Using KCM with a PostgreSQL Database

Instructions for integrating Keeper Connection Manager and Guacamole with PostgreSQL

This documentation assumes that you already have access to a PostgreSQL server or hosted PostgreSQL database, and that Guacamole has already been installed using Keeper Connection Manager. If you do not already a PostgreSQL server ready, please set up a PostgreSQL instance before proceeding. If you do not already have Guacamole installed, please see the installation instructions.

Creating and initializing the Guacamole database

If you haven’t already done so, a database specific to Guacamole needs to be created within PostgreSQL. The database can be called anything you like; all that matters is that the database be dedicated to Guacamole, and not shared by different applications:

CREATE DATABASE guacamole_db;

Guacamole will not automatically initialize the database with the required schema. You will need to do this yourself using the SQL scripts provided with the kcm-guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql package, which are located within the /opt/keeper/share/guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql/schema directory:

Filename	Description
001-create-schema.sql	Creates all tables and indexes which are required for the PostgreSQL authentication extension to function.
002-create-admin-user.sql	Creates a default administrative user, “guacadmin”, with password “guacadmin”. These credentials will need to be changed once PostgreSQL authentication is confirmed to be working.

The above scripts must be run in sequence, as it is the first script which actually creates the database schema. The second script, which defines a default administrative user, can only successfully run if the tables created by the first script exist. The simplest way to run both scripts in sequence is to concatenate them:

$ cat /opt/keeper/share/guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql/schema/*.sql | psql -d guacamole_db -f -

Alternatively, the scripts can be run individually, as long as the order is correct:

$ psql -d guacamole_db -f /opt/keeper/share/guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql/schema/001-create-schema.sql
$ psql -d guacamole_db -f /opt/keeper/share/guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql/schema/002-create-admin-user.sql

Connecting Guacamole to PostgreSQL

To execute queries against the database, Guacamole will need its own database user with sufficient privileges. Because Guacamole does not automatically apply or update its own schema, the required privileges are minimal, dealing only with creation and maintenance of data within already-defined tables and indexes:

CREATE USER guacamole_user WITH PASSWORD 'some_password';
GRANT SELECT,INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO guacamole_user;
GRANT SELECT,USAGE ON ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA public TO guacamole_user;

Advanced Linux Install Method

Keeper Connection Manager packages Guacamole’s PostgreSQL support within the kcm-guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql package. This package must be installed before creating Guacamole’s database within PostgreSQL, as it includes the SQL scripts necessary for doing so:

$ sudo yum install kcm-guacamole-auth-jdbc-postgresql

Guacamole’s main configuration file, /etc/guacamole/guacamole.properties, must now be modified to specify the credentials of the PostgreSQL user and to point the PostgreSQL database:

$ sudo vi /etc/guacamole/guacamole.properties

The guacamole.properties file provided with Keeper Connection Manager is organized into sections documented with blocks of comments and example properties. The first section which must be modified is marked “JDBC-1” and defines the TCP connection information for the database in use. Uncomment the postgresql-hostname and postgresql-port properties, modifying their values to point to your PostgreSQL server:

##
## [JDBC-1] Database TCP connection information
##
## The TCP connection details for the PostgreSQL, MySQL / MariaDB, or SQL
## Server database.
##

#mysql-hostname: localhost
#mysql-port:     3306

postgresql-hostname: localhost
postgresql-port:     5432

The “JDBC-2” section, which defines the database name and associated credentials, must also be modified to specify the correct database name, username, and password. These values are given with the postgresql-database, postgresql-username, and postgresql-password properties respectively:

##
## [JDBC-2] Database name and credentials
##
## The name of the database to use, as well as the credentials to use when
## connecting to the database. THESE PROPERTIES ARE REQUIRED if one of the
## database authentication extensions will be used.
##

#mysql-database: guacamole_db
#mysql-username: guacamole_user
#mysql-password: some_password

postgresql-database: guacamole_db
postgresql-username: guacamole_user
postgresql-password: some_password

Guacamole will generally only load new extensions and reread guacamole.properties during the startup process.

Advanced Linux Install Method

$ sudo systemctl restart guacamole

If you do not have a standalone "guacamole" service ...

You will not have a standalone "guacamole" service if you have not deployed Guacamole automatically with the "kcm-guacamole-standalone" package. This will be the case if:

• You have chosen to manually deploy Guacamole under your own install of Apache Tomcat or JBoss, rather than use the provided version of Tomcat.

• You are maintaining a deployment of Glyptodon Enterprise that was originally installed before the 2.5 release (2021-09-16).

You will instead need to manually restart your install of Tomcat:

$ sudo systemctl restart tomcat

If you are using SELinux (the default on both CentOS and RHEL), you must also configure SELinux to allow Tomcat to connect to the database over the network:

$ sudo setsebool -P tomcat_can_network_connect_db 1

If Guacamole is not accessible after the Tomcat service has been restarted, verify that you have indeed configured SELinux to allow Tomcat to connect to the database and check the SELinux audit logs (/var/log/audit/audit.log) for AVC denials.

Updating SELinux is not necessary if using the version of Tomcat bundled with the kcm-guacamole-standalone package.

To make sure everything is working as expected, you should also visit your Guacamole instance with a web browser (most likely at http://HOSTNAME:8080/guacamole/, where “HOSTNAME” is the hostname or IP address of your server). If all is working correctly, you should see a login screen with a username/password prompt, and you will be able to log in using the default account created with the 002-create-admin-user.sql script:

Username:	guacadmin
Password:	guacadmin

Once you have verified that you can log in successfully, you should immediately change the password. While logged into Keeper Connection Manager, you can access the built-in password changing interface by clicking on your username in the upper-right corner of the screen and selecting “Settings”.