Docker X11

It is possible to run X11 applications inside a Docker container. These instructions show you you can achieve this. This example shows how you can launch one of the most basic X11 programs available.

NOTE - You will probably want to run this as the same user that you are logged into the desktop. You will also want to make sure that you have permissions to manage Docker containers with that non-root user.

Create a new directory for your build:

mkdir test1
cd test1

Create a docker file like this:

vi Dockerfile


FROM ubuntu
RUN apt-get update
RUN groupadd -g 1000 user1
RUN useradd -d /home/user1 -s /bin/bash -m user1 -u 1000 -g 1000
USER user1
ENV HOME /home/user1
CMD /usr/bin/xeyes

Build the image:

docker build -t gui .

Run the container

docker run -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY -h $HOSTNAME -v $HOME/.Xauthority:/home/user1/.Xauthority gui

Firefox in Docker

This docker file should normally work but on newer versions of Ubuntu it will fail because Firefox is now distributed as a snap. It can probably be made to work with slight modifications.

vi Dockerfile


FROM ubuntu
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y firefox
RUN groupadd -g 1000 user1
RUN useradd -d /home/user1 -s /bin/bash -m user1 -u 1000 -g 1000
USER user1
ENV HOME /home/user1
CMD /usr/bin/firefox
CMD /usr/bin/xeyes