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Platform Behavior

Wakezilla supports Linux, macOS, and Windows, but operating-system integrations are not identical.

Feature Linux macOS Windows
Proxy and client servers Yes Yes Yes
Direct Wake-on-LAN Yes Yes Yes
Network scanner Yes, raw-socket permission required Yes, raw-socket permission required No
Service manager systemd launchd LaunchDaemon Windows Service Manager
Setup-managed firewall No No Inbound TCP rule
Desktop tray GNU desktop builds Menu-bar application System tray application
Inactivity power action Suspend, then shutdown fallback Shut down Hibernate

The client waits five seconds after accepting a remote power request. A paired client first validates the request signature, timestamp, and nonce; invalid requests never schedule the platform action.

  • Linux runs systemctl suspend. If suspend fails, it runs shutdown -h now.
  • macOS asks System Events to shut down the computer.
  • Windows runs shutdown /h, which hibernates the computer.

Wake-on-LAN after suspend or hibernation depends on firmware, network adapter, operating-system power settings, and driver support. Test the complete sleep-and-wake cycle before enabling automatic inactivity actions.

Linux and macOS use ARP through a raw network socket. Run the proxy with suitable privileges when scanning fails with a permission error.

Windows builds return an error because the current scanner backend requires an external Npcap or WinPcap SDK at build time. Manual machine registration remains available.

The Unix installation script detects x86_64 and ARM64 releases for Linux GNU, Linux musl, and macOS. The PowerShell installer currently supports x64 Windows.

Linux musl packages keep the primary executable free of desktop library requirements. A separate desktop helper may be included for tray support and requires GTK/AppIndicator runtime libraries.