Xorg/X11 forwarding on macOS and docker

macos_docker_xorg_forwarding.md

Xorg/X11 forwarding on macOS and docker

In order to run Xorg apps on macOS you will need to install xquartz:

brew install --cask --no-quarantine xquartz

And then configure it

defaults write org.xquartz.X11 nolisten_tcp -bool false
defaults write org.xquartz.X11 no_auth -bool false
defaults write org.xquartz.X11 enable_iglx -bool true

mkdir -p ~/.xinitrc.d

cat << 'EOF' > ~/.xinitrc.d/xhost-config.sh
#!/bin/sh

xhost +127.0.0.1
xhost +localhost
xhost +\$(hostname)
EOF

chmod +x ~/.xinitrc.d/xhost-config.sh

open -a XQuartz

No need to restart anything or log in/out.

You can then run Xorg apps easily:

docker run -e DISPLAY=docker.for.mac.host.internal:0 petedavidson887/xclock:0.0.1

Note that you will still need to explicitly provide the DISPLAY env variable every time you run a Docker container. As far as I know there is no way to set a default env variable for all containers — at least not on Docker for macOS.

Troubleshooting

Windows have a black background instead of white when they are focused

Run the following, then restart XQuartz:

defaults write org.xquartz.X11 enable_render_extension -bool false

If the misbehaving app is a Java app you can try adding the following option to your docker run command:

-e JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS='-Dsun.java2d.xrender=false -Dsun.java2d.pmoffscreen=false -Dremote.x11.workaround=false -Dawt.useSystemAAFontSettings=lcd -Dsun.java2d.renderer=sun.java2d.marlin.MarlinRenderingEngine -Djava2d.font.loadFontConf=true'

(source)

libGL error with a driver load failure

If you have the following error: libGL error: failed to load driver: swrast then you can attempt to add this argument to your docker run command:

-e LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1

Thanks for the easy to follow instruction. I'm on OSX 15.3 (24D60) M1 and I'm still getting this error: Error: Can't open display: docker.for.mac.host.internal:0 :( Suggestions what needs to be updated?

@HerrMuellerluedenscheid Can you try this instead?

docker run -e DISPLAY=host.docker.internal:0 petedavidson887/xclock:0.0.1

This saved me when my Windows machine broke and I switched to Mac. Thank you so much!

Thanks for making the simplest guide out there on this!