Table of Contents

Introduction

1. NoMachine Enterprise Desktop - Installation and Configuration Guide

1.1. About This Guide

How to set-up the Enterprise Desktop

2. Install the Enterprise Desktop

2.1. Prerequisites

2.2. Windows Installations

2.3. Mac Installations

2.4. Linux Installations

2.5. RPM Packages

2.6. DEB Packages

2.7. TAR.GZ Packages

2.8. Installing Without Starting NoMachine Services Automatically

2.9. Installing the License (for Customers)

Connect to the Enterprise Desktop

3. Initiating a NoMachine Connection (end-user's side)

3.1. Connecting by Browsers Via Enterprise Desktop Web Tools

3.2. Connecting by NoMachine Client

3.3. Preventing Users from Storing Credentials

Configurations and Optimizations

4. Configuring NoMachine Enterprise Desktop

4.1. Configuring Web Sessions

4.2. Managing Enterprise Desktop Web Services

4.3. Using an Alternative Apache Web Server

4.4. Web Optimizations: Using WebRTC (Real-Time Web Communication)

5. Compression Techniques and Optimizations

5.1. Video Streaming Encoding in Web Sessions

5.2. Video Streaming Encoding in Client Sessions

Enterprise Desktop Administration

6. Enterprise Desktop Configuration

6.1. Configuration Files

7. Services Management

7.1. Disabling Access to the Desktop ('Desktop shared/Desktop not shared')

7.2. Stopping and Starting Server (nxserver) and Services

7.3. Stopping and Starting nxd, nxhtd and nxsshd

7.4. Local and Network Ports

7.5. Hiding the NoMachine Monitor and Notification Messages

7.6. Hiding the Whiteboard and Chat Tools

7.7. Handling with Discovering of this Server on LAN

8. Notifications to Users

8.1. Whiteboard and Custom Notifications

9. Supported Connection Protocols and Authentication Methods

9.1. Defining Protocol in Server Configuration

9.2. Locking Down the Accepted Authentication Methods

9.3. Changing Port for the NX Protocol

9.4. Changing Port for the SSH Protocol

9.5. Connecting to a Server Behind a NAT Router (UPnP Port Mapping)

9.6. Using NoMachine DBs for Managing User Access

10. Users Management

10.1. Managing Users

10.2. Connecting with a Privileged System Account

10.3. Managing Desktop Owner's Authorization (Trusted User)

10.4. Guest Users

11. Session Management

11.1. Monitoring Sessions

11.2. Managing Sessions

11.3. Executing Custom Scripts on Server/Node Events

12. Connections to the Remote Desktop and Collaborative Sessions

12.1. Blanking the Remote Screen and Auto Lock Upon Disconnecting

12.2. Configuring Interactive or View-only Mode

12.3. Forcing a System Logout Upon Session Disconnection

13. Device Sharing, Copy&Paste and File Transfer

13.1. Connecting Devices

13.2. Disks

13.3. Printers

13.4. USB Devices

13.5. Network Ports

13.6. Smartcard Readers

13.7. Copy and Paste Operations

13.8. Transferring Files

14. Multimedia and Session Recording

14.1. Supporting Audio and Microphone

14.2. Recording the Screen

14.3. Automatic Screen Recording

15. Automatic Updates

16. Logging Facilities

Federating the Enterprise Desktop Under a Cloud Server

17. Setting-up a Centralized Access to Multiple Enterprise Desktop Servers

Introduction 1. NoMachine Enterprise Desktop Installation and Configuration Guide Welcome to the NoMachine Enterprise Desktop - Installation and Configuration Guide v. 7. What is NoMachine Enterprise Desktop for? NoMachine Enterprise Desktop is a standalone server that provides unlimited concurrent accesses to the physical desktop of its host. Designed for work sharing sessions and real-time collaboration, remote teaching or assistance, it can be configured for full interaction with the desktop or view-only mode. Available for Linux, Mac and Windows, the Enterprise Desktop accepts connections via a browser (thanks to its built-in web server) or via NoMachine client. Additionally, it can also be federated under a Cloud Server. This solution is suitable to centralize the access to multiple NoMachine servers distributed across the world or to provide for example employees access to the corporate network with the Cloud Server in a DMZ or behind a NAT. A Graphical Interface The NoMachine Enterprise Desktop server package includes a User Interface (UI) for administering the server and its services (Server settings). Most common operations detailed in this guide can be performed by the NoMachine UI and the Server settings panel running on the local installation of the server. More details about the Server UI can be found in the dedicated guide available in the Documents section at: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents The Enterprise Desktop comes also with a client UI for running sessions and connecting to other remote desktops. The server is fully operative once installed Installation is conceived to provide a fully operative NoMachine server with a default configuration suitable for the greatest part of environments. All the necessary services are automatically started. A standalone server NoMachine Enterprise Desktop, available for Linux, Windows and Mac, supports multiple concurrent connections to the physical desktop (sharing of the desktop) of its host machine. Number of users is not limited. NoMachine Enterprise Desktop is a single server (standalone server), to all effects. A federated server NoMachine Enterprise Desktop can be also federated under a Cloud Server v. 7 which provides a single point of access to multiple server subsystems. In this case, it's possible configuring the Enterprise Desktop to not accept direct connections. For more specific instructions about federating the Enterprise Desktop and creating a multi-server setup, refer to the Cloud Server administrative's guide available in the 'Installation' section at https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents. 1.1. About This Guide Document Conventions and Important Notices The following conventions are used in this guide: BaseDirectory is the base directory where the NoMachine binaries and libraries are installed. By default, BaseDirectory is: /usr on Linux, C:\Program Files\ on Windows and /Applications on Mac. InstallationDirectory is: BaseDirectory/NX on Linux, BaseDirectory/NoMachine on Windows and BaseDirectory/NoMachine.app on Mac. The command line interface NoMachine server and node programs have a command line interface to execute operations. You need to be a privileged system user to access all these functionalities. These commands can be run from an xterm or similar on Linux and Mac using the sudo utility or as root. On Windows they can be run from a command prompt (cmd.exe) executed as administrator. On Linux and Mac, invoke the 'nxserver' and 'nxnode' programs from /etc/NX, for example: $ /etc/NX/nxserver --help $ /etc/NX/nxnode --help on Windows: move to the 'NoMachine' installation directory, by default it's under C:\'Program files (x86)' on 64bit systems and 'C:\Program file' on 32bits machines and go to the 'bin' subdirectory. E.g.: > cd C:\PROGRA~1 C:\Program Files (x86)> cd NoMachine\bin C:\Program Files (x86)\NoMachine\bin>nxserver --help C:\Program Files (x86)\NoMachine\bin>nxnode --help The 'nxserver --help' and 'nxnode --help' display the list of all the available commands and options and their description. Online Resources Visit the NoMachine Support Area to access a variety of online resources included the NoMachine Forums, tutorials and FAQs: https://www.nomachine.com/support Find a list of all documents and tutorials for v. 7: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents Use the Knowledge Base search engine to access articles, FAQs and self-help information: https://kb.nomachine.com Leave Feedback About This Guide Our goal is to provide comprehensive and clear documentation for all NoMachine products. If you would like to send us your comments and suggestions, you can use the contact tool available at https://www.nomachine.com/contact-request, selecting Web Quality Feedback as your option. 2. Install the Enterprise Desktop In order to facilitate users to have a working NoMachine setup immediately after the installation and without the need for further operations, the installation procedure takes care of starting automatically all the required services, included the built-in Apache-based web server nxhtd. The nxhtd service as well as the Apache web server, to work in all possible environments is configured to listen on all interfaces (0.0.0.0). In some corporate network configurations this can lead to open ports on unintended interfaces, which can have an impact on the security level established by company strict policies. In this case administrators should install the NoMachine server package with the appropriate option to not start services automatically, see the related paragraph 2.8. in this guide. Then they need to change the configuration of nxhtd as explained here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR01R01070. 2.1. Install the Enterprise Desktop Supported Operating Systems Windows 32-bit/64-bit XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 Windows Server 2008/2012/2016/2019 Mac OS X Intel 64-bit 10.7 to 10.15 Linux 32-bit and 64-bit RHEL 4 to RHEL 8 SLED 10 to SLED 15 SLES 10 to SLES 15 openSUSE 10.x to openSUSE 15.x Mandriva 2009 to Mandriva 2011 Fedora 10 to Fedora 31 Debian 4.0 to Debian 10 Ubuntu 8.04 to Ubuntu 20.04 Raspberry Pi 2/3/4 ARMv6/ARMv7/ARMv8 Hardware requirements Intel Core2 Duo or AMD Athlon Dual-Core or equivalent 1 GB RAM Network connection (either a LAN, or Internet link: broadband, cable, DSL, etc...) Size required on disk: Windows 210 MB Linux 195 MB Mac 180 MB ARMv6 175 MB ARMv7 165 MB ARMv8 185 MB Software requirements A desktop environment must already be installed. This applies also to headless Linux machines. Connections by the web and by NoMachine clients are supported. Compatibility with older versions Even if it's advisable to upgrade client installations to the same version 7 of the Enterprise Desktop, compatibility with clients v. 6 and 5 is preserved. Note also that when the Enterprise Desktop works as a federated server, NoMachine Cloud Server v. 7 requires a client v. 7 or 6. 2.2. Windows Installations INSTALL Download the package for Windows from the NoMachine web site and install it by double-clicking on the icon of the executable: a setup wizard will take you through the installation. Accept to reboot the machine, this is mandatory for completing the installation. If you own a customer license we recommend to download the package from your Customer Area: https://www.nomachine.com/support#login. TIP To install the package in silent or very silent mode from a CMD console, run respectively: >nomachine-packageName_packageVersion.exe /silent or: >nomachine-packageName_packageVersion.exe /verysilent Then reboot the machine: >SHUTDOWN -r -t 10 -c " your comments here" To specify a non-default installation directory, use: >nomachine-packageName_packageVersion.exe /SILENT /DIR="X:Target_directory" or: >nomachine-packageName_packageVersion.exe /VERYSILENT /DIR="X:Target_directory" Note for Windows XP: the NoMachine server will not start until the machine is rebooted. UPDATE The update procedure for server and node installations requires to stop all NoMachine services in order to correctly replace libraries and binaries. This implies that the Enterprise Desktop is not accessible to users during the update procedure. Current sessions will be terminated, users will be able to connect again later. There are two ways to update your current installation: I Automatic updates You can update your installation from our repositories. Just run the NoMachine UI from your Programs Menu and open the Server -> Settings -> Updates panel and click on the 'Check now' button. NoMachine has the automatic check for updates enabled: it will check by default our repositories every two days to verify if updates are available. In this case, the server will prompt a dialog informing that a new version is available but it will never automatically update the current installation. Checking for updates can be disabled from that dialog by selecting the 'Don't ask again for this version' option or in the Updates panel by unchecking the 'Automatically check for updates' option. You can find detailed instructions for configuring the Automatic Updates in a separate document available at: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents . II Update with NoMachine packages Alternatively, download the latest available package from the NoMachine web site and click on the executable file to launch Setup. As for the installation, Setup will guide you through all steps necessary for updating your installation. If you own a customer license we recommend to download the package from your Customer Area: https://www.nomachine.com/support#login. UNINSTALL You can uninstall NoMachine Enterprise Desktop from the Windows Control Panel and the 'Add or Remove Programs' in Windows XP or 'Program and Features' in Windows Vista, 7, 8 or 10. Find the NoMachine program in the list of installed programs and choose to uninstall it. On Windows 8 or later you can use the Search box from the Charms bar on the right side of the screen: type Control Panel to open it. Then access the Programs - 'Uninstall a program' panel. On Windows 7, Vista and XP, click on the Start button and click to open the Control panel from the Start menu. Then access panel 'Programs and Features' or 'Add or Remove Programs', depending on your Windows version. Reboot is requested to complete the uninstalling process. TIP To uninstall from a CMD console, move to C:/ProgramData/NoMachine/var/uninstall/ (if you are on Vista/7/8/10) or to C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/NoMachine/var/uninstall/ (if you are on XP). Then run: > unins000.exe /silent or: > unins000.exe /verysilent Uninstalling is completed when your command prompt is back. Then, your computer will restart automatically.

