Running GUI application in Docker and connect to it via VNC

Connect via VNC to the host machine 

xauth list

This will output something like this:

sled-whistler.eecs.umich.edu:2  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  45db54b7cf77e29b0cda77136ef651d6
sled-whistler/unix:2  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  45db54b7cf77e29b0cda77136ef651d6
sled-whistler.eecs.umich.edu:7  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  83637cf2079edf78f2d1d351bf039191
sled-whistler/unix:7  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  83637cf2079edf78f2d1d351bf039191
sled-whistler.eecs.umich.edu:8  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  f932fcc437e8abc29f0802d539433e41
sled-whistler/unix:8  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  f932fcc437e8abc29f0802d539433e41
sled-whistler.eecs.umich.edu:9  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  7f8b16bd4bd358d4263f450147130e5e
sled-whistler/unix:9  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  7f8b16bd4bd358d4263f450147130e5e
sled-whistler.eecs.umich.edu:10  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  3123ea326b75354ce36cbad68a94e931
sled-whistler/unix:10  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  3123ea326b75354ce36cbad68a94e931
sled-whistler.eecs.umich.edu:12  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  0e0b885f314f0398b0a9228399a17385
sled-whistler/unix:12  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  0e0b885f314f0398b0a9228399a17385

Copy the line sled-whistler/unix:<i> MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 <cookie value> which is the cookie of coresponding display of your vncserver. <i> is the index of your VNC session.

Create a container with nvidia runtime and display 

docker run -it --gpus "device=1" --net=host -e DISPLAY=:<i> -v /tmp/.X11-unix/:/tmp/.X11-unix  <REPOSITORY:TAG>

In the container, use this command to add the X Server Display

xauth add <cookie>

Check the list to verify if the cookie is successfully added

xauth list

The output should be:

root@sled-whistler:/# xauth list
sled-whistler/unix:<i>  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  <cookie value>

Check the X Server Display

echo $DISPLAY

The output should be:

root@sled-whistler:/# echo $DISPLAY
:<i>

Verification

Run glxgears in the Docker container,

glxgears

if glxgears isn’t available inside docker,install it with

sudo apt install mesa-utils

You should now see a gears window running in VNC. If everything runs fine, you can now start the GUI application you need in the Docker.