Engineering

Parametric CAD,in a browser tab

FreeCAD, on a Void Linux desktop of your own.Sketches, assemblies and an FEM solve, on cores rented for the afternoon.

FreeCAD 1.1.34 cores · 8 GBOpens in a browser tab

hub://freecad

$ dxflow workflow create --identity freecad hub://freecad --start --link

01Pick a machinecores, memory and a rate per hour

02Create the workflowpulled from the hub, once

03Run it, then stopstopped when the work is done

The application

Change a number,the model follows

The model is its history, so a dimension edited early rebuilds the rest.

Sketch then constrain

Fully constrained sketches driving pads, pockets and revolutions.

Assemblies and drawings

Parts placed against each other, and a TechDraw sheet out of the result.

FEM in the same window

Mesh a part and solve it with CalculiX, on the cores the machine has.

How you run it

Every defaultis one override away

The session reads its settings from the environment, so you set them on the start line.

VNC_PASSWORDWhat the tab asks for. It ships as dxflow, and everyone reading this knows that.

PANEL and TASKBARBoth hidden, so the viewport has the whole screen. Show either one to get the desktop back.

AUDIOOff here. Turn it on and the desktop sound is streamed beside the picture.

start it your way

$ dxflow workflow start freecad --override env.app.VNC_PASSWORD=something-long

$ dxflow workflow start freecad --override env.app.TASKBAR=show --link

The session

The viewportfills the screen

Streamed to your browser, with FreeCAD already maximized.

6082Browserin the tab, at /vnc.html

5901VNCin a native client

/volumeStorageyour files, kept between runs

Open it from anywhereStart with --link and the session comes back on an HTTPS address.

Set a password firstVNC_PASSWORD defaults to dxflow, and everyone can read this page.

Good to know

There is a Pythonconsole in there

Everything the GUI does has a scripted equivalent, which is how a part becomes a family of parts.

Parametric, then scripted

Drive the dimensions from a spreadsheet or a script and regenerate the model instead of redrawing it.

FEM wants the machine

Meshing and solving an assembly is where the cores go. The modelling itself is comfortable on very little.

Built on Void

Neither Ubuntu 26.04 nor Fedora 44 packages FreeCAD, so this entry sits on the Void desktop.

The image

Pulled once,then it stays

FreeCAD arrives as one image. This is what comes down the first time, and what the disk should have free for it.

685Mamd64compressed, the way the registry counts it

674Marm64compressed, the way the registry counts it

20GOn diskunpacked, with room to work beside it

ghcr.io/dxflow-ai/freecad:latestPublished from the hub, pulled on the first start and kept for the ones after it.

Either architectureamd64 and arm64 are both published, and the machine pulls the one it runs.

What it asks for

What it wants,and what it needs

The definition asks for 4 cores and 8 GB. The image comes up on less than that, and a start given --fit trims the ask to whatever the machine actually has.

4 cores · 8 GBAsks forwhat the definition writes down

2 cores · 4 GBRuns onthe least the image comes up on

Not neededGPUit works on the cores alone

The ask is not the floorThe definition writes down what suits the work. The image itself starts on less, which is what the second figure is.

--fit caps it to the hostA start given --fit trims each step to what the machine actually has, for that start alone. The definition is never rewritten.

Machines that fit it

FreeCAD asks for 4 cores and 8 GB. Cheapest first.

E2 Standard-4

$0.168/ hour4 cores · 16 GBStart this machine

T4g XLarge

$0.168/ hour4 cores · 16 GBStart this machine

C7g XLarge

$0.181/ hour4 cores · 8 GBStart this machine

Run FreeCAD on your own machinePick a machine that meets it, and it opens about a minute after you ask.

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