INSTALL
Download the DMG package from the NoMachine web site. Double-click on the disk Image to open it and see the package icon. Then double-click on the package icon to install the program: the installer will take you through the installation.

If you own a customer license we recommend to download the package from your Customer Area: https://www.nomachine.com/support#login.

TIP

To install from the command line, run:

$ NXMOUNTDIR=$(echo `hdiutil mount nomachine-enterprise-desktop_version.dmg | tail -1 | awk '{$1=$2=""; print $0}'` | xargs -0 echo) $ sudo installer -pkg "${NXMOUNTDIR}/NoMachine.pkg" -target /

UPDATE
The update procedure for server and node installations requires to stop all NoMachine services in order to correctly replace libraries and binaries. This implies that the Enterprise Desktop is not accessible to users during the update procedure. Current sessions will be terminated, users will be able to connect again later.

There are two ways to update your current installation:

UNINSTALL
To uninstall the Enterprise Desktop drag and drop NoMachine from Applications to trash or select 'Move to trash' from the mouse button menu. This will uninstall all the NoMachine software.

TIP

To uninstall from command line, it's enough you remove the NoMachine application directory:

$ sudo rm -rf /Applications/NoMachine.app

Installing for the first time
You can install, update and uninstall using the graphical package manager of your Linux distribution or from command line by running commands from an xterm or similar with the sudo utility, or as root user if you don't have sudo installed. Instructions below refer to installation by command line.

If you own a customer license we recommend to download the package from your Customer Area: https://www.nomachine.com/support#login.

Successive updates
The update procedure for server and node installations requires to stop all NoMachine services in order to correctly replace libraries and binaries. This implies that the Enterprise Desktop is not accessible to users during the update procedure. Current sessions will be terminated, users will be able to connect again later.

There are two ways to update your current installation:

If you want to install to default location, namely /usr/NX/:

INSTALL

UPDATE

UNINSTALL

TIP

For non-default locations, for example /opt/NX:

INSTALL # rpm -ivh <pkgName>_<pkgVersion>_<arch>.rpm --prefix /opt UPDATE # rpm -Uvh <pkgName>_<pkgVersion>_<arch>.rpm --prefix /opt UNINSTALL # rpm -e nomachine-enterprise-desktop

If you want to install to default location, namely /usr/NX/:

INSTALL

UPDATE

UNINSTALL

TIP

For non-default locations, for example /opt/NX:

INSTALL $ sudo NX_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt dpkg -i <pkgName>_<pkgVersion>_<arch>.deb UPDATE $ sudo NX_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt dpkg -i <pkgName>_<pkgVersion>_<arch>.deb UNINSTALL $ sudo dpkg -r nomachine-enterprise-desktop

If you want to install to default location, namely /usr/NX/, ensure that package is placed there.

INSTALL

UPDATE

UNINSTALL

TIP

For non-default locations, for example /opt/NX:

INSTALL $ sudo NX_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt /usr/NX/nxserver --install UPDATE $ sudo NX_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt /usr/NX/nxserver --update UNINSTALL $ sudo /opt/NX/scripts/setup/nxserver --uninstall $ sudo rm -rf /opt/NX

The install procedure automatically starts all the required services without the need of further manual operations. Only in case of Windows it's necessary to reboot the machine to complete the installation and ensure that all the required services are up and running.

It may be necessary in some cases, for example because of Company policies, that NoMachine services are not started automatically during the installation.

TIP

If the configuration of your network requires to restrict or specify on which ports the NoMachine built-in Apache web server should listen, configure nxhtd as explained here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR01R01070 before starting NoMachine services manually!

Disabling the automatic start of services can be done manually by means of the following commands.

Linux
Export the NX_NOSTART=1 variable while installing the package from a terminal with the usual commands:

To start NoMachine services:

Windows
Install the package in silent or very silent mode from a CMD console launched as administrator and specify the /nostart=1 switch:

Rebooting Windows is necessary to complete the installation.

TIP

Rebooting will start the NoMachine services.

macOS
Create the /tmp/NX_NOSTART file before installing the NoMachine DMG package (double click on it). To install from command line:

To start NoMachine services:

Customers' packages
include a temporary (30 days) node.lic and server.lic files for evaluation.
Such license files have to be replaced with the customer's license files acquired from NoMachine. This can be done via the NoMachine UI in Settings -> Server -> Updates panel: click on 'Server subscription' and 'Node subscription' to read the current license file. Click on 'Replace' button to activate a new license file. You will be requeste to log-in with a privileged account (administrator).

