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Version: Enterprise (1.2.0)

Windows RDP (Beta)

Beta

Windows RDP access is new in v1.2.0 and marked beta — expect rough edges. Feedback is welcome via the Community issue tracker.

Alongside the terminal-based access WebXTerm has always offered, you can now connect to a Windows machine and get a full desktop session over RDP, streamed to your browser — no local RDP client, no VPN, no inbound RDP port exposed on the machine.

How It Fits the Architecture​

This reuses the same outbound-only vsay-agent tunnel described in Architecture — the agent still only ever dials out to the backend. For a Windows machine, the agent brokers an RDP session over that same tunnel instead of (or alongside) a shell PTY:

Browser  →  WebSocket (wss://)  →  WebXTerm Backend  →  gRPC/mTLS tunnel  →  vsay-agent  →  local RDP (127.0.0.1:3389)

The same JWT validation, RBAC grant check, and audit logging apply to an RDP session as to a terminal session — access is still governed by the machine grant and sudo/non-sudo-equivalent permission level.

Requirements​

  • Windows machine with Remote Desktop enabled locally (the agent connects to the loopback RDP service — no inbound RDP port needs to be opened on the network)
  • vsay-agent for Windows registered and online (see Getting Started)
  • A user account on the Windows machine that the session will run as

Connecting​

  1. Go to the Machines list and find your Windows machine
  2. Click Connect and choose Desktop (RDP) instead of Terminal
  3. The RDP session opens in your browser

Current Limitations (Beta)​

  • Clipboard sync between your browser and the remote desktop is limited
  • Multi-monitor sessions are not yet supported
  • Session recording for RDP sessions is not yet available (terminal session recording is unaffected)

These are expected to be addressed in a future release — track progress on the Roadmap.