Integrating with the NICE DCV Connection Gateway - NICE DCV Session Manager
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Integrating with the NICE DCV Connection Gateway

NICE DCV Connection Gateway is an installable software package that enables users to access a fleet of NICE DCV servers through a single access point to a LAN or VPC.

If your infrastructure includes NICE DCV servers that are accessible through the NICE DCV Connection Gateway, you can configure the Session Manager to integrate the NICE DCV Connection Gateway. By following the steps outlined in the following section, the broker will act as a Session Resolver for the Connection Gateway. In other words, the broker will expose an additional HTTP endpoint. The Connection Gateway will make API calls to the endpoint to retrieve the information needed to route NICE DCV connections to the host selected by the broker.

Set up the Session Manager Broker as a Session Resolver for the NICE DCV Connection Gateway

Session Manager Broker side
  1. Open /etc/dcv-session-manager-broker/session-manager-broker.properties using your preferred text editor and apply the following changes:

    • Set enable-gateway = true

    • Set gateway-to-broker-connector-https-port to a free TCP port (default is 8447)

    • Set gateway-to-broker-connector-bind-host to the IP address of the host where the Broker binds for NICE DCV Connection Gateway connections (default is 0.0.0.0)

  2. Then run the following commands to stop and restart the Broker:

    sudo systemctl stop dcv-session-manager-broker
    sudo systemctl start dcv-session-manager-broker
  3. Retrieve a copy of the Broker's self-signed certificate and place it in your user directory.

    sudo cp /var/lib/dcvsmbroker/security/dcvsmbroker_ca.pem $HOME

    You'll need it when you install the NICE DCV Connection Gateway in the next step.

NICE DCV Connection Gateway side
  • Please follow the section in the NICE DCV Connection Gateway documentation.

    Since the NICE DCV Connection Gateway makes HTTP API calls to the broker, if the broker is using a self-signed certificate, you will need to copy the broker certificate to the NICE DCV Connection Gateway host (retrieved in the previous step) and set the ca-file parameter in the [resolver] section of the NICE DCV Connection Gateway configuration.

Optional - Enable TLS client authentication

Once you have completed the previous step, the Session Manager and the Connection Gateway can communicate over a secure channel, where the Connection Gateway can verify the identity of the Session Manager Brokers. If you require that also the Session Manager Brokers validate the identity of the Connection Gateway before establishing the secure channel, you need to enable the TLS client authentication feature, following the steps in the next section.

Note

If the Session Manager is behind a load balancer, TLS client authentication cannot be enabled with load balancers that have TLS connection termination, such as Application Load Balancers (ALBs) or Gateway Load Balancers (GLBs). Only load balancers without TLS termination can be supported, such as Network Load Balancers (NLBs). If you use ALBs or GLBs, you can enforce that only specific security groups can contact the load balancers, ensuring an additional level of security; more info about security groups here: Security groups for your VPC

Session Manager Broker side
  1. To enable the TLS client authentication for the communication between the Session Manager Brokers and the NICE DCV Connection Gateway, please follow the next steps:

  2. Generate the required keys and certificates by running: The output of the command will tell you the folder where the credentials have been generated and the password used for creating the TrustStore file.

    sudo /usr/share/dcv-session-manager-broker/bin/gen-gateway-certificates.sh
  3. Place a copy of the NICE DCV Connection Gateway's private key and self-signed certificate in your user directory. You'll need it when you enable the TLS client authentication in the NICE DCV Connection Gateway in the next step.

    sudo cp /etc/dcv-session-manager-broker/resolver-creds/dcv_gateway_key.pem $HOME
    sudo cp /etc/dcv-session-manager-broker/resolver-creds/dcv_gateway_cert.pem $HOME
  4. Then open /etc/dcv-session-manager-broker/session-manager-broker.properties using your preferred text editor and do the following:

    • Set enable-tls-client-auth-gateway to true

    • Set gateway-to-broker-connector-trust-store-file to the path of the TrustStore file created in the previous step

    • Set gateway-to-broker-connector-trust-store-pass to the password used for creating the TrustStore file in the previous step

  5. Then run the following command to stop and restart the Broker:

    sudo systemctl stop dcv-session-manager-broker
    sudo systemctl start dcv-session-manager-broker
NICE DCV Connection Gateway side
  • Please follow the section in the NICE DCV Connection Gateway documentation.

    • use the full path of the certificate file that you copied in the previous step when setting the cert-file parameter in the [resolver] section

    • use the full path of the key file that you copied in the previous step when setting the cert-key-file parameter in the [resolver] section