TIP

Starting from version 7, the server will cease to work once the license is expired. Please contact your NoMachine provider or the Support Team for renewal options.

To verify from command line that server.lic and node.lic are correctly in place and check their validity, you may run the nxserver/nxnode --subscription and --version commands. On Linux and macOS:

on Windows:

Pre-requisite: you need to have a valid account on the the Enterprise Desktop host, password cannot be empty. Your account can be a local account or a LDAP account or an AD account. NoMachine doesn't check if the source of users' account information is for example LDAP or local account database. Be sure to configure the login in advance.

Once installation is complete, Enterprise Desktop is ready to go.

Point the browser on your device to:

http://SERVER:4080

Where SERVER is either the name or IP address of the Enterprise Desktop host you want to reach.

E.g., if Enterprise Desktop is installed on a host named 'myserver.com', the URL will look like this:

http://myserver.com:4080

Connection will be automatically switched to HTTPS protocol:

https://myserver.com:4443/nxwebplayer

In the login form, provide username and password of your account on the Enterprise Desktop host and connect.

TIPS
I	Auto-reconnection is supported: when the connection is lost for whatever reason (including when browser's computer has entered sleep mode), the NoMachine web application will automatically try to reconnect for as long as the user keeps the web page open. If reconnecting is not possible, then the user will have to reconnect manually.
II	IPv6 is supported: specify the IP address of the server host in IPv6 format (e.g. 2001:0:5ef5:79fb:30c6:1516:3ca1:5695) if you want to use it instead of IPv4.

You can find a step-by-step tutorial for connections by the web in the 'Tutorials' section at: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents

Install NoMachine Enterprise Client on your device. You can use also NoMachine free or whichever other server type, they all provide the client UI for connecting to remote computers.

In the 'Machines' panel you can create a new connection by clicking on 'Add': just provide the IP address of the Enterprise Desktop you want to connect to and port number.

You can find a step-by-step tutorial for connections to NoMachine in the 'Tutorials' section at: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents. The tutorial deals with connections with NoMachine free, but it is suitable also for connections to the Enterprise Desktop. If you're using the Enterprise Client, please see also its Installation and Configuration Guide in the 'Installation' section at the same web page above.

TIPS
I	Auto-reconnection is supported: when the connection is lost for whatever reason (including when the client host has entered sleep mode), the client will automatically try to reconnect for as long as the user keeps the UI open. If reconnecting is not possible, then the user will have to reconnect manually.
II	IPv6 is supported: specify the IP address of the server host in IPv6 format (e.g. 2001:0:5ef5:79fb:30c6:1516:3ca1:5695) if you want to use it instead of IPv4.

To prevent NoMachine users from storing their credentials when connecting to this Enterprise Desktop, use the EnableClientCredentialsStoring key in the server configuration file:
BaseDirectory/NX/etc/server.cfg on Linux
BaseDirectory/NoMachine/etc/server.cfg on Windows
/Applications/NoMachine.app/Contents/Frameworks/etc/server.cfg on Mac

The EnableClientCredentialsStoring accepts any these values:
player Only users connected via NoMachine client are enabled to save username and password in the connection file stored on their devices (computer, tablet etc ...)
webplayer Only users connected via browser can choose to save their access credentials. They are stored in the browser's cookie, given that the user's browser has cookies enabled.
both All users, regardless if connected via NoMachine client or via web, can store their credentials.
none Users cannot save their username and password. They will be requested to provide their log-in credentials at each connection.

For example, to allow only users connecting via NoMachine client to store credentials, set in the server configuration file:
EnableClientCredentialsStoring player

The configuration file for the web player program (which provides the graphical front-end) and the web client program (which manages web sessions) is server.cfg, located in:
BaseDirectory/NX/etc on Linux
BaseDirectory/NoMachine/etc on Windows
/Applications/NoMachine.app/Contents/Frameworks/etc on Mac.

For example on Linux it is: /usr/NX/etc/server.cfg.

Default settings
The Section directive defines settings for the NoMachine server(s) where the web player application will connect. This directive, by default, points to localhost and looks like:

Section "Server"

Name "Connection to localhost"
Host localhost
Protocol NX
Port 4000
Authentication password

EndSection

Name is a label that can be displayed as an alternative to show hostname of the server. To change the name to be displayed, it's necessary to enable also the EnableWebConnectionName key in server.cfg: EnableWebConnectionName 1

Host is IP or hostname of the NoMachine server host.
If different than localhost, it's then necessary to update manually the list of known hosts as explained here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR06P00984

Protocol specifies the protocol, NX or SSH, that the web player will use to connect to the NoMachine server. Default is:

Protocol NX
Port 4000

To use SSH protocol with default port, set for Linux and Mac:

Protocol system
Port 22

and for Windows:

Protocol system
Port 4022

Port indicates the listen port for the server, by default 4000 for connections by NX protocol, 22 for connections by SSH protocol on Linux and macOS and 4022 for connections by SSH on Windows.

This setting has to be changed only when NoMachine is configured to listen on a non-default port. Changing the port for web connections requires a manual procedure available here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR06N00888

Authentication defines the authentication method to be used when connecting by the web, by default 'password':

Protocol NX
Authentication password
and:

Protocol SSH
Authentication password

Key-based authentication is supported at the moment only for NX protocol, instructions to set it up are available here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR03Q01020

TIP

Server configuration: by default the nxd service in charge to accept connections by NX protocol listens on port 4000. On Linux and mac, connections by SSH relies on the system SSHD and default port 22. On Windows, NoMachine ships its own nxsshd service, listening on port 4022. In order to change the port for NX protocol, change the port for the nxd service via UI in the Settings -> Server -> Ports panel. To change the port for connections by SSH to Linux and Mac hosts, modify the listen port for the SSH server on the system and restart it. On Windows instead, change the port for the nxsshd service via NoMachine UI.

Other settings in server.cfg specific for web sessions are qualified by the 'Web' keyboard in their name.

Showing hostname or a custom label
To display hostname or IP of the Enterprise Desktop host when connecting by the web, set the following key. This is the default:

EnableWebConnectionName 0

To display the label set in the 'Name' field of Section "Server" set:

EnableWebConnectionName 1

Hiding the tutorial wizard at web session startup
To not display the tutorial wizard for the menu panel at session startup, set:

EnableWebMenuTutorial 0

and to show it (this is the default):

EnableWebMenuTutorial 1

Allowing to log-in as a guest
If the Enterprise Desktop has support for guest users enabled, set the following key if you need that users connect by the web always as guest users:

EnableWebGuest 1
If this key is disabled, users will have the possibility to choose if log-in with their credentials or as a guest.

Allowing nxhtd (the NoMachine built-in web server) to serve content of Web Player
EnableWebPlayer 1

You can start and stop the NoMachine HTTP server (nxhtd) from the UI in Settings -> Server -> Ports. From there you can also specify if the service has to be automatically restarted at the next reboot or not.

To stop, start or restart nxhtd from command line on Linux or macOS, open a terminal and execute respectively:

On Windows, launch a CMD console as administrator execute:

Automatic restart of the nxhtd service
The nxhtd service is automatically restarted at the next boot. You can change the default behavior for the nxhtd service from the UI or by using the following command:

The nxserver --startmode command (as well as the UI setting) operates on the StartHTTPDaemon key in the server.cfg file:

StartHTTPDaemon Automatic

and:

StartHTTPDaemon Manual

Disabling connections by the web
Edit the server configuration file and remove HTTP from the ClientConnectionMethods key. It should then look like:
ClientConnectionMethods NX,SSH

Then restart NoMachine server to make this change effective:

NoMachine Enterprise Desktop is designed to provide a fully integrated service to deploy sessions on the web which doesn't require additional software to be installed or manual configuration. The minimal Apache web server, nxhtd, provides the necessary modules and is pre-configured to work with the web player application.

However, it is possible to run the web player application with an alternative Apache web server. Look for detailed instructions in our Knowledge Base, section Articles, by searching for the 'Apache' keyword: https://kb.nomachine.com .

The implementation of WebRTC support in browser-based remote desktop sessions must be enabled explicitly by the administrator by editing the server.cfg file.

With the help of a STUN/TURN server for negotiating NAT traversal, peer-to-peer WebRTC communication can be established also when the web session has to be run behind a NAT.

