[i3-discuss] i3 in Docker

[Donnie Earnest]

I've been fighting this issue for a few days, probably something easy I'm
overlooking. I've been through the docs and can't find anything that jumps
out. I don't think it's a bug, just something out of the norm I'm trying to
do.

I've created a docker image with Archlinux and i3 on a Windows 10 host with
Xming. It all works great until I create a persistent volume in my home
folder. The first time, everything is normal and I get the option to set
my mod key, but the second time I try to boot it up, I get the, "ERROR:
Could not get RandR primary output" and "ERROR: Could not query screen
resources" and it won't start.

If I delete the ~/.config folder (which only has the i3 config file in it),
I can start it back up and pick the mod key again and everything is fine,
but as long as the config file exists when I try to boot it up again, I get
this issue.

The way I start Xming and the container, at least for now, is with a batch
file:

start xming :0 -multiplemonitors -nodecoration -clipboard -ac -screen 0
1920x1080
docker run -it --privileged -e DISPLAY=[hostip]:0.0 --volumes-from desktop
-v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix desktop i3

Likewise, if I omit the "--volumes-from desktop" flag, it works fine. This
puts the desktop on my left monitor (I have 3). I googled and found that
some with laptops were having similar issues with xrandr but this is a
desktop and I couldn't find anyone else experiencing this with a docker
container. That led me to believe it was the multiple monitors but I get
the same results without the "-multiplemonitors" flag.

There is no X server or any xorg apps, utilities, etc. installed in the
docker container, just fonts. Do I need to install xrandr or arandr and set
my outputs to something specific in the config file, set the primary
output, do something before disconnecting?

Thanks in advance!
Donnie

[Michael Stapelberg]

Post by Donnie Earnest
I've been fighting this issue for a few days, probably something easy I'm
overlooking. I've been through the docs and can't find anything that jumps
out. I don't think it's a bug, just something out of the norm I'm trying to
do.
I've created a docker image with Archlinux and i3 on a Windows 10 host
with Xming. It all works great until I create a persistent volume in my
home folder. The first time, everything is normal and I get the option to
Could not get RandR primary output" and "ERROR: Could not query screen
resources" and it won't start.
If I delete the ~/.config folder (which only has the i3 config file in
it), I can start it back up and pick the mod key again and everything is
fine, but as long as the config file exists when I try to boot it up again,
I get this issue.
The way I start Xming and the container, at least for now, is with a batch
start xming :0 -multiplemonitors -nodecoration -clipboard -ac -screen 0
1920x1080
docker run -it --privileged -e DISPLAY=[hostip]:0.0 --volumes-from desktop
-v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix desktop i3
Likewise, if I omit the "--volumes-from desktop" flag, it works fine. This
puts the desktop on my left monitor (I have 3). I googled and found that
some with laptops were having similar issues with xrandr but this is a
desktop and I couldn't find anyone else experiencing this with a docker
container. That led me to believe it was the multiple monitors but I get
the same results without the "-multiplemonitors" flag.
There is no X server or any xorg apps, utilities, etc. installed in the
docker container, just fonts. Do I need to install xrandr or arandr and set
my outputs to something specific in the config file, set the primary
output, do something before disconnecting?

No to all questions. Unfortunately, I don’t know why your setup doesn’t
work. Maybe reach out to Brian, who authored
https://brianketelsen.com/blog/i3-windows/?

Post by Donnie Earnest
Thanks in advance!
Donnie