Usage#
See the setup section for your specific OS.
If you did not install the service, then start sunshine with the following command, unless a start command is listed in the specified package installation instructions.
Note
A service is a process that runs in the background. Running multiple instances of Sunshine is not advised.
- Basic usage
sunshine
- Specify config file
sunshine <directory of conf file>/sunshine.conf
Note
You do not need to specify a config file. If no config file is entered the default location will be used.
Attention
The configuration file specified will be created if it doesn’t exist.
Configure Sunshine in the web ui
The web ui is available on https://localhost:47990 by default. You may replace localhost with your internal ip address.
Attention
Ignore any warning given by your browser about “insecure website”. This is due to the SSL certificate being self signed.
Caution
If running for the first time, make sure to note the username and password that you created.
- Add games and applications.
This can be configured in the web ui.
Note
Additionally, apps can be configured manually. src_assets/<os>/config/apps.json is an example of a list of applications that are started just before running a stream. This is the directory within the GitHub repo.
In Moonlight, you may need to add the PC manually.
When Moonlight request you insert the correct pin on sunshine:
Login to the web ui
Go to “PIN” in the Navbar
Type in your PIN and press Enter, you should get a Success Message
In Moonlight, select one of the Applications listed
Network#
The Sunshine user interface will be available on port 47990 by default.
Warning
Exposing ports to the internet can be dangerous. Do this at your own risk.
Arguments#
- To get a list of available arguments run the following:
sunshine --help
Setup#
Linux#
The deb, rpm, Flatpak and AppImage packages handle these steps automatically. Third party packages may not.
Sunshine needs access to uinput to create mouse and gamepad events.
- Add user to group input, if this is the first time installing.
sudo usermod -a -G input $USER
- Create udev rules.
echo 'KERNEL=="uinput", GROUP="input", MODE="0660", OPTIONS+="static_node=uinput"' | \ sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/85-sunshine-input.rules
Optionally, configure autostart service
filename:
~/.config/systemd/user/sunshine.service
- contents:
[Unit] Description=Sunshine self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight. StartLimitIntervalSec=500 StartLimitBurst=5 [Service] ExecStart=<see table> Restart=on-failure RestartSec=5s #Flatpak Only #ExecStop=flatpak kill dev.lizardbyte.sunshine [Install] WantedBy=graphical-session.target
package
ExecStart
Auto Configured
aur
/usr/bin/sunshine
✔
deb
/usr/bin/sunshine
✔
rpm
/usr/bin/sunshine
✔
AppImage
~/sunshine.AppImage
✔
Flatpak
flatpak run dev.lizardbyte.sunshine
✔
- Start once
systemctl --user start sunshine
- Start on boot
systemctl --user enable sunshine
- Additional Setup for KMS
Note
cap_sys_admin
may as well be root, except you don’t need to be root to run it. It is necessary to allow Sunshine to use KMS.- Enable
sudo setcap cap_sys_admin+p $(readlink -f $(which sunshine))
- Disable (for Xorg/X11)
sudo setcap -r $(readlink -f $(which sunshine))
- Reboot
sudo reboot now
macOS#
Sunshine can only access microphones on macOS due to system limitations. To stream system audio use Soundflower or BlackHole.
Note
Command Keys are not forwarded by Moonlight. Right Option-Key is mapped to CMD-Key.
Caution
Gamepads are not currently supported.
- Configure autostart service
- MacPorts
sudo port load Sunshine
Windows#
For gamepad support, install ViGEmBus
- Sunshine firewall
- Add rule
cd /d "C:\Program Files\Sunshine\scripts" add-firewall-rule.bat
- Remove rule
cd /d "C:\Program Files\Sunshine\scripts" remove-firewall-rule.bat
- Sunshine service
- Enable
cd /d "C:\Program Files\Sunshine\scripts" install-service.bat
- Disable
cd /d "C:\Program Files\Sunshine\scripts" uninstall-service.bat
Shortcuts#
All shortcuts start with CTRL + ALT + SHIFT
, just like Moonlight
CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + N
- Hide/Unhide the cursor (This may be useful for Remote Desktop Mode for Moonlight)CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + F1/F12
- Switch to different monitor for Streaming
Application List#
Applications should be configured via the web UI.
A basic understanding of working directories and commands is required.
You can use Environment variables in place of values
$(HOME)
will be replaced by the value of$HOME
$$
will be replaced by$
, e.g.$$(HOME)
will be become$(HOME)
env
- Adds or overwrites Environment variables for the commands/applications run by Sunshine"Variable name":"Variable value"
apps
- The list of applicationsAdvanced users may want to edit the application list manually. The format is
json
.- Example application:
{ "cmd": "command to open app", "detached": [ "some-command", "another-command" ], "image-path": "/full-path/to/png-image", "name": "An App", "output": "/full-path/to/command-log-file", "prep-cmd": [ { "do": "some-command", "undo": "undo-that-command" } ], "working-dir": "/full-path/to/working-directory" }
cmd
- The main applicationdetached
- A list of commands to be run and forgotten aboutIf not specified, a process is started that sleeps indefinitely
image-path
- The full path to the cover art image to use.name
- The name of the application/gameoutput
- The file where the output of the command is storedprep-cmd
- A list of commands to be run before/after the applicationIf any of the prep-commands fail, starting the application is aborted
do
- Run before the applicationIf it fails, all
undo
commands of the previously succeededdo
commands are run
undo
- Run after the application has terminatedFailures of
undo
commands are ignored
working-dir
- The working directory to use. If not specified, Sunshine will use the application directory.
Considerations#
When an application is started, if there is an application already running, it will be terminated.
When the application has been shutdown, the stream shuts down as well.
For example, if you attempt to run
steam
as acmd
instead ofdetached
the stream will immediately fail. This is due to the method in which the steam process is executed. Other applications may behave similarly.
In addition to the apps listed, one app “Desktop” is hardcoded into Sunshine. It does not start an application, instead it simply starts a stream.
For the Linux flatpak you must prepend commands with
flatpak-spawn --host
.
HDR Support#
Streaming HDR content is supported for Windows hosts with NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel GPUs that support encoding HEVC Main 10. You must have an HDR-capable display or EDID emulator dongle connected to your host PC to activate HDR in Windows.
Ensure you enable the HDR option in your Moonlight client settings, otherwise the stream will be SDR.
A good HDR experience relies on proper HDR display calibration both in Windows and in game. HDR calibration can differ significantly between client and host displays.
We recommend calibrating the display by streaming the Windows HDR Calibration app to your client device and saving an HDR calibration profile to use while streaming.
You may also need to tune the brightness slider or HDR calibration options in game to the different HDR brightness capabilities of your client’s display.
Older games that use NVIDIA-specific NVAPI HDR rather than native Windows 10 OS HDR support may not display in HDR.
Some GPUs can produce lower image quality or encoding performance when streaming in HDR compared to SDR.
Tutorials#
Tutorial videos are available here.
Community!
Tutorials are community generated. Want to contribute? Reach out to us on our discord server.