termix

Termix

Termix is a web-based server management platform with SSH terminal and remote desktop (RDP/VNC) capabilities. It lets you define named connections and open browser-based sessions to your hosts — no client software required on the accessing device.

Run it when you want a quick way to reach your homelab hosts from any browser (a phone, a borrowed laptop, a tablet) without setting up a full bastion or VPN client.

Architecture

Browser → Traefik (TLS + lan-only) → termix :8080
                                         ↓
                              ┌──────────┴──────────┐
                         SSH to hosts          guacd :4822
                                                    ↓
                                          RDP/VNC to hosts

Two containers:

• termix — web frontend; joined to both termix and traefik networks
• guacd — Guacamole proxy daemon that handles RDP/VNC/Telnet protocol translation; internal termix network only, not exposed to the host

Termix discovers guacd by container name via Docker DNS. No env var configuration is required — they just need to share the termix network.

Prerequisites

• Traefik running with the traefik external network created
• /mnt/SSD/Containers/termix directory created on the host

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/SSD/Containers/termix

Deployment

1. Configure environment

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env:

Variable	Description
TZ	Timezone (default: America/New_York)
TERMIX_DOMAIN	FQDN Traefik will route to Termix (e.g. termix.virtuallyboring.com)

2. Start

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f termix

3. Access

• Via Traefik: https://<TERMIX_DOMAIN> (LAN only)
• Direct: http://<host-ip>:8090

Initial Configuration

On first visit, Termix will prompt you to create an admin account. Do this immediately — the UI is unauthenticated until an account exists.

1. Create your admin account

Fill in a username and password. This becomes the primary admin user. Enable 2FA (TOTP) at this step or from account settings afterward — recommended since this is a terminal interface.

2. Add SSH hosts

Navigate to Connections → Add New and fill in:

Field	Notes
Name	Friendly label shown in the UI
Host	IP or hostname of the target machine
Port	SSH port (default: 22)
Username	SSH user on the target
Auth	Password or SSH private key (key is preferred)

3. Add RDP hosts (Windows Servers)

Navigate to Connections → Add New and set the protocol to RDP, then fill in:

Field	Notes
Name	Friendly label
Host	IP or hostname of the Windows Server
Port	RDP port (default: 3389)
Username	Windows username (e.g. Administrator or DOMAIN\user)
Password	Windows password
Security	NLA for modern Windows; fall back to Any if NLA fails
Ignore cert	Enable if using a self-signed certificate

RDP connections are proxied through guacd — if guacd is not running, the connection will fail silently. Verify with docker compose ps that guacd is up.

Updating

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d