Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] [Docker] New GNU Radio images with GUI support

[Stefan Wunsch]

Hey,

Using hardware with docker containers is pretty easy. Just use the
--device flag and (effectively) share a folder/file of your host with
the container or use the --net=host flag to share the network
connection. Basically, that's all!

And Nick Foster is right, there should be almost no overhead (that's
what the people are saying about using docker). Obviously, dependent on
the additional services such as the VNC server.

Greetings
Stefan

On 04/08/2016 12:47 AM, Ben Hilburn wrote:
> Hi Stefan -
> 
> This is really cool! Thanks so much for sharing your images and for
> posting instructions. It looks like a number of people have started
> playing with GNU Radio containers - I recognize some of the other names
> that have publicly shared images (e.g., Nick Foster aka 'bistromath').
> We chatted a bit about using Docker as a way to get a "known state"
> machine up-and-running with GNU Radio quickly at GRCon15, and it seems
> like it could greatly simplify the installation process for certain use
> cases.
> 
> What was your experience like when it came to using the RTL dongle? Was
> there any complexity there? If you have hardware that can stream at
> higher rates, I'd be interested in how those perform in the container,
> as well.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ben
> 
> On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 4:23 AM, Stefan Wunsch
> <address@hidden <mailto:address@hidden>>
> wrote:
> 
>     Hi all!
> 
>     I have build a docker tool-chain for an image with GNU Radio and UHD
>     installed via PyBOMBS on top of Ubuntu. It's even possible to run it
>     dockerized with a GUI using VNC and it should work as well on windows
>     and mac (so far, not tested). The build files are available on github
>     and the precompiled images on hub.docker.com
>     <http://hub.docker.com>. If you are interested,
>     have a look! In the following, I will give a short description.
> 
>     How to run the image with VNC server and how to access the container:
> 
>     # Run the image with GNU Radio and VNC server:
>     # The run command will download (pull) the image automatically.
>     # Use the additional option '-device=/dev/bus/usb' for USB access,
>     # e.g., to use rtl dongles. You have to plugin the devices before you
>     # start the container!
> 
>     $ docker run -it --rm -p 5901:5901 -e USER=root \
>     stwunsch/docker-pybombs-gnuradio-vnc bash -c \
>     "vncserver :1 -geometry 1280x800 -depth 24 && tail -F /root/.vnc/*.log"
> 
>     # Get graphical access using a VNC client. I suppose you are running
>     # the container on the same machine. Here an example command using
>     # vncviewer. As well, it's possible to use X forwarding.
> 
>     $ vncviewer localhost:5901
> 
>     So far, it's only tested on a Linux machine, but it should work on every
>     system with an installed docker daemon. I was able to run a rtl dongle
>     with gr-osmosdr. To install new OOTs, just open a terminal and type, for
>     example, 'pybombs install gr-osmosdr'.
> 
>     Here, the image chain. You can pull these images from hub.docker.com
>     <http://hub.docker.com>.
>     All images are build automatically on change of the appropriate GitHub
>     repository (except the GNU Radio base image, see below for more info on
>     that).
> 
>     Base-image: ubuntu 14.04
>     -> ubuntu + pybombs (stwunsch/docker-pybombs)
>     -> ubuntu + pybombs + uhd (stwunsch/docker-pybombs-uhd)
>     -> ubuntu + pybombs + uhd + gnuradio dependencies
>     (stwunsch/docker-pybombs-gnuradio-depsonly)
>     -> ubuntu + pybombs + uhd + gnuradio (stwunsch/docker-pybombs-gnuradio)
>     -> ubuntu + pybombs + uhd + gnuradio + vnc server
>     (stwunsch/docker-pybombs-gnuradio-vnc)
> 
>     A single problem so far: It is not possible to build the GNU Radio image
>     (docker-pybombs-gnuradio) on the docker servers, because they have a 2h
>     build limitation. I have preinstalled everything (pybombs and all
>     dependencies), but it is not possible to run the compilation below 2h on
>     a single core.
> 
>     Does anyone know whether it's possible to split the compilation or speed
>     it up (without using the -jX flag)? Now the image has to be build
>     locally and then pushed to hub.docker.com <http://hub.docker.com>
>     manually. Not the best solution!
> 
>     I would be highly interested whether it really works on other systems,
>     especially on windows! That could be a nice alternative to MSVC
>     compilations.
> 
>     Greetings
>     Stefan
> 
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