Deployment Guide

A step-by-step guide for planning and deploying rustguac in production. Covers network architecture, server preparation, RDP target setup, security hardening, and ongoing operations.

Architecture Overview

A typical deployment has three layers:

Internet
   |
[HAProxy] ── TLS termination, rate limiting, Knocknoc ACL
   |
[rustguac] ── session management, WebSocket proxy, connections
   |
[guacd] ── protocol translation (SSH, RDP, VNC)
   |
[targets] ── SSH servers, RDP desktops, VNC hosts

All components can run on a single server for small deployments (up to ~50 concurrent sessions). For larger deployments, guacd is the bottleneck (~158 MB per RDP session) and can be scaled separately.

Port allocation

Port	Service	Exposure
443	HAProxy (HTTPS)	Public / Knocknoc-gated
8089	rustguac (HTTPS)	Loopback only (behind HAProxy)
4822	guacd (TLS)	Loopback only
6000-6099	Xvnc displays	Loopback only (web sessions)

Step 1: Install rustguac

Debian 13 (recommended)

# Download the latest .deb from GitHub releases
wget https://github.com/sol1/rustguac/releases/latest/download/rustguac_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./rustguac_amd64.deb

This installs rustguac + guacd to /opt/rustguac with systemd services.

Docker (recommended for non-Debian-13 hosts)

docker pull ghcr.io/sol1/rustguac:latest
docker run -d \
  -p 443:8089 \
  -v rustguac-data:/opt/rustguac/data \
  -v rustguac-recordings:/opt/rustguac/recordings \
  -v ./config.toml:/opt/rustguac/config.toml \
  ghcr.io/sol1/rustguac:latest

The Docker image bundles guacd + FreeRDP + dependencies, so it runs cleanly on Ubuntu, RHEL, Rocky, Arch, and other distros where the bare-metal .deb would hit a FreeRDP ABI mismatch. See installation.md for the full story on non-Debian-13 targets.

See installation.md for all install options.

Step 2: Initial Configuration

Create an admin API key

/opt/rustguac/bin/rustguac --config /opt/rustguac/config.toml add-admin --name admin

Save the printed key (rgu_...) — it is shown only once. Use it for initial setup, then delete it once OIDC is configured (see Step 5).

Edit config.toml

sudo nano /opt/rustguac/config.toml

Key settings for a production deployment:

listen_addr = "127.0.0.1:8089"      # Loopback only — HAProxy handles public TLS
guacd_addr = "localhost:4822"

[tls]
cert_path = "/opt/rustguac/tls/cert.pem"
key_path = "/opt/rustguac/tls/key.pem"
guacd_cert_path = "/opt/rustguac/tls/cert.pem"

# Trust HAProxy's X-Forwarded-For header
trusted_proxies = ["127.0.0.1/32"]

# Network allowlists — restrict what targets guacd can connect to.
# Prevents SSRF via crafted session requests.
[network]
allowed_ssh_cidrs = ["10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.168.0.0/16"]
allowed_rdp_cidrs = ["10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.168.0.0/16"]
allowed_vnc_cidrs = ["10.0.0.0/8", "172.16.0.0/12", "192.168.0.0/16"]

See configuration.md for the full reference.

Start services

sudo systemctl enable --now rustguac

Verify: curl -k https://localhost:8089/api/health

Step 3: Set Up HAProxy

HAProxy provides TLS termination, HTTP/2, WebSocket support, and Knocknoc integration.

Using nginx, Caddy, Apache, or Traefik instead? See reverse-proxies.md for per-proxy configs and an important %2F gotcha that affects nested folder paths on several of them.

Install

sudo apt install haproxy

Configure

Create /etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg:

global
    log /dev/log local0
    maxconn 4096
    stats socket /run/haproxy/admin.sock mode 0660 level admin
    ssl-default-bind-options no-sslv3 no-tlsv10 no-tlsv11

defaults
    log     global
    mode    http
    option  httplog
    timeout connect 5s
    timeout client  30s
    timeout server  30s
    timeout tunnel  8h              # Long-lived WebSocket sessions
    timeout http-request 10s        # Slowloris protection

frontend https
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/private/rustguac.pem alpn h2,http/1.1
    bind *:80
    http-request redirect scheme https unless { ssl_fc }
    http-request del-header X-Forwarded-For
    option forwardfor
    http-response set-header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains"
    default_backend rustguac

backend rustguac
    option httpchk GET /api/health
    server rustguac 127.0.0.1:8089 ssl verify none check inter 30s

