Support for running headless with no monitor output

[nsvedberg]

Hello,

I'm setting up a PC to use as a remote desktop device. I'm aware that it's possible to start sway over SSH like so:

WLR_BACKENDS=headless sway

It would be nice if hyprland supported something similar. I read that it is possible to add a headless output using hyprctl, however, hyprctl only works if hyprland is already running, and hyprland will not start without at least one real monitor connected.

See also:

#7917
#1917

Note, as far as I know this is not implemented; if it is, then this issue should be a bug report, as I cannot get it to work.

[vaxerski]

it should start without a monitor. What is not working?

If you are starting hyprland over ssh, it's very possible that your polkit will not allow you to start hyprland. This is not a hyprland issue - hyprland doesn't require a head, but it does require access to drm and a tty, which ssh doesn't provide

[nsvedberg]

Seems that you're right; here's a log.

[LOG] Instance Signature: 29e2e59fdbab8ed2cc23a20e3c6043d5decb5cdc_1746387445_259578309
[LOG] Runtime directory: /run/user/1000/hypr/29e2e59fdbab8ed2cc23a20e3c6043d5decb5cdc_1746387445_259578309
[LOG] Hyprland PID: 5300
[LOG] ===== SYSTEM INFO: =====
[LOG] System name: Linux
[LOG] Node name: percheron
[LOG] Release: 6.14.4-arch1-2
[LOG] Version: #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue, 29 Apr 2025 09:23:13 +0000


[LOG] GPU information:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA102 [GeForce RTX 3090] [10de:2204] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
0e:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Granite Ridge [Radeon Graphics] [1002:13c0] (rev c2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])


[WARN] Warning: you're using an NVIDIA GPU. Make sure you follow the instructions on the wiki if anything is amiss.

[LOG] os-release:
NAME="Arch Linux"
PRETTY_NAME="Arch Linux"
ID=arch
BUILD_ID=rolling
ANSI_COLOR="38;2;23;147;209"
HOME_URL="https://archlinux.org/"
DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://wiki.archlinux.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://bbs.archlinux.org/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://gitlab.archlinux.org/groups/archlinux/-/issues"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://terms.archlinux.org/docs/privacy-policy/"
LOGO=archlinux-logo
[LOG] ========================



[INFO] If you are crashing, or encounter any bugs, please consult https://wiki.hyprland.org/Crashes-and-Bugs/


[LOG] 
Current splash: We're all living in America, America, America.


[LOG] Old rlimit: soft -> 1024, hard -> 524288
[LOG] New rlimit: soft -> 524288, hard -> 524288
[LOG] Creating the EventLoopManager!
[LOG] Creating the HookSystem!
[LOG] Creating the KeybindManager!
[LOG] Creating the AnimationManager!
[LOG] Creating the ConfigManager!
[LOG] Using config: /home/neil/.config/hypr/headless.conf
[INFO] !!!!HEY YOU, YES YOU!!!!: further logs to stdout / logfile are disabled by default. BEFORE SENDING THIS LOG, ENABLE THEM. Use debug:disable_logs = false to do so: https://wiki.hyprland.org/Configuring/Variables/#debug
[LOG] Creating the PointerManager!
[LOG] Creating the EventManager!
[LOG] [AQ] Creating an Aquamarine backend!
[LOG] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/backend/seatd.c:64] Could not connect to socket /run/seatd.sock: No such file or directory
[LOG] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:76] Backend 'seatd' failed to open seat, skipping
[LOG] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:76] Backend 'logind' failed to open seat, skipping
[ERR] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:79] No backend was able to open a seat
[ERR] [AQ] libseat: failed to open a seat
[ERR] [AQ] Failed to open a session
[ERR] [AQ] DRM Backend failed
[LOG] [AQ] Starting the Aquamarine backend!
[LOG] [AQ] Starting the Wayland backend!
[ERR] [AQ] Wayland backend cannot start: wl_display_connect failed (is a wayland compositor running?)
[ERR] [AQ] Requested backend (wayland) could not start, enabling fallbacks
[ERR] [AQ] Implementation wayland failed, erasing.
[CRITICAL] [AQ] Cannot open backend: no allocator available
[CRITICAL] m_pAqBackend couldn't start! This usually means aquamarine could not find a GPU or encountered some issues. Make sure you're running either on a tty or on a Wayland session, NOT an X11 one.
[CRITICAL] Critical error thrown: CBackend::create() failed!

Are you saying that if polkit is configured properly, then this should work? Doing this with sway "just works" so that's what I was expecting for hyprland.

[vaxerski]

[LOG] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/backend/seatd.c:64] Could not connect to socket /run/seatd.sock: No such file or directory
[LOG] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:76] Backend 'seatd' failed to open seat, skipping
[LOG] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:76] Backend 'logind' failed to open seat, skipping
[ERR] [AQ] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:79] No backend was able to open a seat

This is the problem.

Sway can run without a gpu (with sw rendering). Hyprland can't.