HTML5 WebSocket-based gateway for accessing RDP connections through a web browser. This service sits in front of RdpBroker and provides a modern web interface for remote desktop access.

Features

🌐 Browser-Based Access - Connect to RDP sessions from any modern web browser
🔒 Secure WebSocket - Real-time bidirectional communication
🎨 Modern UI - Clean, responsive interface
🔑 Simplified Authentication - Credentials passed directly to RdpBroker
📊 Service Health Monitoring - Automatic RdpBroker availability checks
🎯 Dynamic Target Loading - Targets fetched from configuration or RdpBroker
⚡ Low Latency - Optimized for performance
☁️ Kubernetes Native - Console-only logging for cloud environments

Architecture

User Browser (HTML5/WebSocket)
          ↓
    RDP Web Gateway (Node.js)
          ↓
      RdpBroker (RDP)
          ↓
    Target RDP Servers

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
RdpBroker service running
Modern web browser with WebSocket support

Installation

Local Development

cd web-gateway

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Copy environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit configuration
nano .env

# Start development server
npm run dev

Docker Build

docker build -t rdp-web-gateway:latest .

Configuration

Edit .env file:

PORT=8080
RDP_BROKER_HOST=rdpbroker
RDP_BROKER_PORT=3389
NODE_ENV=production

# Optional: Pre-configure RDP targets (JSON array)
# If not set, RdpBroker will provide targets dynamically
RDP_TARGETS=[{"name":"Server1","host":"srv1.example.com","port":3389,"description":"Production Server"}]

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`PORT`	Web server listening port	`8080`
`RDP_BROKER_HOST`	RdpBroker hostname	`rdpbroker`
`RDP_BROKER_PORT`	RdpBroker port	`3389`
`RDP_TARGETS`	JSON array of pre-configured targets	`null`
`NODE_ENV`	Environment mode	`development`

Usage

Access the Web Interface

Open your browser to http://localhost:8080
Enter your credentials (validated against Samba AD via RdpBroker)
Select a target from the list
Connect and use the remote desktop

API Endpoints

GET /health

Health check endpoint for monitoring the web gateway.

Response:

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "uptime": 12345
}

GET /api/broker-status

Check if RdpBroker service is available.

Response:

{
  "available": true,
  "broker": "rdpbroker:3389",
  "timestamp": "2025-12-04T10:30:00.000Z"
}

GET /api/targets

Fetch available RDP targets.

Success Response (200):

{
  "targets": [
    {
      "name": "Windows Server 2022",
      "host": "ws2022.example.com",
      "port": 3389,
      "description": "Production Windows Server"
    }
  ],
  "timestamp": "2025-12-04T10:30:00.000Z"
}

Service Unavailable (503):

{
  "error": "RdpBroker service is unavailable. Please contact your administrator.",
  "timestamp": "2025-12-04T10:30:00.000Z"
}

WebSocket Protocol

Connect to ws://localhost:8080/ws/rdp

Client → Server Messages

Connect to target:

{
  "type": "connect",
  "username": "user@domain.com",
  "password": "password123",
  "target": {
    "name": "Server 01",
    "host": "192.168.1.10",
    "port": 3389
  }
}

Mouse event:

{
  "type": "mouse",
  "action": "move|down|up|wheel",
  "x": 100,
  "y": 200,
  "button": 0,
  "deltaY": 0
}

Keyboard event:

{
  "type": "keyboard",
  "action": "down|up",
  "key": "a",
  "code": "KeyA",
  "ctrlKey": false,
  "altKey": false,
  "shiftKey": false
}

Special command:

{
  "type": "special",
  "action": "ctrl-alt-del"
}

Server → Client Messages

Connected:

{
  "type": "connected",
  "target": "Server 01"
}

Resize canvas:

{
  "type": "resize",
  "width": 1920,
  "height": 1080
}

Error:

{
  "type": "error",
  "error": "Error message"
}

Deployment

See the Helm chart in chart/rdp-web-gateway/ for Kubernetes deployment.

helm install rdp-web-gateway ./chart/rdp-web-gateway -n rdpbroker

Browser Support

Chrome/Edge 90+
Firefox 88+
Safari 14+
Opera 76+

Security Considerations

Use HTTPS/WSS in production
Credentials are passed directly to RdpBroker (no storage in web-gateway)
Implement rate limiting at ingress level
Enable CORS restrictions
Regular security audits
All authentication handled by RdpBroker → Samba ADs
Regular security audits

Performance Tuning

Configure WebSocket buffer sizes
Use CDN for static assets in production
Enable HTTP compression (already included)
Adjust resource limits in Kubernetes
Use CDN for static assets in production

Troubleshooting

Can't connect to RdpBroker

Check environment variables:

echo $RDP_BROKER_HOST
echo $RDP_BROKER_PORT

Test connectivity:

nc -zv rdpbroker 3389

WebSocket connection fails

Ensure WebSocket upgrade is allowed through any proxies/load balancers.

For nginx:

location /ws/ {
    proxy_pass http://backend;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
}

High memory usage

Adjust resource limits in Kubernetes values.yaml

Logging

All logs go to stdout/stderr for Kubernetes:

# View logs
kubectl logs -f deployment/rdp-web-gateway -n rdpbroker

# Follow logs for all pods
kubectl logs -f -l app=rdp-web-gateway -n rdpbroker

Reduce session timeout or implement session limits per user.

Development

Running Tests

npm test

Code Style

npm run lint

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file

Support

For issues and questions, check the logs:

# View logs
kubectl logs -f deployment/rdp-web-gateway -n rdpbroker

# Check health
curl http://localhost:8080/health