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What CortenDesk Is

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Marc Pope edited this page Oct 12, 2026 · 6 revisions

What CortenDesk is

A self-hosted web console for open-source RustDesk servers, written in PHP/Laravel, plus a native in-browser RustDesk client.

What it does

It gives you a management layer over a RustDesk deployment you already run:

  • a live view of every device, with presence, platform and client version
  • device groups, ownership, and access scoping so people see only their machines
  • shared address books
  • device policies pushed to clients over the heartbeat
  • audit logs for connections, file transfers, sign-ins and security alarms
  • console accounts with roles, two-factor and optional single sign-on
  • a REST API for automation, and support for unattended deployment
  • an in-browser client with video, audio, clipboard and file transfer
CortenDesk Overview dashboard showing fleet statistics, a connections chart and a device platform breakdown

What it is not

It does not need a separate RustDesk server. Since 1.5 the Docker image bundles hbbs and hbbr (CortenDesk Server, our fork of the open-source server), so one container is the ID server, the relay and the console. If you already run your own hbbs/hbbr, set CORTENDESK_EMBEDDED_SERVER=false and CortenDesk is the console only; see RustDesk server in Docker.

It does not require a patched client. It implements the HTTP API that stock RustDesk clients already speak — login and tokens, heartbeat and sysinfo presence, address books, the group tab, audit ingestion. You point a normal client at CortenDesk as its API Server and it works.

How the pieces fit

RustDesk client ──── ID / relay ────► hbbs + hbbr      (connections)
       │
       └─────────── API Server ─────► CortenDesk        (management)
                                          │
                                      database

Two independent paths. Sessions run peer-to-peer through the RustDesk server and never pass through CortenDesk — which is why the console reports on sessions and can ask a device to close one, but cannot itself see or intercept their contents.

What you need

  • Nothing else for the RustDesk side with the Docker image: it runs hbbs and hbbr itself. A manual install needs a RustDesk server (hbbs/hbbr) reachable by your devices.
  • PHP 8.4+, or just use the Docker image
  • MySQL or MariaDB
  • TLS is recommended for the in-browser client. Over plain HTTP it falls back to H.264 only; see Web client

Licence

AGPL-3.0. Aligned with RustDesk.

Since 1.11.0 everything the console ships is open source. The front end is built on stock Bootstrap 5.3.8, with Remix Icon, ApexCharts and the Figtree font, each under its own permissive licence. NOTICE in the repository lists them.

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