rustdesk-client

Custom RustDesk client builder with self-hosted server defaults and branding injection.

Overview

This repository automates the build and packaging of a customized RustDesk client. It fetches the upstream RustDesk source, injects your self-hosted server configuration and branding, then builds signed packages for Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android via GitHub Actions.

What It Does

• Source: Clones the official RustDesk repository at a configurable tag/branch/commit.
• Server Injection: Hardcodes your rendezvous, relay, and API server addresses plus your public key into the client.
• Branding: Replaces the window title, about dialog, copyright, and visual assets.
• Links: Patches website and privacy-policy URLs in the client UI.
• Builds: Produces platform-native packages:
  • Linux: DEB, RPM, AppImage, Flatpak
  • Windows: MSI installer + portable executable
  • macOS: DMG (x64 & ARM64)
  • Android: APK (arm64, armv7, x86_64)
• Release: Automatically publishes a GitHub Release with all artifacts.

Repository Layout

├── .github/
│   ├── actions/           # Reusable composite actions (prepare, build, collect)
│   └── workflows/
│       └── build.yml      # Main build & release workflow
├── scripts/
│   └── configure_rustdesk.py   # Injection logic for config & branding
├── branding/              # Custom icons, logos, and assets (optional)
└── BUILD.md               # macOS self-hosted runner setup instructions

Quick Start

1. Fork this repository.
2. Configure repository secrets & variables (see tables below).
3. Add branding assets to a branding/ directory (optional).
4. Run the workflow manually via GitHub Actions (Build RustDesk).

Secrets

Set these as repository secrets (Settings → Secrets and variables → Secrets):

Secret	Description	Example
RENDEZVOUS_SERVER	ID / rendezvous server (hbbs) host or IP	id.example.com
RELAY_SERVER	Relay server (hbbr) host or IP (optional)	relay.example.com
API_SERVER	API server for Pro login / web console (optional)	https://api.example.com
RS_PUB_KEY	Public key from id_ed25519.pub (injected as custom server key, upstream network key is kept)	1Mf5l...

Variables

Set these as repository variables (Settings → Secrets and variables → Variables):

Variable	Description	Example
CLIENT_NAME	Window title and About dialog title (install path & binary name stay RustDesk)	greenSec RustDesk Client
CLIENT_IDENTIFIER	Bundle identifier / application ID (reverse-DNS)	de.greensec.rustdesk
CLIENT_DESCRIPTION	Short description used in .desktop files and Windows metadata	Secure remote desktop
CLIENT_COMPANY	Company name used in copyright strings	greenSec GmbH
WEBSITE_URL	Website URL shown in the About dialog	https://greensec.de
PRIVACY_URL	Privacy policy URL shown in the About dialog	https://greensec.de/datenschutz
CLIENT_CONFIG	JSON object of extra RustDesk client settings (see below)	{"access-mode":"full","enable-record-session":"Y"}

Advanced Client Settings (CLIENT_CONFIG)

The CLIENT_CONFIG variable lets you inject any RustDesk client configuration option as default settings. These are baked into the client at build time and act as factory defaults that users can still override in the UI.

Set CLIENT_CONFIG as a repository variable containing a single-line JSON object:

{"access-mode":"custom","enable-clipboard":"N","enable-file-transfer":"N"}

Common settings you may want to pre-configure:

Setting	Values	Description
access-mode	custom, full, view	Default permission level for incoming connections
enable-keyboard	Y / N	Allow remote keyboard/mouse input
enable-clipboard	Y / N	Allow clipboard sharing
enable-file-transfer	Y / N	Allow file transfer
enable-camera	Y / N	Allow camera access
enable-terminal	Y / N	Allow terminal access
enable-audio	Y / N	Allow audio forwarding
enable-tunnel	Y / N	Allow TCP tunneling
enable-remote-restart	Y / N	Allow remote restart
enable-record-session	Y / N	Allow session recording
enable-block-input	Y / N	Allow blocking local input (Windows)
enable-privacy-mode	Y / N	Allow privacy mode
stop-service	Y / N	Stop the background service / ID registration
whitelist	comma-separated IDs	Restrict incoming connections to listed IDs

For the full list of available settings, see the RustDesk Advanced Client Settings documentation.

