RDP Servers

Create an integration to manage access to an RDP server

Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) enables users to connect to and control a remote computer or virtual machine over a network. It provides secure and efficient remote access to desktops, servers, and applications, allowing employees to work from anywhere with an internet connection.

With this integration, Apono enables you to manage access to an RDP server with Connect permission or custom permissions group, so that only specific users or groups can provide remote access to resources in your environment on a temporary, as-needed basis.

Prerequisites

Item
Description

Apono Connector

On-prem connection serving as a bridge between an RDP server and Apono:

User

Microsoft RDP user for Apono The RDP user must be one of the following:

  • Admin user

  • Custom role user with the following permissions:

    • GenericRead

    • ListChildren

    • CreateChild

    • DeleteChild

    • ListObject

    • WriteMember

    • ResetPassword

    • Delete

Secret

Value generated with the credentials of the user you create

Create your secret based on the connector you are using.

You can also input the user credentials directly.

Apono does not store credentials. The Apono Connector uses the secret to communicate with services in your environment and separate the Apono web app from the environment for maximal security.

Configure the RDP server

Before you begin integrating RDP with Apono, you must configure the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service on a Windows machine to allow remote access using unencrypted and basic authentication.

You can allow unencrypted or encrypted communication.

Unencrypted Communication

Follow these steps to configure the RDP server:

  1. Add the WinRM port 5985 to the allowlist in the server firewall.

  2. Turn on the WinRM firewall rule in the Windows server.

  3. Analyze and configure the WinRM service to allow remote management on the local machine.

If a confirmation prompt appears after running the following command, enter y.

winrm quickconfig

  1. Set the WinRM service configuration to allow unencrypted traffic.

winrm set winrm/config/service @{AllowUnencrypted="true"}

  1. Enable basic authentication for the WinRM service. Basic authentication transmits credentials in cleartext.Shell

winrm set winrm/config/service/Auth @{Basic="true"}

You can now integrate an RDP server.

Encrypted Communication

Follow these steps to configure the RDP server:

  1. Add the WinRM port 5985 to the allowlist in the server firewall.

  2. Turn on the WinRM firewall rule in the Windows server.

  3. Analyze and configure the WinRM service to allow remote management on the local machine.

If a confirmation prompt appears after running the following command, enter y.

winrm quickconfig

  1. Enable basic authentication for the WinRM service. Basic authentication transmits credentials in cleartext.

winrm set winrm/config/service/Auth @{Basic="true"}

  1. Configure WinRM HTTPS access on the target machine.

Configuring WinRM to use HTTPS encrypts data transmitted between the client and server, protecting sensitive information from interception. To enable HTTPS, ensure a valid server authentication certificate is installed on the target machine.

You can now integrate an RDP server.

Integrate an RDP server

WinRM HTTPS requires a local computer Server Authentication certificate with a CN matching the hostname to be installed. The certificate must not be expired, revoked, or self-signed.

You can also use the steps below to integrate with Apono using Terraform.

In step 11, instead of clicking Confirm, follow the Are you integrating with Apono using Terraform? guidance.

Follow these steps to complete the integration:

  1. On the Catalog tab, click RDP The Connect Integration page appears.

  2. Under Discovery, select one or multiple resource types for Apono to discover in all instances of the environment.

  3. Click Next. The Apono connector section expands.

  4. From the dropdown menu, select a connector.

If the desired connector is not listed, click + Add new connector and follow the instructions for creating a connector (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes).

  1. Click Next. The Integration Config page appears.

  2. Define the Integration Config settings.

    Setting
    Description

    Integration Name

    Unique, alphanumeric, user-friendly name used to identify this integration when constructing an access flow

    Host

    DNS name or IP address of the RDP server to connect

    WinRM Port

    WinRM port value for the server By default, Apono sets this value to 5985.

    RDP Port

    (Optional) RDP port value By default, Apono sets this value to 3389.

    Use SSL connection

    Encrypted or unencrypted connection indicator Possible Values:

    • false: Unencrypted (unsecure) connection

    • true: Encrypted (secure) connection

  3. Click Next. The Secret Store section expands.

  4. Associate the secret or credentials.

  5. Click Next. The Get more with Apono section expands.

  6. Define the Get more with Apono settings.

    Setting
    Description

    Custom Access Details

    (Optional) Instructions explaining how to access this integration's resources Upon accessing an integration, a message with these instructions will be displayed to end users in the User Portal. The message may include up to 400 characters. To view the message as it appears to end users, click Preview.

    Integration Owner

    (Optional) Fallback approver if no resource owner is found Follow these steps to define one or several integration owners:

    1. From the Attribute dropdown menu, select User or Group under the relevant identity provider (IdP) platform.

    2. From the Value dropdown menu, select one or multiple users or groups.

    NOTE: When Resource Owner is defined, an Integration Owner must be defined.

    Resource Owner

    (Optional) Group or role responsible for managing access approvals or rejections for the resource Follow these steps to define one or several resource owners:

    1. Enter a Key name. This value is the name of the tag created in your cloud environment.

    2. From the Attribute dropdown menu, select an attribute under the IdP platform to which the key name is associated. Apono will use the value associated with the key (tag) to identify the resource owner. When you update the membership of the group or role in your IdP platform, this change is also reflected in Apono.

    NOTE: When this setting is defined, an Integration Owner must also be defined.

  7. Click Confirm.

💡Are you integrating with Apono using Terraform?

If you want to integrate with Apono using Terraform, follow these steps instead of clicking Confirm:

  1. At the top of the screen, click View as Code. A modal appears with the completed Terraform configuration code.

  2. Click to copy the code.

  3. Make any additional edits.

  4. Deploy the code in your Terraform.

Refer to Integration Config Metadata for more details about the schema definition.

Now that you have completed this integration, you can create access flows that grant permission to your RDP server.

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