STEP 1: Uncomment and set the AcceptedWebMethods key as follows to enable the use of WebRTC:

AcceptedWebMethods webrtc

STEP 2: If the node machine where the web session will be started is behind a NAT, you need to uncomment the following section in server.cfg:

Section "STUN"

Host hostname
Port portnumber
User username
Password password

EndSection

and provide relevant information to contact a STUN or TURN server. In this last case change Section name to "TURN".

See also: https://www.nomachine.com/AR07N00892 for further intructions about the configuration and: https://www.nomachine.com/AR07N00894 for an example about how to set up your own STUN/TURN server and configure the Enterprise Desktop accordingly.

In case of web sessions, by default, session data are streamed in video frames compressed and decompressed by using the MJPEG lossy algorithm, which is the video-format widely supported by browsers.

Oher video codecs like VP8 and H.264, require to enable WebRTC and a browser which supports WebRTC and HTML5.

NoMachine web sessions use the H.264 video streaming when the following requirements are all met, otherwise VP8 is used:

In practice, when WebRTC is enabled, the H.264 or VP8 encoding will be used (if the browser supports WebRTC), otherwise the classic web media exchange protocol will be used and MJPEG will be the codec.

TIP

H.264 hardware encoding is possible when the Enterprise Desktop host machine has an hardware accelerated video cards (GPU) with Nvidia Kepler microarchitecture onward or Intel Quick Sync processors or AMD card (at the moment only on Windows). Enabling HW acceleration by Quick Sync requires however a manual configuration as explained here: https://www.nomachine.com/AR09O00938

Optimizations
Optimizations can be done in two ways: (I) by adjusting display settings in the session or (II) by enabling WebRTC.

TIP

You may verify which encoding method is in use from the NoMachine menu inside the session: press ctrl+alt+0 or click on the page peel in the upper right corner of the window to open it. Then click on the 'Display' button and finally on 'Display settings'. The codec actually on use is reported at the bottom left of the menu.

Sessions run by NoMachine client use a combination of video and image encoding based on standard codecs and a number of techniques developed by NoMachine. Frames are encoded into a video stream optimized by means of a compression and decompression algorithm of real-time image and audio data. VP8, H.264 and MJPEG encoding are supported.

In general H.264 (default) and VP8 are suitable for all situations, while MJPEG can be an alternative when the end-user's computer is less powerful and the user is experiencing slow responsiveness.

The display encoder can be changed on the server:

from the UI
In the UI in the Settings -> Server -> Performance panel.

or in the node configuration file, node.cfg:

EnableDisplayServerVideoCodec 1
DisplayServerVideoCodec CODEC

where CODEC can be: 'vp8','h264' or 'mjpeg'. For example:
EnableDisplayServerVideoCodec 1
DisplayServerVideoCodec mjpeg

The configuration files for the nxserver and nxweplayer/nxwebclient programs is server.cfg. The configuration file for the nxnode program is node.cfg.

They are placed in the:
BaseDirectory/NX/etc directory on Linux

BaseDirectory/NoMachine/etc directory on Windows

/Applications/NoMachine.app/Contents/Frameworks/etc/ directory on Mac.

The Default Configuration
NoMachine Enterprise Desktop comes with a default configuration that is sufficient to grant a working setup in the majority of environments. You can tune your server installation at any moment and according to your specific needs by setting the related configuration keys. In some cases this will require to restart all NoMachine services.

Edit the Configuration Files
NoMachine configuration files are text files made up of a number of key-value pairs. All the configuration files can be edited manually by a text editor. For example 'vi' can be used on Linux and Mac, and 'notepad' on Windows. On Windows it can be necessary that you copy the cfg file in a different place, edit it and move it to the etc directory.

Be sure to uncomment the configuration key (i.e., remove the '#' pre-pended to the key) to set a value different from the default.

When a configuration key supports an on/off status, set value to '0' to disable it and to '1' to enable it.

Make Changes to the Default Configuration Effective
Changes will be effective with the next new connection without the need to restart the server if not otherwise specified.

Installation and upgrade procedures take care of configuring and starting all the necessary services to make NoMachine Enterprise Desktop ready to accept connections to its physical desktop. The necessary services are configured to be restarted at each reboot of the host machine.

When you are sitting in front of the computer where Enterprise Desktop is installed or you're connected there by NoMachine, you can switch off/on the ability to accept connections to your desktop via NoMachine. By selecting 'Desktop not shared', nobody can connect.

You can configure this setting via the NoMachine Monitor menu (right click on the !M icon in the system tray to open it) by clicking on the item 'Desktop shared'.

This setting lasts until you change it again, even when you physically log out from the system.

See also this tutorial for more details: https://www.nomachine.com/disabling-access-to-your-local-desktop

TIPS
I	Be careful if you decide to disable 'Desktop shared' mode when you are connected from remote: you will no longer be able to reconnect to the desktop via NoMachine once the current session is closed. In this case, you can recover the ability to connect via NoMachine by changing settings in the Monitor menu on the physical computer.
II	It's possible to hide the 'Desktop shared' item from the !M menu by configuring the NoMachine node.cfg file on that computer and setting: EnableAcceptingConnections 0 Be sure to remove the pre-pending # from the key name.

All NoMachine services can be stopped/started via:

the UI
all NoMachine services can be stopped by the UI in the Settings -> Server -> Status panel, this will terminate all users' connections. Click on 'Shut down the server', when doing so, you will be asked if services must be started at the next reboot or not.

To stop only incoming new connections and preserve current connections, you can choose 'Stop the server'.

In the same panel, you can then restart server and services by clicking on 'Restart the server'.

or from command line.

On Linux and macOS, open a terminal and use the appropriate command:

on Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and use the appropriate command:

The NoMachine network services available for NoMachine Enterprise Desktop are nxd, nxhtd (both installed on all platforms) and nxsshd (installed on Windows only):

You can stop a single service:

via the UI
in the Settings -> Server -> Ports -> panel. You can choose there also the start mode: if the service must be started automatically at the next boot or not. From the same panel, you can then start the service.

or from command line.

On Linux and Mac, execute in a terminal the appropriate command to stop or start the service:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute the appropriate command to stop or start the service:

Any of the 'nxserver --stop/start SERVICE' commands above accept the --startmode parameter to specify if the service has to be started in 'automatic' or 'manual mode:

Commands to stop/start services operate on the configuration keys listed below. You can also change them manually in the server configuration.

For each session, NoMachine uses ports that are used only locally on the server host and network ports.

Some ports are mandatory and must be free, e.g. the session display number and the connection port. Other ports are used for services that can be disabled (e.g. USB forwarding, UDP communication).

It is possible to hide or show the !M (the Monitor) icon of the Enterprise Desktop in the system tray. When the icon is hidden, notification messages will still be displayed when users are connecting. This can be configured
from the UI:
In the Settings -> Server > Security panel, check 'Hide the NoMachine icon in the system tray'.
When the icon is hidden, notification messages will still be displayed when users are connecting.

or in the node configuration file
This setting is ruled by the DisplayMonitorIcon key in the node.cfg file.

To hide the !M in the system tray set:
DisplayMonitorIcon 0

To display the !M in the system tray set:
DisplayMonitorIcon 1

In both cases, then restart the server, via UI or from command line.

By default NoMachine issues a ballon message to notify about events like user's disconnection or user's requests for connecting. You can disable notification messages by setting the following key in the node configuration:
DisplayMonitorNotifications 0

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If the displaying of monitor's notification messages is disabled, the desktop owner will be unable to accept requests to connect from other users. Configure trusted users if you need to permit the connection without explicit authorization.

If you want to disable the possibility of launching the Whiteboard from the Monitor menu, edit the node configuration file to have:

EnableWhiteboard 0

Then restart the server, via UI or from command line.

By default NoMachine Enterprise Desktop broadcasts information to let other NoMachine computers to discover it on the local network. You can disable this feature via:
the UI
in the Server Settings -> Ports panel: uncheck option 'Advertise this computer on the local network'.

or in the server configuration file
set the following key in server.cfg:

EnableNetworkBroadcast 0

Then restart the server via UI or from command line.

NoMachine provides an instant messaging tool, named whiteboard which allows also drawing and sharing files with connected users and fast-track access to file transfer. Right mouse click on the !M icon in the system tray of the Enterprise Desktop host and click on 'Show whiteboard'. Note that if multiple users are connected at the same time, they will all see the message.

