Deploy and Host Ubuntu Desktop on Railway

A full Ubuntu desktop (XFCE) that runs on Railway and streams to your browser, set up for development: Claude Code, Codex, Node.js 22, git, Google Chrome and VS Code are installed. It's built on linuxserver's webtop image, which streams the desktop with Selkies over WebSockets, so it works through Railway's normal HTTPS domain.

About Hosting Ubuntu Desktop

A desktop in the browser is a whole computer behind one URL, so the login comes first. PASSWORD is generated at deploy, and the start step refuses to run without CUSTOM_USER and a password of 12 or more characters. Railway's healthcheck uses a separate route that needs no login and follows the stream server, so a desktop whose stream is down doesn't look healthy.

Two changes keep it workable in a container. The upstream image reserves a 15360x8640 virtual screen, which holds hundreds of MB of RAM for the framebuffer alone; this template caps it at 4K, and the desktop still resizes to your browser window. Chrome and VS Code start with --no-sandbox, because their sandbox needs kernel features containers don't get; Chrome shows a warning bar about it.

The home directory (/config) is a volume, so your files, browser profile, VS Code settings and CLI logins survive redeploys. Run claude or codex in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and open the sign-in link it gives you in Chrome on the desktop. An API key works too: set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or OPENAI_API_KEY on the service.

Before publishing I tested it on Railway. The health route answered, the desktop page returned 401 without the login and loaded with it, and the stream's WebSocket opened with the login. In Chromium I opened the desktop, started a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T, wrote the versions of Claude Code (2.1.302), Codex (0.163.0) and Chrome (155) to a file, and launched Chrome, which loaded a page inside the desktop. After a restart, in a new container, that file was still in the home directory. I didn't sign in to Claude or ChatGPT in the test.

With Chrome open it used 0.73 GB of RAM, about $7 a month on Railway's usage pricing. That leaves little room on the trial's 1 GB; the Hobby plan is the comfortable one if you run builds and a browser together.

Common Use Cases

A cloud dev machine with a real browser, for running Claude Code or Codex and checking the web app they build
A Linux desktop you can open from a Chromebook, a tablet or a work laptop where you can't install anything
Trying Linux tools and GUI apps without setting up a VM

Dependencies for Ubuntu Desktop Hosting

Nothing beyond the template. A Claude or ChatGPT account, or an API key, for the coding agents.

Deployment Dependencies

webtop: https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-webtop
Image: lscr.io/linuxserver/webtop:ubuntu-xfce-36e96c40-ls6
Selkies (the streaming): https://github.com/selkies-project/selkies
The wrapper this template builds: https://github.com/dektionstudio/railway-template-images/tree/main/ubuntu-desktop

Implementation Details

DESKTOP_URL            # open this; sign in with CUSTOM_USER and PASSWORD
/config                # the volume: the desktop user's home (files, Chrome profile, VS Code, CLI logins)
~/projects             # a folder for your code

Packages installed with apt go away on the next redeploy, because only the home directory persists. There's no GPU, so the stream is encoded on the CPU; it's fine for coding and browsing, not for video or games. This is a container, not a VM: no Docker or systemd inside.

Why Deploy Ubuntu Desktop on Railway?

You get a Linux desktop with a browser and your coding agents on HTTPS behind a login, reachable from any device, with nothing to install where you sit. Railway bills the RAM it uses rather than a fixed VM size.