Chrome Docker

What is it?

A Docker image that can run Google Chrome.

How does it work?

The Docker image includes a VNC server which provides graphical access to the virtual display running in the container.

How do I build it?

Refer to the building documentation.

How do I run it?

First, start the container and its VNC server:

docker run -p 5900:5900 --name chrome --user apps --privileged <image-name>

Note: The macOS VNC client will not be able to login unless you set a password for the VNC server. The instructions for setting a VNC password can be found below.

By default, the VNC server is started without a password. If you would like to specify a password for the VNC server, do the following:

docker run -p 5900:5900 -e VNC_SERVER_PASSWORD=some-password --name chrome \
    --user apps --privileged <image-name>

Once the container is running, you can VNC into it at 127.0.0.1 and run Chrome from a terminal window by running:

google-chrome

You can also start Google Chrome by right-clicking the Desktop and selecting:

Applications > Network > Web Browsing > Google Chrome

Additional settings

Refer to the configuration documentation.

Security concerns

This image starts a X11 VNC server which spawns a framebuffer. Google Chrome also requires that the image be run with the --privileged flag set. This flag disables security labeling for the resulting container. Be very careful if you run the container on a non-firewalled host.

Some applications (such as Google Chrome) will not run under the root user. A non-root user named apps is included for such scenarios.