Looking for tips/help on forwarding X for an application in LXD-Container

#1

I want to turn this application into a LXC-able image/application… so that is eventually can be instantiated with juju deploy… but I am stuck… namely on the way to forward X.

This is the application in question :

https://download2.interactivebrokers.com/installers/ibgateway/stable-standalone/ibgateway-stable-standalone-linux-x64.sh

it installs fine on my baremetal ubuntu 20.04 environment… but if I want to get a more manageable approach for down the road… I think I need to roll this into a juju charm, but unsure where to begin forwarding the graphical UI… so that it can be fully installed and logged into once installed.

thank you

#2

If you really mean LXC (see also: Comparing LXD vs. LXC) that might be more difficult (but maybe also not :smile:, see below) , but for LXD there are solutions:
https://blog.simos.info/discussion-on-running-x11-applications-from-within-lxd-system-containers/

If you are really using LXC:

  • The above methods might be modifyable for LXC, but that might be more complicated.
  • You might consider switching to LXD, as Juju can also use LXD: https://juju.is/docs/lxd-cloud
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#3

No, LXD is what I meant… I got to hear from one of the guys at Canonical about LXD and the LXC relationship and I sometimes get thrown off. I’ll follow this link and give it a shot!

#4

Some more info:
If you are searching for already set-up solutions, you might search:

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#5

is there a keyword you use to find these profiles other than “LXD profile” ?

I am just trying to get comfortable with LXD so I can use it with Juju as I “juju-fy” my backend… so no full desktop experiences needed at this time

#6

There are too many ways to get a graphical program to run in a LXD container.
If you do not require GPU hardware acceleration, you can even use ssh -X.
That is, ssh -X to the container that has the tool, then run the tool. The output for the window should appear on your desktop.

#7

Thank you Simos, I knew of -X but worried since my goal is eventual juju charm deployment, will SSH -X impede that goal? Feels like I still need to forward X without SSHing…

I am hoping to juju deploy “app_name” on LXD, and the GUI will pop up and I can login.

#8

I am not familiar with juju deploy. What happens under the hood when you run that comment?
I suppose you get to run something in the container (good). Do you also get to run something on the host?

#9

I am not an expert on Juju nor juju charms, but there is what is called a Controller… which usually resides as its own VM in the target cloud (in my case LXD) … you can likely execute something in that controller… but no not the host …

https://juju.is/docs/deploying-applications#heading--configuring-at-deployment-time

Perhaps it would work just to get the node up… and I then SSH -X to complete the setup… but I am aiming for a more automated solution which requires less input from the end user (because it won’t be someone ssh savy)