Sending a message to all sessions or to a specific session

On Linux and Mac execute in a terminal any of the follwoing commands:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

NX Protocol
NoMachine connections by default use the NX protocol which is its own protocol for secure communication over the network. Encryption in the NX protocol is implemented using OpenSSL TLS/SSL, based on ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 as the default cipher suite. ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 is an AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) block cipher with 128 bits key in GCM (Galois/Counter Mode). RC4 (ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA cipher suite) is used as a backward compatibility when connecting from or to versions 4.0.

When using the NX protocol, NX data can travel on TCP and UDP streams, even at the same time. The client and server can decide dynamically what transport to use, based on the type of data and the network conditions. Client and server negotiate the UDP transport at session startup, after having negotiated the main TCP link. UDP uses symmetric Blowfish encryption, with key negotiated on the secure TCP link. UDP is presently not available when using the SSH tunneling, to ensure that all data goes through the same SSH link, as it was in legacy version 3. UDP protocol can be also disabled.

SSH Protocol
NoMachine Enterprise Desktop also provides tunneling of connections using SSH and full integration with any authentication backend supported by the host SSH server. On Windows systems, NoMachine provides a built-in SSH server, nxsshd.

Authentication methods
These are the authentication methods supported by NoMachine when connections use the NX protocol or the SSH protocol:

Protocols are defined in the ClientConnectionMethods key in the server configuration. They are specified as a comma-separated list of values:

ClientConnectionMethods NX,SSH,HTTP

This key is automatically populated during the installation or the update of the package. It is possible to exclude any of the available protocols to force users to connect by the desired protocol.

For example, to use only NX protocol, set this key to:
ClientConnectionMethods NX

and restart the server.

TIPS
I	If your server supports SSH but it still reports that SSH is not available, check the ClientConnectionMethods key and ensure that the SSH values is set. Then restart the server.
II	Removing 'HTTP' from the ClientConnectionMethods key will disable the starting of the NoMachine HTTP server and prevent connections via web.

Administrators may decide how the user should authenticate on the server by defining which authentication method(s) is/are available. Authentication methods can be set in the server configuration file by editing this key:

AcceptedAuthenticationMethods all

By default all methods are accepted. They can be restricted by providing a comma-separated list of values, they will indicate which authentication method is permitted.

Accepted values for connections by NX protocol are:
NX-password to allow password authentication.
NX-private-key to allow key-based authentication.
NX-kerberos to allow Kerberos ticket-based authentication.

while for connections by SSH protocol:
SSH-system to allow all methods supported for the system login. SSH authentication methods for the system login have to be set on the system for example in the PAM configuration.

For example, to accept key-based and Kerberos ticket-based authentication for the NX protocol:

AcceptedAuthenticationMethods NX-private-key, NX-kerberos

Settings in the client UI
When you connect by the client to a remote computer, you can select the authentication method for your connection while creating it or change it later (right mouse click on the connection icon -> Edit connection -> Configuration).

By default nxd is listening on port 4000 to accept connections by NX protocol.

If you change the listen port for nxd, connecting users will have to specify the new value in their connection settings in the client UI.

It's possible to modify the port for nxd
from the UI
in the Settings -> Server -> Ports panel

or in the server configuration file by editing this key:
NXPort 4000

Restart nxd via UI or from command line.

TIP

When NX protocol is used, UDP communication for multimedia is enabled by default.

The default port used for the SSH protocol is 22 on Linux and Mac. On such platforms NoMachine relies on the SSH server installed on the system. If your SSHD is configured to listen on a port different from 22 you need to align the NoMachine server configuration accordingly. Connecting users will have to specify such value in their connection settings in the client UI.

To align the server configuration, change the SSH port via UI in the Settings -> Server -> Ports panel

or in the server configuration file by editing this key:
SSHDPort 22

On Windows, NoMachine provides the SSH server, nxsshd, listening on port 4022. As explained above, this port can be changed from the UI or in the server configuration file (SSHDPort 4022).

Restart nxsshd via UI or from command line.

Automatic discover of the NoMachine Enterprise Desktop host is possible only when the server and the user's machine are on the same LAN. When the user connects over the internet or from a different network, it's mandatory to know the public (or external) IP of the Enterprise Desktop.

When the server is behind a NAT router, you have to configure the router to map an external port to the internal port 4000 for connections by NX protocol, or 22 or 4022 (Windows) for connections by SSH. This is called 'port forwarding' or 'port mapping'.

If the router supports UPnP/NAT-PMP, you can let NoMachine Enterprise Desktop try to enable port forwarding in the router automatically. External ports will be selected randomly from the 20000 - 30000 range.

Users connecting to the Enteprise Desktop will have to specify the external port in their connection settings in the client UI.

Enabling the automatic port forwarding
Step 1: Set in the server configuration:
EnableFirewallConfiguration 1

Step 2: Specify for which service the port forwarding must be enabled by listing them in the following key:
EnableUPnP NX,SSH,HTTP

Step 3: (Optional) Specify the port where the NX service will be redirected by editing respectively:
NXUPnPPort ""; SSHDUPnPPort "" and HTTPUPnPPort ""

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To permit only connections by SSH (on external port 20048 for example) and use the automatic port forwarding, set in the server configuration: ClientConnectionMethods SSH EnableFirewallConfiguration 1 EnableUPnP SSH SSHDUPnPPort "20048" and restart the server.

You can enable port forwarding for connections by NX and HTTP/HTTPS protocol also from the UI
via the Settings -> Server -> Ports panel. Selecting the service and click on 'Configure'. Then check the 'Gateway port' option.

Retrieving information about UPnP port mapping
When the automatic port mapping is enabled, you can retrieve information about UPnP port mapping, e.g. IP of the gateway device, external port and port mapped via command line.

On Linux and Mac execute any of the following commands in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute the appropriate upnp command:

Use of NoMachine DBs can be configured by editing the server configuration. The table below reports which configuration key value has to be set to enable or disable specific behavior as defined in the 'Target' field:

To be able to login to the Enterprise Desktop host, you need to have a valid account on that host, password cannot be empty. Your account can be a local account or a LDAP account or an AD account. NoMachine doesn't check if the source of users' account information is for example LDAP or local account database. Be sure to configure the login in advance.

You can create a local account by means of system tools, or via command line by using the 'nxserver' commands.

On Linux and Mac, open a terminal and execute:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Separate the system login from the NoMachine login
You can assign a password, specific for the NoMachine login only, different from system password to any valid account. To do that, enable NoMachine Password DB ( EnablePasswordDB 1) in server.cfg. And ensure that the user is added to the NoMachine backend.

On Linux and Mac, execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Enabling and Disabling NoMachine access for a given user
Prerequisites are:

i)The user has run at least one session or have been added to NoMachine dbs by means of 'nxserver --useradd' command.

ii) NoMachine Users DB is enabled (EnableUserDB 1 is set in server.cfg)

Then, on Linux or Mac execute from a terminal respectively:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Listing the NoMachine Users
All users who have run at least one session or have been added to NoMachine dbs are stored in the Users db. To retrieve the complete list on Linux or Mac, run from a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Override user's setting to disable 'Desktop shared' mode

If the user disabled 'Desktop shared' from the !M monitor menu of the Enterprise Desktop, it's still possible to re-enable it via command line.

On Linux and Mac, execute from a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

By default, NoMachine allows the running of sessions as privileged system user ('root' on Linux and Mac and an administrator on Windows). You can however configure the NoMachine Server to disallow it. Do it by disabling the following server configuration key:

EnableAdministratorLogin 0

To re-enable the possibility to log in as root or administrator, set:

EnableAdministratorLogin 1

By default when the connecting user is different from the owner of the physical desktop, the desktop owner has to authorize the user for the connection. The owner of the physical desktop can be a user physically sitting in front of the Enterprise Desktop computer, or another NoMachine user connected by remote. Only system administrators, NoMachine administrators and NoMachine trusted users can connect without explicit authorization. This setting corresponds to PhysicalDesktopAuthorization 1 in server.cfg.

Possible alternative configurations are the following.

Disable the request for desktop owner's authorization
Set in the server.cfg file:
PhysicalDesktopAuthorization 0

Allow only NoMachine trusted users to connect without authorization
Set in the server.cfg file:
PhysicalDesktopAuthorization 2

NoMachine administrators and trusted users
Being a NoMachine administrator doesn't alter current system privileges for that user. To make a user becoming a NoMachine administrator, do the following.

