RustDesk Server

Tools rootless 2 containers
Open in Generator
hbbs docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest · 21115:21115, 21116:21116, 21118:21118
hbbr docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest · 21117:21117, 21119:21119

Deployment rootless

1. Prepare the host

Operating System:
!

Prerequisites once as root

Install Podman (needs podman 4.3 or newer; Ubuntu 22.04 ships 3.4 and is too old, use 24.04)

apt update && apt install -y podman

Create user (if not existing)

useradd -m -s /bin/bash rustdesk-server
passwd rustdesk-server

Enable linger (services keep running after logout and start after reboot)

loginctl enable-linger rustdesk-server
↪

Switch to deployment user

su - rustdesk-server

Use su - with the dash — this creates a proper login shell as rustdesk-server. Without the dash, root environment variables carry over and rootless Podman will not work correctly.

!

Fix environment for rootless systemd (new users only — skip if already set)

Required once so systemctl --user works in non-login sessions.

cat << 'EOF' >> ~/.bashrc

# Fix for systemd user services (rootless Podman/systemctl)
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u)
export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/bus
EOF
source ~/.bashrc

2. Choose a format and deploy

The same pod in four forms. Pick one and follow only its steps.

Each tab says which podman it needs. Check yours with podman --version: Debian 12 ships 4.3, Ubuntu 24.04 4.9, Debian 13 5.4, Fedora 5.8, Arch 6.x.

Kubernetes YAML for podman kube play, started by systemd through a Quadlet .kube unit (podman 4.4+; older podman like Debian 12 uses podman-kube@, see the version check below).

Kubernetes YAML 

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: rustdesk-server
  labels:
    app: rustdesk-server
spec:
  restartPolicy: Always
  containers:
  - name: hbbs
    image: docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
    imagePullPolicy: Always
    ports:
    - containerPort: 21115
      hostPort: 21115
    - containerPort: 21116
      hostPort: 21116
    - containerPort: 21118
      hostPort: 21118
    volumeMounts:
    - name: vol-0
      mountPath: /root
    args:
    - hbbs
  - name: hbbr
    image: docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
    imagePullPolicy: Always
    ports:
    - containerPort: 21117
      hostPort: 21117
    - containerPort: 21119
      hostPort: 21119
    volumeMounts:
    - name: vol-0
      mountPath: /root
    args:
    - hbbr
  volumes:
  - name: vol-0
    persistentVolumeClaim:
      claimName: rustdesk-data
1

Save the YAML file

mkdir -p ~/.config/containers/
nano ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml
2

Test the pod (without autostart)

podman kube play ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml

# Check status:
podman pod ps && podman ps

# Stop:
podman kube down ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml

Check your podman version

podman --version

4.4 or newer: continue with step 3 below.

Older, e.g. 4.3 on Debian 12? There is no Quadlet yet: use podman's own podman-kube@ service instead of steps 3–5 
systemctl --user enable --now podman-kube@$(systemd-escape ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml).service

# Status & logs:
systemctl --user status podman-kube@$(systemd-escape ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml).service
journalctl --user -u podman-kube@$(systemd-escape ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml).service -f

The day-to-day commands below have a block for this service.

3

Create Quadlet .kube file

rustdesk-server.kube 
[Unit]
Description=rustdesk-server pod
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Kube]
Yaml=%h/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml

[Service]
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

%h is a systemd home-directory specifier — do not replace it with ~/.

Save to ~/.config/containers/systemd/:

mkdir -p ~/.config/containers/systemd/
nano ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server.kube
4

Start systemd service

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user start rustdesk-server.service
5

Status & Logs

systemctl --user status rustdesk-server.service
journalctl --user -u rustdesk-server.service -f
podman pod ps
podman ps
6

Enable automatic image updates optional

Requires AutoUpdate=registry in the .kube file. Podman then checks for new images and restarts the pod automatically:

systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now podman-auto-update.timer

# Check status:
systemctl --user status podman-auto-update.timer

# Trigger manually:
podman auto-update
Day-to-day logs, restart, update, remove (click to open)

Logs & shell into a container

podman logs -f rustdesk-server-hbbs
podman logs -f rustdesk-server-hbbr
podman exec -it rustdesk-server-hbbs /bin/sh

