What it does here
Apache Guacamole is a clientless remote-access gateway. It brokers a session to a server and renders it entirely in the browser — nothing installed, nothing configured on your machine — and it can record what happens.
It sits beside Teleport rather than duplicating it. Teleport leads with identity-aware, just-in-time access; Guacamole leads with reach — the same browser window can carry SSH, RDP or VNC, which is why gateways like this are common in front of mixed estates.
How it is deployed
Three containers: guacd (the daemon that actually speaks the remote protocols), a PostgreSQL database for users and connections, and the guacamole web application. A fourth container, target-db01, is the server you connect to — see Installation §4.7.
Settings in the web console
Sign in at guacamole.iamlab.genbay.co as guacadmin. Most configuration lives under Settings, reached from the user menu at the top right.
Settings › Connections
One connection is defined: golonex-db-01 (SSH, recorded). Open it and the parameters explain how a gateway works:
| Parameter | Value here | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol | SSH | the same screen could carry RDP or VNC |
| Hostname / port | target-db01 : 2222 | an internal address — the server is not reachable from outside |
| Username | golonex-ops | the account on the target |
| Password | stored in the connection | the user never learns it — credential injection |
| Recording path | /recordings | where sessions are written |
| Record keys | enabled | keystrokes are captured, not just the screen |
That fourth row is the governance idea: the gateway holds the secret, so access can be withdrawn by removing a connection rather than rotating a password everyone knows.
Settings › Users and Groups
Where gateway accounts and their permissions live — who may see which connection, and who may administer. In this lab you work as guacadmin; in production these would be separated.
Recordings and history
Settings › Session recording (and the connection history) lets you list past sessions and play them back, the same accountability Teleport provides by a different route.
Using a session
Launching a connection gives you a terminal in the browser. The Guacamole menu (Ctrl+Alt+Shift) exposes the clipboard, zoom and disconnect — useful, and also a reminder that a gateway sits in the middle of the session and can control what passes through it.
Try this
- Connect, run a few commands, disconnect, then replay the recording.
- Note that you were never told the server's password — and could not tell anyone else.