Supported Operating Systems:

The recommended method to install Keeper Connection Manager is via the automated docker install. This removes any operating system, system pre-requisites and other requirements. If the underlying system supports a current version of Docker, the container is fully supported.

Supported KCM Versions:

• Glyptodon 1.x - Full support for 2 years after any major release

• Glyptodon 2.x - Full support for 2 years after any major release

• Keeper Connection Manager 2.x - Full support for 2 years after any major release

Minimum system specs for production deployment:

Minimum host recommendations:

For anything over 200 concurrent sessions, we have several options, and it may be best to talk through this with our sales engineering team to find the right solution based on your needs and connection types.

Disk space requirements

A single session recording can vary based on the content being shown. This is affected by the type of connection. GUIs typically have higher recording sizes versus CLI connections like SSH, which can be quite small.

Network throughput for concurrent connections

Network throughput also varies based on activity, type of session and connection settings. From actual examples, we've found that for a system running about 100 concurrent sessions, network traffic varies between 9Mbit/s and 15Mbit/s for all 100 connections. Each connection would be on average 1/100th of the 15Mbit value.

In the same above scenario with 100 connections, we would expect about 15gb total traffic per hour on the network adaptor. Comparing inbound and outbound traffic, just over 90% of the traffic is outbound from the server to the clients.

Keeper Connection Manager is installed as a gateway in your cloud, virtual or on-prem environment. There are several methods of deployment, and installation only takes a few minutes.

Install Methods

For Auto Docker Install method, we support any version of Linux.

For Docker Compose Install, Keeper Connection Manager will run on any platform that supports Docker or Docker Desktop, including all versions of Windows and Linux.

Customers who directly installed via Linux RPMs can refer to our advanced linux install docs.

Configure DNS

In a production deployment, select a domain name to access the endpoint, e.g. kcm.company.com and create a new DNS record to map it to your server's public IP. You will be prompted to enter the domain name during the installation.

Ensure that the DNS record maps to your server's public IP address, or an IP that is internally available to your end-users over HTTPS port 443.

Decide on Let's Encrypt or Existing Cert

Keeper Connection Manager requires an SSL certificate for installation. Decide before starting installation if you want to use Let'sEncrypt, or if you have your own certificate file and private key.

LetsEncrypt is a certificate authority that is free, automated, open, and is also the world's largest CA. During installation using the Auto Docker Install method, Keeper Connection Manager will provide an option to utilize LetsEncrypt (option 1), which will generate a 3-month trusted certificate for your domain.

However, if you would like to use your own certificate obtained by a different CA, you can do so by choosing (option 2) during the installation prompt.

If you would like to use your own certificate, Keeper Connection Manager installation will prompt you to enter the full path and file name first for your .crt file, and next for your .pem file. Make sure to transfer these files to your server before beginning installation.

Select an Install Method

Keeper Connection Manager can be installed using one of the following methods.

Option 1: Auto Docker Install

An automated installer script is available for Linux which performs several of the Docker setup steps, such as generating a Docker Compose file, setting up SSL certificates and other options.

Go to: Installation Instructions for Auto Docker Install

This method is recommended for users who are new to Docker and prefer Linux.

Option 2: Docker Compose Install

This advanced and customized Docker install for Keeper Connection Manager provides the Docker Compose file to deploy in any Docker environment with support for additional packages such as SSO, LDAP, TOTP and more.

Go to: Installation Instructions for Docker Compose Install

This method is required for Windows and recommended for users who are familiar with Docker.

Starting with Keeper Connection Manager version 2.19, customers are required to obtain a license key from Keeper in order to continue the use of the application.

Obtaining a License Key

To obtain a license key, please contact Keeper Support directly at: https://www.keepersecurity.com/support.html

Upon request, Keeper staff will generate and send a copy of your license key.

To install your license key, follow the steps below:

New Customers

During the installation process, you will be prompted to input the license key.

Existing Customers

If using the Auto Docker Install or Docker Compose Install method, simply update the keeper/guacamole container definition with the license as the value of the KCM_LICENSE environment variable.

