noVNC, the universal web-based VNC client

Cendio has a long history of working with the open source community, and participating in the development of modern remote access tools is a high priority for us.

In the world of browser-based remote access, noVNC has become the industry standard. It is a VNC client that runs directly in your browser without the need for plugins, extensions, or add-ons. If you have ever accessed a virtual machine console via a web portal (such as OpenStack, Proxmox, or OpenNebula), you have likely used noVNC.

A brief history of noVNC

noVNC was originally created by Joel Martin in 2011. At the time, browser-based remote access relied heavily on cumbersome plugins like Java or Flash, which were often insecure and difficult to manage. Martin built noVNC to take advantage of the newly emerging HTML5 WebSockets and Canvas technologies, proving that a high-performance VNC client could run natively in the browser. Over the years, the project grew from an experimental proof-of-concept into the standard solution for web-based remote desktop access, adopted by major cloud platforms worldwide.

Cendio is a leading developer of noVNC

Today, Cendio is the primary driving force behind the noVNC project. Our developers, including Samuel Mannehed and Pierre Ossman, serve as the core maintainers, ensuring the software remains secure, fast, and compatible with modern web standards.

We have contributed significantly to the project's evolution, moving it from a prototype to a production-grade client. Key contributions by Cendio include:

• Core maintenance: Overseeing the architecture and release management of the software.
• Touch & gesture support: Enabling seamless usage on mobile devices and tablets.
• Security improvements: Implementing robust support for encrypted WebSocket connections (wss://) to ensure secure data transit.
• UI modernization: Designing the clean, intuitive control bar and interface used by millions of users today.
• Performance: Optimizations to the rendering pipeline, ensuring smooth playback even in high-latency environments.

noVNC is part of ThinLinc – the Linux Remote Desktop Server

While noVNC provides the client-side technology, deploying it manually requires orchestrating several moving parts: a web server, a WebSocket proxy (like Websockify), and a VNC server.

ThinLinc Web Access is a complete, secure, and pre-configured implementation of noVNC.

When you install ThinLinc, you get a fully orchestrated noVNC environment out of the box. There is no need to configure proxies or manually bridge protocols. ThinLinc handles the security, session management, and performance tuning automatically.

Learn more about why ThinLinc is the best way to deploy noVNC: Why ThinLinc instead of noVNC for Linux remote computing?