Engineering

Schematic to board,without a licence

KiCad, on a Void Linux desktop of your own.Capture, layout, the 3D view, and the fabrication files on the volume.

KiCad 10.0.54 cores · 8 GBOpens in a browser tab

hub://kicad

$ dxflow workflow create --identity kicad hub://kicad --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

Draw it,then lay it out

One project from the schematic through routing to what the fab needs.

Schematic capture

Hierarchical sheets, symbol libraries and an electrical rules check.

PCB layout

Push-and-shove routing, differential pairs, length tuning and a design rules check.

Files for the fab

Gerbers, drill files, a BOM and a 3D view, exported to the volume.

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 project window has the whole screen. Show either one when the schematic and the layout are both open.

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

start it, then add the libraries

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

$ xbps-install -Sy kicad-library kicad-library-3d

The session

The project windowfills the screen

Streamed to your browser, with KiCad 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

The libraries arenot in the image

KiCad is here; the symbols, footprints and 3D models it draws from are separate packages.

An empty chooser means this

Install kicad-library and kicad-library-3d in the session, or open a project that carries its own libraries beside it.

Put them on the volume

Install once where the volume keeps it, and the next start has them without the download.

Projects belong on the volume

Schematics, layouts and the fabrication output all under /volume, and a stopped machine costs you nothing.

The image

Pulled once,then it stays

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

733Mamd64compressed, the way the registry counts it

723Marm64compressed, the way the registry counts it

20GOn diskunpacked, with room to work beside it

ghcr.io/dxflow-ai/kicad: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

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

Start KiCad Browse workflows