[lxc-users] Desktop Environment in LXD

[Simos Xenitellis]

On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 1:02 PM, Rahul Rawail <rhlrawail at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We have read some  posts in LXC-Users group, honestly we are not very
> proficient with ubuntu or linux itself but we know a bit.
>
> We have been able to start the LXD container but we have a simple
> requirement, if we can run complete linux in an LXD container then why can't
> we bring a GUI desktop for each container if we install desktop environment
> for it, is there a way we can do it for each container.
>
> Our idea is to use LXD container as a VM hence the next logical step with
> which we need your help would be to take each container's desktop to
> multiple clients.
>
> LXD is the choice because its lightest, fastest and secure but going over
> internet through tons of information has seriously messed up everything. We
> hope that by starting a desktop and using it as VM we will not defeat the
> purpose of having a bare metal performance.
>
> If you think there is any other approach to achieve this easily and still
> have bare metal performance the please suggest that as well.
>

Most modern desktops require hardware acceleration for the driver of
the graphics
card, therefore if you had to use an accelerated desktop, you would need
a graphics card per desktop. It is possible to do this, though it is
not available out of the box.
See, for example,
https://www.stgraber.org/2014/02/09/lxc-1-0-gui-in-containers/ and
https://www.flockport.com/apps/lxc-gui/

Alternatively, if there is no requirement for a dedicated graphics
card (i.e. no hardware accelerated desktop),
it could be possible to run X servers (like "Xnest")
and configure the containers to display the desktop on those
additional displays.
They appear as separate windows on your Ubuntu desktop.
Such a thing should be feasible with distributions like Lubuntu and Xubuntu.
I just tried with Lubuntu and here is a screenshot,
http://i.imgur.com/HqOnwDc.png

Simos