x11docker/xwayland

Run Xwayland in a Docker container. You don't need an X server on host, you only need either weston or kwin_wayland to be installed. You can run in X, in Wayland or from tty / console.

• Use x11docker to run image: https://github.com/mviereck/x11docker

Examples

• x11docker --wayland --weston --gpu x11docker/xwayland

To run empty Xwayland without a window manager:

• x11docker --wayland --weston --gpu x11docker/xwayland sleep infinity

This example runs an X server (Xwayland) in container without needing any X server on host. As a sample X application it runs fvwm window manager. Adjust Dockerfile with your desired window manager or desktop environment, or create a new Dockerfile with x11docker/xwayland as a base:

# afterstep window manager on Xwayland
FROM x11docker/xwayland
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends afterstep
CMD afterstep

Options

• Persistent home folder stored on host with --home
• Shared host folder with --share DIR
• Hardware acceleration with option --gpu
• Clipboard sharing with option --clipboard
• Sound support with option --alsa
• With pulseaudio in image, sound support with --pulseaudio
• Language locale settings with --lang [=$LANG]

Look at x11docker --help for further options.

Host applications on containered X server

You can run host applications on Xwayland in docker with:

mkdir /tmp/.X11-unix && chmod 1777 /tmp/.X11-unix   # just to make sure it exists
read Xenv < <(x11docker --wayland --gpu --share /tmp/.X11-unix x11docker/xwayland)
env $Xenv libreoffice

Be aware that directory /tmp/.X11-unix must already exist on host with permission 1777.

Xenv will contain DISPLAY of Xwayland. You can specify a custom display number with option --display N.

You can also run a panel or another launcher to have access to all host applications. A quite well integration provides launchy that creates a working tray icon in container desktop or can be called with <CRTL><space>.

Warning: Be aware that --sharedir /tmp/.X11-unix shares host X unix socket, too. If your host X allows access with xhost (check output of plain xhost), container applications can access it, too. Evil applications can abuse that for keylogging and other awfull stuff. Solution: You can remove xhost authentication on host X with x11docker option --clean-xhost. Host applications then use the cookie in XAUTHORITY that is not available for container applications.

A one-liner using options --display and --clean-xhost, and running launchy from host after a delay to wait for Xwayland:

x11docker --display 50 \
    --clean-xhost \
    --runfromhost 'sleep 3 && DISPLAY=:50 launchy &' \
    --share /tmp/.X11-unix \
    --wayland \
    --weston \
    --gpu \
    x11docker/xwayland

Screenshot

Xwayland in Docker container running window manager fvwm and providing launchy from host: