A sub-35MB Go-powered VNC and TCP relay gateway designed for Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, and low-RAM embedded Linux devices that choke on heavy remote-desktop software.
The Origin: Remote Desktops That Don't Melt Your Single-Board Computer
Trying to run full-blown remote access suites on a 1GB Raspberry Pi or an Orange Pi sitting inside an IoT enclosure is a quick recipe for out-of-memory kernel panics.
μVNC Relay (github.com/milkboyinchina/microvnc-relay) solves this with a streamlined Go proxy binary. Consuming under 35MB of RAM at full load, it bridges headless edge machines, streams framebuffers with zero disk caching, and hooks effortlessly into private NetBird mesh networks.
Technical Highlights
- Minimal RAM Footprint: Engineered in pure Go to run smoothly under 35MB of memory without GC spikes or thread hogging.
- Zero Disk Caching: Pushes framebuffers and RFB packets directly across memory buffers to preserve slow eMMC and SD card flash storage.
- NetBird Mesh & NAT Traversal: Connects edge devices seamlessly across NAT firewalls into your secure private VPN mesh.
- Real-Time Bandwidth Monitor: Embedded web UI displays live throughput, connected client states, and frame latency in real time.
- Token-Based Handshake: Authenticates incoming VNC sessions before granting access to internal device display servers.
Installation
# Download and launch the single binary
wget https://github.com/milkboyinchina/microvnc-relay/releases/latest/download/microvnc-relay-linux-arm64
chmod +x microvnc-relay-linux-arm64
./microvnc-relay-linux-arm64 --port 5901 --relay-to 127.0.0.1:5900Source code and release builds on GitHub: milkboyinchina/microvnc-relay.
