enricobuehler
3c096835c2
Field triage on Nobara, 2026-08-09. Every connect degraded to ATTACH — which on that box mirrors a
game-mode session the host never configured, and looked like a black screen on every connect. The
host said:
the packaged pf-dm-helper polkit action is missing or was denied (reinstall the punktfunk
package, or install the display-manager polkit rule from the docs)
Every clause of that was wrong. The action was installed, `allow_any`, and its exec.path annotation
matched the installed helper; pkexec authorized it and RAN the helper. The helper refused, and said
exactly why:
pf-dm-helper: user 'nobara-user' is not in the 'punktfunk' group — refusing.
Grant it with: sudo usermod -aG punktfunk nobara-user (then re-login)
That text never reached the log, because `dm_helper` ran the helper with `.status()` — which
discards stderr and collapses the exit code to a bool. The one thing that would have ended the
investigation in seconds was thrown away at the call site, and the caller then guessed. Neither
suggested remedy adds anyone to a group, so a reader who followed both stayed broken and learned the
docs were useless. It fails soft, with no error and no failed unit, so nobody finds it on purpose.
Now: `.output()`, and four failure modes that stay distinguishable because they need different
fixes — helper not installed, pkexec could not run it, polkit denied it (pkexec's own 126/127), and
the helper ran and refused, whose stderr rides through VERBATIM rather than being re-described. Null
stdin too, so a pkexec that decides to prompt gets EOF instead of parking a stream thread on a tty
read.
The same gate gates the `linger` verb, so on a sessionless host an unjoined user fails there first —
carrying the reason there as well, or the misdiagnosis just moves one message earlier.
A new startup preflight says it before a stream is being built rather than during one, gated so it
cannot nag a box that would never attempt a takeover: not root, a display-manager alias exists, a
managed session launcher exists, a packaged helper exists, and the user is not in the group. It reads
membership from the user database rather than this process's groups, deliberately: that is what the
helper reads (it runs as root and resolves the caller from the database), so `usermod -aG` satisfies
the DM gate immediately and the warning stops. Using `getgroups()` would keep warning on a box where
the takeover already works.
Packaging said the group was for "the virtual Steam Deck pad (usbip)" — so anyone without a Deck pad
correctly skipped it and landed here by following instructions properly. All three scriptlets now
lead with Game Mode, name both grants, and record that creating the group is necessary and NOT
sufficient. Docs get the same treatment: the group is an admonition above the DM-flavor list in
gamescope.md, a black-screen entry in troubleshooting.md that tells the reader to read the quoted
reason FIRST, and the per-distro install pages no longer frame it as pad-only.
11 KiB
title, description
| title | description |
|---|---|
| Fedora | Install the Punktfunk host on Fedora from the RPM registry. |
Install a Punktfunk host on Fedora from the self-hosted RPM registry. The host installs as an
RPM-managed systemd --user service and updates with dnf upgrade like the rest of your
system — no building required. It works with either KDE Plasma or GNOME; the
desktop-specific setup (which compositor captures, headless sessions, quirks) lives on the
desktop configure pages. Host encode is NVENC on NVIDIA; on
AMD/Intel HEVC and AV1 go through Vulkan Video, with VAAPI for H.264 and as the fallback
(PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER=auto picks per GPU).
New here? Read Security & Safe Use first — a streaming host is remote control of the machine, so keep it on a trusted LAN or VPN and require pairing.
Install is two parts: GPU driver → host RPM. Then open the firewall and point the host at your desktop from the desktop configure pages.
