go-rdp-server¶

A lightweight, browser-based RDP gateway that brokers temporary Windows credentials and tunnels WebSocket traffic through the Guacamole protocol to guacd.

Features¶

🌐 Browser-Based RDP

• Zero client installation — pure WebSocket from the browser
• Guacamole protocol bridge between browser and guacd
• Embedded HTML/JS client served directly from the binary

🔐 Temporary Credential Brokering

• Provisions short-lived local Windows accounts per session
• Credentials are automatically removed on session close or error
• Isolates each session with a unique account identity

🔄 Session Management

• Configurable maximum concurrent sessions (MAX_SESSIONS)
• Admission control rejects connections when capacity is reached
• Graceful cleanup on disconnect, error, or shutdown

🪟 Windows Service Ready

• Runs as a native Windows Service via golang.org/x/sys/windows/svc
• SCM start/stop/shutdown signal handling
• Automatic recovery configuration support

Quick Links¶

• Architecture — Runtime flow, component diagram, and shutdown behaviour
• Configuration — All environment variables and recommended defaults
• Windows Service — Install, operate, and harden the service
• Development — Build, test, and release workflows

Architecture Overview¶

flowchart TD
    Browser["Browser (WebSocket)"] -->|"/ws/rdp"| Web["internal/web\nHTTP + WebSocket"]
    Web -->|CredRequest chan| Broker["internal/broker\nCredential broker"]
    Broker -->|Win32 NetUserAdd| WinAccounts["Windows local accounts"]
    Web -->|SessionEvent chan| Manager["internal/session\nSession manager"]
    Web -->|TCP| Guacd["guacd\n(Guacamole daemon)"]
    Guacd -->|RDP| WinRDP["Windows RDP Server"]

Getting Started¶

Prerequisites¶

• A Windows host with RDP enabled and guacd reachable
• Go 1.23+ (for building from source)

Installation¶

# Set configuration via environment variables
$env:GUACD_HOST = "127.0.0.1"
$env:GUACD_PORT = "4822"
$env:RDP_HOST   = "127.0.0.1"
$env:RDP_PORT   = "3389"
$env:HTTP_PORT  = "8080"
$env:MAX_SESSIONS = "10"

# Run the server
.\rdpserver.exe

git clone https://github.com/pacorreia/go-rdp-server
cd go-rdp-server

# Cross-compile for Windows
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o rdpserver.exe ./cmd/rdpserver

# Build and register as a Windows Service
go build -o rdpserver.exe ./cmd/rdpserver
sc.exe create go-rdp-server binPath= "C:\path\to\rdpserver.exe" start= auto
sc.exe description go-rdp-server "WebSocket to guacd RDP bridge service"
sc.exe start go-rdp-server

First Use¶

After starting the server, open http://<host>:8080 in your browser. The embedded client will connect automatically over WebSocket to /ws/rdp.

# Verify the server is running
curl http://localhost:8080/