Repository files navigation

This repository hosts the source code forhttps://webvm.io, a Linux virtual machine that runs in your browser.

Try out the new Alpine / Xorg / i3 graphical environment:https://webvm.io/alpine.html

WebVM is a server-less virtual environment running fully client-side in HTML5/WebAssembly. It's designed to be Linux ABI-compatible. It runs an unmodified Debian distribution including many native development toolchains.

WebVM is powered by the CheerpX virtualization engine, and enables safe, sandboxed client-side execution of x86 binaries on any browser. CheerpX includes an x86-to-WebAssembly JIT compiler, a virtual block-based file system, and a Linux syscall emulator.

• Fork, deploy, customize
• Running WebVM locally with a custom Debian mini disk image
• Example customization: Python3 REPL
• How to use Claude AI
• Bugs and Issues
• More links
• Thanks to...
• Versioning
• License

Modern browsers do not provide APIs to directly use TCP or UDP. WebVM provides networking support by integrating with Tailscale, a VPN network that supports WebSockets as a transport layer.

1. Open the "Networking" panel from the side-bar
2. Click "Connect to Tailscale" from the panel
3. Log in to Tailscale (create an account if you don't have one)
4. Click "Connect" when prompted by Tailscale

WebVM now has access to machines in your own local Tailscale Network!

If you would like to access the public internet, you will need to set up an Exit Node on one of yournon-WebVM tailscale network devices.See the"Advertise a device as an exit node" section of theTailscale Exit Node quickstart guide for instructions. (The“Use an exit node” section can be skipped, as WebVM automatically uses an available exit node once one is advertised).

(Depending on your network speed, you may need to wait a few moments for the Tailscale Wasm module to be downloaded.)Once that is set up:

1. Log in with your Tailscale credentials.
2. Go back to the WebVM tab.
3. TheConnect to Tailscale button in the Networking side-panel should be replaced by your IP address.

As an alternative to manually logging in, you can add your tailscale auth Key at the end of the webvm URL.

https://webvm.io/#authKey=<your-key>

It is recommended to use an ephemeral key.

We also supportheadscale, a selfhosted open source implementation of the Tailscale control server.

Though as headscale unfortunately doesn't support adding CORS headers. You will have to set up a proxy server to add them. Headscales instructions on doing so can be foundhere.

Once ready, add the following line to yourlocation / block in your nginx config file.

if($http_origin ="https://webvm.io"){add_header'Access-Control-Allow-Origin'"$http_origin";add_header'Access-Control-Allow-Credentials' 'true' always;}

To log in to your headscale network add#controlUrl=<your-control-url> to the webVM url.

Notes:

• If self hosting, replace "https://webvm.io" with your own url.
• This is equivelant to the tailscale--login-server command line option.
• If used with authkey, don't forget to seperate the URL fragments with a& inbetween.

• Fork the repository.
• Enable Github pages in settings.
  • Click onSettings.
  • Go to thePages section.
  • SelectGithub Actions as the source.
    • If you are using a custom domain, ensureEnforce HTTPS is enabled.
• Run the workflow.
  • Click onActions.
  • Accept the prompt. This is required only once to enable Actions for your fork.
  • Click on the workflow namedDeploy.
  • ClickRun workflow and then once moreRun workflow in the menu.
• After a few seconds a newDeploy workflow will start, click on it to see details.
• After the workflow completes, which takes a few minutes, it will show the URL below thedeploy_to_github_pages job.

You can now customizedockerfiles/debian_mini to suit your needs, or make a new Dockerfile from scratch. Use thePath to Dockerfile workflow parameter to select it.

• If you would like to use our full desktop Alpine image, you can find it's dockerfilehere.