TLS certificate

Use Let's Encrypt or your organisation's CA:

# Let's Encrypt example (certbot + HAProxy)
sudo certbot certonly --standalone -d console.example.com
sudo cat /etc/letsencrypt/live/console.example.com/{fullchain,privkey}.pem \
    > /etc/ssl/private/rustguac.pem
sudo systemctl restart haproxy

Step 4: Prepare RDP Targets

Linux (xrdp with H.264)

For the best video experience with Linux desktops, use xrdp with x264 H.264 encoding. A single setup script handles everything — desktop environment, audio, xrdp rebuild with x264, and GFX configuration:

# On the RDP target machine (not the rustguac server):
wget -O setup-xrdp-gfx.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sol1/rustguac/main/contrib/setup-xrdp-gfx.sh
sudo bash setup-xrdp-gfx.sh --desktop mate

The --desktop flag installs a desktop environment (default: mate). Options: mate, xfce, kde, gnome, none. MATE is recommended — it's lightweight, Windows-like, and works reliably over xrdp without GPU.

The script runs in three phases:

Phase 1 (pure trixie): Installs desktop, Firefox, Chromium, build tools, PulseAudio xrdp audio module, switches from PipeWire to real PulseAudio
Phase 2 (temporary sid): Adds Debian sid repo, installs matching xorgxrdp, rebuilds xrdp with --enable-x264, removes sid
Phase 3 (configure): Xorg backend, startwm.sh, gfx.toml with H.264 + x264 encoder

Run bash setup-xrdp-gfx.sh --help for all options, or bash setup-xrdp-gfx.sh --diagnose to troubleshoot after setup.

In the rustguac connections, enable these settings on the RDP entry:

Enable Graphics Pipeline (GFX) -- checked
H.264 Passthrough -- checked
Enable Desktop Composition -- not needed for Linux (Windows-only DWM setting)

See rdp-video-performance.md for manual setup and tuning.

Windows

Windows RDP works out of the box. For video-heavy workloads:

# On the Windows RDP server (as Administrator):
.\contrib\setup-rdp-performance.ps1

# With GPU hardware encoding:
.\contrib\setup-rdp-performance.ps1 -EnableGPU

This enables AVC 4:4:4, 60 FPS, desktop composition, and GPU encoding.

Note: Windows only sends H.264 when a GPU (physical or virtual) is available. Without GPU, it uses Planar/RemoteFX which guacd re-encodes as JPEG/WebP. This is still good quality — just not as low-latency as H.264 passthrough.

Step 5: Configure Authentication

OIDC Single Sign-On (recommended)

Add to config.toml:

[oidc]
issuer_url = "https://your-idp.example.com"
client_id = "rustguac"
redirect_uri = "https://console.example.com/auth/callback"
groups_claim = "groups"
session_ttl_secs = 28800    # 8 hours

[oidc.group_role_mappings]
"RemoteConsoleAdmins" = "admin"
"RemoteConsoleUsers" = "operator"

Set the client secret in /opt/rustguac/env:

echo 'OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=your-secret-here' | sudo tee -a /opt/rustguac/env
sudo chmod 600 /opt/rustguac/env
sudo systemctl restart rustguac

See integrations.md for provider-specific guides (Authentik, JumpCloud, Entra ID, etc.).

Delete the bootstrap API key

Once OIDC is working and you have an admin user, remove the initial API key:

# List admin keys
/opt/rustguac/bin/rustguac --config /opt/rustguac/config.toml list-admins

# Delete by name
/opt/rustguac/bin/rustguac --config /opt/rustguac/config.toml delete-admin --name admin

API keys are powerful (full admin, no MFA). For day-to-day use, OIDC with group-based roles is more secure. If you need programmatic API access, create scoped user API tokens instead.

Step 6: Set Up the Connections (Vault)

The connections stores connection entries in HashiCorp Vault or OpenBao. Credentials stay server-side — they never reach the browser.

[vault]
addr = "https://vault.example.com:8200"
mount = "secret"
base_path = "rustguac"
role_id = "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"

echo 'VAULT_SECRET_ID=your-secret-id' | sudo tee -a /opt/rustguac/env
sudo systemctl restart rustguac

See integrations.md for Vault setup, AppRole configuration, and mTLS.

