bbb-render-docker

Docker image for the BigBlueButton render tool, which allows you to convert recorded BigBlueButton sessions into videos (e.g., .mp4).

Docker

Prerequisites

You need docker installed on your machine:

sudo apt-get install docker.io

Version (for latest docker image)

Uses the following hash of the bbb-render repo:

f93f900aaa4cd469d3e1479e1027687c41d1c877

Timestamp: Apr 13, 2022

Prebuilt images

The following images are available from docker hub:

fracpete/bbb-render:latest
fracpete/bbb-render:2022-04-13
fracpete/bbb-render:2021-06-10
fracpete/bbb-render:2020-12-27

Build local image

• You can build the image locally like this:

  docker build -t bbbr .

• Once built, you can run the image with this command:

  docker run -u $(id -u):$(id -g) \
      -v /local/dir:/workspace \
      -it bbbr:latest

  NB: -v maps a folder from the host into the container. You need this for downloading the presentation and converting it into a video.

Pushing local image to Docker Hub

The following steps push the image to Docker Hub (you need to adjust the user name, of course):

• log into Docker Hub

  docker login

• tag the image for the push

  docker tag \
      bbbr:latest \
      fracpete/bbb-render:latest

• push the image

  docker push fracpete/bbb-render:latest

• the image is then available from:

  https://hub.docker.com/u/fracpete

Scripts

The following scripts are available in the container:

• bbbr_convert - downloads and converts a presentation, use -h for a help screen
• bbbr_download - just downloads a presentation (wraps download.py)
• bbbr_make_xges - generates an xges project (wraps make-xges.py)

For launching the docker container and convert a presentation you can use this script (use -h to see all available options):

• scripts/bbbr_convert

Examples

scripts/bbbr_convert

Prerequisites:

• Download the scripts/bbbr_convert script
• Place the script on a directory that is in your $PATH environment variable (e.g., $HOME/bin or /usr/local/bin)

The following steps convert a presentation into an .mp4 video:

• If necessary, create a working directory, e.g.:

  $HOME/bbb

• Get the link from a recorded session by copying the link from the Presentation button in the Formats column.

• Run the following command to generate the PRESENTATION_NAME.mp4 video file in the $HOME/bbb directory:

  bbbr_convert -u "PRESENTATION_LINK" -n "PRESENTATION_NAME" -w "$HOME/bbb"

Docker

The following steps demonstrate how to convert a presentation into an .mp4 video:

• Create a directory to house all the files, e.g.:

  $HOME/bbb

• Change into that directory:

  cd $HOME/bbb

• Get the link from a recorded session by copying the link from the Presentation button in the Formats column.

• Run the bbbr_convert command as follows (replace PRESENTATION_LINK with the actual link and PRESENTATION_NAME with the name that you want for the .mp4 file) to download and convert the BBB presentation:

  docker run -u $(id -u):$(id -g) \
      -v `pwd`:/workspace \
      -t fracpete/bbb-render:latest \
      bbbr_convert -u "PRESENTATION_LINK" -n PRESENTATION_NAME

The above command combines the following three commands:

• Download the presentation

  bbbr_download "PRESENTATION_LINK" /workspace

• Create an xges project:

  bbbr_make_xges /workspace /workspace/PRESENTATION_NAME.xges

• Convert the xges project into an .mp4 video:

  ges-launch-1.0 --load /workspace/PRESENTATION_NAME.xges -o /workspace/PRESENTATION_NAME.mp4