1. NVIDIA driver (RPM Fusion akmod)
Enable RPM Fusion (free + nonfree), then install the akmod driver + CUDA. RPM Fusion's nonfree NVIDIA repo is sometimes pre-enabled on some spins; the full free/nonfree repos below are still needed (they carry the NVENC ffmpeg in the next step).
sudo dnf install \
https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm \
https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install akmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda
NVENC ffmpeg. Fedora ships ffmpeg-free, which is built without NVENC — the host can't
encode with it. Swap to RPM Fusion's ffmpeg:
sudo dnf install --allowerasing ffmpeg ffmpeg-libs
ffmpeg -hide_banner -encoders | grep nvenc # expect hevc_nvenc / av1_nvenc / h264_nvenc
Secure Boot. If mokutil --sb-state says enabled, the akmod module is signed with a
locally-generated key that must be enrolled once:
sudo akmods --force # build + sign the module
sudo mokutil --import /etc/pki/akmods/certs/public_key.der # set a one-time password
sudo reboot
On the next boot a blue MOK Manager screen appears on the machine's console (not over SSH): Enroll MOK → Continue → Yes → (the password) → Reboot. Then verify:
nvidia-smi # driver loads
ffmpeg -hide_banner -encoders | grep nvenc
(Or disable Secure Boot in firmware to skip the MOK step — fine for a dedicated test box.)
AMD / Intel. No akmod needed — the Mesa stack carries both encode paths. HEVC and AV1 go through
Vulkan Video by default (the Mesa Vulkan driver, present on any normal Fedora desktop), and
VAAPI is the H.264 path and the fallback. Install the freeworld VAAPI drivers for full codec
support (mesa-va-drivers-freeworld for AMD from RPM Fusion, intel-media-driver for Intel); on a
desktop these are usually already present.
2. Install the host (RPM)
The host is published to the self-hosted Gitea RPM registry, in a per-release group (an RPM is
soname-coupled to its base, so each Fedora release gets its own group). Pick the one matching your
release — rpm -E %fedora prints the number you're on:
- Fedora 44 →
fedora-44 - Fedora 43 →
bazzite— that group is a plain Fedora 43 build of the samepunktfunkpackage, so it's the right one for a regular Fedora 43 box too
Put your group in the baseurl below, then add the repo and install:
sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/punktfunk.repo >/dev/null <<'REPO'
[punktfunk]
name=punktfunk
# The group for your release: fedora-44 on Fedora 44, bazzite on Fedora 43.
baseurl=https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/rpm/fedora-44
enabled=1
# Packages are GPG-signed (gpgcheck=1) AND the repo metadata is Gitea-signed (repo_gpgcheck=1).
gpgcheck=1
repo_gpgcheck=1
gpgkey=https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/rpm/repository.key
https://git.unom.io/api/packages/unom/generic/punktfunk-keys/1/RPM-GPG-KEY-punktfunk
REPO
sudo dnf install punktfunk
sudo usermod -aG input "$USER" # /dev/uinput access for virtual gamepads (re-login to apply)
Also join punktfunk if either applies — you want the virtual Steam Deck controller
(paddles, trackpads, gyro — it reaches games as a real USB pad, which is why Steam Input adopts
it), or this box autologins into Steam Gaming Mode (Nobara and friends) and you want the host
to take that session over at the client's resolution:
sudo usermod -aG punktfunk "$USER" # usbip/vhci + display-manager takeover (re-login to apply)
That is a second group on purpose: it grants write access to the usbip attach file, which
materialises an arbitrary emulated USB device, so it stays off the input group everyone is
routinely told to join. Join it only on a machine you trust. Skip it on a plain desktop host and
the pad simply arrives as an ordinary Xbox 360 controller; skip it on a Gaming Mode box and the
takeover silently degrades to mirroring the box's own screen — see
gamescope.
Updates later are just sudo dnf upgrade punktfunk, followed by
systemctl --user restart punktfunk-host so the running host picks up the new binary. The package
ships the systemd user units, the udev rule, the UDP socket-buffer sysctl tuning, and example
configs.
The group you picked above is the stable channel. For the latest main build, point baseurl at
fedora-44-canary (or bazzite-canary) instead — see Release Channels. Updating
in general, including the opt-in one-click button in the web console, is covered in
Updating the Host.
fedora-44andbazziteare the only stable groups published, so on Fedora 42 or older — or on a release newer than 44 — there's nothing matching yet. Build one with the same toolchain CI uses —docker build --build-arg FEDORA_VERSION=NN -f ci/fedora-rpm.Dockerfile -t pf-rpm cithen runpackaging/rpm/build-rpm.shinside it — or build from source (appendix below).
