How to install Apache Guacamole on Ubuntu and Debian Cloud Servers

Apache Guacamole is an open-source web application that enables users to access their remote desktops or applications from anywhere with an internet connection. It provides this access through a web browser without requiring any special software or plugins.

The project is maintained by the Apache Software Foundation and is released under the Apache License 2.0. Guacamole supports a variety of remote desktop protocols, including VNC, RDP, SSH, and Telnet, allowing users to connect to a wide range of remote machines, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.

In addition to its core functionality, Guacamole also supports plugins, which can be used to add new features and extend its capabilities. There are many third-party plugins available for Guacamole, including ones that provide support for additional protocols, advanced authentication options, and integration with other systems.

Overall, Apache Guacamole is a powerful and flexible tool for providing remote access to desktops and applications, with a strong focus on security and ease of use.

Here are the steps to install Apache guacamole on Ubuntu 20.04.

Step 1: Update server and Install dependencies and repositories

1. Add the following repository to the Linux server.

   # add-apt-repository ppa:remmina-ppa-team/remmina-next-daily  
   

   

2. Update the Linux server.

   # apt update && apt upgrade -y
   

   

3. Install dependencies for the server.

   # apt install -y gcc vim curl wget g++ libcairo2-dev libjpeg-turbo8-dev libpng-dev libtool-bin libossp-uuid-dev libavcodec-dev  libavformat-dev libavutil-dev libswscale-dev build-essential libpango1.0-dev libssh2-1-dev libvncserver-dev libtelnet-dev libpulse-dev libssl-dev libvorbis-dev libwebp-dev libwebsockets-dev ubuntu-desktop-minimal freerdp2-dev freerdp2-x11 xrdp -y
   

   

Step 2: Install Apache Tomcat and Dependencies

1. Install Java.

   # apt install openjdk-11-jdk
   

   

2. Check the Java version.

   # java --version
   

   

3. Create a new Tomcat system user.

   # useradd -m -U -d /opt/tomcat -s /bin/false tomcat
   

   

4. Download Apache Tomcat.

   # wget https://downloads.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-9/v9.0.71/bin/apache-tomcat-9.0.71.tar.gz
   

   

5. Extract the tomcat application into the /opt/tomcat/ directory.

   # tar -xzf apache-tomcat-*.tar.gz -C /opt/tomcat/
   

   

6. Rename the directory /opt/tomcat/apache-tomcat- to the directory /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp.

   # mv /opt/tomcat/apache-tomcat-*/ /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp
   

   

7. Change the ownership of the /opt/tomcat directory and all of its contents recursively to the user tomcat and the group tomcat.

   # chown -R tomcat: /opt/tomcat
   

   

8. Find all files with the .sh extension in the /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/bin/ directory (and its subdirectories), and set their permissions to be executable.

   # find /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/bin/ -type f -iname "*.sh" -exec chmod +x {} \;
   

   

9. Add the Tomcat systemd file.

   # vim /etc/systemd/system/tomcat.service
   

   

   
   

   Add the below script to the tomcat.service file:

   [Unit]
   Description=Tomcat 9 servlet container
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=forking
   
   User=tomcat
   Group=tomcat
   
   Environment="JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64"
   Environment="JAVA_OPTS=-Djava.security.egd=file:///dev/urandom -Djava.awt.headless=true"
   
   Environment="CATALINA_BASE=/opt/tomcat/tomcatapp"
   Environment="CATALINA_HOME=/opt/tomcat/tomcatapp"
   Environment="CATALINA_PID=/opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/temp/tomcat.pid"
   Environment="CATALINA_OPTS=-Xms512M -Xmx1024M -server -XX:+UseParallelGC"
   
   ExecStart=/opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/bin/startup.sh
   ExecStop=/opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/bin/shutdown.sh
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   

   

10. Reload the daemon.

    # systemctl daemon-reload
    

    

11. Start and enable the Apache Tomcat service.

    # systemctl enable --now tomcat
    

    

12. Check the tomcat.service status.

    # systemctl status tomcat
    

    

Step 3 : Installing Apache Guacamole server

1. Download the Guacamole server.

   # wget https://apache.org/dyn/closer.lua/guacamole/1.4.0/source/guacamole-server-1.4.0.tar.gz
   

   

2. Extract the compressed file.

   # tar -xzf guacamole-server-1.4.0.tar.gz
   

   

3. Change the directory to guacamole-server-1.4.0/.

   # cd guacamole-server-1.4.0/
   

   

4. Execute the ./configure script along with the --with-init-dir=/etc/init.d option, and instruct the configure script to utilize the /etc/init.d directory as the designated location for the system initialization scripts generated during the installation process.

