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Cover image for Deploying Neko - Self-Hosted Virtual Browser Platform on Linux
Vultr profile imageSanskriti Harmukh
Sanskriti Harmukh for Vultr

Posted on with Aashish Chaurasiya • Originally published at docs.vultr.com

Deploying Neko - Self-Hosted Virtual Browser Platform on Linux

#selfhosted#docker#devops#webrtc

Neko is an open-source virtual browser platform that runs inside Docker and streams an interactive browser session to multiple users over WebRTC, with synchronized audio/video and admin-controlled input handoff. This guide deploys Neko using Docker Compose with Traefik handling automatic HTTPS, and persistent Firefox profile storage. By the end, you'll have a shared virtual browser session running securely at your domain.

Set Up the Directory Structure

1. Create the project directory with a Firefox profile subdirectory:

$mkdir-p ~/neko/profile
$cd ~/neko
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2. Create the environment file:

$nano .env
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DOMAIN=neko.example.comLETSENCRYPT_EMAIL=admin@example.comNEKO_ADMIN_PASSWORD=StrongAdminPassword123NEKO_USER_PASSWORD=StrongUserPassword456
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3. Set ownership on the profile directory, Neko runs as UID 1000:

$sudo chown-R 1000:1000 ~/neko/profile
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Deploy with Docker Compose

1. Create the Docker Compose manifest:

$nano docker-compose.yaml
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services:traefik:image:traefik:v3.6container_name:traefikcommand:-"--providers.docker=true"-"--providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false"-"--entrypoints.web.address=:80"-"--entrypoints.websecure.address=:443"-"--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.to=websecure"-"--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.scheme=https"-"--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.httpchallenge=true"-"--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.httpchallenge.entrypoint=web"-"--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.email=${LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL}"-"--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.storage=/letsencrypt/acme.json"ports:-"80:80"-"443:443"volumes:-"letsencrypt:/letsencrypt"-"/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro"restart:unless-stoppedneko:image:ghcr.io/m1k1o/neko/firefox:3container_name:nekoshm_size:"2gb"expose:-"8080"ports:-"52000-52100:52000-52100/udp"volumes:-"./profile:/home/neko/.mozilla/firefox/profile.default"environment:NEKO_MEMBER_PROVIDER:"multiuser"NEKO_MEMBER_MULTIUSER_USER_PASSWORD:"${NEKO_USER_PASSWORD}"NEKO_MEMBER_MULTIUSER_ADMIN_PASSWORD:"${NEKO_ADMIN_PASSWORD}"NEKO_SERVER_PROXY:"true"NEKO_DESKTOP_SCREEN:"1280x720@30"NEKO_WEBRTC_EPR:"52000-52100"NEKO_WEBRTC_ICELITE:"true"labels:-"traefik.enable=true"-"traefik.http.routers.neko.rule=Host(`${DOMAIN}`)"-"traefik.http.routers.neko.entrypoints=websecure"-"traefik.http.routers.neko.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"-"traefik.http.services.neko.loadbalancer.server.port=8080"restart:unless-stoppedvolumes:letsencrypt:
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The shm_size: "2gb" allocation is required, Firefox rendering crashes or freezes without enough shared memory. NEKO_WEBRTC_EPR opens the UDP port range WebRTC media travels over; NEKO_WEBRTC_ICELITE suits servers with a public IP and direct inbound UDP.

2. Start the services:

$docker compose up -d
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3. Verify both services are running:

$docker compose ps
$docker compose logs
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Access Neko

  1. Open https://neko.example.com.
  2. Enter a display name and the admin password from .env, then click CONNECT.
  3. The Firefox window loads in the center with a control bar below. Connected users appear as avatars; a green badge marks whoever holds control.
  4. The side panel has Chat (activity log) and Settings (scroll sensitivity, keyboard layout, autoplay).

Run a Collaborative Session

  1. Share the URL and the user password (not the admin one) with participants.
  2. Each participant enters a display name + password and clicks CONNECT — their avatar appears at the bottom.
  3. Navigate to any URL in the address bar. WebRTC streams it to everyone with minimal delay.
  4. Right-click a user's avatar to Give Controls, Kick, or Ban IP (kick/ban are admin-only).

Next Steps

Neko is running and streaming a shared browser session over HTTPS. From here you can:

  • Swap the Firefox image for Chromium or a custom browser image
  • Add a TURN server for participants behind restrictive NATs
  • Scale to multiple rooms by running additional Neko containers on different subdomains

For the full guide with additional tips, visit the original article on Vultr Docs.

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