Deploy and Host Microsoft Edge on Railway

Deploy a private Microsoft Edge browser in the cloud. Open the HTTPS address to use a full Edge desktop through noVNC, with password protection, a persistent profile and authenticated downloads. No Microsoft account or API key is required to start the browser.

About Hosting Microsoft Edge

The official Microsoft Edge stable Linux package, pinned by version and verified with SHA-256.
A lightweight XFCE desktop, terminal and noVNC client; usable from another browser.
A generated 32-character password protecting the desktop, WebSocket connection and download listing.
A Railway volume mounted at /config for the Edge profile, bookmarks, extensions, browsing history, desktop files and downloads.
Daily and weekly volume backup schedules in the template.
A health check covering X11, XFCE, the browser and the streaming processes, plus restart-on-failure and graceful shutdown.
One public HTTP port behind Railway HTTPS. VNC and streaming backends stay on loopback. There is no public browser-debugging endpoint.

How do I connect to Edge?

Deploy this template and wait for the successful deployment.
Open the generated Railway domain.
Sign in with CUSTOM_USER (default admin) and the generated PASSWORD shown in Railway variables.

Passwords must have at least 16 characters. The template generates a strong password automatically. The Linux desktop user is headless; sudo uses the same generated password.

Will my browser profile survive a restart or redeploy?

Yes, when the /config volume remains attached. The Edge user data directory is /config/.config/microsoft-edge; downloads go to /config/Downloads. A restart or container replacement reuses those files. Deleting the volume deletes the profile, so review Railway's backup settings before storing important data.

How do I retrieve downloaded files?

Open /files/ on the same Railway domain. This password-protected directory lists the files in /config/Downloads. The desktop file manager and terminal can also access them.

Can I change the screen size or timezone?

Set VNC_RESOLUTION to a value between 800x600 and 2560x1440; the default is 1440x900. Set TZ to your timezone, such as Europe/Paris or Etc/UTC. Restart the service to apply startup settings. Keep PORT=3000, one replica and the /config mount.

Why Deploy Microsoft Edge on Railway?

It combines the familiar Edge GUI with a persistent Railway workstation: generated authentication, direct download access, process-aware health checks, a separate desktop user and declared backup schedules. Its source and startup code are public. It is intended for private interactive browsing and browser testing; it is not a multi-user desktop service.

Does this provide Windows, a GPU or a free browser host?

The container runs Edge for Linux on CPU. Railway bills the resources and volume used by your deployment. Sites requiring Windows-specific capabilities, DRM, a trusted residential IP or GPU acceleration may behave differently. Start with enough memory for your tabs, then inspect Railway resource metrics.

Security and maintenance

Keep the generated password private and the service behind Railway HTTPS. Railway containers cannot provide the normal Chromium OS sandbox, so Edge launches with --no-sandbox. Use this as a private single-user workstation, avoid untrusted shared access, and install browser updates by deploying a new pinned image. Serverless mode is disabled because a live graphical browser can create background network traffic.

Microsoft Edge is also commonly searched as Edge, MS Edge or msedge. This community template is independent of Microsoft and Railway.

Source code · Microsoft Edge · Railway volumes

Common Use Cases

A personal Edge browser accessible from a laptop, tablet or another browser.
Testing how a website behaves in Microsoft Edge for Linux.
A persistent remote workstation with browser history, bookmarks and downloaded files.

Dependencies for Microsoft Edge

A Railway service, one persistent volume mounted at /config, the generated password and an HTTPS domain. No external database or model API key is required.

Deployment Dependencies

Official Microsoft Edge stable Linux package and Debian container base.
XFCE, TigerVNC, noVNC, websockify, nginx and the Python process supervisor.
Railway volume and HTTPS networking.