latest version:

root@locallhost:~ n latest

To install the corresponding version :

root@localhost:~ n version.number

For example, the below command will install node 19

root@localhost:~ n 19

Run the following command to install the node without SSL

root@localhost:~ n --insecure latest

To switch between node versions run the following command and refer to the given screenshot.

root@localhost:~ n

Install node with rpm in Ezeelogin

4. Install the NodeJS module dependencies for the Web RDP Console application by running the following command.

1. php /usr/local/ezlogin/eztool.php -- -install_node_modules -node_component webrdp
or
2. cd $(awk '/^system_folder/ {print $2}' /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/ez.conf)/application/external/mstsc/&& npm install

5. Once installed, ensure that the path to the node binary is specified correctly under Settings > General > Miscellaneous > Nodejs Command.

The nodejs command field should have the path to the
node / nodejs binary which usually is /usr/bin/node in the case of Centos7 and /usr/bin/nodejs in the case of Ubuntu 14-04

Ensure that inbound TCP traffic on port 22555 is open as nodejs server listens on this port. ( you can confirm the port from Ezeelogin GUI > Settings > General > Miscellaneous > RDP Proxy Port)

Ensure that outbound TCP traffic on port 3389 is open as RDP listens on this port.

6. To ensure SSL for the browser tab that opens up for the web RDP, generate a self-signed cert with the following command. Web Shell will work only if the web interface is accessed via HTTPS

Make sure to install SSL (self-signed or a valid cert )even if you have installed an SSL certificate on the Load balancer (ELB/ALB). Also, make sure to add a listener and routing for the port RDP Proxy Port 22555

root@gateway:# openssl req -new -days 365 -x509 -nodes -newkey rsa:2048 -out /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/tls_cert.pem -keyout /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/tls_key.pem

Or put a valid ca, cert, and key in the files: /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/tls_ca.pem, /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/tls_cert.pem & /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/tls_key.pem respectively. You can rename your current .crt / .key file to .pem file.

Also, make sure that the .pem files are readable by the webserver user such as nobody/www-root/apache, etc. An easy way to grant the web user read privileges would be chmod 644 /usr/local/etc/ezlogin/*.pem

7. Add windows-servers by clicking the add button as shown below:

8. Make sure that while adding a server you have enabled the RDP and mentioned the RDP port number.

9. Also, make sure that the users have the privilege to access ’ Windows RDP Login ’

10. Click on the Windows icon to RDP into the remote machine

11. Ensure that Network Level Authentication ( NLA ) is disabled on the remote Windows machine as shown.

network-level-authentication

If Network Level Authentication (NLA) is enforced on the remote Windows machine then make sure to provide the correct username and password in the Ezeelogin software GUI.

Pros of browser-based RDP

Easily RDP via browser in one click
Don't have to remember the administrator passwords
No RDP client needed

Cons of browser-based RDP

Unable to copy and paste the document to the remote desktop.

RDP session recording is available from version 7.10.0

If you are getting a protocol error, after upgrading the Node version you just need to add --tls-min-v1.0 to the nodejs command in Settings->General->Miscellaneous>Nodejs Command.

How to fix: “EPROTO” Error after upgrading Node’s version?

Troubleshooting

Ensure that the Node version is above 19 and the NPM Version is >=6

[root@otp webrdp]# npm -v
6.14.6
[root@otp webrdp]# node -v
v19.0.0  

To get more detailed errors, append log_level trace in ez.conf.

How to get detailed errors from Ezeelogin error logs?

Kill the current running node

root@jump-host:~# pkill node

Access the web RDP and check the application logs under {system folder}/application/logs/, ( for example, /var/www/ezlogin/application/logs/log-2020-12-16.php ) to get the command to manually start the web RDP.

Note: Append DEBUG=* at the beginning of the command which you've got from the application logs.

For example

root@jump-host:~# DEBUG=* PORT=52666 XFWD=1 WS=1 SESSION_TIMEOUT=300000 REQUEST_TIMEOUT=120000 DBP='94Y6[@MhW]@Qb' node /var/www/ezlogin/application/external/mstsc/server.js