AMC for any docker-compatible system using x11docker

Added by Erwan Bousse about 2 years ago

For those interested, I successfully managed to start AMC, packaged as a docker image, using the x11docker tool. Using this method, AMC can be used using any operating system able to start docker, without having to compile anything or to install any dependencies.

The docker image I made is debian-based, and is therefore running the AMC binary that can be found in the official debian package (which is usually reliable and up-to-date).

In my case, I am using this technique to run AMC from Fedora, which does not provide any official package for AMC.

Explanations

While docker is not supposed to be used to run desktop graphical applications, it is extremely powerful to package an app with 100% of its dependencies.

Luckily, a nice tool called x11docker can be used to easily start a GUI application packaged as a docker image. The tool can be found here: https://github.com/mviereck/x11docker. It has also been packaged for several distros, such as Fedora.

How to try

Simply install x11docker, then run:
x11docker --clipboard --nxagent --share $HOME/.AMC.d --share $HOME/path/to/amc/projects docker-registry.univ-nantes.fr/bousse-e/docker-amc:latest auto-multiple-choice
(say yes when it asks if you want to download the docker image)

For more information and details, I have set up the following Gitlab project: https://gitlab.univ-nantes.fr/bousse-e/docker-amc

It contains:
- a README with documentation
- a Dockerfile that can be used to build a debian-based AMC docker image
- a working pre-built docker image accessible as: `docker-registry.univ-nantes.fr/bousse-e/docker-amc:latest`


Replies (5)

RE: AMC for any docker-compatible system using x11docker - Added by Gregório R. de Miranda 3 months ago

Hi, thanks for sharing!

I managed run an adapted version of your Dockerfile (with debian and texlive-lang-portuguese) and it works very nicely.

Do you know if is it possible to send the annotate papers via e-mail through it?

RE: AMC for any docker-compatible system using x11docker - Added by Erwan Bousse 3 months ago

Hi! Yes, in my case sending emails works perfectly, as long as you provide a working SMTP configuration.

RE: AMC for any docker-compatible system using x11docker - Added by Erwan Bousse 13 days ago

Oh, I was not aware that a Fedora-compatible package was available − neat!

Would it be possible to update the page in the AMC website dedicated to Fedora: https://www.auto-multiple-choice.net/download-fedora.fr

to replace the outdated repo it suggests with the one from opensuste?

RE: AMC for any docker-compatible system using x11docker - Added by Alexis Bienvenüe 13 days ago

(This Fedora package needs testing as it relies on a spec file that was written long ago)

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