RDP Servers

Create an integration to manage access to an RDP server

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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:
UserMicrosoft 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
SecretValue generated with the credentials of the user you create

Create your secret based on the connector you are using: Apono does not store credentials. The Apono Connector uses the secret to communicate with services in your environment and separates 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.

Follow these steps to configure the RDS 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.

    winrm quickconfig

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

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

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

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

You can now integrate the RDP server.

Integrate an RDP server

Follow these steps to complete the integration:

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

  2. 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).

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

  4. Click Next. The Complete setup page appears.

  5. Enter a unique, alphanumeric, user-friendly Integration Name, which is used to identify this integration when constructing an access flow.

  6. In the Host field, enter the DNS name or IP address of the RDP server to connect.

  7. Enter 5985 for the Port value.

  8. Under Secret Store, associate the secret:

  9. Click Connect.

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

Updated about 2 months ago