cslev / webbrowser_docker

Run multiple different web browser in a docker environment

webbrowser_docker

Run multiple different web browsers in a docker environment with GUI (through VNC).

VNC has been decided as the main way of getting the GUI applications, otherwise too many things must be shared from the HOST system. These include .Xauthority, DISPLAY environment variable. Most importantly, we do NOT want the container to run in the host's networking namespace to adequately isolate network traffic.

Get the source

git clone https://github.com/cslev/webbrowser_docker

Browsers available

• Firefox 109.0 (installed from source)
• Google Chrome (latest - downloaded at building stage)
• Brave browser (latest - downloaded at building stage)

Build image

The below commands is to build the container with all different browser settings

cd webbrowser_docker
sudo docker build -t cslev/webbrowser_docker:latest . -f Dockerfile

Run container with docker-compose

Use the docker-compose file present in this repo.

For reference:

version: '3.6'

services:
  webbrowser:
    image: cslev/webbrowser_docker:latest
    container_name: webbrowser
    ports:
      - target: 5900
        published: 5555
        protocol: 'tcp'
    volumes:
      - '/etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro'
      - './container_data/cache/:/root/.cache:rw'
      - './container_data/mozilla:/root/.mozilla:rw'
      - './container_data/config:/root/.config:rw'
      - './container_data/SSL:/root/SSL:rw'
    dns:
      - 9.9.9.9
      - 1.1.1.1

As you can see, the VNC port 5900 will be exposed to the host machine by port 5555.

Then, run the container:

$ sudo docker-compose up

Use -d at the end if you do not want to see the VNC server output.

Connect to the VNC server

Grab your favorite VNC client and connect to 127.0.0.1 on port 5555 and voila'.

I like using the lightweight xtightvncviewer application for this.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install xtightvncviewer
$ xtightvncviewer 127.0.0.1:5555

You will see an xterm running. Since there is no Desktop Environment installed, one cannot start and close applications easily. This is done for purpose to reduce the container's footprint. Accordingly, never close the xterm window by pressing Ctrl+D.

Start Firefox

In the xterm, issue the following command:

firefox

If the PATH (for some reason) does not work, use explicit path:

/webbrowser/firefox/firefox

Start Chrome

In the xterm, issue the following command:

google-chrome-stable --no-sandbox

The argument --no-sandbox is needed, otherwise Chrome complains.

Start Brave

In the xterm, issue the following command:

brave-browser-stable --no-sandbox

The argument --no-sandbox is needed, otherwise Chrome complains.

Closing a browser window and start another

As mentioned above, no Desktop Environment is provided, hence you won't see any window decorations and border. Simply close all tabs of the browser and it will close the app too. Then, you are back at square one with the xterm.