Mark Buckler and I use Docker a lot. Sometimes, we need X11 forwarding to work over SSH. Here’s a summary of the steps involved in case you’re curious.
Edit the Docker file
Add these lines:
RUN apt-get update
RUN apt-get install -qqy x11-apps
This installs the necessary X packages on the Docker image.
Run this once per SSH session
XAUTH=$HOME/.Xauthority
touch $XAUTH
This code sets the path to the .Xauthority file. When using SSH with
X11 forwarding, the .Xauthority file is automatically created in the
user’s $HOME folder. If not using X11 forwarding (for instance, when
operating locally on the machine), touch will create the .Xauthority
file.
Start the Docker image
docker run --tty --interactive --network=host --env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY --volume $XAUTH:/root/.Xauthority <dockerimagename>
This starts a Docker image with a TTY, in interactive mode, using the
host’s networking stack (i.e. the container and the host are identical
in their network usage, so port XX in the container is port XX on the
host. It also exports the $DISPLAY environment variable to Docker, and
binds the .Xauthority file (on the host) to the root user within the
container.
That’s all folks! I suspect that these instructions will also be cross-posted on Mark’s website. You should absolutely follow his blog.