Introduction

Thinfinity® Workspace is a powerful tool that enables users to publish Windows applications on the web, allowing them to access those applications from any device with an HTML5 browser. This provides users greater flexibility and mobility, as they can work with their applications remotely without accessing the entire remote desktop.

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to set up Thinfinity® Workspace in a production environment for publishing a remote app. This setup involves installing the Thinfinity Gateway and broker on a separate Windows machine from the application server.

Requirements

Before proceeding, ensure that the Application Server Machine is compatible with Thinfinity® Workspace RemoteApp. This Feature only works on Windows Server with Remote Desktop Services installed. Therefore, checking the environment’s compatibility is recommended.

Architecture Diagram

To set up Thinfinity® Workspace for publishing a remote app in a production environment, we will use a three-tier architecture consisting of the following components:

1. Client: This is any device with an HTML5 browser that will be used to access the published remote app.
2. Thinfinity Reverse Gateway: This component acts as a proxy between the client and the Thinfinity Broker, providing secure access to the published application.
3. Thinfinity Broker: This component is responsible for managing the Users Identity and managing the remote app’s sessions.
4. Application Server: This is the machine where the application is hosted. It can be both a terminal server or a virtual machine.

Step-by-step Guide

• Enter your Thinfinity® Workspace landing page; you should see a “+” icon after logging in.
• Click on it:

• Click on “Application”.

Keep in mind you can also restrict the app to be only used by the currently logged-in user by unchecking the bottom option “Make this profile available to other users.”

• Click on “Next”.
• Select “RemoteApp” and click on Next:

• Now you’ll see this screen:

You’ll have to choose which device you wish to execute the application. If you select “This PC” you’ll execute applications from your Thinfinity Workspace server as a host.

You’ll have to choose which device you wish to execute the application. If you select “This PC” you’ll execute applications from your Thinfinity® Workspace server as a host.

For this guide, however, we’re going to choose “Another PC”, our Thinfinity Server will act as a gateway to another device from which you will be able to execute applications.

Keep in mind the destination PC must have RDP access protocol enabled, and the user credentials that we’re logging in with must have permission to access through RDP. 

• Select “Another PC” enter the destination device’s external IP and click “Next”:

• Enter the Application’s local path in the destination device as follows:

• On the next screen, it will give you three options on how to handle credentials:

You’ll need to choose which suits your use case best.
“Use the authenticated credentials” will carry over the credentials used for the landing page in the first login. (Useful for environments where everything is under an AD domain, for instance). 

“Ask for new credentials” will prompt for another login, which needs to be the credentials that have permissions on the destination device, as mentioned earlier.
“Use these credentials” will enable a dialog box in which you can predefine the profile to always use the desired credentials that you will input here.

• Choose your desired option and click “Next”.

• On this next screen, you can choose a name and an icon for the app. After doing so, click “Done”.

• The new profile will show on the landing page like this:

• The little diskette icon indicates that you need to save the changes for the profile to be successfully saved on your Thinfinity®  Workspace Server. Do so by clicking “Commit” on the lower right corner of the Landing page:

• Now you can connect through the profile, and the desired App will execute in your browser window as a RemoteApp:

Conclusion

In summary, Thinfinity® Workspace is an effective solution for the web-based deployment of Windows applications, facilitating user accessibility from any device equipped with an HTML5 browser. Implementing Thinfinity® Workspace in a production environment for publishing RemoteApp guarantees users secure remote access to their applications, while simultaneously providing them with control and flexibility over their working environment.

Moving forward, we plan to provide comprehensive tutorials on using Secondary Brokers and Agents to publish remote applications from multi-cloud or hybrid environments. These tutorials will serve to enhance user understanding further and facilitate the seamless integration of Thinfinity® Workspace into complex and dynamic technological ecosystems.

With Thinfinity® Workspace, businesses and organizations can unlock the full potential of their Windows applications, improving user productivity and flexibility without compromising on security or performance. We look forward to continuing to provide innovative solutions that enable businesses to stay ahead of the curve and meet the evolving needs of their users.