Example:

    guacamole:
        image: keeper/guacamole:2
        restart: unless-stopped
        environment:
            ACCEPT_EULA: "Y"
            .
            .
            .
            KCM_LICENSE: "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
        volumes:
            - "common-storage:/var/lib/guacamole:rw"

• (Optional) If the license will be present within a file in your container, you may alternatively use the KCM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable to point to that file.

• (Optional) If using the RPM packages, you must provide the license as the sole contents of /etc/guacamole/kcm.license, which must be readable by the guacamole group.

After adding the license key, restarting the container is necessary. If using the Auto Docker Install method, simply run:

sudo ./kcm-setup.run apply

Preparing for Installation

Keeper Connection Manager will serve your secure "jumpbox" and you'll use your web browser to access it. First, choose a URL that you'd like to use for accessing KCM.

You'll need the following:

1. A designated machine (usually a Linux VM) with a static IP address 2. Choose a fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) 3. Your DNS record set to point your FQDN to the IP of your designated machine 4. An SSL certificate

No cert? Don't worry, you can:

1. Start by choosing "use a self-signed certificate" (for testing)

2. Choose "Let's Encrypt" to generate a 90 day auto-renewing cert (requires 80 and 443 open)

3. Bring your own cert during setup or add it in later using the reconfigure command

You can either bring your own SSL certificate, or you can generate one during the installation by choosing the option for Let's Encrypt. If planning to use Let's Encrypt, make sure that ports 80 and 443 are open to the internet during the installation.

To prepare for installation:

1. Create/Identify and establish root access to the server that will run the Keeper Connection Manager gateway

2. Decide if you want your KCM gateway to be public-facing (assign public IP), or internal-only (assign private IP)

3. Add internal/external DNS A Record (or AAAA record) to point your domain to your KCM server's IP address

4. Make sure that ports 80 and 443 are open to the public if you plan to use Let's Encrypt.

Check your firewall to make sure that traffic can flow between your server and Docker. Some domains that it will need to reach include docker.com, docker.io and others.

Platform-specific Setup

Virtual Machines

To check your that your linux system's entropy level is at least 1000, use the command:

$ cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail

To increase the speed of entropy generation, you can install the haveged service to ensure that the environment can efficiently create secure random numbers.

sudo yum install haveged
sudo systemctl start haveged
sudo systemctl enable haveged

sudo apt-get install haveged

sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install haveged
sudo systemctl start haveged
sudo systemctl enable haveged

RHEL / Rocky Linux 8 (and derivatives)

If Podman is installed, you must run the following two commands before installation:

sudo yum remove containerd
sudo yum remove runc

What is Keeper Connection Manager On-Prem?

Keeper Connection Manager (KCM) On-Prem is an agentless remote desktop gateway that provides instant and secure access to desktops, servers, databases and web applications from a web browser.

Benefits of the KCM On-Prem platform:

• Self-hosted

• Agentless

• Lightning Fast and Responsive

• Simple Access Controls

• Customizable

Features include:

• Support for RDP, SSH, VNC, K8s remote access protocols

• Support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server database protocols

• Support for web application protection through Remote Browser Isolation technology

• Session Recording and playback

• Privileged Session Management

• Multi-User Session Sharing

• Role-Based Access Controls

• MFA Options: TOTP, Duo

• PIV/CAC smart card authentication

• SSO, OpenID Connect, Active Directory, LDAP Integration

• Custom Branding

Video Overview

System Diagram

Keeper is typically deployed as a Docker container. The system architecture diagram is below.

Apache Guacamole

Keeper Connection Manager is the commercially-supported solution produced by the original creators of Apache Guacamole, the open source platform used by millions of people for accessing remote desktops. Keeper Connection Manager is built on top of the Guacamole gateway, with expanded capabilities, advanced integrations and ongoing feature development. Glyptodon was Acquired by Keeper Security in December 2021.

Getting Started

Ready to get started with Keeper Connection Manager? Proceed to the installation instructions.