Repository: leaningtech/webvm

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README.md Copy Chapter

WebVM


This repository hosts the source code for https://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

<img src="/assets/welcome_to_WebVM_alpine_2024.png" width="90%">

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.

Table of Contents Copy Chapter

- 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

Enable networking

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!

The world wide web Copy Chapter

If you would like to access the public internet, you will need to set up an Exit Node on one of your _non-WebVM_ tailscale network devices.
See the _"Advertise a device as an exit node"_ section of the Tailscale 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. The Connect to Tailscale button in the Networking side-panel should be replaced by your IP address.

Using an authkey Copy Chapter

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.

Selfhosting your tailscale network Copy Chapter

We also support headscale, 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 found here.

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

`` Nginx
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, deploy, customize
<img src="/assets/fork_deploy_instructions.gif" alt="deploy_instructions_gif" width="90%">
- Fork the repository.
- Enable Github pages in settings.
	- Click on Settings.
	- Go to the Pages section.
	- Select Github Actions as the source.
        - If you are using a custom domain, ensure Enforce HTTPS is enabled. 
- Run the workflow.
	- Click on Actions.
	- Accept the prompt. This is required only once to enable Actions for your fork.
	- Click on the workflow named Deploy.
	- Click Run workflow and then once more Run workflow in the menu.
- After a few seconds a new Deploy workflow will start, click on it to see details.
- After the workflow completes, which takes a few minutes, it will show the URL below the deploy_to_github_pages job.
<img src="/assets/result.png" width="70%" >
You can now customize dockerfiles/debian_mini to suit your needs, or make a new Dockerfile from scratch. Use the Path to Dockerfile workflow parameter to select it.
- If you would like to use our full desktop Alpine image, you can find it's dockerfile here.
- For more information on creating custom images, see our Custom disk Image documentation.

Run WebVM locally with a custom Debian mini disk image
1. Clone the WebVM Repository  Copy Section

2. Download the Debian mini Ext2 image  Copy Section
Run the following command to download the Debian mini Ext2 image:

(You can also build your own disk image by selecting the "Upload GitHub release" workflow option)
3. Update the configuration file  Copy Section
	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"
	
4. Build WebVM  Copy Section
Run the following commands to install dependencies and build WebVM:

The output will be placed in the build directory.
5. Configure Nginx  Copy Section
- Create a directory for the disk image:

- Modify your nginx.conf file to serve the disk image. Add the following location block:

6, Start Nginx  Copy Section
Run the following command to start Nginx:

Nginx will automatically serve the build directory.
7. Access WebVM  Copy Section
Open a browser and visit: http://127.0.0.1:8081.
Enjoy your local WebVM!
---
Example customization: Python3 REPL
The Deploy workflow takes into account the CMD specified in the Dockerfile. To build a REPL you can simply apply this patch and deploy.

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

<img src="/assets/webvm_claude_ctf.gif" alt="deploy_instructions_gif" width="90%">

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.

Bugs and Issues

Please use Issues to report any bug.
Or come to say hello / share your feedback on Discord.

More links

- 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

Thanks to...

Versioning

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

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.

License

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 provided as-is and is free 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 about CheerpX licensing

If you want to build a product on top of CheerpX/WebVM, please get in touch: [email protected]