Arch Linux

Install a Slipstream host on Arch (and Arch-derived distros) with makepkg from this repo.

Set up a Slipstream host on Arch Linux (or an Arch-derived distro like CachyOS/EndeavourOS). There is no public pacman binary repo. Build with the split PKGBUILD in packaging/arch/, or install packages from GitHub Releases when attached. Host encode is NVENC on NVIDIA; on AMD/Intel HEVC and AV1 go through Vulkan Video, with VAAPI for H.264 and as the fallback (SLIPSTREAM_ENCODER=auto picks per GPU).

New here? Read Security & Safe Use first, a streaming host is remote control of the machine, so keep it on a trusted LAN or VPN and require pairing.

1. GPU prerequisites

NVIDIA: sudo pacman -S --needed nvidia-utils (provides NVENC + the EGL/CUDA zero-copy path). Arch's stock ffmpeg already has NVENC built in, no RPM-Fusion-style swap like Fedora needs.
AMD / Intel: the Mesa stack. HEVC/AV1 encode goes through Vulkan Video by default, so install the Vulkan driver, vulkan-radeon (AMD) or vulkan-intel (Intel), alongside the VAAPI drivers (libva-mesa-driver for AMD, intel-media-driver for Intel), which carry H.264 and the fallback path. Both are usually already installed on a desktop.

2. Build and install

git clone https://github.com/vindeckyy/slipstream.git && cd slipstream/packaging/arch
PF_SRCDIR="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" makepkg -si
# Optional web console (needs bun / bun-bin):
# PF_WITH_WEB=1 PF_SRCDIR="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" makepkg -si

That installs slipstream-host (and slipstream-client from the same split package). Add slipstream-web when you build with PF_WITH_WEB=1. Full PKGBUILD notes: packaging/arch/README.md.

sudo usermod -aG input "$USER"       # /dev/uinput access for virtual gamepads (re-login to apply)

slipstream-scripting is the runner behind Plugins; enable it when you want it, systemctl --user enable --now slipstream-scripting. The host package ships the systemd user units, the udev rule, the UDP socket-buffer sysctl tuning, and example configs.

Updates later: rebuild from a newer checkout (or install a newer package from GitHub Releases), then systemctl --user restart slipstream-host so the running host picks up the new binary. Restart slipstream-web the same way if you run the console. Channel notes for when you publish your own feeds: Release Channels. The web console update card is covered in Updating the Host.

3. Configure and run

The host runs as a systemd --user service, it needs your session's PipeWire and D-Bus. Copy a starting config:

mkdir -p ~/.config/slipstream
cp /usr/share/slipstream/host.env.example ~/.config/slipstream/host.env

How the host creates its virtual display and injects input depends on your desktop, not your distro, edit host.env for the desktop you run, following its page for the exact settings and any quirks:

Then enable the service and turn on linger so it starts at boot without a login:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now slipstream-host
sudo loginctl enable-linger "$USER"

Check it came up:

systemctl --user status slipstream-host          # active
journalctl --user -u slipstream-host -f          # watch a client connect

Enable the browser console, find your login password, and arm PIN pairing from The Web Console. For a headless KWin appliance that streams at boot with no graphical login, see KDE -> Headless session. Full reference: Configuration · Running as a Service.

5. Open the firewall (if you have one)

Stock Arch ships no firewall, every port is already open, so you can skip this. But CachyOS enables ufw by default (firewalld is not installed), and some other spins (e.g. EndeavourOS) enable firewalld, an Arch package never opens ports for you, so on those the host is unreachable until you allow it.

The slipstream-host package installs openers for both, so it's a one-liner whichever you run. The unit you enabled in step 4 runs serve --gamestream, the package installs it as it ships and only rewrites the binary path, so that host serves both the native slipstream/1 plane and stock Moonlight clients, and needs both openers:

# ufw, CachyOS (and Ubuntu, once you enable ufw):
sudo ufw allow slipstream-native
sudo ufw allow slipstream-gamestream

# firewalld, Fedora-like spins (EndeavourOS, ...):
sudo firewall-cmd --reload                                        # load the installed definitions
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=slipstream-native
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=slipstream-gamestream
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Switched the host to native-only, dropped --gamestream with a systemctl --user edit slipstream-host drop-in, or you run slipstream-host serve by hand? Then open slipstream-native alone and leave slipstream-gamestream closed. systemctl --user cat slipstream-host shows which one yours is.

slipstream-native opens the QUIC control port (UDP 9777), mDNS discovery and the mgmt/library API (TCP 47990); slipstream-gamestream opens the fixed Moonlight ports, TCP 47984, 47989 and 48010, UDP 47998-48000, plus the same mDNS. The media data plane uses an ephemeral UDP port that the client opens with a hole-punch, the host streams back out through the path the client opened, so there's nothing fixed to open as long as the firewall allows outbound UDP (the default for both ufw and firewalld).

Enabled the web console (slipstream-web, above) and want to reach it from your phone or another machine? It's not opened by the streaming rules, open its port too, the same one-liner way:

sudo ufw allow slipstream-web                                                            # ufw
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=slipstream-web && sudo firewall-cmd --reload  # firewalld

That opens TCP 47992 (HTTPS, login-gated). The mgmt API (47990) is opened for paired clients by the slipstream-native profile (game-library browsing over mTLS); off-loopback it serves only read-only status/library, and every admin action stays loopback-only. Full port lists (nftables, explicit ports) are in packaging/arch/README.md.

6. Connect a client

From any client, --discover finds the host on the LAN. On first connect, complete the PIN pairing: arm it from The Web Console, which displays a 4-digit PIN to type into the client. (Pairing is required by default; pass serve --open only if you deliberately want to disable it.) See Clients for per-platform setup.

Next steps

Keep it current, Updating the Host.
Remove it again, Uninstalling.
Something not working?, Troubleshooting.

Appendix, build from source (PKGBUILD)

To build instead of using the binary repo, use the split PKGBUILD in packaging/arch/ (produces slipstream-host + slipstream-client; set PF_WITH_WEB=1 to also build slipstream-web and PF_WITH_SCRIPTING=1 to also build slipstream-scripting, both need bun):

git clone https://github.com/vindeckyy/slipstream.git && cd slipstream/packaging/arch
# Build the working tree (no git fetch):
PF_SRCDIR="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" makepkg -f --holdver
sudo pacman -U slipstream-host-*.pkg.tar.zst

NVENC/EGL come from the NVIDIA driver (nvidia-utils); on a GPU-less builder, symlink the CUDA stub into the link path first (the PKGBUILD header documents this). Full details, the Fedora->Arch dependency map, and the systemd-sysext mechanism are in packaging/arch/README.md. (For a SteamOS host, use the on-device installer instead, it builds the host and the HDR gamescope against the running OS.)