xfce-vnc-audio

A docker container for xfce4 via vnc for audio playback, possibly through upnp/dlna with pulseaudio-dlna.
The Chromium browser is installed, as well as an Upnp Control Point (upplay).
PulseAudio-DLNA is also installed, so you will be able to cast audio (e.g.) from SoundCloud on the browser to your existing dlna renderers. You can set up your own renderer with docker using a combination of mpd and upmpdcli.

Disclaimer

This is a work in progress. It is only working correctly on the amd64 platform. On arm, I cannot find a way to make it work correctly due to missing fonts. If anybody knows how to correct this, please create and issue or a discussion.

Links

Repo	URL
Source code	GitHub
Docker images	Docker Hub

Usage

Environment Variables

VARIABLE	DESCRIPTION
PUID	User id for the user `vnc-user`, defaults to `1000`
PGID	Group id for the group `vnc-user`, defaults to `1000`
AUDIO_GID	`audio` group id from the host machine.
APT_CACHE_URL	Set to an apt-cacher-ng instance (recommended!)
INSTALL_UPPLAY	Set to `yes` to install upplay
INSTALL_FIREFOX	Set to `yes` to install Firefox. Recommended browser.
INSTALL_CHROMIUM	Set to `yes` to install Chromium. Requires `--privileged`, but does not work very well for me at least.
INSTALL_PULSEAUDIO_DLNA	Set to `yes` to install PulseAudio-DLNA
INSTALL_CANTATA	Set to `yes` to install Cantata
VNC_EXPOSE	Set to `yes` if you want to expose VNC directly (not recommended). If exposed, the port is `5901`.
VNC_GEOMETRY	Geometry of vnc, defaults to `1280x720`
VNC_DEPTH	Color depth of vnc, defaults to `16`, conservatively
VNC_AUTOSTART_PULSEAUDIO	Autostart PulseAudio, defaults to `yes`
VNC_AUTOSTART_PULSEAUDIO_DLNA	Autostart PulseAudio-DLNA, defaults to `yes`

Volumes

VOLUME	DESCRIPTION
/home/vnc-user	Home directory, use if you want to maintain your configurations.

Ports

PORT	DESCRIPTION
6080	Port of NOVnc. Connect to `http://<host>:6080/vnc.html`
5901	Port of VNC, available if VNC_EXPOSE is set to `yes`

Examples

Some considerations

Topic	Comment
Networking	If you plan to use upplay, it's likely that you will need to run the container in `host` mode, in order to allow server/renderer discovery
PulseAudio	When using pulseaudio, you might want to mount the `/run/user/1000/pulse` volume to the same path (check if your uid is also `1000`)

Docker Run

docker run \
    --rm \
    -it \
    --name xfce-vnc-audio \
    --network host \
    -e AUDIO_GID=995 \
    -e INSTALL_FIREFOX=yes \
    -e INSTALL_CHROMIUM=yes \
    -e INSTALL_PULSEAUDIO=yes \
    -e INSTALL_UPPLAY=yes \
    -v /run/user/1000/pulse:/run/user/1000/pulse \
    giof71/xfce-vnc-audio

Check what is the gid of audio on your system and use it instead of the 995 shown in the example.

Docker Compose

To be added.

Changelog

DATE	DESCRIPTION
2023-11-24	Support installation of Cantata
2023-08-21	Upgrade to debian bookworm (see #9)
2023-08-21	Proper restart of the container (see #7)
2023-06-14	GitHub workflow updated
2023-04-01	Initial release for amd64 only (not an April's fool)

toozande / xfce-vnc-audio