Your Linux desktop, in any browser.
Lumen gives you full, interactive access to a Linux desktop directly from a web browser — no software to install on the client, no plugins, no VPN. Open a tab, click Connect, and you’re in.
What Can You Do With It?
Whether you’re accessing a workstation remotely, sharing a development environment with your team, or running applications on a powerful server from a lightweight device, Lumen gets out of the way and lets you work.
- Full desktop access — run any Linux application, desktop environment, or window manager, all accessible from the browser
- Works on any device — laptop, tablet, thin client, Chromebook; if the browser supports WebRTC, it works
- No client software — nothing to install, configure, or update on the device you’re connecting from
- Audio included — system audio streams alongside the video, in sync
- Full keyboard, mouse, and clipboard — interact naturally; copy and paste works between your local machine and the remote session
- Multiple simultaneous viewers — more than one browser can connect to the same session at once
Designed for Low Latency
Lumen streams your desktop over WebRTC — the same technology that powers real-time video calls in modern browsers. Video is encoded in H.264 (with hardware acceleration on Intel and AMD GPUs) and delivered over encrypted UDP, keeping latency low even over a network.
When hardware acceleration is available, frames travel from the GPU directly to the network without ever touching system RAM. On machines without a compatible GPU, software encoding kicks in automatically.
Secure by Default
Access to the stream can be controlled in several ways:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| HTTP Basic (PAM) | Username and password validated against system accounts |
| Bearer token | Preshared secret — simple and effective for reverse proxy setups |
| OAuth2 / OIDC | Integrate with your existing identity provider (Google, Okta, etc.) |
Get Started
Choose an installation method to get up and running:
- Docker / Podman — Try Lumen in minutes with no host dependencies. Includes a bundled desktop and browser.
- Ubuntu / Debian — Install via a native
.debpackage with systemd service integration. - Fedora / RHEL — Install via a native
.rpmpackage with systemd service integration.
Curious how it works under the hood? See the Architecture page.