Instant Linux Browser

A simple Bash installer for running web-accessible Chromium and Firefox Docker containers on a Linux server.

It keeps an interactive menu for installing, uninstalling, checking status, and exiting. It also supports direct non-interactive actions for automation.

Features

• Interactive Bash menu for install, uninstall, status, and exit.
• Chromium and Firefox containers from linuxserver.io.
• Chromium HTTP on 3000 and HTTPS on 3001.
• Firefox HTTP on 4000 and HTTPS on 4001.
• Persistent config in /opt/instant-linux-browser/<browser>/config.
• Username/password prompts, with ILB_USERNAME and ILB_PASSWORD overrides.
• Supports amd64/x86_64 and arm64/aarch64 Linux servers when the upstream image supports them.
• Works when downloaded first or when run through curl | sudo bash.

Install

Use only raw.githubusercontent.com URLs for curl commands. Do not use normal GitHub page URLs such as github.com/.../blob/..., because those return an HTML page, not the raw Bash script.

Interactive

curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mammad3861/Instant-Linux-Browser/main/browser.sh
sudo bash browser.sh

One-line interactive

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mammad3861/Instant-Linux-Browser/main/browser.sh | sudo bash

Non-interactive Chromium

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mammad3861/Instant-Linux-Browser/main/browser.sh | sudo ILB_ACTION=install-chromium bash

Non-interactive Firefox

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mammad3861/Instant-Linux-Browser/main/browser.sh | sudo ILB_ACTION=install-firefox bash

You can also pass credentials:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mammad3861/Instant-Linux-Browser/main/browser.sh | sudo ILB_ACTION=install-chromium ILB_USERNAME=admin ILB_PASSWORD='change-this-password' bash

Direct Actions

sudo bash browser.sh install-chromium
sudo bash browser.sh install-firefox
sudo bash browser.sh uninstall-chromium
sudo bash browser.sh uninstall-firefox
sudo bash browser.sh status

Environment action form:

sudo ILB_ACTION=install-chromium bash browser.sh
sudo ILB_ACTION=status bash browser.sh

Menu Options

• 1 - Install Chromium
• 2 - Uninstall Chromium
• 3 - Install Firefox
• 4 - Uninstall Firefox
• 5 - Show status/diagnostics
• 6 - Exit

Chromium Startup Flags

Chromium is launched with these flags by default:

--no-sandbox --disable-gpu --disable-software-rasterizer --disable-dev-shm-usage --disable-setuid-sandbox

The script passes them to the linuxserver/chromium container through both CHROME_CLI and CHROME_FLAGS.

To override them:

sudo CHROMIUM_FLAGS="--no-sandbox --disable-dev-shm-usage" bash browser.sh install-chromium

Docker Notes

The script checks that Docker is installed and running. On Ubuntu/Debian systems, it can install Docker from the system package repositories if Docker is missing.

Before starting a browser, the script:

• checks the server architecture;
• checks that required ports are available;
• pulls the selected Docker image;
• creates the persistent config directory;
• starts the container;
• verifies that the container is still running.

If startup fails, check logs:

sudo docker logs chromium
sudo docker logs firefox

Uninstall

Uninstall removes the container but keeps persistent config:

/opt/instant-linux-browser/chromium/config
/opt/instant-linux-browser/firefox/config

Delete those directories manually only if you no longer need the browser profile data.

Security

If exposing the browser to the public internet:

• use a strong password;
• restrict access with a firewall, VPN, or IP allow-list;
• consider putting it behind Nginx, Traefik, or another HTTPS reverse proxy;
• avoid exposing ports 3000, 3001, 4000, or 4001 publicly unless needed.

Empty passwords are allowed, but the script warns when one is selected.

License

MIT