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<img src="assets/logos/helios/helios-dark.png" class="dark-only" alt="Helios Logo">
</span>

Helios is Juno's containerized workstation product. It packages a full desktop environment (applications, GPU drivers, and user configuration) into a container image that deploys in 60 seconds on any Orion cluster.

Instead of provisioning dedicated workstations per user, Helios lets administrators define workstation images once and deliver them on demand. Users get a consistent, GPU-accelerated desktop. Administrators get one image to maintain instead of dozens of physical machines.

Helios is Juno's containerized workstation. It packages a full Linux desktop (applications, GPU access, and user configuration) into an image. Download it and run it standalone, or launch it in about 60 seconds on an Orion cluster. Orion is customer-hosted, so every workstation runs on your hardware.

Instead of provisioning a physical workstation per user, administrators define a workstation image once and deliver it on demand. Users get a consistent desktop in a browser. Administrators maintain one image instead of dozens of machines.

---

## What Helios Does

- **Containerized desktop delivery** — Full Linux desktop environments packaged as OCI-compliant container images
- **60-second launch** — A workstation that previously took hours to provision is ready in under a minute
- **GPU-accelerated** — NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel GPU pass-through for DCC tools, ML frameworks, and scientific software
- **Orion-native** — Runs directly on Juno Orion clusters; inherits Orion's scheduling, resource allocation, and GPU management
- **Standalone-compatible** — Runs as a standalone container outside Orion for development and testing
- **Extensible base images** — Extend official Helios images with your own software, licenses, and configuration using standard Dockerfile patterns
- **Community-maintained** — Official images are open source; contributions are welcome

- **A Linux image you can download.** Helios is a Linux desktop image. Pull it from the [Helios repository](https://github.com/juno-fx/Helios) and run it standalone, with or without Orion.
- **About 60 seconds to launch.** On Orion, a workstation that used to take hours to provision is ready in about a minute.
- **GPU access by slicing.** Orion slices GPUs, so several Helios workstations can share one card. Resources return to the pool when a session ends.
- **Browser-based.** Connect from a browser. No client install, no VPN client, no IT ticket via [Juno Orion](https://docs.juno-innovations.com/Orion-Documentation/latest/)
- **Extensible base images.** Add your own software, licenses, and configuration with standard Dockerfile patterns.
- **Open source images.** Official Helios images are open source, and contributions are welcome.
---

## Who Uses Helios

**VFX artists and animators** — Launch a DCC workstation (Houdini, Nuke, Blender) on shared GPU infrastructure without touching a physical machine.

**Researchers and scientists** — Get a reproducible compute environment with pre-installed libraries and GPU access, without IT provisioning delays.

**Developers** — Spin up isolated, GPU-enabled development environments that match production exactly.

**System administrators** — Define workstation standards once. Eliminate configuration drift, license sprawl, and per-seat provisioning overhead.
**VFX artists and animators** launch a workstation with tools like Houdini, Nuke, and Blender on shared GPU infrastructure, without touching a physical machine.
**Researchers and scientists** get a reproducible environment with pre-installed libraries and GPU access, without waiting on IT.
**Developers** spin up isolated, GPU-enabled development environments that match production.
**System administrators** define workstation standards once, which ends configuration drift, license sprawl, and per-seat provisioning.

---

## Orion Integration

Helios workstations run as scheduled workloads on Orion. This means:

- Workstations are allocated compute resources dynamically; GPUs aren't reserved when no one is using them
- Administrators manage workstation images alongside other workload types in the Orion admin console
- Terra marketplace integration allows users to launch Helios workstations self-service, without an IT ticket
- A Helios workstation shares the same GPU pool as rendering jobs and ML training runs; utilization applies across the full cluster

## How Helios runs on Orion

Helios workstations are scheduled workloads on Orion, so:

- Compute is allocated on demand. GPUs are not held for workstations nobody is using.
- Administrators manage workstation templates in Orion Admin, next to every other workload type.
- Users launch workstations themselves from an Orion Workspace, without an IT ticket.
- Workstations, render jobs, and ML training runs draw from the same GPU pool.
---

## Get Started

- [Launch Configuration](deploy-usage/) — deploy Helios on your Orion cluster
- [Building Workstations](getting-started/) — create and customize workstation images
- [Contributing](contributing/) — add images or improve the base
- [Orion Documentation](https://juno-fx.github.io/Orion-Documentation/) — the compute plane Helios runs on
- [Terra Plugins](https://juno-fx.github.io/Terra-Official-Plugins/) — deploy Helios via the Terra marketplace

## Get started
- [Launch Configuration](https://docs.juno-innovations.com/Helios/deploy-usage/): deploy Helios on your Orion cluster
- [Building Workstations](https://docs.juno-innovations.com/Helios/getting-started/): create and customize workstation images
- [Contributing](https://docs.juno-innovations.com/Helios/contributing/): add images or improve the base
- [Orion Documentation](https://docs.juno-innovations.com/Orion-Documentation/latest/): the unified compute plane Helios runs on
- [Orion Apps](https://docs.juno-innovations.com/Terra-Official-Plugins/): Install the Helios workload schema from the app catalog
Questions? Email [sales@juno-innovations.com](mailto:sales@juno-innovations.com).
---

*Questions? Visit [juno-innovations.com](https://juno-innovations.com) or reach out at [sales@juno-innovations.com](mailto:sales@juno-innovations.com).*
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