On Linux and macOS open a terminal and execute:

On Windows open a CMD console as Windows administrator and execute:

NoMachine trusted users have the ability to connect to the remote desktop without the need to be authorized. It's also possible to define NoMachine groups of users and make them trusted, or make trusted already existent system groups (on Linux and Mac only). It's also possible to limit the trusted attribute to those desktops owned by specific users.

Make a user trusted
On Linux and Mac executed from a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Remove the 'trusted' attribute
On Linux and Mac executed from a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

List only trusted users
On Linux and Mac execute in a terminal_

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

The Enterprise supports the possibility to generate guest accounts on demand. The automatic generation of guests accounts is available on all platforms, i.e. Linux, Windows and Mac. This feature however is not enabled by default and must be activated via a profile rule.

Once enabled, the Enterprise Desktop will accept the request to log-in as and automatically create a system account. Time of validity and other features can be set for guest users by editing the server configuration

Enable guest accounts

On Linux and Mac, execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

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Guest users don't know their username and password and cannot unlock the remote screen if screen locking is enabled. It's therefore necessary to disable it on the system.

Configuring guest accounts

Define range of names for guest accounts
The server creates guest accounts by adding a progressive number as a postfix to the base guest name. The range used for incrementing the postfix varies from a minimum and a maximum value. Base name and range for the postfix are configurable:

BaseGuestUserId 10
GuestUserIdLimit 200

Define group for guest accounts
GuestUserGroup guest

Define where the server has to create the guest accounts' homes
GuestUserHome /home (e.g. for Linux)

Define for how long guest accounts have to be kept before being expired
Default is 30 days:
GuestUserAccountExpiry 2592000 (This value has to be set in seconds)

Define if guest accounts have to be deleted once expired
EnableGuestWipeout 1

Setting Disk Quota for Guest Accounts on Linux
The following server configuration keys allow to set disk quota for guest accounts:
GuestQuotaProtoname protoguest
GuestQuotaInodeHardlimit 0
GuestQuotaBlockSoftlimit 0
GuestQuotaBlockHardlimit 0
GuestQuotaInodeGracePeriod 0
GuestQuotaBlockGracePeriod 0
GuestQuotaFilesystems all

Define the maximum number of guests allowed to be created on this server
GuestUserLimit 10

Define the maximum number of sessions a guest can run on this server before the account expires
GuestUserConnectionLimit 5

Define for how long (in seconds) a guest can run the session before the account expires
GuestConnectionExpiry 0 (If value is set to 0, a guest's session is never terminated.)

Each session on the same server is uniquely identified by a session id (which can look like: B253864E822F5A235825F3AB8853AF00) and a display id (e.g.,1002).

A session on the NoMachine Enterprise Desktop can be in any of the following statuses:
Connected - when it's connected to the remote display.
Finished - the session has been closed in a clean way and all NoMachine processes have been shut-down smoothly.
Failed - Any of the NoMachine processes has failed to start or it has been "un-cleanly" terminated.
Transitional statuses are Connecting and Terminating.

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NoMachine Enterprise Desktop is able to manage only connections to the remote physical desktop.

You can monitor sessions from command line tools.

Listing Running Sessions
On Linux and Mac, execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

The number of active connections on the server corresponds to the number of sessions in status Connected. Session status is shown in the output of session history command.

Session History
History is preserved for a certain amount of time as set in the server istory configuration (SessionHistory key in server.cfg). The session history allows to see the complete list of sessions, including those that have been cleanly terminated or failed, debug a failed session and generate statistics of sessions.

On Linux and Mac, execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Debugging a Failed Session with Session History
If a session is marked as failed in the session history output, the following command provides a short report helpful for a preliminary debug of the problem.

On Linux and Mac execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Retrieving Statistics about Sessions with Session History
It elaborates a number of information about sessions, contained in the current session history. For example the number of sessions started, terminated, running and failed and their average startup time.

On Linux and Mac execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Clearing Sessions History
You can reset the history.

On Linux and Mac execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Configuring the Session History Backlog
Data is preserved for 30 days. You can modify that in the server configuration file by uncommenting and setting a different value for the following key:
SessionHistory 2592000

This key accepts the following values:
< 0 Never delete data from NX session history.
0 Disable NX session history.
> 0 Keep data in session history for this amount of seconds.

Terminating Sessions Automatically
If you need to terminate a remote desktop session after a certain time of inactivity, you can specify it by uncommenting and adding the '-timeout s' (s stays for seconds) option to the DisplayAgentExtraOptions key in the node configuration file.

For example, if you want to terminate sessions after 10 minutes of inactivity you need to set:
DisplayAgentExtraOptions "-timeout 600"

If the NoMachine display agent doesn't receive any input from the user in the given timeout, it will terminate the session.

Terminating the Session from Command Line

On Linux and Mac, execute in a terminal:

On Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

Limit the number of concurrent connections
The maximum number of concurrent connections to the physical desktop is defined in the server configuration (twenty by default). Set a different value in this key to increase or decrease the limit:
ConnectionsLimit 20

It's also possible to limit the maximum number of connections that a user can do by editing in server.cfg:
ConnectionsUserLimit 20

Limits above can be used in conjunction with the AutomaticDisconnection key which controls the server behaviour when the maximum number of allowed connections is reached:
AutomaticDisconnection 0 The server prompts the connected user to accept or refuse to disconnect for making room for the incoming user. If no choice is made, the user is automatically disconnected. This is the default.
AutomaticDisconnection 1 The server automatically disconnects the connected user to make room for the connecting user. No message is issued to the already connected user.
AutomaticDisconnection 2 The server prompts the connected user to accept or refuse to disconnect for making room for the incoming user. If no choice is made, the server doesn't disconnect the user and advise the incoming user that the maximum number of allowed connections is reached.
AutomaticDisconnection 3 The server never notifies desktop owners about incoming users, incoming users are informed that the maximum number of allowed connections is reached.

The server configuration provides a number of keys that can be activated to execute a custom script upon a certain event. According to the event, a number of parameters can be specified for each script. In a similar way, a number of keys is present in the node configuration file to allow to execute a custom script on a certain NoMachine node event. In both cases and according to the event, a number of parameters can be specified for each script. Keys and parameters not supported by the Enterprise Desktop are omitted in the table below.

Note that order of parameters is relevant. For example, a custom script to be run on node event 'UserScriptBeforeSessionStart' should use the $2 variable to retrieve username and $4 to retrieve display.

A further key in the node configuration file allows to run a custom script triggered on change resolution events (resize of the remote screen). The related key is: UserScriptAfterRemoteResize

Pre-requisites to run custom scripts
Custom scripts must be executable. Custom scripts set-up in server.cfg are common to all the users who are accessing the server and are executed by the nxserver program. Since nxserver is running as the nx user, you have to grant this user the necessary permissions in order to execute the custom script.

Custom scripts set-up in node.cfg are executed by the nxnode program, which is run as the connected user. Place the script in a directory that is accessible by the node, i.e. accessible by the connected user(s).

By default if the execution of the scripts fails, the nxserver and nxnode will terminate. This means that the user's session will not start. You can override this behavior by forcing exit 0 inside the custom script and let the session start even if the custom script is failed.

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If NoMachine Enterprise Desktop is federated under a Cloud Server consider that custom scripts have to be placed in server.cfg or node.cfg file on the Enterprise Desktop host, not on the Cloud Server.

By default all users can connect to the remote physical desktop of the Enterprise Desktop host. When the desktop owner is different from the connecting user, he/she is always required to authorize the incoming request for connection unless the incoming user is a system administrators, a NoMachine administrator or a NoMachine trusted user.

Authorization is not requested when the incoming user and the desktop owner are the same. This can be configured via the UI in Settings -> Server -> Security panel. More configuration aptions are available via the server.cfg settings, see the paragraph in this guide about 'Managing Desktop Owner's Authorization'.

Other features like blanking of the remote screen and automatic lock of the remote screen upon session disconnection, configuring interactive/view-only mode and forcing a system logout upon session disconnection are also available. See the related paragraphs in this guide.

TIPS
I	When users connect to unattended or headless machines, consider to disable the request for desktop owner's authorization before connecting or make such users trusted.
II	Allowing connections in interactive mode grants the user full access to the desktop resources and applications. View-only mode is suggested for example when making presentations or teaching a lesson.

