> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://syteca.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Syteca PAM Connection Manager (Jump Server Mode)

> Enable the Syteca Desktop Connection Manager on a Windows Client computer - turns the Client into a jump server for credential-less access to remote accounts using Syteca account secrets.

## Turn the right Windows Client into a jump server, without standing up a separate jump-server product

The jump-server pattern is universal in privileged-access architecture: administrators connect to a controlled, monitored intermediary box, then from there connect to production systems - with the production credentials never touching their workstation.

**Syteca's PAM Connection Manager turns an existing Windows Client into a jump server** - by selecting one checkbox in the Client configuration. Same agent already monitoring user activity is now also brokering credential-less remote-account access using account secrets from Syteca's PAM module. One product, same license, no second deployment to maintain.

<Info>
  **Use the Syteca PAM Connection Manager when you need to:**

  * **Provide credential-less access to production systems** - admins use the jump server, secrets stay in Syteca.
  * **Avoid a separate jump-server product** like Delinea Connection Manager.
  * **Apply unified monitoring** to admin access - the same Syteca Client recording activity is also brokering the connection.

  **Pair it with [PAM secrets](/docs/pam/secrets/add-secret)** for the credential vault that feeds this Connection Manager.
</Info>

<Warning>
  **Applies to Windows and Linux Clients only.** macOS Clients can't be used as Syteca PAM Connection Manager hosts.
</Warning>

## Where to find it

The **Enable the Syteca PAM Connection Manager** checkbox lives on the **Editing Client** / **Editing Client Group** page, on the **Properties** tab, in the **Client Mode** section.

## What enabling it does

When the checkbox is selected, the Windows Client computer becomes a **PAM Connection Manager host** - usable as a jump server for [remote access using account secrets](/docs/pam/secrets/view-manage-secrets). Users connect to the Windows Client, then from there can launch sessions to remote machines using credentials stored in Syteca without those credentials being exposed in their own RDP client or session.

For the full configuration of the jump-server side - what kinds of secrets it can broker, which users can use it, how the session-launch UI works - see [Jump server configuration](/docs/pam/access/desktop-connection-manager). That desktop experience is Windows-only; on a Linux Client, this same checkbox instead enables the [PAM Connection Manager for Linux](/docs/pam/access/linux-pacm) - a command-line (`pacm`) equivalent for SSH and terminal sessions.

## Choosing the right host

<Tip>
  **For multi-user PAM Connection Manager deployments**, use a **Windows Server operating system** as the host. Windows Server supports multiple concurrent sessions, which is required if two or more users will use the Syteca Desktop Connection Manager simultaneously on the same Client computer.

  Workstation Windows editions (Windows 11, 10) limit concurrent sessions and are suitable only for single-user PAM Connection Manager hosts.
</Tip>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="PAM secrets" icon="key" href="/docs/pam/secrets/add-secret">
    The credential vault feeding the PAM Connection Manager.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Jump server configuration" icon="settings" href="/docs/pam/access/desktop-connection-manager">
    Configuring the jump-server side of the integration (Windows).
  </Card>

  <Card title="PAM Connection Manager for Linux" icon="terminal" href="/docs/pam/access/linux-pacm">
    The command-line equivalent for Linux SSH and terminal sessions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Windows Clients" icon="laptop" href="/docs/administration/clients/windows">
    Full Windows Client documentation.
  </Card>

  <Card title="ACB" icon="key-square" href="/docs/api/acb/overview">
    Programmatic access to PAM secrets - complementary to the Connection Manager UI flow.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>