Asset Branding

Place image assets in a branding/ directory at the root of this repository. The build workflow automatically copies them into the RustDesk source tree.

Expected filenames and their targets:

File in branding/	Replaces upstream asset	Used for
icon.ico	res/icon.ico	Windows application icon
tray-icon.ico	res/tray-icon.ico	Windows tray icon
icon.png	res/icon.png	Linux application icon
32x32.png	res/32x32.png	Small icon (32×32 px)
64x64.png	res/64x64.png	Medium icon (64×64 px)
128x128.png	res/128x128.png	Large icon (128×128 px)
128x128@2x.png	res/128x128@2x.png	Retina icon (256×256 px)
logo.svg	res/logo.svg	Application logo (SVG)
logo-header.svg	res/logo-header.svg	Header/logo in UI
rustdesk-banner.svg	res/rustdesk-banner.svg	Banner image
scalable.svg	res/scalable.svg	Linux system icon (installed into icon theme as rustdesk.svg)
mac-icon.png	res/mac-icon.png	macOS application icon
mac-tray-dark-x2.png	res/mac-tray-dark-x2.png	macOS dark-mode tray icon (@2x)
mac-tray-light-x2.png	res/mac-tray-light-x2.png	macOS light-mode tray icon (@2x)
logo.png	flutter/assets/logo.png	Logo shown in the home page UI
icon.png	flutter/assets/icon.png	Icon shown in the Flutter UI (fallback for icon.svg)
icon.ico	flutter/assets/icon.ico	Windows taskbar/window icon (loaded at runtime by the Flutter runner, overrides app_icon.ico)

Windows-specific note:

• icon.ico is copied to both res/icon.ico (used by the Rust build) and flutter/windows/runner/resources/app_icon.ico (used by the Flutter Windows runner). If you only change the tray icon, provide tray-icon.ico.
• To change the taskbar / window icon on Windows, you must provide icon.ico.

Linux-specific note:

• scalable.svg is installed into the system icon theme as rustdesk.svg. If you skip it, the Linux taskbar / application menu may still show the upstream icon.
• The Linux runner also falls back to local res/32x32.png, res/64x64.png, res/128x128.png, and res/128x128@2x.png when the app is run without installation (e.g., directly from the build directory).

Only include the files you want to override; missing ones will keep the upstream defaults.

Workflow Inputs

Input	Description	Default
rustdesk_ref	RustDesk tag, branch, or commit to build	1.4.7
publish_release	Create/update a GitHub Release	true
release_tag	Custom release tag (auto-generated if empty)	""
prerelease	Mark release as prerelease	false
use_github_runners	Use GitHub-hosted runners instead of self-hosted runners	true
build_linux	Build Linux packages	true
build_windows	Build Windows packages	true
build_macos_x64	Build macOS x64 (Intel) package	true
build_macos_arm64	Build macOS ARM64 (Apple Silicon) package	true
build_android	Build Android packages	true
website_url	Override the website URL for this run	falls back to vars.WEBSITE_URL or https://greensec.de
privacy_url	Override the privacy policy URL for this run	falls back to vars.PRIVACY_URL or https://greensec.de/datenschutz

Build Environments

• Linux: Ubuntu 22.04-based runner (GitHub-hosted or self-hosted)
• Windows: Windows runner with LLVM, Rust, Flutter (GitHub-hosted or self-hosted)
• macOS: macOS Sonoma (14+) self-hosted runner with Xcode, Homebrew, Rust, Flutter, CocoaPods
• Android: Ubuntu 22.04 GitHub-hosted runner (no self-hosted setup required)

See BUILD.md for detailed macOS runner setup instructions.

License

This builder tooling follows the same license terms as the upstream RustDesk project.