enricobuehler
ba39b08e09
apple / swift (push) Successful in 1m6s
ci / rust (push) Successful in 5m51s
android / android (push) Successful in 6m21s
ci / web (push) Successful in 49s
ci / docs-site (push) Successful in 58s
windows-host / package (push) Successful in 8m6s
release / apple (push) Successful in 8m17s
deb / build-publish (push) Successful in 3m26s
decky / build-publish (push) Successful in 25s
docker / build-push (--build-arg FEDORA_VERSION=44, ci, ci/fedora-rpm.Dockerfile, punktfunk-fedora44-rpm) (push) Successful in 5s
ci / bench (push) Successful in 4m42s
docker / build-push (., web/Dockerfile, punktfunk-web) (push) Successful in 30s
docker / build-push (ci, ci/fedora-rpm.Dockerfile, punktfunk-fedora-rpm) (push) Successful in 2m36s
docker / build-push (ci, ci/rust-ci.Dockerfile, punktfunk-rust-ci) (push) Successful in 2m17s
rpm / build-publish (fedora-44, punktfunk-fedora44-rpm) (push) Failing after 19s
docker / build-push (docs-site, docs-site/Dockerfile, punktfunk-docs) (push) Successful in 51s
apple / screenshots (push) Successful in 5m45s
docker / deploy-docs (push) Successful in 22s
rpm / build-publish (bazzite, punktfunk-fedora-rpm) (push) Failing after 22s
Web console - Pairing/Library/Stats refactored into self-contained subsections that each own their own queries + mutations; a shared slot-based layout (view.tsx) is filled by the live page (containers) and Storybook (pure cards + fixtures) so the layout can't drift. - All paired devices in one list on Pairing with a protocol column (punktfunk/1 + Moonlight), routing each unpair to the right endpoint; the redundant Clients page is removed. - Library: overview grid split from the add/edit form into separate files. - Login screen links out to the docs. Docs - "Console login password" section on every host page (apt/RPM/Bazzite/SteamOS/Windows) plus a new "Forgot your Password?" troubleshooting page, linked from the login screen. - Console served as HTTP/1.1 over TLS (drop the unusable HTTP/3 advertising) across the Bun entry, launchers, systemd units, and packaging. Tooling - Biome now respects .gitignore (stops linting generated code), config migrated to 2.5.1; all lint issues fixed cleanly. Also includes this branch's in-progress host, Apple client, packaging, and CI changes. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
143 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
143 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: "Windows Host"
|
|
description: "Run the Punktfunk streaming host on a Windows PC — a first-class, all-vendor, virtual-display host."
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Set up a Punktfunk host on a **Windows 10/11 PC** and stream its desktop or games to any Punktfunk or
|
|
[Moonlight](/docs/moonlight) client. A signed installer registers a Windows service that streams at the
|
|
client's **exact resolution and refresh** via Punktfunk's own **virtual display** — including
|
|
**HDR10** (10-bit BT.2020 PQ) when your Windows desktop is in HDR mode. The virtual display is created
|
|
on the fly, so you need **no second monitor and no dummy HDMI plug**, and capture keeps working even on
|
|
the secure desktop (UAC prompts, the lock screen).
|
|
|
|
> New to this? Skim [Requirements](/docs/requirements) first.
|
|
|
|
> This page is about the Windows **host** — streaming *from* a Windows PC. To stream *to* a Windows PC,
|
|
> see the [Windows client](/docs/clients#windows-desktop-client).
|
|
|
|
## Requirements
|
|
|
|
- **Windows 10 or 11, x64.** ARM64 is not built (no ARM64 NVIDIA driver, and the virtual-display
|
|
driver is x64-only).
|
|
- **A GPU for hardware encode** — the host auto-detects the vendor:
|
|
- **NVIDIA** → NVENC
|
|
- **AMD** → AMF
|
|
- **Intel** → QSV
|
|
|
|
No discrete GPU? The host falls back to a **software H.264** encoder (higher CPU use, lower quality —
|
|
fine for light desktop use).
