enricobuehler
cba3ae48e2
Refresh the README and documentation for public visitors: - README: public-facing rewrite with accurate status for all four native clients (macOS, Linux, Windows, Android) and the Windows host. - docs site: fix stale client status (Android is a full client, not a scaffold; Windows client is stage-1 complete + signed MSIX), add the missing Android client section, correct "which client" guidance. - Windows host: corrected from "deferred/scoped" to implemented & shipping (NVIDIA-only, x64-only) across windows-host, roadmap, status, requirements, running-as-a-service, and the README. - Remove internal infrastructure from public docs (box names, private IPs, SSH/token commands, deploy topology); rewrite status.md as a public project-status page; sanitize ci.md and implementation-plan.md. - Update clients/android and clients/apple READMEs to current state. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
4.0 KiB
title, description
| title | description |
|---|---|
| Windows Host | Run the punktfunk streaming host on a Windows PC with an NVIDIA GPU. |
Status: implemented and shipping — NVIDIA-only, x64-only. punktfunk is Linux-first, but it also
runs as a native Windows host: a signed installer registers a LocalSystem service that streams
your Windows desktop or games to any punktfunk or Moonlight client, at the client's exact resolution
via a virtual display. It's newer and less battle-tested than the Linux host, and it is built
specifically around NVIDIA hardware.
This page is about the Windows host (streaming from a Windows PC). To stream to a Windows PC, see the Windows client.
Requirements
- Windows 10/11, x64. ARM64 is not supported — both NVENC and the virtual-display driver are x64-only.
- An NVIDIA GPU + driver. The host encodes with NVENC (
nvEncodeAPI64.dll); there is no other encoder backend on Windows. - (Optional) ViGEmBus for virtual gamepads — a manual prerequisite for now (releases).
Install
Download the signed punktfunk-host-setup-<ver>.exe from the package registry and run it — it
installs the host into C:\Program Files\punktfunk, optionally installs the bundled SudoVDA
virtual-display driver, and registers + starts the service. Full steps (including the silent install
and the CLI punktfunk-host service install path) are in
Running as a Service → Windows; packaging internals live in
packaging/windows.
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) | DXGI Desktop Duplication → D3D11 texture |
| Virtual display | KWin / Mutter / Sway / gamescope | SudoVDA signed IDD — create a WxH@Hz monitor per session, capture it, tear it down |
| Encode | ffmpeg-next NVENC (CUDA hwframes) |
NVENC with a D3D11 device (--features nvenc) |
| Input — mouse/keyboard | libei / wlr protocols | SendInput (Win32 VK + absolute mouse) |
| Input — gamepads | uinput Xbox 360 pad + rumble | ViGEm virtual pad + rumble back-channel |
| Audio capture | PipeWire sink-monitor | WASAPI loopback |
| Virtual mic | PipeWire Audio/Source |
WASAPI virtual mic |
The virtual display uses SudoVDA (the Sunshine Virtual Display Adapter) — a pre-built, signed Indirect Display Driver — so there is no kernel driver to author or WHQL-sign. The installer bundles and stages it; if it's absent, the host falls back to capturing an existing monitor (losing the per-client native-resolution output).
Limitations
- NVIDIA-only. NVENC is the only encoder backend — there is no AMD / Intel / software encode path on Windows.
- x64-only. No ARM64 build (no ARM64 NVIDIA driver, and SudoVDA 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 gamepad backends the youngest pieces.