Step 7: Lock It Down with Knocknoc

Knocknoc removes the attack surface entirely. Instead of exposing rustguac's login page to the internet, Knocknoc gates access at the network layer:

Before Knocknoc: the login page is visible to scanners, bots, and attackers
After Knocknoc: the login page returns 403 unless the user has authenticated through Knocknoc first (SSO + MFA)

Only the front page (/) is gated. API endpoints, OIDC callbacks, and share links pass through to rustguac's own auth.

HAProxy + Knocknoc configuration

Add to your HAProxy config:

# Dynamic ACL managed by knocknoc-agent
acl knoc_rustguac src -u 600
acl is_root path /

# Gate only the login page
use_backend rustguac if is_root knoc_rustguac
use_backend denied   if is_root
use_backend rustguac

Install and configure knocknoc-agent to manage ACL #600 via the HAProxy admin socket.

Why this matters

rustguac gives users administrative access to servers. Even with OIDC and strong passwords, exposing the login page means:

Brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks
Zero-day exploits against the web layer
Reconnaissance by scanners

Knocknoc ensures the login page is only reachable after identity-verified network authentication. The attack surface goes from "the entire internet" to "zero".

Step 8: Enable Drive Mapping (optional)

Drive mapping lets users transfer files to/from remote sessions.

Basic (unencrypted)

[drive]
enabled = true
drive_path = "/opt/rustguac/drives"
drive_name = "Shared Drive"

Encrypted (LUKS + Vault)

For environments requiring at-rest encryption:

sudo /opt/rustguac/bin/drive-setup.sh

This creates a LUKS-encrypted volume with the encryption key stored in Vault. See integrations.md for details.

Step 9: Session Recording (optional)

Session recordings are enabled by default and stored in /opt/rustguac/recordings.

recording_path = "/opt/rustguac/recordings"

[recording_rotation]
enabled = true
max_disk_percent = 80    # Auto-delete oldest when disk usage exceeds 80%
interval_secs = 300      # Check every 5 minutes

Recordings can be played back in the browser via the Sessions page, or exported for compliance.

Ongoing Operations

Monitoring

Health check: GET /api/health returns 200 when rustguac and guacd are running
System status: GET /api/system/status (admin only) shows version, uptime, active sessions
Reports: Session history, top connections, top users available at /reports.html (poweruser+ role)

Upgrading

# Debian package
sudo apt install ./rustguac_new-version.deb
sudo systemctl restart rustguac

Config files are preserved across upgrades (--force-confold). Database migrations run automatically on startup.

Backup

Back up these paths:

/opt/rustguac/config.toml — configuration
/opt/rustguac/data/rustguac.db — users, tokens, session history
/opt/rustguac/env — secrets (Vault secret ID, OIDC client secret)
/opt/rustguac/recordings/ — session recordings (if needed for compliance)

The connections is in Vault — back up Vault separately.

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Deployment Guide

Architecture Overview

Port allocation

Step 1: Install rustguac

Debian 13 (recommended)

Docker (recommended for non-Debian-13 hosts)

Step 2: Initial Configuration

Create an admin API key

Edit config.toml

Start services

Step 3: Set Up HAProxy

Install

Configure

TLS certificate

Step 4: Prepare RDP Targets

Linux (xrdp with H.264)

Windows

Step 5: Configure Authentication

OIDC Single Sign-On (recommended)

Delete the bootstrap API key

Step 6: Set Up the Connections (Vault)

Step 7: Lock It Down with Knocknoc

HAProxy + Knocknoc configuration

Why this matters

Step 8: Enable Drive Mapping (optional)

Basic (unencrypted)

Encrypted (LUKS + Vault)

Step 9: Session Recording (optional)

Ongoing Operations

Monitoring

Upgrading

Backup

Security checklist

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Deployment Guide

Architecture Overview

Port allocation

Step 1: Install rustguac

Debian 13 (recommended)

Docker (recommended for non-Debian-13 hosts)

Step 2: Initial Configuration

Create an admin API key

Edit config.toml

Start services

Step 3: Set Up HAProxy

Install

Configure

TLS certificate

Step 4: Prepare RDP Targets

Linux (xrdp with H.264)

Windows

Step 5: Configure Authentication

OIDC Single Sign-On (recommended)

Delete the bootstrap API key

Step 6: Set Up the Connections (Vault)

Step 7: Lock It Down with Knocknoc

HAProxy + Knocknoc configuration

Why this matters

Step 8: Enable Drive Mapping (optional)

Basic (unencrypted)

Encrypted (LUKS + Vault)

Step 9: Session Recording (optional)

Ongoing Operations

Monitoring

Upgrading

Backup

Security checklist