   ./configure --with-init-dir=/etc/init.d
   

   

5. Run the make and make install commands.

   # make && make install
   

   

6. To ensure that the latest shared libraries in the Guacamole server directory are used, execute the ldconfig command, which creates the necessary links and cache.

   # ldconfig
   

   

7. Create a directory in /etc/ for the Apache Guacamole configuration file.

   # mkdir /etc/guacamole
   

   

8. Create a guacd.conf configuration file.

   # vim /etc/guacamole/guacd.conf
   

   

9. Add the below script to the file.

   [daemon]
   pid_file = /var/run/guacd.pid
   #log_level = debug
   
   [server]
   #bind_host = localhost
   bind_host = 127.0.0.1
   bind_port = 4822
   
   #[ssl]
   #server_certificate = /etc/ssl/certs/guacd.crt
   #server_key = /etc/ssl/private/guacd.key
   

   

10. Reload the daemon.

    # systemctl daemon-reload
    

    

11. Start and enable the Apache Guacamole service.

    # systemctl start guacd
    
    # systemctl enable guacd
    

    

12. Check the status of the Guacamole server.

    # systemctl status guacd
    

    

Step 4: Installing the Guacamole Web Application

1. Download the Guacamole web application.

   # wget https://archive.apache.org/dist/guacamole/1.4.0/binary/guacamole-1.4.0.war
   

   

2. Move guacamole-1.5.0.war to a directory named /etc/guacamole/, and rename it to guacamole.war.

   # mv ~/guacamole-1.4.0.war /etc/guacamole/guacamole.war
   

   

3. Create a symbolic link in the /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/webapps directory called guacamole.war that points to the file /etc/guacamole/guacamole.war.

   # ln -s /etc/guacamole/guacamole.war /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/webapps
   

   

4. Add a new line to the end of the /etc/default/tomcat file, which sets the environment variable GUACAMOLE_HOME to the directory /etc/guacamole.

   # echo "GUACAMOLE_HOME=/etc/guacamole" | sudo tee -a /etc/default/tomcat
   

   

5. Add a new line to the end of the /etc/profile file, which sets the environment variable GUACAMOLE_HOME to the directory /etc/guacamole.

   # echo "export GUACAMOLE_HOME=/etc/guacamole" | sudo tee -a /etc/profile
   

   

6. Create a /etc/guacamole/guacamole.properties config file.

   # vim /etc/guacamole/guacamole.properties
   

   

7. Add the following to the guacamole.properties config file.

   guacd-hostname: localhost
   guacd-port:  4822
   user-mapping:  /etc/guacamole/user-mapping.xml
   auth-provider:  net.sourceforge.guacamole.net.basic.BasicFileAuthenticationProvider
   

   

8. Create a symbolic link in the /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp directory called guacamole that points to the directory /etc/guacamole.

   # ln -s /etc/guacamole /opt/tomcat/tomcatapp/.guacamole
   

   

9. Change the ownership of the /opt/tomcat directory and its contents to the user tomcat and the default group of tomcat.

   # chown -R tomcat: /opt/tomcat
   

   

10. Set up Guacamole Authentication using OpenSSL to generate an MD5 hash of the string.

    
    

    For example: Here the password we use is layerstackpassword.

    # echo -n layerstackpassword | openssl md5
    

    

    
    

    Copy the output.

11. Create the user-mapping.xml file.

    # vim /etc/guacamole/user-mapping.xml
    

    

    
    

    Add your custom username and copied encrypted password on the marked field.

12. Restart the Apache Tomcat and Guacamole server.

    # systemctl restart tomcat guacd
    

    

13. Make sure all Tomcat and Guacamole services are running.

    # systemctl status tomcat guacd
    

    

Step 5 : Accessing Apache Guacamole through browser

1. Access webpage http://<server__ip_ address="" or="" domain="" name:8080="" guacamole="" #=""="" through="" web="" browser.="" ![apacheguacamole43](https:="" www.layerstack.com="" img="" docs="" resources="" apacheguacamole43.png)="" 2.="" select="" ubuntu="" rdp.="" ![apacheguacamole44](https:="" apacheguacamole44.png)="" 3.="" use="" the="" server="" root="" password="" to="" log="" in.="" ![apacheguacamole45](https:="" apacheguacamole45.png)="" <br="">

   Desktop Screen:

   

2. Likewise use Ubuntu SSH to log in to the server through SSH.

   

   
   

   Use root password to proceed:

   

   
   

   SSH Terminal: