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Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

guacamole.apache.org

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Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#21

Post by w0utert »

I really like the idea implemented by Apache Guacamole, but when I tried to install it on my home server get remote desktops to my other machines when abroad, it was a huge letdown.

First of all the installation process is terrible, you need to install and configure a whole working tomcat8 server first and manually deploy the application WAR, configuration is non-obvious and obtuse, and the first ~10 tries after deploying Guacamole failed to establish VNC connections without a clear indication what went wrong. Over the years I've installed loads of services, not just trivial ones (e.g. nginx with SSL and multiple vhosts on different domains, reverse proxies, SSH tunnels, VPN servers, etc) and while I wouldn't say installing Guacamole was hard, the process just felt unnecessarily complicated. Not a nice experience.

Second, when I finally managed to get Guacamole to establish a VNC connection to an OS X client, the performance was straight up horrible. That's over a Gbit ethernet LAN, which I also use to stream games to a steam link at 60fps. Granted, this was connecting to desktop with 5K resolution and 32-bit color, but connecting to it directly using a VNC client works just fine. Through Guacamole it was literally unusable.

Is this to be expected?

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#22

Post by fuzzy2 »

w0utert wrote: post #21

I really like the idea implemented by Apache Guacamole, but when I tried to install it on my home server get remote desktops to my other machines when abroad, it was a huge letdown. First of all the installation process is terrible, you need to install and configure a whole working tomcat8 server first and manually deploy the application WAR, configuration is non-obvious and obtuse, and the first ~10 tries after depl…

My recommendation: Use Docker. No need to deal with all the gritty details. If needed, reverse-proxy it.

Guacamole is (in my experience) unfortunately rather inefficient concerning bandwidth.

You can’t compare it to Steam Link either, because that’s using H264 video compression. Guacamole does not use video compression.

A single 5K 24 bit bitmap is ~42 MiB. That’s a lot, even compressed and especially at reasonable frame rates.

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#23

Post by ciroduran »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #2

The antithesis of a good landing page. I'd never heard of it before. What does Apache Guacamole actually do? Is it of interest to me? I click... Nothing on the home page immediately tells me. I note HTML5 and there is something going on with a client and I guess a server? I scroll down the page. Literally, nothing telling me how Guacamole might be of interest to me, but I notice a mention to RDP - hmmm, that might be…

I had the same thoughts when clicking this document. It seems more like a release page than a landing page. But I think the lesson is that documentation is tricky to write because there are many ways to use it, for both novice and advanced users. I've checked Django, Drupal and Python release notes and they're aren't any more specific, although the website navigation makes it clear how to reach the home page.

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#25

Post by unwind »

Nobody has mentioned it but the header says:

Apache Guacamole 1.1.0 has not yet been released! The artifacts and release notes below are drafts for a proposed release of Apache Guacamole which has not yet occurred.

So it would seem it has not been released yet.

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#26

Post by tasubotadas »

w0utert wrote: post #21

I really like the idea implemented by Apache Guacamole, but when I tried to install it on my home server get remote desktops to my other machines when abroad, it was a huge letdown. First of all the installation process is terrible, you need to install and configure a whole working tomcat8 server first and manually deploy the application WAR, configuration is non-obvious and obtuse, and the first ~10 tries after depl…

Thanks for testing this for us.

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#27

Post by ldoughty »

unwind wrote: post #25

Nobody has mentioned it but the header says: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0 has not yet been released! The artifacts and release notes below are drafts for a proposed release of Apache Guacamole which has not yet occurred. So it would seem it has not been released yet.

Me heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I saw this link here....

And actually.. it is released, they updated their docker instead making 1.1.0 their latest tag while dropping RC designation

I really hope free RDP 2.0 brings some general improvements, the existing implementation on 1.0.0 had terrible thread handling that causes infinite loops in certain situations.

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#28

Post by ldoughty »

catmanjan wrote: post #16

I've looked at using this before to provide a "thin client" legacy desktop app - is anyone doing the same with Guacamole? Care to share your experience?

I use it to provide access to cloud systems as essentially a bastion. The target computers often have serious vulnerabilities exposed (like metasploitable windows targets, and machines with very easy passwords).. so supporting legacy OS & software is reasonably secure (at least if guacamole is the only access point)

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#29

Post by ubercow13 »

w0utert wrote: post #21

I really like the idea implemented by Apache Guacamole, but when I tried to install it on my home server get remote desktops to my other machines when abroad, it was a huge letdown. First of all the installation process is terrible, you need to install and configure a whole working tomcat8 server first and manually deploy the application WAR, configuration is non-obvious and obtuse, and the first ~10 tries after depl…

Agreed, the configuration is not pleasant. I also tried many alternatives this while abroad recently and actually found plain VNC the most performant and pleasant to use, and it's trivial to set up.

Re: Apache Guacamole 1.1.0

#30

Post by ldoughty »

fuzzy2 wrote: post #22
w0utert wrote: post #21

I really like the idea implemented by Apache Guacamole, but when I tried to install it on my home server get remote desktops to my other machines when abroad, it was a huge letdown. First of all the installation process is terrible, you need to install and configure a whole working tomcat8 server first and manually deploy the application WAR, configuration is non-obvious and obtuse, and the first ~10 tries after depl…

My recommendation: Use Docker. No need to deal with all the gritty details. If needed, reverse-proxy it. Guacamole is (in my experience) unfortunately rather inefficient concerning bandwidth. You can’t compare it to Steam Link either, because that’s using H264 video compression. Guacamole does not use video compression. A single 5K 24 bit bitmap is ~42 MiB. That’s a lot, even compressed and especially at reasonable f…

I second using containers for guacamole.

Also agree, this isn't intended to be a replacement for direct access, nor for streaming purposes.

This gives you and RDP session with no software install needed. The use case of guacamole is accessing a system from anywhere without needing your ssh keys, RDP, or VNC software. If you're happy doing any of those directly, adding a middle man doesn't add any value.

That said, if you're managing others accessing the system, you can bastion of the target machines and only expose this access. This lets you put the target machines behind NAT, and only manage one entry point.

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