RDP Servers

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

---

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.

   ℹ️

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

   Shell

   winrm quickconfig
   

4. Set the WinRM service configuration to allow unencrypted traffic.
   Shell

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

5. 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 the 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.

   ℹ️

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

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

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

5. 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 the 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.

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).

5. Click Next. The Integration Config page appears.
6. 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

7. Click Next. The Secret Store section expands.
8. Associate the secret or credentials:
   • AWS
   • Azure
   • GCP
   • Kubernetes
   • Apono
9. Click Next. The Get more with Apono section expands.
10. 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. NOTE: You can also add the custom_access_details parameter to the apono_integration schema using Terraform. For more information, learn how to integrate with Apono in the Terraform Registry.
    Integration Owner	(Optional) Fallback approver if no resource owner is found Follow these steps to define one or several integration owners: From the Attribute dropdown menu, select User or Group under the relevant identity provider (IdP) platform. 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: Enter a Key name. This value is the name of the tag created in your cloud environment. 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.

11. Click Confirm.

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