Manage your Ubuntu WorkSpaces

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

• Administer your Ubuntu WorkSpaces

• Provide access to those WorkSpaces for users

You can manage Ubuntu WorkSpaces with Group Policy by using ADsys. See the Ubuntu Active Directory integration FAQ for more information. You can also use other configuration and management solutions, such as Landscape and Ansible.

Control WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP) behavior on Ubuntu WorkSpaces

The behavior of WSP is controlled by configuration settings in the wsp.conf file, which is located in the /etc/wsp/ directory. To deploy and enforce changes to the policy, use a configuration management solution that supports Ubuntu. Any changes take effect when the agent starts up.

Note

If you make incorrect or unsupported changes to the wsp.conf policies may not be applied to the new established connections to your WorkSpace.

The following sections describe how to enable or disable certain features.

Enable or disable clipboard redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

By default, WorkSpaces supports clipboard redirection. Use the WSP configuration file to disable this feature, if needed.

To enable or disable clipboard redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

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

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

2. Add the following line to the end of the [policies] group.

   clipboard = X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   enabled — Clipboard redirection is enabled in both directions (default)

   disabled — Clipboard redirection is disabled in both directions

   paste-only — Clipboard redirection is enabled and only allows you to copy contents from the local client device and paste it to the remote host desktop

   copy-only — Clipboard redirection is enabled and only allows you to copy contents from the remote host desktop and paste it to the local client device

Enable or disable audio-in redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

By default, WorkSpaces supports audio-in redirection. Use the WSP configuration file to disable this feature, if needed.

To enable or disable audio-in redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

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

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

2. Add the following line to the end of the [policies] group.

   audio-in = X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   enabled — Audio-in redirection is enabled (default)

   disabled — Audio-in redirection is disabled

Enable or disable video-in redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

By default, WorkSpaces supports video-in redirection. Use the WSP configuration file to disable this feature, if needed.

To enable or disable video-in redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

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

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

2. Add the following line to the end of the [policies] group.

   video-in = X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   enabled — Video-in redirection is enabled (default)

   disabled — Video-in redirection is disabled

Enable or disable printer redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

By default, WorkSpaces supports printer redirection. Use the WSP configuration file to disable this feature, if needed.

To enable or disable printer redirection for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

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

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

2. Add the following line to the end of the [policies] group.

   remote-printing = X

   Where the possible values for X are:

   enabled — Printer redirection is enabled (default)

   disabled — Printer redirection is disabled

Grant SSH access to Ubuntu WorkSpaces administrators

By default, only assigned users and accounts in the Domain Admins group can connect to Ubuntu WorkSpaces by using SSH. To enable other users and accounts to connect to Ubuntu WorkSpaces using SSH, we recommend that you create a dedicated administrators group for your Ubuntu 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.

   
   [username@workspace-id ~]$ sudo visudo
                   

2. Add the following line.

   
   %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.

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

2. Add the following line.

   
   +:(Linux_WorkSpaces_Admins):ALL 
                   

With Ubuntu WorkSpaces you do not need to add a domain name when specifying username for SSH connection, and by default, password authentication is disabled. To connect via SSH, you needs to either add your SSH public key to $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys on your Ubuntu WorkSpace, or edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config to set PasswordAuthentication to yes. For more information about enabling SSH connections, see Enable SSH connections for your Linux WorkSpaces.

Override the default shell for Ubuntu WorkSpaces

To override the default shell for Ubuntu 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.