|
|
- **No gamepad prerequisite.** The virtual gamepad drivers are bundled in the installer — there is
|
|
nothing else to download. (Earlier builds needed ViGEmBus; it is no longer used.)
|
|
|
|
## Install
|
|
|
|
Download the signed `punktfunk-host-setup-<ver>.exe` from the
|
|
[latest release](https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/releases) and run it. The installer:
|
|
|
|
- drops the host into `C:\Program Files\punktfunk` and registers + starts the **`PunktfunkHost`**
|
|
service,
|
|
- installs the bundled **virtual-display driver** (`pf-vdisplay`) so the host can create per-client
|
|
displays,
|
|
- installs the bundled **virtual gamepad drivers** (DualSense, DualShock 4, Xbox 360),
|
|
- registers the bundled **HDR Vulkan layer** so Vulkan games can enable HDR over the virtual display,
|
|
- sets up the **web management console** (see below).
|
|
|
|
For an unattended install, append `/VERYSILENT`. Upgrades and uninstall go through **Add/Remove
|
|
Programs**; your config and pairings are kept across upgrades. Prefer the CLI, or want the full
|
|
service/firewall details? See [Running as a Service → Windows](/docs/running-as-a-service#windows).
|
|
Packaging internals live in
|
|
[`packaging/windows`](https://git.unom.io/unom/punktfunk/src/branch/main/packaging/windows/README.md).
|
|
|
|
### Web console & pairing
|
|
|
|
The installer also sets up the **web management console** (status, paired devices, the PIN pairing
|
|
flow): it bundles the console plus its own runtime and runs it as the **`PunktfunkWeb`** task on
|
|
**`http://<this-PC>:3000`**, starting at boot.
|
|
|
|
#### Console login password
|
|
|
|
During setup you choose the console **login password** — it's pre-filled with a secure random default
|
|
and shown again on the installer's final page. It's stored in `%ProgramData%\punktfunk\web-password`
|
|
(as `PUNKTFUNK_UI_PASSWORD=…`), readable only by Administrators and SYSTEM.
|
|
|
|
To change it, edit that file and restart the console task. In an **elevated** PowerShell:
|
|
|
|
```powershell
|
|
notepad "$env:ProgramData\punktfunk\web-password" # set PUNKTFUNK_UI_PASSWORD=<your-password>
|
|
schtasks /End /TN PunktfunkWeb; schtasks /Run /TN PunktfunkWeb
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Forgot it? This is the recovery path linked from the console login screen — see
|
|
[Forgot your Password?](/docs/forgot-password).
|
|
|
|
The host **requires PIN pairing** by default (secure on a LAN). To connect the first time, open the
|
|
console from any browser on the LAN, log in, go to **Devices → arm pairing**, and enter the PIN on
|
|
your [client](/docs/clients). The host's own management API stays loopback-only behind the console.
|
|
|
|
### Configure
|
|
|
|
The service reads `%ProgramData%\punktfunk\host.env`. The defaults work out of the box; common knobs:
|
|
|
|
- `PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER=auto` — `auto` picks NVENC/AMF/QSV by GPU vendor. Force one with `nvenc`, `amf`,
|
|
`qsv`, or `sw` (software).
|
|
- `PUNKTFUNK_HOST_CMD` — the service runs `serve --gamestream` by default (native punktfunk/1 **plus**
|
|
the GameStream/Moonlight-compat planes). Set it to `serve` for a **secure native-only** host with no
|
|
GameStream surface (GameStream pairs over plain HTTP and uses weaker legacy encryption — trusted LAN
|
|
only).
|
|
|
|
Edit the file, then restart: `punktfunk-host service stop` / `punktfunk-host service start`. See the
|
|
[Configuration reference](/docs/configuration) for every option.
|
|
|
|
## How it works
|
|
|
|
The host installs a **`LocalSystem` SCM service** that runs from Session 0 and launches a worker into
|
|
the interactive session (`CreateProcessAsUserW`). That lets it **capture the secure desktop** (UAC
|
|
prompts, the lock screen) and keep streaming across reboots with nobody logged in — the same model
|
|
Sunshine and Apollo use. Service registration, firewall rules, and the supervisor all live in
|
|
`punktfunk-host service install`; the installer just lays the exe down and calls it elevated.
