System Requirements

This page outlines the requirements for deploying the SPSA appliance in your environment.


Appliance Specifications

SPSA Foundation

Component Minimum Recommended
CPU 2 cores 4 cores
RAM 4 GB 8 GB
Disk 50 GB SSD 100 GB SSD
Network 1 Gbps 1 Gbps

SPSA Pro

Component Minimum Recommended
CPU 4 cores 8 cores
RAM 8 GB 16 GB
Disk 100 GB SSD 500 GB SSD
Network 1 Gbps 10 Gbps

Session Recording Storage

SPSA Pro with session recording enabled requires additional disk space based on recording volume. Plan for 100-500 GB or more for environments with extensive recording requirements.

SPSA Demo Appliance

The SPSA Demo installation is a fully functional SPSA Foundation appliance for evaluation purposes:

Parameter Value
Runtime Limit 30 days after first boot
Network Adapters 1 (DHCP configured)
RAM 4 GB
CPU 2 cores
Disk 64 GB

Demo Limitations

  • The demo appliance runtime is limited to 30 days
  • Only one network adapter is configured (uses DHCP)
  • Cannot be upgraded to a production license
  • A fresh deployment is required for production use

Virtualization Platforms

SPSA is provided as a virtual appliance compatible with:

Platform Minimum Version Template Format
VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 1 OVA
VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 1 OVA
Microsoft Hyper-V 2016 ZIP (VHDX)
Microsoft Hyper-V 2019, 2022 ZIP (VHDX)

ESXi Standalone

SPSA can be deployed directly to ESXi hosts without vCenter Server.


Network Requirements

Firewall Rules (Inbound to SPSA)

Source Port Protocol Purpose
Users 443 TCP SPSA Portal web interface (HTTPS)

Integrated Firewall

SPSA includes an integrated host firewall that blocks all unnecessary inbound traffic. Only HTTPS (port 443) is accessible by default.

Firewall Rules (Outbound from SPSA)

Destination Port Protocol Purpose
Windows Targets 3389 TCP RDP connections
Linux Targets 22 TCP SSH connections
VNC Targets 5900-5910 TCP VNC connections
Telnet Targets 23 TCP Telnet connections
DNS Server 53 UDP/TCP Name resolution
NTP Server 123 UDP Time synchronization

SPSA Pro Multi-Site (Additional)

For SPSA Pro with distributed SPSA Proxies:

Source Destination Port Protocol Purpose
SPSA Portal SPSA Proxy VPN UDP Site-to-site connectivity
SPSA Proxy SPSA Portal VPN UDP Recording sync

Browser Requirements

SPSA Portal is compatible with modern HTML5 browsers:

Browser Minimum Version
Google Chrome 90+ (Recommended)
Microsoft Edge 90+ (Recommended)
Mozilla Firefox 88+
Safari 14+

No Plugins Required

SPSA uses HTML5 for remote sessions. No browser plugins, Java, or ActiveX are required.

Recommended Browsers

Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge provide the best experience with SPSA.


Target System Requirements

Windows (RDP)

  • Remote Desktop enabled on target system
  • Network Level Authentication (NLA) recommended
  • Firewall allows port 3389 from SPSA appliance IP

Windows Settings:

System Properties > Remote > Allow remote connections
☑ Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with NLA

Linux/Unix (SSH)

  • SSH server running (OpenSSH recommended)
  • Firewall allows port 22 from SPSA appliance IP
  • Password or key-based authentication enabled

Verify SSH is running:

sudo systemctl status sshd

VNC

  • VNC server installed and running
  • VNC password configured
  • Firewall allows VNC port (5900 + display number) from SPSA

Telnet (Legacy)

Security Warning

Telnet is unencrypted. Use only for legacy systems that cannot support SSH.

  • Telnet service enabled on target
  • Firewall allows port 23 from SPSA

Appliance Components

The SPSA appliance is a pre-configured system with:

Component Technology
Operating System Alpine Linux
Remote Access Apache Guacamole 1.6.0
Container Runtime Docker
Database PostgreSQL
Reverse Proxy Caddy
Firewall nftables

All components are pre-installed and configured. No manual installation required.


Pre-Deployment Checklist

Infrastructure

  • [ ] Virtualization platform meets minimum version requirements
  • [ ] Sufficient resources allocated (CPU, RAM, disk)
  • [ ] VM template obtained from Skillplan

Network

  • [ ] SPSA IP address planned (static recommended)
  • [ ] Network firewall rules configured (inbound 443, outbound to targets)
  • [ ] DNS entry created (optional but recommended)
  • [ ] Target systems accessible from SPSA network segment

Security

  • [ ] SSL certificate obtained (optional for initial setup)
  • [ ] TOTP authenticator app available for MFA setup
  • [ ] Initial credentials received from Skillplan

Target Systems

  • [ ] Remote Desktop enabled (Windows targets)
  • [ ] SSH server running (Linux targets)
  • [ ] Firewall rules allow connections from SPSA
  • [ ] Test credentials available