Helios¶

Category: Workstations Type: Workload Template Tags: kasm · vdi · juno Bundle: Orion Essentials

Overview¶

Helios is the flagship containerized workstation from Juno Innovations. It provides a full-featured Linux desktop environment delivered through the browser — no VPN or client software required. Helios workstations support GPU acceleration, plugin mounting, and the full Juno workstation ecosystem (including Helios plugins like auto-shutdown and RAM monitoring). Each Helios workload is an isolated, personal desktop environment that users can launch on demand from Genesis.

How It Works¶

Workload Template — Installs the Helios workstation schema into Genesis. Once installed, the Helios type appears in Genesis on the Workloads page, where it can be authored into a workload template. Users can then launch and provision their own personal desktop on demand within a project through Hubble.

Prerequisites¶

GPU support requires the NVIDIA GPU Operator plugin to be installed if GPU workstations are needed
Helios plugin add-ons (Helios Auto Shutdown, Helios RAM Monitor) are optional but recommended for production deployments

Installation¶

Open Terra and navigate to the Plugin Marketplace
Search for "Helios"
Click Install
Click Confirm to deploy (no install-time fields required)

Once installed, the Helios schema is available in Genesis. From the Workloads page, author the template — users can then launch and provision workstations on demand through Hubble.

Configuration¶

Install-Time Fields¶

No install-time configuration is required for this plugin.

Workload Launch Fields¶

These fields are configured when authoring the workload template in Genesis and used each time a user provisions a workstation through Hubble:

Field	Details
`gpu`	boolean · Required Enable GPU passthrough for the workstation
`registry`	string · Required · Default: `junoinnovations` Container registry to pull the Helios image from
`repo`	string · Required · Default: `helios` Helios image repository
`tag`	string · Required · Default: `unstable-rocky-9` Helios image tag (OS flavour and version)
`enableAPI`	boolean · Required · Default: `false` Enable system-to-system communication via the Helios API
`rheaRepo`	string · Required · Default: `rhea` Repository for the Rhea sidecar image
`rheaTag`	string · Required · Default: `v1.2.3` Rhea sidecar image tag
`publicAccess`	boolean · Required · Default: `false` Disable authentication and allow unauthenticated access to the workstation

Custom Environment Variables¶

Genesis lets you add arbitrary environment variables to the workload at launch time. These are commonly useful for a Helios workstation:

Variable	Description
`PASSWORD`	Password set for the users terminal session.
`SUDO`	Grants the user sudo access on the container.
`SELKIES_FRAMERATE`	Streaming framerate for the desktop session, as a range (e.g. `15-60`) or fixed value (e.g. `30`).
`DISABLE_VGL`	Disables the VirtualGL wrapper around the desktop session; apps needing it must be launched manually via `vglrun`.
`REMOTE_PROTOCOL`	if set to "dcv" Helios will run Nice DCV rather than Selkies.

Notes¶

This plugin is included in the Orion Essentials bundle — you can install Helios, the Prometheus Stack, and the ArgoCD Dashboard together in one step from Terra
Setting publicAccess to true removes authentication from the workstation endpoint — use only in trusted network environments
The tag field controls the OS and desktop flavour of the workstation; consult the Juno documentation for available image tags
Helios workstations are scheduled on nodes labelled juno-innovations.com/workstation: "true" — ensure your cluster has workstation nodes configured
Helios plugin add-ons (auto-shutdown, RAM monitoring) must be installed separately and will automatically attach to Helios workloads

plugins/helios/terra.yaml
resource_id: helios
name: Helios
icon: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/juno-fx/Terra-Official-Plugins/refs/heads/main/plugins/helios/scripts/assets/helios-icon.png
description: Helios containerized workstation from Juno
category: Workstations
tags:
  - kasm
  - vdi
  - juno
  - cluster-level
fields: []