NoMachine Enterprise Desktop supports the screen blanking feature: when active, the local user will see a black screen on the physical monitor while somebody is connected from remote to the physical desktop. Operations made on the physical screen are not shown and the local user cannot interact with the desktop until the remote user logs-out. Control is given back to the local user once the remote user has logged off. Screen blanking is available for physical hosts, it is not supported on virtual machines since it has effect on the physical monitor

You can activate the screen blanking feature on the Enterprise Desktop host machine
from the UI:
in the Settings -> Server -> Security panel select the 'Blank the physical screen when somebody connects' option

or in the server configuration file, server.cfg.
Uncomment and set:
EnableScreenBlanking 1

To disable screen blanking, set:
EnableScreenBlanking 0.

Then restart the server to make this change effective.

The screen blanking feature can be used in conjunction with the automatic lock of the remote screen. Even if the user didn't lock the screen before disconnecting by NoMachine, as soon as the screen is unblanked, the system lock screen will be activated automatically to keep the remote desktop protected even when the computer is running unattended.

You can enable the automatic remote screen lock from the UI
In the Settings -> Server -> Security panel by selecting the 'Lock the physical screen on disconnect' option

or in the server configuration file, server.cfg.

Uncomment and set:
EnableLockScreen 1

To disable the automatic screen lock, set:
EnableLockScreen 0

Then restart the server to make this change effective.

It's possible to configure if users will connect in interactive mode or view-only mode

via UI
in the Settings -> Server -> Security panel choose 'Require permissions to let the remote users interact with the desktop'.

In this way, the desktop owner will be requested to authorize the incoming user (if different) to have an interactive connection.

or in the server.cfg file you can forbid users to interact with the desktop once connected by setting :
PhysicalDesktopMode 0

In this way, the connected user will access the physical desktop in view-only mode.

To allow full interaction instead, ensure to have:
PhysicalDesktopMode 2

A further setting, PhysicalDesktopMode 1 allows instead the connected user to interact with the desktop except for resize operations.

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When multiple users are connected to the desktop at the same time, it's possible to assign control of mouse and keyboard to a specific user: right mouse click on the !M icon in the system tray, select 'Yeld keyboard and mouse' and choose to whom assign.

The system logout will be triggered by the execution of a script upon the closure of the NoMachine session. This script invokes the system command to force the logout, but due to great variety of supported systems, the script included in the Enterprise Desktop package provides by default just some most common examples. You will need to tune it according to your system.

This script, named forcelogout.sh, is placed under the NoMachine installation directory:
- /Applications/NoMachine.app/Contents/Frameworks/scripts/env/forcelogout.sh on macOS
- /usr/NX/scripts/env/forcelogout.sh on Linux
- %ProgramFiles(x86)%/NoMachine/scripts/env/forcelogout.bat on Windows

To force the system logout:
-edit the forcelogout.sh script and specify the command to logout, appropriate for your operating system.
-edit the server.cfg file and enable the following key:
LogoutOnDisconnect 1

When this key is enabled, NoMachine will try to execute the forcelogout.sh script. The automatic logout will be effective only if the command set in the forcelogout.sh script is appropriate.

If you need to execute the logout after a certain period of time, enable also the following key and specify a time value in seconds. The logout command will be executed when the timeout expires:
LogoutOnDisconnectTimeout 0
Timeout 0, the command to logout is executed immediately.

To delay the execution of the command, set the timeout in seconds. For example:
LogoutOnDisconnectTimeout 600
NoMachine will wait for ten minutes before executing the command to logout. If the user connects again by NoMachine in the meantime, the command to logout will not be executed.

The Enterprise Desktop permits users to access and share their devices and resources from local to remote and vice-versa. Disks, printers, USB devices and more can be connected inside the session to easily access them from both client and server side. At present device sharing is not available with web sessions and requires to connect by NoMachine client.

Two-ways copy and paste is fully supported. Web sessions implements the NoMachine virtual clipboard provides for copying text from/to the session running in the browser and the local computer.

Download/upload files from the session to the local computer and vice-versa is also fully supported in client and web sessions, as well as drag and drop of a file from remote to local and from local to remote.

By default device sharing, copy&paste and file transfer are always permitted. You can however completely disable any of these services or disable it only partially, for example to prevent users from sharing their local printer in the NoMachine session but permitting them to use the remote printer.

NoMachine implements a self-contained infrastructure for making available physical and logical devices over the network from local to remote or vice-versa.

The NoMachine infrastructure for device sharing ensures that all services work out of the box without the need for any additional change or configuration. It is possible to connect disks, printers, USB devices, network port and smartcards.

Connecting devices is supported only by NoMachine client (web sessions don't support that). Devices can be connected through the NoMachine menu within the session (ctrl+alt+0 to open it). Connected devices can be disconnected during the life of the session and reconnected later. If option 'Export this deviceName at session startup' is checked in the menu panel, this device is automatically reconnected at the next session start-up.

Disabling device sharing
You can disable selectively the possibility to share a device

from the UI
in the Settings -> Server -> Devices panel

or in the node configuration file
by editing the corresponding keys. The manual configuration permits also to limit only oneway of service, for example forbid to connect a local printer to remote. The next paragraphs deal with manual node configurations in detail.

The available devices are:

NoMachine allows access to local and remote file systems from within the session through the SSHFS file-sharing protocol and by means of FUSE, a technology to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program.

Connected folders and disks can be disconnected during the life of the session or left as they are.

By default, all disks from the server are available to be connected to the end-user's machine. However you can specify a set of disks and folders by editing a proper value for the DiskSharingList key in the node configuration file. The default value is: all. Alternatively, you can specify a list of comma-separated directories. Note that $(HOME) and $(USER) are accepted values.

For example on Mac you might edit the node configuration file and specify:
DiskSharingList $(HOME),/Volumes/TimeMachine

Connecting public disks
Disks from the end-user's machine can be connected on the server in 'Public' or 'Private' mode.
By default public disks are exported from player to "$(PUBLIC)" directory on the server, where $(PUBLIC) is:
/Volumes on Mac
/media on Linux
C:\Users\Public on Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10
%ALLUSERSPROFILE% on Windows XP

You can specify a different path by un-commenting and editing the DiskSharingPublicBasePath key in the node configuration file.
Note that $(USER) is an accepted value that can be also concatenated to specify the path to a directory, for example "/tmp/$(USER)".

The target directory must exist on the system!

Disabling Disks' Connection
To forbid disk and filesystem sharing, uncomment and set a proper value for the EnableDiskSharing key in the node configuration file:
client The filesystem on the client can be connected to server side and accessed from the session.
server The filesystem on the server can be connected to the end-user's machine and accessed through the whole life of the session.
both Client and server filesystem can be connected to remote and local sides respectively.
none Neither client or server filesystem can be connected.

For example, to forbid connecting disks from remote to local side, set in the node configuration:
EnableDiskSharing client

The printers sharing infrastructure integrates client-side printers with the server-side printing subsystem and vice-versa. Printers available on the client machine can be shared and used within the session as well as printers on the server side which can be made available on the end-user's machine.

Connected printers can be disconnected during the life of the session or left as they are. In this case, they are automatically shared at the next session start-up.

On Linux and Mac this service uses the CUPS infrastructure present on the system.With CUPS 1.4 or later, to ensure that users are able to connect a printer from local to their NoMachine session on Linux or Mac, it's necessary that the user already belongs to the CUPS System Group on the NoMachine server host. That's because, to add a printer to the CUPS system, the 'lpadmin' command line tool has to be executed by a user who belongs to the CUPS's System Group, which can be for example 'lpadmin' on Ubuntu, 'sys' on Fedora, RHEL and CentOS distributions and _lpadmin on Mac.

Disabling Printers' Connection
To forbid printer sharing it is necessary to uncomment and set a proper value for the EnablePrinterSharing key in the node configuration file:
client Printers on the client can be connected to server side and made available within the session.
server Printers on the server can be connected to the end-user's machine.
both Client and server printers can be connected to remote and local sides respectively.
none Neither client or server printers can be connected.

For example, to forbid a server-side printer to be connected to the end-user machine, set in the node configuration:
EnablePrinterSharing client

This service creates a USB tunnel between client and server to forward devices over the network such as hard disk, web cams, barcode readers, and pen drives from local to remote desktops and vice-versa.

