---
layout: default
navsection: installguide
title: Configure webshell
...
{% comment %}
Copyright (C) The Arvados Authors. All rights reserved.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-3.0
{% endcomment %}

# "Introduction":#introduction
# "Prerequisites":#prerequisites
# "Update config.yml":#configure
# "Update nginx configuration":#update-nginx
# "Install packages":#install-packages
# "Configure shellinabox":#config-shellinabox
# "Configure pam":#config-pam
# "Confirm working installation":#confirm-working

h2(#introduction). Introduction

Arvados supports @webshell@, which allows ssh access to shell nodes via the browser. This functionality is integrated in @Workbench@.

@Webshell@ is provided by the @shellinabox@ package which runs on each shell node for which webshell is enabled. For authentication, a supported @pam library@ that allows authentication against Arvados is also required. One Nginx (or similar web server) virtualhost is also needed to expose all the @shellinabox@ instances via https.

h2(#prerequisites). Prerequisites

# "Install workbench":{{site.baseurl}}/install/install-workbench-app.html
# "Set up a shell node":{{site.baseurl}}/install/install-shell-server.html

h2(#configure). Update config.yml

Edit the cluster config at @config.yml@ and set @Services.WebShell.ExternalURL@.  Replace @zzzzz@ with your cluster id. Workbench will use this information to activate its support for webshell.

<notextile>
<pre><code>    Services:
      WebShell:
        InternalURLs: {}
        ExternalURL: <span class="userinput">https://webshell.ClusterID.example.com/</span>
</span></code></pre>
</notextile>

h2(#update-nginx). Update Nginx configuration

The arvados-webshell service will be accessible from anywhere on the internet, so we recommend using SSL for transport encryption. This Nginx virtualhost could live on your Workbench server, or any other server that is reachable by your Workbench users and can access the @shell-in-a-box@ service on the shell node(s) on port 4200.

Use a text editor to create a new file @/etc/nginx/conf.d/arvados-webshell.conf@ with the following configuration.  Options that need attention are marked in <span class="userinput">red</span>.

<notextile><pre>
upstream arvados-webshell {
  server                <span class="userinput">shell.ClusterID.example.com</span>:<span class="userinput">4200</span>;
}

server {
  listen                443 ssl;
  server_name           webshell.<span class="userinput">ClusterID.example.com</span>;

  proxy_connect_timeout 90s;
  proxy_read_timeout    300s;

  ssl                   on;
  ssl_certificate       <span class="userinput">/YOUR/PATH/TO/cert.pem</span>;
  ssl_certificate_key   <span class="userinput">/YOUR/PATH/TO/cert.key</span>;

  location /<span class="userinput">shell.ClusterID</span> {
    if ($request_method = 'OPTIONS') {
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Methods' 'GET, POST, OPTIONS';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Headers' 'DNT,X-CustomHeader,Keep-Alive,User-Agent,X-Requested-With,If-Modified-Since,Cache-Control,Content-Type';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Max-Age' 1728000;
       add_header 'Content-Type' 'text/plain charset=UTF-8';
       add_header 'Content-Length' 0;
       return 204;
    }
    if ($request_method = 'POST') {
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Methods' 'GET, POST, OPTIONS';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Headers' 'DNT,X-CustomHeader,Keep-Alive,User-Agent,X-Requested-With,If-Modified-Since,Cache-Control,Content-Type';
    }
    if ($request_method = 'GET') {
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Methods' 'GET, POST, OPTIONS';
       add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Headers' 'DNT,X-CustomHeader,Keep-Alive,User-Agent,X-Requested-With,If-Modified-Since,Cache-Control,Content-Type';
    }

    proxy_ssl_session_reuse off;
    proxy_read_timeout  90;
    proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-Proto https;
    proxy_set_header    Host $http_host;
    proxy_set_header    X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header    X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
    proxy_pass          http://arvados-webshell;
  }
}
</pre></notextile>

Note that the location line in the nginx config matches your shell node hostname *without domain*, because that is how the shell node was defined in the "Set up a shell node":{{site.baseurl}}/install/install-shell-server.html#vm-record instructions. It makes for a more user friendly experience in Workbench.

For additional shell nodes with @shell-in-a-box@, add @location@ and @upstream@ sections as needed.

{% assign arvados_component = 'shellinabox libpam-arvados-go' %}

{% include 'install_packages' %}

h2(#config-shellinabox). Configure shellinabox

h3. Red Hat and Centos

Edit @/etc/sysconfig/shellinaboxd@:

<notextile><pre>
# TCP port that shellinboxd's webserver listens on
PORT=4200

# SSL is disabled because it is terminated in Nginx. Adjust as needed.
OPTS="--disable-ssl --no-beep --service=/<span class="userinput">shell.ClusterID.example.com</span>:AUTH:HOME:SHELL"
</pre></notextile>

<notextile>
<pre>
<code># <span class="userinput">systemctl enable shellinabox</span></code>
<code># <span class="userinput">systemctl start shellinabox</span></code>
</pre>
</notextile>

h3. Debian and Ubuntu

Edit @/etc/default/shellinabox@:

<notextile><pre>
# TCP port that shellinboxd's webserver listens on
SHELLINABOX_PORT=4200

# SSL is disabled because it is terminated in Nginx. Adjust as needed.
SHELLINABOX_ARGS="--disable-ssl --no-beep --service=/<span class="userinput">shell.ClusterID.example.com</span>:AUTH:HOME:SHELL"
</pre></notextile>

<notextile>
<pre>
<code># <span class="userinput">systemctl enable shellinabox</span></code>
<code># <span class="userinput">systemctl start shellinabox</span></code>
</pre>
</notextile>


h2(#config-pam). Configure pam

Use a text editor to create a new file @/etc/pam.d/shellinabox@ with the following configuration.  Options that need attention are marked in <span class="userinput">red</span>.

<notextile><pre>
# This example is a stock debian "login" file with pam_arvados
# replacing pam_unix. It can be installed as /etc/pam.d/shellinabox .

auth       optional   pam_faildelay.so  delay=3000000
auth [success=ok new_authtok_reqd=ok ignore=ignore user_unknown=bad default=die] pam_securetty.so
auth       requisite  pam_nologin.so
session [success=ok ignore=ignore module_unknown=ignore default=bad] pam_selinux.so close
session       required   pam_env.so readenv=1
session       required   pam_env.so readenv=1 envfile=/etc/default/locale

# The first argument is the address of the API server.  The second
# argument is this shell node's hostname.  The hostname must match the
# "hostname" field of the virtual_machine record.
auth [success=1 default=ignore] /usr/lib/pam_arvados.so <span class="userinput">ClusterID.example.com</span> <span class="userinput">shell.ClusterID.example.com</span>

auth    requisite            pam_deny.so
auth    required            pam_permit.so

auth       optional   pam_group.so
session    required   pam_limits.so
session    optional   pam_lastlog.so
session    optional   pam_motd.so  motd=/run/motd.dynamic
session    optional   pam_motd.so
session    optional   pam_mail.so standard

@include common-account
@include common-session
@include common-password

session [success=ok ignore=ignore module_unknown=ignore default=bad] pam_selinux.so open
</pre></notextile>

h2(#confirm-working). Confirm working installation

We recommend using the "Cluster diagnostics tool.":diagnostics.html

Here are some other checks you can perform manually.

A user should now be able to log in to the shell server, using webshell via workbench. Please refer to "Accessing an Arvados VM with Webshell":{{site.baseurl}}/user/getting_started/vm-login-with-webshell.html