Manage your Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

As with Windows WorkSpaces, Amazon Linux WorkSpaces are domain joined, so you can use Active Directory Users and Groups to:

• Administer your Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

• Provide access to those WorkSpaces for users

Because Linux instances do not adhere to Group Policy, we recommend that you use a configuration management solution to distribute and enforce policy. For example, you can use AWS OpsWorks for Chef Automate, AWS OpsWorks for Puppet Enterprise, or Ansible.

Note

Linux WorkSpaces on WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP) bundles are available only in the AWS GovCloud (US-West) Region at this time.

Linux WorkSpaces on WSP currently have the following limitations:

• Video-in and time zone redirection aren't supported.

• Multiple monitors aren't supported.

• You must use the WorkSpaces Windows client application to connect to Linux WorkSpaces on WSP.

Control PCoIP Agent behavior on Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

The behavior of the PCoIP Agent is controlled by configuration settings in the pcoip-agent.conf file, which is located in the /etc/pcoip-agent/ directory. To deploy and enforce changes to the policy, use a configuration management solution that supports Amazon Linux. Any changes take effect when the agent starts up. Restarting the agent ends any open connections and restarts the window manager. To apply any changes, we recommend rebooting the WorkSpace.

Note

If you make incorrect or unsupported changes to the pcoip-agent.conf file, you might cause your WorkSpace to stop working. If your WorkSpace stops working, you might need to either connect to your WorkSpace using SSH to roll back the changes, or you might have to rebuild the WorkSpace.

The following sections describe how to enable or disable certain features. For a full listing of the available settings, run man pcoip-agent.conf from the terminal on any Amazon Linux WorkSpace.

Note

Local printer redirection is not available for Linux WorkSpaces.

Enable or disable clipboard redirection for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

By default, WorkSpaces supports clipboard redirection. Use the PCoIP Agent conf to disable this feature, if needed. This setting takes effect when you reboot the WorkSpace.

Note

Clipboard redirection is not currently supported on Linux WorkSpaces using WSP.

To enable or disable clipboard redirection for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

1. Open the pcoip-agent.conf file in an editor with elevated rights by using the following command.

   [domain\username@workspace-id ~]$ sudo vi /etc/pcoip-agent/pcoip-agent.conf

2. Add the following line to the end of the file.

   pcoip.server_clipboard_state = X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   0 — Disabled in both directions

   1 — Enabled in both directions

   2 — Enabled client to agent only (allow copy and paste only from local client device to the remote host desktop)

   3 — Enabled agent to client only (allow copy and paste only from the remote host desktop to the local client device)

Note

Clipboard redirection is implemented as a virtual channel. If virtual channels are disabled, clipboard redirection doesn't work. To enable virtual channels, see PCoIP Virtual Channels in the Teradici documentation.

Enable or disable audio-in redirection for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

By default, WorkSpaces supports audio-in redirection. Use the PCoIP Agent conf to disable this feature, if needed. This setting takes effect when you reboot the WorkSpace.

Note

Audio-in redirection is not currently supported on Linux WorkSpaces using WSP.

To enable or disable audio-in redirection for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

1. Open the pcoip-agent.conf file in an editor with elevated rights by using the following command.

   [domain\username@workspace-id ~]$ sudo vi /etc/pcoip-agent/pcoip-agent.conf

2. Add the following line to the end of the file.

   pcoip.enable_audio = X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   0 — Disabled

   1 — Enabled

Enable or disable time zone redirection for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

By default, the time within a Workspace is set to mirror the time zone of the client that is being used to connect to the WorkSpace. This behavior is controlled through time zone redirection. You might want to turn off time zone direction for various reasons:

• Your company wants all employees to work in a certain time zone (even if some employees are in other time zones).

• You have scheduled tasks in a WorkSpace that are meant to run at a certain time in a specific time zone.

• Your users who travel a lot want to keep their WorkSpaces in one time zone for consistency and personal preference.

If needed for Linux WorkSpaces, you can use the PCoIP Agent conf to disable this feature. This setting takes effect when you reboot the WorkSpace.

Note

Time zone redirection is not currently supported on Linux WorkSpaces using WSP.

To enable or disable time zone redirection for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

1. Open the pcoip-agent.conf file in an editor with elevated rights by using the following command.

   [domain\username@workspace-id ~]$ sudo vi /etc/pcoip-agent/pcoip-agent.conf

2. Add the following line to the end of the file.

   pcoip.enable_timezone_redirect= X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   0 — Disabled

   1 — Enabled

Grant SSH access to Amazon Linux WorkSpaces administrators

By default, only assigned users and accounts in the Domain Admins group can connect to Amazon Linux WorkSpaces by using SSH.

We recommend that you create a dedicated administrators group for your Amazon Linux WorkSpaces administrators in Active Directory.

To enable sudo access for members of the Linux_Workspaces_Admins Active Directory group

1. Edit the sudoers file by using visudo, as shown in the following example.

   [example\username@workspace-id ~]$ sudo visudo

2. Add the following line.

   %example.com\\Linux_WorkSpaces_Admins ALL=(ALL) ALL 

After you create the dedicated administrators group, follow these steps to enable login for members of the group.

To enable login for members of the Linux_WorkSpaces_Admins Active Directory group

1. Edit /etc/security/access.conf with elevated rights.

   [example\username@workspace-id ~]$ sudo vi /etc/security/access.conf

2. Add the following line.

   +:(example\Linux_WorkSpaces_Admins):ALL 

For more information about enabling SSH connections, see Enable SSH connections for your Linux WorkSpaces.

Override the default shell for Amazon Linux WorkSpaces

To override the default shell for Linux WorkSpaces, we recommend that you edit the user's ~/.bashrc file. For example, to use Z shell instead of Bash shell, add the following lines to /home/username/.bashrc.

export SHELL=$(which zsh)
[ -n "$SSH_TTY" ] && exec $SHELL

Note

After making this change, you must either reboot the WorkSpace or log out of the WorkSpace (not just disconnect) and then log back in for the change to take effect.

Protect custom repositories from unauthorized access

To control access to your custom repositories, we recommend using the security features built into Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) rather than using passwords. For example, use network access control lists (ACLs) and security groups. For more information about these features, see Security in the Amazon VPC User Guide.

If you must use passwords to protect your repositories, be sure to create your yum repository definition files as shown in Repository Definition Files in the Fedora documentation.

Use the Amazon Linux Extras Library repository

With Amazon Linux, you can use the Extras Library to install application and software updates on your instances. For information about using the Extras Library, see Extras Library (Amazon Linux) in the Amazon EC2 User Guide for Linux Instances.

Note

If you are using the Amazon Linux repository, your Amazon Linux WorkSpaces must have internet access, or you must configure virtual private cloud (VPC) endpoints to this repository and to the main Amazon Linux repository. For more information, see Provide internet access from your WorkSpace.

Use smart cards for authentication on Linux WorkSpaces

Linux WorkSpaces on WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP) bundles allow the use of Common Access Card (CAC) and Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart cards for authentication. For more information, see Use smart cards for authentication.