Browser-Based Sessions

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Browser-Based Sessions are a feature in VPAM that enables the secure connection of a vendor's remote support agent to a target customer's environment through the VPAM server. The purpose of establishing secure connections is to facilitate the resolution of issues or the installation of files that are otherwise unavailable to a target customer.

Browser-Based Sessions enable vendors to establish these secure connections directly in their web browser. This feature is also known as Web Based Client or HTML5 Client.

The functionality of Browser-Based Sessions is similar to the Connection Manager, as it provides vendors with services such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and SSH.

IMPORTANT:

Browser-Based Sessions may not provide the same services as the Connection Manager. If your Vendor Reps require services other than RDP or SSH, it is recommended that you use the Connection Manager.

Requirements

To use Browser-Based Sessions to engage in secure remote connections through a Web Based Client, you must meet the following requirements:

System Administrators must ensure to meet the following requirements to enable Browser-Based Session at a server and vendor-level:

  • Your VPAM server must be version 25.1.9.

  • You and your customers must have Internet connectivity to establish a secure connection.

  • Your server must have at least one valid service in a host. Valid services are SSH, RDP, and VNC.

  • The services configured in the target host must have associated secrets; otherwise, the browser session will not launch.

  • You must ensure each Vendor has the Browser Connectivity rules they require.

Internal Users must meet the following requirements. Contact your System Administrator if you are not sure if you should have access to Browser-Based Sessions.

  • Permissions to view and connect to Applications.

IMPORTANT:

Before you use this feature, read and understand the differences between a Connection Manager session and a Browser-Based session.

Manage Browser-Based Sessions as a System Administrator

As System Administrator, you can perform the following:

Browser-Based Session are not automatically enabled on for the VPAM server. System Administrators can enable this feature in the server with the following steps:

  1. Open your VPAM server in the new UI.

  2. Navigate to System Administration > System Settings > Browser Connectivity.

  3. Select who has access to the Browser-Based Sessions:

    • Enable browser connectivity for Internal Users: Your internal users can use the feature in hosts that meet the requirement.

    • Enable browser connectivity on a per Vendor basis only: Your vendor's representatives can use the feature when connecting to your assets.

Additionally, System Administrators can activate or deactivate the feature in each Vendor's page:

  1. Navigate to the Vendor's page that you want to configure.

  2. Activate or deactivate the feature in the Browser Connectivity section.

For the feature to display in your Vendor's pages, the vendor must have configured a valid service in a host, that employs credentials. Valid services are SSH and RDP.

Browser-Based Sessions save logs of all the activity during a session. To view and download and view the logs, you must be a System Administrator or have the VIEW_ADMIN_LOG_USER_ACTIVITY and VIEW_ADMIN_LOG_SYSTEM_MESSAGES permission in a custom role.

View the session logs with the following steps:

  1. Open the Admin Console.

  2. Open the History tab.

    • Review the server's entire history in Connection History.

    • Review your personal history in My Connection History.

From these sections, you can review the Access Details and Audit Log, and the Session details.

Review Access Details and Audit Log

The Access Details provide information about how a vendor accessed a customer's environment.

To review the Access Details, click the Access ID number of the session you want to review. The page contains the Access Information, Host & Service Information, and the Gatekeeper Information for the session you want to audit.

To review the Session's Audit Log, click View in the Audit column of the session history. This page provides the Access Information details.

Review Session Details

The Session Details provides visibility about the actions taken during a session.

To review the Session Details, click the Session ID number of the session you want to review. The page contains the Session Information, Gatekeeper Information, Session Users, and Access Details.

Use the Feature as an Internal User or Vendor

As a permitted Internal User or Vendor, you can use Browser-Based Sessions as an alternative to Connection Manager-based sessions.

To begin a Browser-Based session:

  1. Select the Application that you want to connect to.

  2. Click Connect.

  3. Click Connect with Browser

    IMPORTANT:

    This method may not provide all of the available services that the Connection Manager does.
    If the host does not have associated credentials, your browser-based session will not run.

  4. Wait for the session to load, select the service you want to run, and click Launch.
    Your browser opens another tab with the service.

After you have started a session, you can close it at any moment by clicking End Session in the Admin Console tab of your browser.