|
| 1 | +# TAGLINE |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +Run Windows apps on Linux as native windows |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +# TLDR |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +**Start the Windows pod** and wait until RDP is ready |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +```winpodx pod start --wait``` |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +**List available Windows applications** detected inside the pod |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +```winpodx app list``` |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | +**Launch a registered application** (e.g. Microsoft Word) |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +```winpodx app run [app_name]``` |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +**Open a local file** with a Windows application |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +```winpodx app run [app_name] [path/to/file]``` |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +**Launch the full Windows desktop** as a single RDP window |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +```winpodx app run desktop``` |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +**Open the Qt6 graphical interface** |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | +```winpodx gui``` |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +**Stop the pod** when finished |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +```winpodx pod stop``` |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +**Run the interactive setup wizard** |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +```winpodx setup``` |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +# SYNOPSIS |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +**winpodx** _domain_ _command_ [_arguments_] [**--flags**] |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +# PARAMETERS |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +**app list** |
| 46 | +> Show every Windows application detected inside the pod. |
| 47 | +
|
| 48 | +**app run** _name_ [_file_] |
| 49 | +> Launch the named application as a RemoteApp window. An optional file is opened with that application. |
| 50 | +
|
| 51 | +**app install** _name_ |
| 52 | +> Register a custom application in the desktop launcher menu. |
| 53 | +
|
| 54 | +**app install-all** |
| 55 | +> Register every detected application as a desktop launcher entry. |
| 56 | +
|
| 57 | +**app sessions** |
| 58 | +> List active RemoteApp sessions. |
| 59 | +
|
| 60 | +**app kill** _name_ |
| 61 | +> Terminate a running RemoteApp session. |
| 62 | +
|
| 63 | +**app refresh** |
| 64 | +> Rescan the Windows guest for newly installed applications. |
| 65 | +
|
| 66 | +**pod start** [**--wait**] |
| 67 | +> Start the Windows container. **--wait** blocks until RDP is reachable. |
| 68 | +
|
| 69 | +**pod stop** |
| 70 | +> Stop the Windows container. |
| 71 | +
|
| 72 | +**pod restart** |
| 73 | +> Restart the Windows container. |
| 74 | +
|
| 75 | +**pod status** |
| 76 | +> Print container, RDP, and agent state. |
| 77 | +
|
| 78 | +**pod wait-ready** [**--logs**] |
| 79 | +> Block until the first-boot Sysprep / OEM phase finishes. **--logs** streams progress. |
| 80 | +
|
| 81 | +**pod apply-fixes** |
| 82 | +> Reapply Windows-side configuration tweaks (registry, services, defaults). |
| 83 | +
|
| 84 | +**pod sync-password** |
| 85 | +> Synchronise the RDP password between **winpodx.toml** and the Windows guest. |
| 86 | +
|
| 87 | +**pod multi-session** {_on_|_off_|_status_} |
| 88 | +> Toggle bundled rdprrap multi-session support. |
| 89 | +
|
| 90 | +**power --suspend** |
| 91 | +> Pause the running container. |
| 92 | +
|
| 93 | +**power --resume** |
| 94 | +> Resume a paused container. |
| 95 | +
|
| 96 | +**rotate-password** |
| 97 | +> Generate and apply a new RDP password. |
| 98 | +
|
| 99 | +**setup** |
| 100 | +> Run the interactive first-time configuration wizard. |
| 101 | +
|
| 102 | +**check** [**--json**] |