3. Check it installed
Before moving on, confirm the binary is there and nothing else is competing for the same job:
punktfunk-host --version # the binary is on PATH
punktfunk-host detect-conflicts # exits 1 if Sunshine/Apollo is also installed
If detect-conflicts reports another streaming host, remove it before going further — two hosts on
one machine is the most common reason a clean install never streams. See
Troubleshooting → another streaming host is installed.
Once you've enabled the service on your desktop page below, these are how you watch it:
systemctl --user status punktfunk-host # active
journalctl --user -u punktfunk-host -f # watch a client connect
4. Open the firewall
Fedora runs firewalld by default and the package never edits your firewall, so the host stays unreachable until you allow it. The RPM installs the service definitions — enable them once.
The packaged unit runs serve --gamestream — the RPM installs it as it ships and only rewrites the
binary path — so a host you enabled with systemctl --user enable --now punktfunk-host serves
both the native punktfunk/1 plane and stock Moonlight clients, and needs
both services:
sudo firewall-cmd --reload # load the installed definitions
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=punktfunk-native
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=punktfunk-gamestream
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
punktfunk-native opens UDP 9777 (QUIC control), UDP 5353 (mDNS discovery) and TCP 47990 (the
mgmt/library API — HTTPS + mTLS, read-only off loopback). punktfunk-gamestream opens the fixed
Moonlight ports — TCP 47984, 47989 and 48010, UDP 47998–48000 — plus the same mDNS. The media
data plane uses an ephemeral UDP port the client opens with a hole-punch, so there is nothing
fixed to open for video.
Switched the host to native-only — dropped --gamestream with a
systemctl --user edit punktfunk-host drop-in, or you run punktfunk-host serve by hand? Then add
punktfunk-native alone and leave punktfunk-gamestream out. systemctl --user cat punktfunk-host
shows which one yours is.
And if you want the web console reachable from another device, open TCP 47992:
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=punktfunk-web && sudo firewall-cmd --reload
5. Configure your desktop
How the host creates its virtual display and injects input depends on your desktop, not your distro.
Continue on the page for the desktop you run — it covers your host.env, any compositor quirks, and
starting the host:
Enable the browser management console (status, paired devices, arm pairing) — see Web Console.
For a headless KWin appliance that streams at boot with no graphical login, see KDE → Headless session.
Full config reference: Configuration. Service model: Running as a Service.
6. Connect a client
From any client, --discover finds the host on the LAN. On first connect, complete
the PIN pairing — arm it from the host's web console, which
displays a 4-digit PIN to type into the client. See Clients and
Pairing.
Next steps
- Keep it current — Updating the Host.
- Remove it again — Uninstalling.
- Something not working? — Troubleshooting.
Appendix — build from source
If there's no RPM for your Fedora release and you don't want to build one, compile the host directly (no clean updates / no packaged units — you wire those up by hand):
sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ make cmake clang clang-devel nasm git pkgconf-pkg-config \
pipewire-devel wayland-devel wayland-protocols-devel libxkbcommon-devel opus-devel \
libdrm-devel mesa-libgbm-devel mesa-libGL-devel mesa-libEGL-devel mesa-libGLES-devel libva-devel \
ffmpeg-devel libei-devel
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
git clone https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk.git && cd punktfunk
cargo build --release --locked \
--features punktfunk-host/nvenc,punktfunk-host/vulkan-encode \
-p punktfunk-host
mesa-libGL-devel isn't optional — the zero-copy GPU path links libGL, and without it the build
fails at the link step with cannot find -lGL. The two --features are what the packaged builds
use: leave them off and the host has no direct NVENC (NVIDIA) and no Vulkan Video encode
(AMD/Intel), and quietly falls back to the slower libav backends.
Then write ~/.config/punktfunk/host.env (as in /usr/share/punktfunk/host.env.kde, but the host
binary is target/release/punktfunk-host) and run it inside your desktop session — for a headless
KWin appliance see KDE → Headless session.