|
|
|
|
### One core, Windows backends
|
|
|
|
Most of Punktfunk is platform-agnostic. `punktfunk-core` (protocol, FEC, crypto, session, transport,
|
|
the C ABI), the QUIC control plane, the GameStream wire logic, the management API, and the per-frame
|
|
pipeline orchestration are all shared with the Linux host. The Windows host is a set of
|
|
`#[cfg(windows)]` backends behind the same traits the Linux host uses:
|
|
|
|
| Subsystem | Linux backend | Windows backend |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
| **Capture** | xdg ScreenCast portal → PipeWire (dmabuf) | **IDD direct-push** — the `pf-vdisplay` driver copies finished frames into a host-owned shared GPU texture ring that the host consumes in-process (no Desktop Duplication, no Windows.Graphics.Capture); FP16/10-bit when the desktop is HDR |
|
|
| **Virtual display** | KWin / Mutter / Sway / gamescope | **pf-vdisplay** signed IDD — create a `WxH@Hz` monitor per session, capture it, tear it down |
|
|
| **Encode** | NVENC (CUDA) / VAAPI (AMD·Intel) / software | **NVENC** (NVIDIA) · **AMF** (AMD) · **QSV** (Intel) · software H.264; HEVC Main10 / BT.2020 PQ for HDR |
|
|
| **Input — mouse/keyboard** | libei / wlr protocols | **SendInput** (Win32 VK + absolute mouse) |
|
|
| **Input — gamepads** | uinput Xbox 360 + UHID DualSense/DS4 | **UMDF** virtual pads — DualSense, DualShock 4, Xbox 360 (XUSB) + rumble |
|
|
| **Audio capture** | PipeWire sink-monitor | **WASAPI loopback** |
|
|
| **Virtual mic** | PipeWire `Audio/Source` | WASAPI virtual mic |
|
|
|
|
The virtual display is **pf-vdisplay**, Punktfunk's own all-Rust **Indirect Display Driver (IDD)**. The
|
|
host creates a shared GPU texture ring and the driver pushes finished frames straight into it — a real
|
|
virtual display at the client's exact `WxH@Hz`, with no physical monitor and no dummy plug, captured
|
|
in-process from Session 0 so the secure desktop streams too. There is **no** Desktop Duplication or
|
|
Windows.Graphics.Capture path: IDD direct-push is the only capture path. The signed driver is bundled
|
|
and staged by the installer and is **required** — without it the host can't create a session (there is
|
|
no monitor-capture fallback).
|
|
|
|
### HDR
|
|
|
|
When your Windows desktop is in **HDR** mode, the host captures it as 10-bit, encodes **HEVC Main10 /
|
|
BT.2020 PQ**, and the client auto-detects HDR from the stream. A small always-on **Vulkan layer**
|
|
(bundled and registered by the installer) also lets **Vulkan games** enable HDR over the virtual
|
|
display — something the NVIDIA/AMD drivers otherwise refuse on an indirect display. The layer is
|
|
self-gating: it's a no-op on SDR and on real monitors. HDR is **Windows-only** (the Linux host is
|
|
8-bit, blocked upstream).
|
|
|
|
## Notes & limits
|
|
|
|
- **AMD / Intel encode is newer.** The NVENC path is the most exercised; AMF (AMD) and QSV (Intel) are
|
|
built and tested in CI but less battle-tested on real hardware. Software H.264 is the GPU-less
|
|
fallback.
|
|
- **x64-only.** No ARM64 build — no ARM64 NVIDIA driver, and the virtual-display driver is x64-only.
|
|
- **Newer than the Linux host.** The Linux host is the most battle-tested path; the Windows host is
|
|
more recent, with the virtual-mic and AMD/Intel encode backends the youngest pieces.
|
|
|
|
Trouble? See [Troubleshooting](/docs/troubleshooting) and [Pairing](/docs/pairing).
|