| 103 | +> Run health probes (pod, RDP, agent, round-trip, disk) and print results. |
| 104 | +
|
| 105 | +**info** |
| 106 | +> Print system diagnostics (versions, paths, dependencies). |
| 107 | +
|
| 108 | +**cleanup** |
| 109 | +> Remove stale Office lock files in the guest. |
| 110 | +
|
| 111 | +**timesync** |
| 112 | +> Force a time synchronisation in the Windows guest. |
| 113 | +
|
| 114 | +**debloat** |
| 115 | +> Disable telemetry and unneeded services in the guest. |
| 116 | +
|
| 117 | +**config show** |
| 118 | +> Print the current configuration. |
| 119 | +
|
| 120 | +**config set** _key_ _value_ |
| 121 | +> Update a configuration key (e.g. **rdp.scale 140**). |
| 122 | +
|
| 123 | +**config import** |
| 124 | +> Import settings from an existing **winapps.conf**. |
| 125 | +
|
| 126 | +**gui** |
| 127 | +> Launch the Qt6 main window. |
| 128 | +
|
| 129 | +**tray** |
| 130 | +> Launch the system tray icon. |
| 131 | +
|
| 132 | +# DESCRIPTION |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | +**winpodx** runs a Windows guest inside a Podman or Docker container and presents individual Windows applications as native Linux windows through **FreeRDP** RemoteApp. Each app gets its own pinnable, alt-tabbable window with the original icon and file association, without exposing the underlying Windows desktop. |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | +A small HTTP agent inside the guest receives bearer-authenticated commands from the host so app launches do not flash a PowerShell window. Application discovery, password rotation, multi-session, and health checks are all driven from the **winpodx** CLI; a Qt6 GUI provides the same actions plus an allowlisted in-app terminal. |
| 137 | + |
| 138 | +**winpodx** targets Linux only. The first run downloads a Windows ISO, runs Sysprep, and applies an OEM customisation pass; expect five to ten minutes before the pod is usable. |
| 139 | + |
| 140 | +# CONFIGURATION |
| 141 | + |
| 142 | +The configuration file lives at _~/.config/winpodx/winpodx.toml_ and is editable through **winpodx config set**: |
| 143 | + |
| 144 | +``` |
| 145 | +[pod] |
| 146 | +backend = "podman" # or "docker" |
| 147 | +cpus = 4 |
| 148 | +ram = "8G" |
| 149 | +auto_start = true |
| 150 | +idle_timeout = "30m" |
| 151 | +
|
| 152 | +[rdp] |
| 153 | +host = "127.0.0.1" |
| 154 | +port = 3389 |
| 155 | +scale = 100 |
| 156 | +dpi = 96 |
| 157 | +user = "winpodx" |
| 158 | +password_rotation_days = 7 |
| 159 | +
|
| 160 | +[agent] |
| 161 | +port = 8765 |
| 162 | +token = "<generated>" |
| 163 | +``` |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | +Environment variables read at start: |
| 166 | + |
| 167 | +``` |
| 168 | +WINPODX_CONFIG Override config file path |
| 169 | +WINPODX_LOG_LEVEL debug | info | warn | error |
| 170 | +``` |
| 171 | + |
| 172 | +# CAVEATS |
| 173 | + |
| 174 | +Requires a working Podman or Docker installation, a usable KVM accelerator, and a recent **FreeRDP 3** build with RemoteApp support. The first boot performs a full Windows install plus Sysprep; do not interrupt **winpodx pod wait-ready**. Microsoft Windows itself remains subject to its own licensing terms and is **not redistributed** by winpodx; the user supplies a valid Windows installation. The guest agent listens on **localhost:8765** with a bearer token; do not expose this port to other hosts. |
| 175 | + |
| 176 | +# HISTORY |
| 177 | + |
| 178 | +**winpodx** is a Python 3.9+ project that pairs the **dockur/windows** container image with **FreeRDP** RemoteApp and a custom PowerShell HTTP guest agent. It targets the same use case as **WinApps** but ships container, agent, and GUI as a single tool rather than relying on a manually configured VM. Active development continues on the **kernalix7/winpodx** repository. |
| 179 | + |
| 180 | +# SEE ALSO |
| 181 | + |
| 182 | +[podman](/man/podman)(1), [docker](/man/docker)(1), [xfreerdp](/man/xfreerdp)(1), [virsh](/man/virsh)(1), [wine](/man/wine)(1) |
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