Desktop

The desktop the restof the hub builds on

A full Ubuntu desktop, drawn in the tab through noVNC.The same image every GUI workflow in the hub starts from.

Ubuntu 26.042 cores · 4 GBOpens in a browser tab

hub://ubuntu

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

Familiar ground,rented by the hour

LTS packages and apt, on a desktop that is already running.

The base for the rest

Every other GUI workflow builds on this image, so apt behaves the same way.

Openbox and a taskbar

Openbox, a taskbar, a terminal and a file manager, over TurboVNC and noVNC.

Files stay on the volume

Anything you keep under /volume is still there once the next start is done.

How you run it

Six variablesshape the desktop

What you see and what you hear are both set on the start line, and nothing has to be edited inside.

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

WALLPAPERshow or hide. Hiding it leaves a flat backdrop, which compresses better over a slow link.

PANELshow or hide the window decorations. Hide it when one application is meant to own the screen.

TASKBARshow or hide the bar along the edge. Both are on here, because this is a desktop rather than one app.

AUDIOOff by default. Turn it on and the desktop sound is streamed to the same page.

AUDIO_RATE and AUDIO_CHANNELS8000 up to 44100, in one channel or two. Lower both when the link matters more than the fidelity.

start it your way

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

$ dxflow workflow start ubuntu --override env.app.AUDIO=on --override env.app.AUDIO_RATE=44100 --link

The session

The whole desktop,not just one app

Streamed to your browser, with the panel and taskbar shown.

6082Browserin the tab, at /vnc.html

5901VNCin a native client

/volumeStorageyour files and app state

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.

Sound needs a clickAudio starts at the first click in the desktop, once AUDIO is on.

Good to know

This is the basethe others stand on

Most of the GUI entries in the hub are this desktop with one application on top of it.

Start here to build your own

Take this image, add the package you need, and you have the same session with your tool in it. That is how the rest were made.

Sound waits for a gesture

Browsers keep a page muted until someone interacts with it, so audio starts at the first click or keystroke in the desktop.

Two desktops on one host

The audio client follows AUDIO_PORT, so give each session its own port and match the audio mapping beside it.

The image

Pulled once,then it stays

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

512Mamd64compressed, the way the registry counts it

501Marm64compressed, the way the registry counts it

20GOn diskunpacked, with room to work beside it

ghcr.io/dxflow-ai/ubuntu: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 2 cores and 4 GB. The image comes up on less than that, and a start given --fit trims the ask to whatever the machine actually has.

2 cores · 4 GBAsks forwhat the definition writes down

2 cores · 2 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

Ubuntu Desktop asks for 2 cores and 4 GB. Cheapest first.

E2 Medium

$0.0419/ hour2 cores · 4 GBStart this machine

T3 Medium

$0.052/ hour2 cores · 4 GBStart this machine

B2s

$0.052/ hour2 cores · 4 GBStart this machine

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

Start Ubuntu Desktop Browse workflows