# Remote Desktops

Full remote desktop environments power browser-based access to Linux GUIs, agentic computer-use workloads, secure browsing sessions, and disposable workstations.
They're memory-hungry, security-sensitive, and often run in short, interactive bursts—making them a strong fit for microVM-based, scale-to-zero infrastructure.


## Why run remote desktops on Unikraft Cloud

### ⚡ Instant session startups

MicroVMs on Unikraft Cloud boot in milliseconds, so a full desktop is ready the moment a user opens the link:

* No waiting for heavy VMs or container images to warm up.
* Sessions resume from standby in milliseconds when traffic returns.

### 🔒 Strong session isolation

Remote desktops run untrusted browsers, untrusted documents, and arbitrary user input.
With Unikraft Cloud:

* Each desktop runs in its own VM, isolated by design.
* A minimal, single-purpose image reduces attack surface.

### 💸 Cost-efficient scale-to-zero

Interactive sessions are bursty—active for minutes, idle for hours:

* Desktops scale-to-zero between sessions, removing idle costs.
* Pay only for the seconds users actively spend in the session.

### 🤖 Built for automation

Computer-use workloads drive a real desktop the same way a human does:

* Expose a noVNC endpoint over HTTPS for browser or programmatic access.
* Spin up a fresh, disposable environment per task or per session.


## Getting started

Remote desktops on **Unikraft Cloud** run faster, safer, and cheaper.
From disposable browsers to a Linux GUI in a tab, you get instant scale-out and zero idle costs—without sacrificing isolation.

This guide shows you how to use [noVNC](https://novnc.com/info.html), an open source Virtual Network Computing (VNC) client that runs in the browser, paired with a minimal Linux desktop and Firefox.

To run it, follow these steps:

1. Install the CLI and a container runtime engine (for example, [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)).
   Use the [unikraft CLI](/docs/cli/unikraft) or the legacy [kraft CLI](https://unikraft.org/docs/cli/install).

1. Clone the [`examples` repository](https://github.com/unikraft-cloud/examples) and `cd` into the `examples/novnc-browser/` directory:

```bash
git clone https://github.com/unikraft-cloud/examples
cd examples/novnc-browser/
```

Make sure to log into Unikraft Cloud and pick a [metro](/platform/metros) close to you.
This guide uses `fra` (Frankfurt, 🇩🇪):

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```bash title="unikraft"
unikraft login
```

```bash title="kraft"
# Set Unikraft Cloud access token
export UKC_TOKEN=token
# Set metro to Frankfurt, DE
export UKC_METRO=fra
```

</CodeTabs>

The `UKC_TOKEN` and `UKC_METRO` environment variables are only supported by the legacy CLI.

:::note

A noVNC desktop instance on Unikraft Cloud requires 4GB to run.
Request an increase in the instance memory quota when you need more memory.

:::

When done, invoke the following command to deploy this app on Unikraft Cloud:

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```bash title="unikraft"
unikraft build . --output <my-org>/novnc-browser:latest
unikraft run --scale-to-zero policy=on,cooldown-time=4000,stateful=true --metro fra -p 443:6080/tls+http -m 4G --name vnc-browser --image <my-org>/novnc-browser:latest
```

```bash title="kraft"
kraft cloud deploy \
    --scale-to-zero on \
    --scale-to-zero-stateful \
    --scale-to-zero-cooldown 4s \
    -p 443:6080/tls+http \
    -M 4Gi \
    -n vnc-browser \
    .
```

</CodeTabs>

The output shows the instance address and other details:

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```ansi title="unikraft"
metro:        fra
name:         vnc-browser
uuid:         90a59b05-0ae1-4ca6-8383-79c5115355ee
state:        starting
image:        <my-org>/novnc-browser
resources:
  memory:     4096MiB
  vcpus:      1
service:
  uuid:       aaf03f7c-65e6-5624-d5f4-84e87450beee
  name:       weathered-fog-y5jjmwfd
  domains:
  - fqdn:     weathered-fog-y5jjmwfd.fra.unikraft.app
networks:
- uuid:       61708609-d291-572d-4a4c-399413238199
  private-ip: 10.0.0.49
  mac:        12:b0:1e:47:6c:59
timestamps:
  created:    just now
```

```ansi title="kraft"
[●] Deployed successfully!
 │
 ├────────── name: vnc-browser
 ├────────── uuid: 90a59b05-0ae1-4ca6-8383-79c5115355ee
 ├───────── state: starting
 ├──────── domain: https://weathered-fog-y5jjmwfd.fra.unikraft.app
 ├───────── image: oci://unikraft.io/<my-org>/novnc-browser@sha256:fdb4887e84362ebbaf54c713e0d85f547e8ee173fe63a6ab39e94b7e612a9892
 ├──────── memory: 4096 MiB
 ├─────── service: weathered-fog-y5jjmwfd
 ├── private fqdn: vnc-browser.internal
 └──── private ip: 10.0.0.49
```

</CodeTabs>

In this case, the instance name is `vnc-browser`.
The address is different for each run.

Open the provided address in a browser to reach the noVNC landing page.
From there, click **Connect** to open the remote desktop, which ships with Firefox and a minimal Linux GUI.

At any time, you can list information about the instance:

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```bash title="unikraft"
unikraft instances list
```

```bash title="kraft"
kraft cloud instance list
```

</CodeTabs>

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```ansi title="unikraft"
METRO  NAME         STATE    IMAGE                   ARGS  MEMORY  VCPUS  FQDN                                     CREATED
fra    vnc-browser  standby  <my-org>/novnc-browser        4.0GiB  1      weathered-fog-y5jjmwfd.fra.unikraft.app  2 minutes ago
```

```ansi title="kraft"
NAME         FQDN                                     STATE    STATUS   IMAGE                                                MEMORY   VCPUS  ARGS  BOOT TIME
vnc-browser  weathered-fog-y5jjmwfd.fra.unikraft.app  standby  standby  oci://unikraft.io/<my-org>/novnc-browser@sha256:...  4.0 GiB  1            7.17 ms
```

</CodeTabs>

When done, you can remove the instance:

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```bash title="unikraft"
unikraft instances delete vnc-browser
```

```bash title="kraft"
kraft cloud instance remove vnc-browser
```

</CodeTabs>

### Customize your deployment

The current deployment ships with Firefox, a tiling panel, and a small set of X11 utilities on top of Ubuntu.
Customizing the deployment means editing the `Dockerfile` to add the apps your users need, such as a different browser, an editor, or developer tools.
You can also adjust the screen geometry through the `WIDTH`, `HEIGHT`, and `DISPLAY_NUM` environment variables in `wrapper.sh`.

[Anthropic's Computer Use Demo](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-quickstarts/tree/main/computer-use-demo) inspired this example, which works well as a sandbox for computer-use automation that needs to drive a real desktop.

## Learn more

Use the `--help` option for detailed information on using Unikraft Cloud:

<CodeTabs syncKey="cli-tool">

```bash title="unikraft"
unikraft --help
```

```bash title="kraft"
kraft cloud --help
```

</CodeTabs>

Or visit the [CLI Reference](/docs/cli/unikraft) or the [legacy CLI reference](/docs/cli/kraft/overview).