rustguac

A lightweight Rust replacement for the Apache Guacamole Java webapp. Browser-based SSH, RDP, VNC, SPICE, Proxmox VE consoles, web browsing, and VDI desktop containers through guacd.

No Java. No Tomcat. Single binary + guacd.

Architecture

Browser (HTML/JS)
|
| WebSocket over HTTPS
v
rustguac (Rust, axum)
|
| TLS (Guacamole protocol)
v
guacd (C, from guacamole-server)
|
+---> SSH server
+---> RDP server
+---> VNC server
+---> SPICE server (libvirt/QEMU displays)
+---> Proxmox VE VM console (SPICE via the PVE spiceproxy API)
+---> Xvnc + Chromium (web browser sessions)
+---> Docker container + xrdp (VDI desktop sessions)

Features

Session types

Type	Description
SSH	Browser-based terminal with password, private key, or ephemeral keypair auth. SFTP file transfer.
RDP	Windows/Linux RDP with auto-fit resize, Kerberos NLA, RemoteApp/RAIL, H.264 passthrough, GFX pipeline.
VNC	Connect to any VNC server (KVM/IPMI consoles, remote desktops, VM displays).
SPICE	Direct SPICE displays (libvirt/QEMU consoles) with TLS, CA verification, certificate-subject pinning, and SPICE-proxy support.
Proxmox VE	VM consoles brokered through the Proxmox API. One-time SPICE tickets fetched just-in-time at connect (only the API token is stored), node auto-detected from the VM ID, and SSH-tunnel aware.
Web	Headless Chromium on Xvnc with native autofill, domain allowlisting, login script automation.
VDI	Ephemeral Docker desktop containers per user. Persist after disconnect, auto-cleanup on idle.

Security & authentication

• OIDC single sign-on: Authentik, Google, Okta, Keycloak, or any OpenID Connect provider
• 4-tier role system: admin, poweruser, operator, viewer with OIDC group mapping
• API key auth: SHA-256 hashed keys with IP allowlists and expiry
• Vault-backed connections: credentials in HashiCorp Vault or OpenBao KV v2, never reach the browser (see Requirements)
• TLS everywhere: HTTPS for clients, TLS between rustguac and guacd
• CIDR allowlists: per-protocol network restrictions for session targets
• Per-entry clipboard control: disable copy and/or paste for data loss prevention
• Rate limiting: per-IP, per-endpoint via tower_governor
• Session recording: Guacamole format with playback UI, disk rotation, per-entry limits

Connectivity

• Multi-hop SSH tunnels: chain jump hosts/bastions to reach isolated networks (all session types, including the Proxmox API and console hops)
• Session sharing: share tokens for read-only or collaborative access
• Headless API integration: create a session over the REST API and hand a browser a ready-to-open URL via a single-use WebSocket ticket, with no OIDC login and no API key in the browser (see Connecting to a session)
• Encrypted file transfer: LUKS-encrypted per-session drive storage (RDP), SFTP (SSH)
• Credential variables: shared credentials across connections entries

VDI desktop containers

• Docker-based: one container per user, deterministic naming, BYO image
• Persist after disconnect: reconnect to the same desktop within idle timeout
• Logout detection: desktop logout stops the container, tab close preserves it
• Session thumbnails: live preview in the connections, click to reconnect
• Persistent home directories: bind-mounted user data survives container restarts
• Per-entry resource limits: CPU, memory, idle timeout per connections entry
• VdiDriver trait: extensible for downstream forks (Nomad, Proxmox, cloud)

UI

• Connections with folder-based organisation and OIDC group access control
• Active Sessions section with live thumbnail previews
• Session ended overlay with Reconnect/Close buttons
• Clipboard panel controls (Home + Fullscreen)
• 8 built-in themes with CSS gradient backgrounds, or configure your own
• Reports page with session analytics, history, and CSV export

Requirements

Component	Status	Notes
guacd	Bundled	Built from apache/guacamole-server, ships in the .deb and Docker image. No separate install.
Vault or OpenBao	Required for the Connections UI	Stores connection entries and credentials server-side. Without it the Connections page is unavailable and users can only run ad-hoc sessions via the API. Use contrib/vault-quickstart.sh for one-command setup (auto-detects vault or bao, supports --dev and --local modes).
OIDC provider	Optional	For SSO. API-key auth works on its own. Authentik/Google/Okta/Keycloak/JumpCloud all tested.
Docker	Optional	Only needed for VDI desktop containers.

Supported browsers

The client runs in any modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Chromium, Brave). One caveat applies only to H.264-accelerated RDP, which is opt-in per connection (the per-entry H.264 toggle, off by default):

• Standard connections (SSH, RDP, VNC, web sessions, VDI) work in every modern browser.
• H.264-accelerated connections need a browser that can decode H.264 through the WebCodecs API. Chrome and Firefox work. Open-source Chromium and Brave builds without the bundled H.264 codec, and older Safari, render a blank display on those connections. Leave H.264 off (the default) for universal browser support, or use Chrome or Firefox where it is enabled.

Quick start

Debian 13 (.deb)

Pre-built packages for amd64 and arm64 are available from Releases:

sudo apt install ./rustguac_*.deb
/opt/rustguac/bin/rustguac --config /opt/rustguac/config.toml add-admin --name admin
sudo systemctl enable --now rustguac

Docker

docker pull sol1/rustguac:latest
docker run -d -p 8089:8089 sol1/rustguac:latest

For VDI support, mount the Docker socket:

docker run -d -p 8089:8089 \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
--group-add $(getent group docker | cut -d: -f3) \
sol1/rustguac:latest

Other distributions

Pre-built packages are provided for Debian 13. For other distributions, build from source:

sudo ./install.sh

See the Installation guide for full details including Docker Compose, TLS setup, and development builds.

VDI setup

VDI requires Docker on the host:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker rustguac
sudo systemctl restart rustguac

Add [vdi] to your config and create a VDI entry in the connections. See VDI Desktop Containers for image requirements and configuration.

Documentation

Getting started

• Installation: Debian packages, Docker, bare-metal, development builds
• Configuration: TOML config reference with all sections
• Deployment Guide: step-by-step production setup

Features

• Roles & Access Control: OIDC, roles, group mappings, API tokens
• Web Browser Sessions: autofill, domain allowlisting, login scripts
• VDI Desktop Containers: Docker desktops, image requirements, persistent homes
• RDP Video Performance: H.264 passthrough, GFX pipeline, xrdp tuning
• Credential Variables: shared credentials across entries
• Reports: session analytics, history, CSV export

Integration & reference

• Integrations: Vault, LUKS drives, SSH tunnels, Kerberos, HAProxy, Knocknoc
• NetBox: connections sync via custom fields and webhooks
• Security: TLS, rate limiting, headers, audit logging, hardening
• API Reference: REST API endpoints, the session connection flow, and headless ws-ticket integration
• Migration from Apache Guacamole: MySQL/MariaDB to Vault

Commercial support

Commercial support for rustguac is available from Sol1.

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.