Restart

systemctl --user restart rustdesk-server.service

Update an image by hand

Pull the new version, the restart recreates the containers from it:

podman pull <image>:<tag>
systemctl --user restart rustdesk-server.service

Stop & remove

Stop through systemd, otherwise Restart=always brings the pod back. To remove it for good, delete the unit files and reload:

systemctl --user stop rustdesk-server.service
rm ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server.kube
systemctl --user daemon-reload

podman older than 4.4 (podman-kube@ from step 3)

systemctl --user restart podman-kube@$(systemd-escape ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml).service

# Update an image: pull, then restart as above
podman pull <image>:<tag>

# Stop and remove from autostart:
systemctl --user disable --now podman-kube@$(systemd-escape ~/.config/containers/rustdesk-server.yaml).service

Delete the data — permanent, only after stop & remove

podman volume rm rustdesk-data

Native systemd units without the Kubernetes YAML: one .pod plus one .container per container. Each container becomes its own systemd service (restart, logs and ordering per container). Needs podman 5.0 or newer — Debian 12 ships 4.3, use the Kube YAML tab there.

1

Save the unit files

rustdesk-server.pod 
[Unit]
Description=rustdesk-server pod

[Pod]
PodName=rustdesk-server
PublishPort=21115:21115
PublishPort=21116:21116
PublishPort=21118:21118
PublishPort=21117:21117
PublishPort=21119:21119
rustdesk-server-hbbs.container 
[Unit]
Description=rustdesk-server-hbbs container

[Container]
Image=docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
Pod=rustdesk-server.pod
ContainerName=rustdesk-server-hbbs
Pull=always
Volume=rustdesk-data:/root:Z
Exec=hbbs

[Service]
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
rustdesk-server-hbbr.container 
[Unit]
Description=rustdesk-server-hbbr container

[Container]
Image=docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
Pod=rustdesk-server.pod
ContainerName=rustdesk-server-hbbr
Pull=always
Volume=rustdesk-data:/root:Z
Exec=hbbr

[Service]
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Save all of them to ~/.config/containers/systemd/:

mkdir -p ~/.config/containers/systemd/
nano ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server.pod
nano ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server-hbbs.container
nano ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server-hbbr.container
2

Start the pod

The pod service pulls in every container service. Autostart at boot comes from the [Install] section of the units, no enable needed.

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user start rustdesk-server-pod.service
3

Status & Logs

systemctl --user status rustdesk-server-pod.service
journalctl --user -u rustdesk-server-hbbs.service -f
journalctl --user -u rustdesk-server-hbbr.service -f
podman pod ps && podman ps
Day-to-day logs, restart, update, remove (click to open)

Logs & shell into a container

podman logs -f rustdesk-server-hbbs
podman logs -f rustdesk-server-hbbr
podman exec -it rustdesk-server-hbbs /bin/sh

Restart

systemctl --user restart rustdesk-server-pod.service

Update an image by hand

Pull the new version, the restart recreates the containers from it:

podman pull <image>:<tag>
systemctl --user restart rustdesk-server-pod.service

Stop & remove

Stop through systemd, otherwise Restart=always brings the pod back. To remove it for good, delete the unit files and reload:

systemctl --user stop rustdesk-server-pod.service
rm ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server.pod
rm ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server-hbbs.container
rm ~/.config/containers/systemd/rustdesk-server-hbbr.container
systemctl --user daemon-reload

Delete the data — permanent, only after stop & remove

podman volume rm rustdesk-data

A docker-compose.yml for podman-compose. Handy if you already work with Compose; there are no per-container systemd services.

1

Install podman-compose as root

Run this as root, e.g. together with the prerequisites before su - rustdesk-server.

apt install -y podman-compose
2

Save the compose file

docker-compose.yml 
services:
  hbbs:
    image: docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
    pull_policy: always
    restart: always
    ports:
    - 21115:21115
    - 21116:21116
    - 21118:21118
    - 21117:21117
    - 21119:21119
    command:
    - hbbs
    volumes:
    - rustdesk-data:/root:Z
  hbbr:
    image: docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest
    pull_policy: always
    restart: always
    command:
    - hbbr
    volumes:
    - rustdesk-data:/root:Z
    network_mode: service:hbbs
    depends_on:
      hbbs:
        condition: service_started
volumes:
  rustdesk-data: null

mkdir -p ~/rustdesk-server
nano ~/rustdesk-server/docker-compose.yml
3

Start, status & logs

cd ~/rustdesk-server
podman-compose up -d
podman-compose ps
podman-compose logs -f

# Stop:
podman-compose down
4

Start after reboot

podman-restart.service starts every container with restart: always at boot:

systemctl --user enable podman-restart.service
5

Update images

cd ~/rustdesk-server
podman-compose pull
podman-compose up -d
Day-to-day logs, restart, update, remove (click to open)

Logs & shell into a container

podman logs -f rustdesk-server_hbbs_1
podman logs -f rustdesk-server_hbbr_1
podman exec -it rustdesk-server_hbbs_1 /bin/sh

Restart

cd ~/rustdesk-server
podman-compose restart

Stop & remove

cd ~/rustdesk-server
podman-compose down

Delete the data — permanent, only after stop & remove

podman volume rm rustdesk-server_rustdesk-data

Plain podman pod create / podman create commands. Good for a quick test or to see what happens under the hood.

