> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.gotempest.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.gotempest.app/connect-to-servers/moonlight-sunshine-desktop-streaming.md).
# How to Stream a Desktop with Moonlight & Sunshine
How to stream a desktop into Tempest over Moonlight — installing the component, pairing with a Sunshine host, the ports involved, and what the stream does and does not carry.
Moonlight is the fastest way to reach a machine you own. Instead of sending rectangles of pixels the way VNC does, the host encodes its screen with the same hardware encoder a game capture uses and sends H.264 or HEVC over UDP. Tempest speaks it as a connection type, so a paired machine opens as a tab next to your SSH sessions.
A Mac M4 desktop streamed into Tempest on Windows — TestUFO's 60 fps row keeping pace
## What this is, and what it is not
Tempest's Moonlight sessions are **video and input only**:
* **No audio.** The stream negotiates an audio channel because the protocol requires one, and then discards it.
* **No gamepads.** Controllers are not forwarded.
* **The desktop, not a game.** Tempest launches the host's `Desktop` entry, so you get the whole machine rather than a single title.
If you want sound and a controller on the sofa, use the [Moonlight client](https://github.com/moonlight-stream) itself. If you want a fast remote desktop in the same window as the servers you administer, this is that.
## What you need
| | |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| On the host | [Sunshine](https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine), running and reachable — or GeForce Experience on an older NVIDIA setup |
| On your machine | Tempest desktop on Windows (Intel/Arm), Linux (Intel/Arm), or macOS on Apple Silicon |
| Plan | Pro — Moonlight is a Pro connection type |
| Component | The Moonlight component, installed once (below) |
Moonlight is **not** available in the mobile apps, and the Mac App Store build cannot load it: that sandbox forbids running downloaded native code, so the component manager is absent there entirely. Use the direct download from [gotempest.app](https://gotempest.app/download/mac) on macOS if you want it.
## 1. Install the component
The streaming engine ships separately from Tempest because it is GPL-3.0, and it is distributed as a signed `.tpx` package.
1. Open [**gotempest.app/download/moonlight**](https://gotempest.app/download/moonlight) — it redirects to the component's releases page.
2. Download the package for the machine Tempest runs on:
| File | For |
| -------------------------------------- | -------------------- |
| `moonlight--win32-x64.tpx` | Windows, Intel/AMD |
| `moonlight--win32-arm64.tpx` | Windows, Arm |
| `moonlight--darwin-arm64.tpx` | macOS, Apple Silicon |
| `moonlight--linux-x64.tpx` | Linux, Intel/AMD |
| `moonlight--linux-arm64.tpx` | Linux, Arm |
3. In Tempest: **Settings → Components → Install from file…**, and pick the `.tpx`. Dragging the file onto that screen does the same thing.
The signature travels inside the package, so one file is all you need and there is nothing to verify by hand — Tempest checks it before anything runs, and refuses a package built for another version, another machine, or another app. A package you built yourself is unsigned and will not install.
The component runs as its own process with a bare environment: no vault, no keychain, no cloud session. A crash in it ends that stream, not your terminals.
## 2. Add the connection
1. `+` → **Moonlight**.
2. **Host** — the address of the machine running Sunshine.
3. **Port** — `47989`, Sunshine's plain-HTTP NVHTTP port, used for pairing. Change it only if you changed it there.
4. **Codec** — `H.264` (default) or `HEVC`. HEVC costs the host less bandwidth at the same quality; H.264 is the safer choice on older hardware.
5. Save.
The stream itself runs at **1080p60, up to 20 Mbps**. That is negotiated when the session starts and stays fixed for its lifetime — resizing the pane scales the picture rather than renegotiating the stream.
## 3. Pair with the host
The first connection prints a **PIN**:
1. Open Sunshine's web interface — `https://:47990`.
2. Go to **PIN** and enter the number Tempest is showing.
3. The dialog closes on its own and the desktop appears.
Pairing is an exchange of certificates, not a password. Tempest generates a client identity on first connect and stores it **on the saved host**, encrypted the same way your SSH keys are — so every device you sync to is already paired, and nothing has to be typed twice.
To start over, use **Forget pairing** in the host's edit form. It is the same gesture as forgetting an SSH fingerprint: Tempest drops its identity and the next connection generates a new one. Sunshine keeps the old certificate until you remove it there too.
## Ports
Sunshine's defaults, which the host's firewall must allow:
| Port | Transport | Used for |
| ------------------------ | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| `47984` | TCP | NVHTTP over HTTPS — server info, app list, launch |
| `47989` | TCP | NVHTTP plain HTTP — pairing |
| `47990` | TCP | Sunshine's own web interface (where you type the PIN) |
| `48010` | TCP + UDP | RTSP handshake |
| `47998`–`48000`, `48002` | UDP | video, audio and control streams |
For a host that is not on your network, forward these through a bastion rather than opening them to the internet — see [SSH Port Forwarding](/connect-to-servers/ssh-port-forwarding.md).
## Input
Mouse movement, buttons, scroll wheel, keyboard and clipboard **text** travel back up the stream. Keys are sent as physical key codes rather than characters, so a host set to Dvorak, AZERTY or a Chinese IME behaves the way it does when you sit in front of it.
## Troubleshooting
**"Moonlight needs an optional component."** The component is not installed, or not installed for this machine's architecture. Install it as above.
**"Needs updating for this version of Tempest."** Tempest was updated and the component was not — a component has to match the app it plugs into. Download the current package and install it over the old one. "Built for a different platform" means you took the wrong file from the release; "Needs a newer version of Tempest" means the opposite, so update the app.
**Pairing never completes.** The PIN is only good while the dialog is open, and Sunshine's web interface must be the one on that same host. If the dialog closed, reconnect for a new PIN.
**"Already running" / the host thinks it is busy.** Sunshine allows one session at a time and holds the slot until it is released. Stop the session from Sunshine's web interface, or wait for it to time out, then reconnect.
**A black window, or the stream never starts.** The host has no `Desktop` entry, or its encoder cannot serve the requested codec. Try H.264 if you selected HEVC, and check Sunshine's own log.
**Two Moonlight tabs at once** work — each gets its own component process. The underlying streaming library keeps one connection per process, which is why they cannot share.
## See also
* [Split Screens — Tile Multiple SSH Sessions](/productivity/split-screens.md) — a stream beside the shell that manages the same machine
* [SSH Port Forwarding — Local, Remote & Dynamic SOCKS5](/connect-to-servers/ssh-port-forwarding.md) — reaching a host that is not on your network
* [End-to-End Encryption (E2EE)](/account-and-privacy/end-to-end-encryption.md) — how the stored pairing identity is protected
* [Where Tempest Stores Your Credentials](/account-and-privacy/where-tempest-stores-credentials.md)
* [Moonlight client for Sunshine hosts](https://gotempest.app/moonlight-client) — the product page for this feature