Disabling USB Forwarding
To forbid USB device sharing it is necessary to uncomment and set a proper value for the EnableUSBSharing key in the node configuration file:
client USB devices on the client can be forwarded to server side and made available within the session.
server USB devices on the server can be connected to the end-user's machine.
both Client and server USB devices can be connected to remote and local sides respectively.
none Neither client or server USB devices can be connected.

For example, to avoid that users can forward a USB devices from the server to its own machine, set in the node configuration:
EnableUSBSharing client

NoMachine can create virtual network interfaces and establish a bridge between local and remote sides or vice-versa to provide transparent access to network resources.

This service allows access to any of the default network servers like Samba, CUPS, FTP, SSH and Telnet or any other type, for example a MySQL server.

Connecting a Samba server allows access to resources on that server host via the SMB/CIFS protocol. Connecting a local CUPS server to the remote side allows mounting of printers (local to the user) on that remote CUPS subsystem so that files can be printed on the remote side via the IPP protocol.

Some typical examples of usage:
Print to remote printers from the session
If you have a Linux or Mac machine you can add the local CUPS server via the player toolbar. Choose to add a local server and select CUPS. In this way all printers that are available on your side will be available also on the server and you can print all your documents via the native CUPS (IPP) protocol.

Access a remote host not in your Network Neighborhood
If the remote host has a Samba server, you can add it via the player toolbar. Choose to add a remote server and select Samba as server type. Once that Samba server is added, the remote host shows up in your local Network Neighborhood. You can then connect to remote folders via SMB/CIFS protocol as if that host was in your local network.

Make available a client side HTTP server
You can add your local HTTP server via the player toolbar and make it available on the remote host where your session is running. In this way you can develop and test your web application directly inside the session, without the need for sharing or moving files from remote to local.

Connect to MySQL server behind a firewall
You can choose to add a remote server via the player toolbar. Select 'Custom' and specify MySQL and the port for the MySQL server, by default 3306. Once done, you can connect to that MySQL server via the MySQL client installed on your PC.

Disabling Network Port Forwarding
To forbid network server sharing it is necessary you uncomment and set a proper value for the EnableNetworkSharing key in the node configuration file: client Network servers on client side can be connected and made available within the session.
server Network server on the server side can be connected and made available on the end-user's machine.
both Network servers from client and server side can be connected to remote and local sides respectively.
none Neither client or server side network servers can be connected.

For example, to forbid users from connecting their local ports to the server, set in the node configuration:
EnableNetworkSharing server

When the smartcard reader plugged into the enduser's host is forwarded to the server host, the smartcard authentication is made available inside the session. It can be integrated on with Kerberos Ticket system for example for implementing single sign-on (SSO).

Disabling Smartcard readers' Forwarding
You can enable or disable support for smarcard forwarding by uncommenting and setting the EnableSmartcardSharing key in the node configuration to 1 or 0 respectively.

To disable it set in node configuration file:
EnableSmartcardSharing 0

By default users can copy and paste from local to the session and vice-versa.

You can configure the server to limit such operations by setting proper values in the configuration file as explained below.

Limiting copy & paste operations
To forbid copy & paste partially or totally, uncomment and set a proper value for the EnableClipboard key in the server configuration file:
client Content copied on the user's side can be pasted inside the session.
server Content copied inside the session can be pasted on the user's side.
none No copy and paste operations are allowed.
both Two-way copy and paste operations are allowed.

Limiting the Clipboard Buffer
By default, the clipboard buffer is unlimited. If you want, for example, to limit the clipboard buffer to 4MB, you have to uncomment and set the following key (value is espressed in bytes) in the node configuration file:
ClipboardBufferLimit 4194304

When a user is connected to the desktop, they have the possibility to transfer files by using the Connection Monitor tool from the system tray within the session. The user can transfer a file from their own PC to the remote host where the session is running and vice-versa. If multiple users are connected, each of them can send a file to a specific user or to all connected users. Drag and drop of a file is also supported

You can manage file transfer
from the UI
In the Settings -> Server -> Security panel

or via node configuration.

Disabling File Transfer
To forbid file transfer you have to uncomment and set a proper value for the EnableFileTransfer key in the node configuration file:
client Files can be transferred from client machine to the server.
server Files can be sent from the server to clients.
both Client and server files can be transferred on remote and local respectively.
none Neither client or server files can be transferred.

For example, to forbid users from transferring a file from the server to their PC:
EnableFileTransfer client

On Linux, NoMachine audio framework is integrated with PulseAudio sound server. If PulseAudio is not available on the system, NoMachine is able to use ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture). This is automatically managed by the NoMachine server so that multimedia support can work out of the box without the need for any configuration. If both PulseAudio and Alsa are available, the administrator might want to configure the node to use one or the other.

On Windows 10,8,7 and Vista NoMachine's audio system perfectly integrates with the Windows media framework. On XP instead, NoMachine relies on its own driver, the NoMachine Audio Adapter. For microphone support NoMachine always uses the NoMachine Microphone Adapter driver.

On Mac, NoMachine installs and uses its own virtual drivers to support audio and microphone seamlessly.

Disabling or Setting Audio Support
To disable audio and microphone support, uncomment and set the AudioInterface key to 'disabled' in the node configuration file:
AudioInterface disabled

On Linux it is possible to define whether PulseAudio Server or ALSA has to be used by setting AudioInterface key to 'pulseaudio' or 'alsa' respectively. For example:
AudioInterface pulseaudio

Accepted values on Windows and Mac are instead 'nxaudio' or 'disabled'.

With NoMachine it's possible to make a video of all activities made inside the session or on the desktop. To start the recording of the session, users should open the NoMachine menu inside the session (ctrl+alt+0) and click on the 'Recording' button icon to access the Recording panel. From this panel it's possible to open the recording bar, change audio and video quality and open the recording directory to access all recorded files. Session recording is not available with sessions on the web.

To record activities made on the desktop, start the recording from the !M icon menu in the system tray of the Enterprise Desktop host and show the Recording bar from there. Desktop activities can be registered on the physical desktop without the need to be connected by NoMachine.

Recorded files are saved by default in WebM format and can be played back directly with NoMachine or any other player supporting that format. Video streams can be encoded only with VP8 or H.264 when supported. Recorded files are saved by default on the user's device in the NoMachine directory under the 'Documents' directory.

Disabling session recording
To prevent users from recording their session activities, edit the node configuration to set:
EnableSessionRecording 0

Disabling desktop recording
To prevent users from recording desktop activities, even when physically logged into the Enterprise Desktop host, edit the node configuration to set:
EnableLocalRecording 0

The automatic recording of the session at session startup is disabled by default.

To enable it on Linux and macOS, execute in a terminal:

on Windows, open a CMD console as administrator and execute:

TIP

You can also define the percentage of session to be recorded by specifying the '--percentage PERCENTAGE' parameter or activate the recording for a specific user only or group of users by means respectively of: '--user ' and '--group '.

The Enterprise Desktop, as well as the other NoMachine client and server products, periodically checks NoMachine repositories (by default every two days) to verify if updates are available and will prompt a dialog informing the user that a new version is available.

It will never automatically update the current installation. Also the download in background of a new software version will not lead to an automatic update of the current installation.

A separate guide, available at: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents deals specifically with all the possible options for the automatic software updates.

To retrieve logs by using the NoMachine tools, please refer to guides available in the Configuration section at: https://www.nomachine.com/all-documents.

TIP

When debug mode is enabled, server logs may increase consistently. It's suggested to keep debug level only for the time necessary to reproduce the problem and collect logs.

If you own multiple installations of Enterprise Desktop, you may need to provide a single point of access to all of these servers. This can be done by installing NoMachine Cloud Server on a dedicated host and add each Enterprise Desktop to it.

In this way, users will connect to the hostname/IP of the Cloud Server and will be redirected to the appropriate Enterprise Desktop or, depending on the Cloud Server configuration, will be able to choose it manually.

You may also configure the NoMachine centralized infrastructure to make each Enterprise Desktop to accept or refuse direct connections to its host.

To grant high available access to this centralized system, it's possible to add a second Cloud Server to the first one and set-up a failover cluster.

Refer to the following article for more details about the Cloud Server multi-server environment, included instructions to set-it up and FAQs: https://www.nomachine.com/AR05R01088