1

Save the script

rustdesk-server.sh 
#!/bin/bash
set -e

# ── Create named volumes ───────────────────────────────────────────
# Named volumes are created automatically — no UID/GID permission adjustment needed.
podman volume exists rustdesk-data || podman volume create rustdesk-data

# ── Create pod ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
podman pod create \
  --name rustdesk-server \
  -p 21115:21115 \
  -p 21116:21116 \
  -p 21118:21118 \
  -p 21117:21117 \
  -p 21119:21119

# ── Container: rustdesk-server-hbbs ─────────────────────────────────────────────
podman create \
  --pod rustdesk-server \
  --name rustdesk-server-hbbs \
  --restart always \
  --pull always \
  -v rustdesk-data:/root:Z \
  docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest \
  hbbs

# ── Container: rustdesk-server-hbbr ─────────────────────────────────────────────
podman create \
  --pod rustdesk-server \
  --name rustdesk-server-hbbr \
  --restart always \
  --pull always \
  -v rustdesk-data:/root:Z \
  docker.io/rustdesk/rustdesk-server:latest \
  hbbr

# ── Start pod ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
podman pod start rustdesk-server

# ── Stop & clean up ───────────────────────────────────────────────
# podman pod stop rustdesk-server
# podman pod rm rustdesk-server
nano rustdesk-server.sh
2

Run it, status & logs

bash rustdesk-server.sh
podman pod ps && podman ps
podman logs -f <container-name>
3

Start after reboot

podman-restart.service starts every container with --restart always at boot:

systemctl --user enable podman-restart.service
4

Remove or rebuild

The script creates the pod once. To apply changes or new images, remove the pod and run the script again (named volumes stay):

podman pod rm -f rustdesk-server
bash rustdesk-server.sh
Day-to-day logs, restart, update, remove (click to open)

Logs & shell into a container

podman logs -f rustdesk-server-hbbs
podman logs -f rustdesk-server-hbbr
podman exec -it rustdesk-server-hbbs /bin/sh

Restart

podman pod stop rustdesk-server
podman pod start rustdesk-server

Stop & remove

podman pod rm -f rustdesk-server

Delete the data — permanent, only after stop & remove

podman volume rm rustdesk-data
Useful Tips

Ports < 1024 (e.g. 80, 443)

Rootless cannot open privileged ports. Solution:

sysctl net.ipv4.ip_unprivileged_port_start=80

Make persistent in /etc/sysctl.d/99-podman.conf.

Containers communicate via localhost

All containers in the pod share the same network namespace. Always use localhost, not container names.

# Correct (e.g. app → db):
localhost:5432

# Wrong (doesn't work in a pod):
db-container:5432

List open ports

Which ports are the running containers publishing? See the PORTS column:

podman ps

Custom DNS for the pod

Set a custom DNS server (e.g. local Pi-hole) in the generator under DNS server. Every format picks it up.

Set volume ownership

Fix permission errors by adjusting UID/GID in the user namespace:

podman unshare chown 1000:1000 /path/to/volume

SELinux volume labels

On SELinux systems (RHEL, Fedora) set the volume suffix:

/host/path:/container/path:Z   # private
/host/path:/container/path:z   # shared

List all volumes

podman volume ls
podman volume inspect <volume-name>

Volume backup

Back up data from a named volume:

podman run --rm \
  -v <volume-name>:/data:ro \
  -v $(pwd):/backup \
  busybox tar czf /backup/backup.tar.gz /data

Cleanup

Remove unused images, containers and volumes:

podman system prune -f        # containers + images
podman image prune -f         # untagged images only
podman volume prune -f        # unused volumes

Check for outdated images

List local images; auto-update only covers units with AutoUpdate= (Kube and Quadlet tabs):

podman images
podman auto-update --dry-run

All containers, including stopped ones

podman pod ps
podman ps -a

Resource usage

podman stats --no-stream
Customize this stack
Change ports, volumes, environment variables and more in the generator.
Open in Generator