How to create a Cloud Gaming Server

For this guide, we’re gonna use Sunshine, an open-source self-hosted solution for Nvidia GameStream, which was discontinued in February 2023

1. Install the Sunshine app on your host computer

Install the latest binaries here

For Linux Users

Debian Distros

Install the sunshine-debian-{distro-version}-{arch}.deb

The {distro-version} is the version of the distro you’re using. Ex: bullseye or bookworm

{arch} is the architecture of your cpu. amd64 is x86, arm64 is ARM

Ubuntu Distros

Install the sunshine-ubuntu-{distro-version}-{arch}.deb

The {distro-version} is the version of the distro you’re using. Ex: 22.04 or 24.04

{arch} is the architecture of your cpu. amd64 is x86, arm64 is ARM

Arch Distros

Open the terminal and run this command

wget https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/releases/latest/download/sunshine.pkg.tar.zst
pacman -U --noconfirm sunshine.pkg.tar.zst

After install

Sunshine needs access to uinput to create mouse and gamepad events.

1. Create and reload udev rules for uinput.

    echo 'KERNEL=="uinput", SUBSYSTEM=="misc", OPTIONS+="static_node=uinput", TAG+="uaccess"' | \
    sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/60-sunshine.rules
    sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
    sudo udevadm trigger
    sudo modprobe uinput
   

2. Enable permissions for KMS capture.

   Capture of most Wayland-based desktop environments will fail unless this step is performed.

   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 capture.

   Enable

    sudo setcap cap_sys_admin+p $(readlink -f $(which sunshine))
   

   Disable (for Xorg/X11 only)

    sudo setcap -r $(readlink -f $(which sunshine))
   

3. 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
   

   Start once

    systemctl --user start sunshine
   

   Start on boot

    systemctl --user enable sunshine
   

   Reboot

    sudo reboot now
   

For Windows Users

Install the sunshine-windows-installer.exe

2. Set up your games to show on Moonlight homescreen

1. Go to Applications

2. Click on Add New

3. Fill up the variables

   • On Application Name you’re gonna put the name of your game

   • On Command you’re gonna put the executable of your game. Ex: “C:\Program Files (x86)\DODI-Repacks\Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4\NSUNS4.exe”

   Note: If the path to the command executable contains spaces, you must enclose it in quotes.

   • On Working Directory you’re gonna put the directory of your game, this is necessary for it to be properly detected. Ex: “C:\Program Files (x86)\DODI-Repacks\Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4”

   • Check the Run as Admin so that the games have proper permissions to run properly

   • On images input the directory of the image you want to display

4. Click on Save

And, you’re done

Just enter Moonlight and start playing remotely anywhere (if you enable port-fowarding)

How to enable port-fowarding