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Version: G3v8

User Guide -Docker Hub -Changelog -sibling Wiki -sibling Discussions

• Headless Debian/Xfce containers with VNC/noVNC
  • Projectaccetto/debian-vnc-xfce-g3
    • Introduction
    • Building images
    • Image generations
    • Project versions
      • Previous versions
    • Project goals
    • Project features
    • How to fork
    • Getting help
    • Credits

This GitHub repository contains resources and tools for building Docker images for headless working.

The images are based on the currentDebian 12 and the previousDebian 11 and includeXfce desktop,TigerVNC server andnoVNC client.The popular web browsersChromium andFirefox are also included.

ThisUser guide describes the images and how to use them.

The content of this GitHub project is intended for developers and image builders.

Ordinary users can simply use the images available in the following repositories on Docker Hub:

• accetto/debian-vnc-xfce-g3
• accetto/debian-vnc-xfce-chromium-g3
• accetto/debian-vnc-xfce-firefox-g3

This project has been derived from the sibling projectaccetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-g3 containing similar images based onUbuntu 22.04 LTS and 20.04 LTS.

You can execute the individual hook scripts in the folder/docker/hooks/.However, the provided utilities are more convenient.

The scriptbuilder.sh builds individual images.The scriptci-builder.sh can build various groups of images or all of them at once.

Before building the images you have to prepare and source the filesecrets.rc (seeexample-secrets.rc).

Features that are enabled by default can be explicitly disabled via environment variables.This allows building even smaller images by excluding the individual features (e.g. noVNC).

The resources for building the individual images and their variations (tags) are in the subfolders of the/docker/ folder.

The individual README files contain quick examples of building the images:

• accetto/debian-vnc-xfce-g3
• accetto/debian-vnc-xfce-chromium-g3
• accetto/debian-vnc-xfce-firefox-g3

Each image also has a separate README file intended for Docker Hub.The final files should be generated by the utilityutil-readme.sh and then copied to Docker Hub manually.

The following resources describe the image building subject in details:

• readme-local-building-example.md
• readme-builder.md
• readme-ci-builder.md
• readme-g3-cache.md
• readme-util-readme-examples.md
• sibling Wiki

This is thethird generation (G3) of my headless images.Thesecond generation (G2) contains the GitHub repositoryaccetto/xubuntu-vnc-novnc.Thefirst generation (G1) contains the GitHub repositoryaccetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce.

This file describes theeighths version (G3v8) of the project.

This version brings some changes in the building pipeline and building utilities and it also fixes the problem with the badge service.

The serviceBadgen.net, which has been unusable for some time already, was replaced by the serviceShields.io.

Consequently it was necessary to update all README files of allaccetto repositories onDocker Hub. Therefore there are several new functions that support this kind of scenarios.

For example, now it's possible to update thedeployment gists on theGitHub without re-build the images first. The updated hook scriptpost_push can extract the badge values ad-hoc from the final deployment images available locally and it doesn't depend on the helper files created during thepre_build phase. It would use the images pulled from theDocker Hub as well.

This change makes it possible to refresh the gists using the "historical" data extracted from previously published images.

Gist updates are also more reliable because there will be up to 3 retries if an update fails.

The new functionality is available through the updated utilityci-builder.sh, which has got the following new commands:

• list
• pull
• update-gists
• helper-help

Please check the filesreadme-ci-builder.md andreadme-builder.md for the description.

However, the project keeps evolving.Please always check theCHANGELOG for the latest changes.

The previous versions are still available in thisGitHub repository as the branches named asarchived-generation-g3v{d}.

The versionG3v7 could build final images significantly faster, because the temporary helper images were used as external caches.

Internally, the helper image was built by thepre_build hook script and then used by thebuild hook script as an external cache.

The helper image was then removed by thebuild hook script and not thepre_build hook script as before, unless thebuild script will be skipped.

The main purpose of the versionG3v6 was to keep the project and the images uniform with the ones from the siblingUbuntu projects.

The versionG3v5 has brought only one significant change comparing to the previous versionG3v1.

• The updated scriptset_user_permissions.sh, which is part of Dockerfiles, skips the hidden files and directories now.It generally should not have any unwanted side effects, but it may make a difference in some scenarios, hence the version increase.

Remark: The version numbersG3v4,G3v3 andG3v2 have been skipped, to align the numbering with thesibling projectaccetto/ubuntu-vnc-xfce-g3.

Please refer to thesibling project to learn more about the older project versions.

Please refer to thesibling project to learn more about the project goals.

Please refer to thesibling project to learn more about the project features.

If you want to fork this project, then please check the pageHow to fork this repository in the siblingWiki.

If you have found a problem or you just have a question, please check theUser guide,Issues and thesibling Wiki first.Please do not overlook the closed issues.

If you do not find a solution, you can file a new issue.The better you describe the problem, the bigger the chance it'll be solved soon.

If you have a question or an idea and you don't want to open an issue, you can use thesibling Discussions.

Credit goes to all the countless people and companies, who contribute to open source community and make so many dreamy things real.