🐳 Docker Extension: VNC Viewer 🖥️
A Docker Desktop Extension that allows you to connect to VNC servers running inside Docker containers or on remote hosts — directly from Docker Desktop.
This Docker Desktop Extension creates a temporary proxy container using noVNC, giving you browser-based access to any VNC server — whether it's inside another container or running on a remote host.
- Connect to Docker containers, images, or remote VNC servers
- Automatic Docker networking and cleanup
- Secure session management with persistent storage
- Includes pre-built environments:
Launch popular apps without installing anything on your host:
- Browsers (Firefox, Chromium)
- Editors (VS Code, LibreOffice)
- Tools (GIMP, PDF viewers)
And many more...
✔️ Ideal for isolated, disposable environments. Ideal for temporary, sandboxed tasks without cluttering your OS.
Spin up clean browser instances in seconds for testing login flows, UI layouts, or performance.
💡 Use multiple containers for parallel testing.
Try our ready-to-use Selenium testing example:
-
Navigate to the /examples/selenium directory
-
Follow the step-by-step guide in the README file to:
- Set up a Selenium Chrome container
- Run automated browser tests
- Watch the tests execute in real-time
🔍 Perfect for visual debugging of Selenium test suites
Open suspicious files in an isolated Linux environment.
🔒 Just close the container to dispose of everything.
Run GUI debuggers or desktop editors inside a container.
💻 Perfect for debugging GUI-based apps or editors (e.g. GDB GUI, VS Code Desktop) without leaving Docker.
Use GUI-reliant tools in headless pipelines.
🔁 Ideal for automated PDF/image generation or GUI testing.
Provide ready-to-use Linux desktops for workshops, demos, or internal labs.
🎓 Great for teaching Linux, Docker, or OSS tools.
- ✅ Zero Setup – Just launch from Docker Desktop
- 📦 Fully Containerized – Nothing installed on the host
- 🔒 Safe & Isolated – Perfect for testing risky files
- 🔧 Customizable – Add your own Dockerfiles and tools
docker extension install pgmystery/docker-extension-vnc:1.4.0Click the "Try example container" button to launch a prebuilt Ubuntu VNC image with a desktop environment.
The extension fully supports real-time, low-latency audio using FFmpeg and PulseAudio under the hood. You can route complete audio output (listening to apps) or audio input (using your browser mic) seamlessly.
| Component | Role | Resilience Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| FFmpeg | Source | Runs in an immortal background loop inside the target container. |
| MediaMTX | Proxy | Acts as an SRT Caller, proactively reaching out to FFmpeg. |
| Electron / Docker Desktop | Client | Uses Exponential Backoff to wait for the stream to be ready. |
| Networking | Transport | Forced ICE-over-TCP to ensure stability over Docker's bridge. |
📚 Check out the Audio Setup Guide to learn how to explicitly configure Audio Support on your own custom Docker Images.
Sessions allow you to save and manage connection presets. Stored securely in a Docker volume via a backend container using SQLite.
To create a session:
- Click the ➕ icon
- Fill out the form
- Save and click Connect
Supported connection types:
- Create a new session
- Select Docker Container
- Choose a running container or enter its name/ID
- Set the internal VNC port
- (Optional) Enter credentials
- Save and connect
- Enter a unique Session name.
- Choose Docker Image as the connection type.
- Select a VNC-enabled Docker Image from the Docker-Hub or locally (e.g.
selenium/standalone-chrome-debug). - Select the image tag.
- (Optional) Add Docker Run Options.
- (Optional) Specify a custom Docker Run command with Args.
- Specify the VNC-Server port.
- Choose whether to remove the Container after disconnecting or keep it alive.
- (Optional) Enter the credentials for the VNC connection if you want to store them.
- Save and connect
- Enter a unique Session name.
- Choose Remote Host as the connection type.
- Enter the IP-Address of the remote host.
- Specify the VNC-Server port.
- (Optional) Enter the credentials for the VNC connection if you want to store them.
- Save and connect
Supports Linux, macOS, and Windows hosts.
