Control Protocol Settings and Workspot Linux Desktops

Introduction

This article lists the supported I/O features for Workspot Linux Desktops in the context of Workspot Control’s Protocol Settings, which are part of a Workspot Security Policy The Protocol Settings control just about every option for communication between the end-user and the desktop.

Currently, Linux desktop support is not as complete as it is for Windows, and different Workspot Clients offer support for different features. This article collects this information into a single table so you can see whether our current Linux offering aligns with your needs.

About Linux Desktops

Workspot supports Linux Cloud Desktops in addition to Windows Cloud Desktops. End-users connect to their Linux desktops using a Workspot Client, just as they do with Windows desktops.

From the Workspot Administrator’s viewpoint, Linux desktops, desktop pools, and templates are much the same as Windows. Each Linux template and desktop runs the Workspot Linux Agent, which is equivalent to the Workspot Windows Desktop Agent.

Workspot supports Linux desktops in on four Linux distros: Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, and CentOS. Differences in feature support between these are noted in the table.

About Protocol Settings

Protocol Settings are described in the Security Policies article and are added and edited via Control’s “Policies” page. Users receive a Security Policy based on their Workspot group membership. See User Self-Registration and Resource Entitlements and How Workspot Control Handles AD Account Status and Group Membership Changes

Best Practices

Consider disabling some features in Protocol Settings if the failure modes listed in the table below will be a nuisance to your readers.

Compatibility Table

The table below shows all the Protocol Settings and which settings are supported by Workspot Linux Desktops. This support is shown in three columns the Workspot Windows, Mac, and Web Clients have different levels of support.

Cells marked “Partial” either work on some Linux distros and not others or are less than 100% functional on all distros. The “Comments” column explains this.

Protocol Settings

Windows Client

Mac Client

Web Client

Comments

Enable Locked Down Mode

Yes

No

No

 

Enable printing

No

No

No

 

Enable screen capture

No

No

No

 

Enable copy and Paste

Yes

Yes

Partial

On Web Client, connection freezes after paste on Ubuntu (close and reopen Client connection to recover), paste does nothing on Debian and RHEL, works on CentOS.

Allow local drive sharing

No

Yes

No

Web Client claims success but files are not transferred; connection freezes on Ubuntu and Debian (close and reopen Client connection to recover).

Allow drives user plugs in while in session

No

No

No

 

Allow redirection of Plug and Play devices

No

No

No

 

Allow Client to reconnect automatically

Yes

Yes

Partial

If automatic reconnect is disabled in Control, Web Client does not return to Client dashboard when connection is lost (refresh browser to recover).

Display bandwidth and latency values on Desktop

No

No

No

 

Allow audio redirection

Partial

No

No

Works on Ubuntu and Debian on the Windows Client.

Allow video redirection

No

No

No

 

Allow smart card redirection

No

No

No

 

Allow authentication passthrough

No

No

No

 

Enable Teams Client Plugin

No

No

No

 

Enable Zoom Media Plugin

No

No

No

 

Gateway Policies

Gateway Policies let you specify a subset of Protocol Settings for specific Workspot Managed Gateways. The same restrictions apply as above.