Opening clicked links in the host systems browser

[SampoVirtanen]

Currently clicking links opens them in the default browser of the Windows system.
Is there any way to implement a feature that forwards the link to winapps to then open it in the host systems browser?

[koppor]

1. Windows: Generate SSH key: cmd.exe: ssh-keygen -t ecdsa

2. Windows: Output ssh public key: type .ssh\id_ecdsa.pub

3. Windows: Copy the output into the clipboard

4. Linux: Edit ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

5. Linux: Add the content of the clipboard to this file. Save. Exit editor.

6. Linux: Enable sshd - for CachyOS, these steps worked: https://discuss.cachyos.org/t/problem-setting-up-sshd/4529/7

7. Linux: Ensure that xhost is available - on CachyOS, I ran paru -S xorg-host

8. Linux: Disable xorg security (can be done, because X should listen on localhost only - and ssh offers strong security): xhost +

9. Windows: Try out if xdg-open works: ssh linuxuser@10.0.2.2 "DISPLAY=:0 xdg-open https://www.example.org". Note: 10.0.2.2 is the "magic IP" created by QEMU. One might be able to omit linuxuser@ if Windows and Linux share the same login name

10. Windows: Create c:\Users\{username}\open-browser.ps1 with following content - replace linuxuser and 10.0.2.2 with things you found out at the previous step

    param([string]$url)
    
    ssh linuxuser@10.0.2.2 "DISPLAY=:0 xdg-open '$url'"

11. Windows: Modify below .reg file to point to open-browser.ps1 correct. (Replace {username} by your username)

12. Windows: Double click the .reg file to import it into the regsitry

13. Windows: Open Settings and go to "Default apps", then "Choose default by link type"

14. Windows: Change to "Windows PowerShell" at "http". This will also change at "https"

15. Windows: Test: Start Explorer and type in "https://www.example.org" in the address bar.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; -------------------------
; 1) StartMenuInternet entry (browser list)
; -------------------------
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\LINUXBROWSER.EXE]
@="Linux Browser (opens on host)"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\LINUXBROWSER.EXE\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\shell32.dll,220"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\LINUXBROWSER.EXE\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe\" -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"C:\\Users\\{username}\\open-browser.ps1\" \"%1\""

; Optional: makes it show in some older UI surfaces
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\LINUXBROWSER.EXE\InstallInfo]
"HideIconsCommand"=""
"ShowIconsCommand"=""
"ReinstallCommand"=""

; -------------------------
; 2) Capabilities (what it can handle)
; -------------------------
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\LINUXBROWSER.EXE\Capabilities]
"ApplicationName"="Linux Browser"
"ApplicationDescription"="Forwards http/https to Linux via SSH and opens in the default Linux browser."
"ApplicationIcon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\shell32.dll,220"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\LINUXBROWSER.EXE\Capabilities\URLAssociations]
"http"="LinuxBrowserURL"
"https"="LinuxBrowserURL"

; -------------------------
; 3) RegisteredApplications (THIS is the key that makes it appear!)
; -------------------------
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RegisteredApplications]
"LinuxBrowser"="SOFTWARE\\Clients\\StartMenuInternet\\LINUXBROWSER.EXE\\Capabilities"

; -------------------------
; 4) ProgID (the handler behind http/https)
; -------------------------
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\LinuxBrowserURL]
@="Linux Browser URL"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\LinuxBrowserURL\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Windows\\System32\\shell32.dll,220"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\LinuxBrowserURL\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Windows\\System32\\WindowsPowerShell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe\" -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"C:\\Users\\{username}\\open-browser.ps1\" \"%1\""

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Press Windows key - search for "default apps":

The popup at "HTTPS" links should be as follows:

Note: You might need to switch this now and then. For example, for logging into Office365, one needs to use the Windows browser for authentication.

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When clicking a link, a PowerShell window will appear - and close as soon as the xdg-open command finished