compose.yml

# Docker Compose illustrating a VNC desktop container alongside a ROS container.
# The ROS container renders GUI applications (e.g. RViz) through the VNC desktop
# by sharing the X11 socket. Both services are on the same bridge network so
# CycloneDDS peer discovery works out of the box.
#
# Usage:
#   No GPU:      docker compose up
#   With GPU:    docker compose -f compose.yml -f compose.gpu.yml up
#
# Access the desktop at: http://localhost:5801/vnc.html?autoconnect=true

services:

  # ── VNC Desktop ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  vnc:
    build:
      context: ./docker           # contains vnc-entrypoint.sh
      dockerfile: ../vnc.dockerfile
      target: xfce
    ports:
      - "5801"                    # noVNC web interface
    volumes:
      - x11:/tmp/.X11-unix        # share X server socket with other containers
    networks:
      - ros_net
    ipc: shareable                # Allow other containers to access the IPC of the VNC container to allow data to go into it's X11
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:5801/vnc.html"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  # ── ROS Container ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  ros:
    build:
      context: ./docker             # contains cyclonedds.xml
      dockerfile: ../base.dockerfile
    depends_on:
      vnc:
        condition: service_healthy  # wait for VNC desktop to be ready before starting ROS
    environment:
      DISPLAY: ":1"                 # connect to the VNC X server
    volumes:
      - x11:/tmp/.X11-unix          # X11 socket shared from VNC container
    ipc: "service:vnc"              # Use the IPC of the VNC container to allow access to X11 socket reliably 
    networks:
      - ros_net
    command: ["sleep", "infinity"]

# ── Shared resources ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
volumes:
  x11:                            # ephemeral volume for the X11 unix socket

networks:
  ros_net:
    driver: bridge                # CycloneDDS multicast works within a bridge network