• For more information on creating custom images, see ourCustom disk Image documentation.

git clone https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm.gitcd webvm

Run the following command to download the Debian mini Ext2 image:

wget"https://github.com/leaningtech/webvm/releases/download/ext2_image/debian_mini_20230519_5022088024.ext2"

(You can also build your own disk image by selecting the"Upload GitHub release" workflow option)

Edit `config_public_terminal.js` to reference your local disk image:

• Replace:

  "wss://disks.webvm.io/debian_large_20230522_5044875331.ext2"

  With:

  "/disk-images/debian_mini_20230519_5022088024.ext2"

  (Use an absolute or relative URL pointing to the disk image location.)

• Replace"cloud" with the correct disk image type:"bytes"

Run the following commands to install dependencies and build WebVM:

npm installnpm run build

The output will be placed in thebuild directory.

• Create a directory for the disk image:

mkdir disk-imagesmv debian_mini_20230519_5022088024.ext2 disk-images/

• Modify yournginx.conf file to serve the disk image. Add the following location block:

location /disk-images/{root .;autoindex on;}

Run the following command to start Nginx:

nginx -p. -c nginx.conf

Nginx will automatically serve the build directory.

Open a browser and visit:http://127.0.0.1:8081.

Enjoy your local WebVM!

TheDeploy workflow takes into account theCMD specified in the Dockerfile. To build a REPL you can simply apply this patch and deploy.

diff --git a/dockerfiles/debian_mini b/dockerfiles/debian_miniindex 2878332..1f3103a 100644--- a/dockerfiles/debian_mini+++ b/dockerfiles/debian_mini@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ WORKDIR /home/user/ # We set env, as this gets extracted by Webvm. This is optional. ENV HOME="/home/user" TERM="xterm" USER="user" SHELL="/bin/bash" EDITOR="vim" LANG="en_US.UTF-8" LC_ALL="C" RUN echo 'root:password' | chpasswd-CMD [ "/bin/bash" ]+CMD [ "/usr/bin/python3" ]

To access Claude AI, you need an API key. Follow these steps to get started:

• VisitAnthropic Console and sign up with your e-mail. You'll receive a sign in link to the Anthropic Console.

• Once logged in, navigate toGet API keys.
• Purchase the amount of credits you need. After completing the purchase, you'll be able to generate the key through the API console.

• Navigate to your WebVM and hover over the robot icon. This will show the Claude AI Integration tab. For added convenience, you can click the pin button in the top right corner to keep the tab in place.
• You'll see a prompt where you can insert your Claude API key.
• Insert your key and press enter.

• Once your API key is entered, you can begin interacting with Claude AI by asking questions such as:

"Solve the CTF challenge at/home/user/chall1.bin. Note that the binary reads from stdin."

Important: Your API key is private and should never be shared. We do not have access to your key, which is not only stored locally in your browser.

Please useIssues to report any bug.Or come to say hello / share your feedback onDiscord.

• WebVM: server-less x86 virtual machines in the browser
• WebVM: Linux Virtualization in WebAssembly with Full Networking via Tailscale
• Mini.WebVM: Your own Linux box from Dockerfile, virtualized in the browser via WebAssembly
• Reference GitHub Pages deployment:Mini.WebVM
• Crafting the Impossible: X86 Virtualization in the Browser with WebAssembly Talk at JsNation 2022

This project depends on:

• CheerpX, made byLeaning Technologies for x86 virtualization and Linux emulation
• xterm.js,https://xtermjs.org/, for providing the Web-based terminal emulator
• Tailscale, for the networking component
• lwIP, for the TCP/IP stack, compiled for the Web viaCheerp

WebVM depends on the CheerpX x86-to-WebAssembly virtualization technology, which is included in the project viaNPM.

The NPM package is updated on every release.

Every build is immutable, if a specific version works well for you today, it will keep working forever.

WebVM is released under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

You are welcome to use, modify, and redistribute the contents of this repository.

The public CheerpX deployment is providedas-is and isfree to use for technological exploration, testing and use by individuals. Any other use by organizations, including non-profit, academia and the public sector, requires a license. Downloading a CheerpX build for the purpose of hosting it elsewhere is not permitted without a commercial license.

Read more aboutCheerpX licensing

If you want to build a product on top of CheerpX/WebVM, please get in touch:sales@leaningtech.com