nasa · marinagmoreira · Jul 31, 2024 · Jan 4, 2023 · Jun 13, 2023 · Jun 16, 2023
diff --git a/.devcontainer/Dockerfile → .devcontainer/local/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/Dockerfile → .devcontainer/local/Dockerfile
diff --git a/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json → .devcontainer/local/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json → .devcontainer/local/devcontainer.json
@@ -41,4 +41,4 @@
 	],
 	"workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/src/astrobee/src,type=bind",
 	"workspaceFolder": "/src/astrobee/src"
-}
+}
diff --git a/.devcontainer/remote/Dockerfile b/.devcontainer/remote/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+ARG UBUNTU_VERSION=20.04
+ARG REMOTE=ghcr.io/nasa
+FROM ${REMOTE}/astrobee:latest-ubuntu${UBUNTU_VERSION}
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=dialog
+
+# Rationale for packages:
+#   xvfb: X server that doesn't need GPU or physical display
+#   x11vnc: VNC server that shares xvfb display with external VNC clients
+#   xfce4: lightweight window manager
+#   dbus-x11: inter-process communication needed by xfce
+#   x11-apps: X11 apps to demo such as xeyes
+#   x11-utils: debugging commands such as xdpyinfo
+#   x11-xserver-utils: setup commands such as xset
+
+RUN apt-get update \
+  && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+    dbus-x11 \
+    x11-apps \
+    x11-utils \
+    x11-xserver-utils \
+    x11vnc \
+    xfce4 \
+    xvfb \
+  && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+RUN ls -l
+
+CMD ["/src/astrobee/src/scripts/start_vnc.sh"]
+
+# Expose VNC server's port
+EXPOSE 5900
diff --git a/.devcontainer/remote/devcontainer.json b/.devcontainer/remote/devcontainer.json
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{
+	"dockerFile": "Dockerfile",
+	"build": {
+		"args": {
+			"WORKSPACE": "${containerWorkspaceFolder}"
+		}
+	},
+	"remoteUser": "root",
+	"overrideCommand": false,
+	"forwardPorts": [
+		5900
+	],
+	"runArgs": [
+		"-ti",
+		"--rm",
+		"--cap-add=SYS_PTRACE",
+		"--security-opt=seccomp:unconfined",
+		"--security-opt=apparmor:unconfined"
+	],
+	"containerEnv": {
+		"DISPLAY": ":0",
+		"LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE": "1" // Needed for software rendering of opengl
+	},
+	"workspaceMount": "source=${localWorkspaceFolder},target=/src/astrobee/src,type=bind",
+	"workspaceFolder": "/src/astrobee/src"
+}
diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ development). We do not support running Astrobee Robot Software on 32-bit system
 
 There is also experimental support for using the Visual Studio Code Dev Containers plugin to access an integrated development environment running inside the Docker container!
 
-For much more discussion, see: \subpage install-docker.
+For much more discussion, see: \subpage install-docker
 
 ## Option 2: Install in your native OS / Virtual Machine
 

diff --git a/doc/documentation_local.html b/doc/documentation_local.html
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html><head><meta http-equiv=Refresh content="0;url=html/index.html"></head></html>
diff --git a/scripts/docker/readme.md b/scripts/docker/readme.md
@@ -6,12 +6,10 @@ Before running these instructions, make sure you visit the main Astrobee INSTALL
 - Check the system requirements.
 - Follow the Docker-option install steps 1-2, install Docker and check out the Astrobee Robot Software (ARS).
 
-# Option 1: Using Visual Studio Code (experimental!)
+# Option 1: Using Visual Studio Code
 
 You may find it helpful to use VSCode's Docker integration to help you interactively develop inside a Docker container.
 
-Our team is tentatively moving in the direction of encouraging all developers to work this way, but our VSCode approach is still considered highly experimental and could change a lot.
-
 ## Install VSCode and the Dev Containers plugin
 
 There are many valid ways to install VSCode. These commands are for an APT-style installation on Ubuntu:
@@ -31,24 +29,27 @@ code --install-extension ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers
 
 ## Use VSCode to open the folder inside the Docker container
 
-You can open the Astrobee folder inside the Docker container like this ([per the discussion here](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release/issues/2133#issuecomment-1212180962)):
+Tthe Dev Containers plugin will download a pre-built ARS Docker image from our official repository, start it running, and provide you with a development environment running inside the container.
 
-```bash
-cd $ASTROBEE_WS/src
-(path=$(pwd) && p=$(printf "%s" "$path" | xxd -p) && code --folder-uri "vscode-remote://dev-container+${p//[[:space:]]/}/src/astrobee/src")
-```
+Start VS Code, run the `Dev Containers: Open Folder in Container...` command from the Command Palette (F1); Or you can open the `$ASTROBEE_WS/src` folder through the VSCode graphical interface, and you should then see a popup dialog from the Dev Containers plugin. Click the "Reopen in Container" button.
 
-Or you can open the `$ASTROBEE_WS/src` folder through the VSCode graphical interface, and you should then see a popup dialog from the Dev Containers plugin. Click the "Reopen in Container" button.
+You can choose between the `local` and `remote` profile. The `remote` profile is designed to run on remote servers and it is configured to open a vnc server and broadcast it in port 5900.
 
-Either way, the Dev Containers plugin will download a pre-built ARS Docker image from our official repository, start it running, and provide you with a development environment running inside the container.
+After the devcontainer has started, if you continue using `DISPLAY=:0` (default), it will open the graphical application on the vnc server, if you set `DISPLAY=:1` in the terminal with `export DISPLAY=:1`, it will forward using X11 (you can switch back to `:0` for vnc).
+To open the vnc viewer in your local:
+
+```bash
+sudo apt-get install xtightvncviewer
+vncviewer localhost::5900 -encodings "copyrect tight hextile zlib corre rre raw"
+```
 
 You can manage your Dev Containers configuration using the files in the `.devcontainer` folder at the top level. For example, you can select a different Docker image to install from [the list on GitHub](https://github.com/nasa/astrobee/pkgs/container/astrobee) using the `FROM` command in the `Dockerfile`.
 
 ## Interactively develop inside the Docker container
 
 You can start by selecting `View->Terminal` in the VSCode graphical interface. This will display a terminal session inside the Docker container where you can run arbitrary commands. Your container will persist throughout your VSCode session, and changes you make using the VSCode editor will be reflected inside the container, making it easy to do quick interactive edit/build/test cycles.
 
-## Enable x-forwarding from the Dev Container
+## Enable x-forwarding from the Dev Container (local)
 
 In a cmd line in your host environment (not in the docker container) run:
 ```bash
@@ -62,14 +63,6 @@ This runs inside the Docker container:
 
 ```bash
 catkin build
-catkin build --make-args tests
-catkin build --make-args test
-source devel/setup.bash
-catkin_test_results build
-```
-
-For testing, you can alternatively use the script to produces better debug output if there is a failed test:
-```bash
 ./scripts/run_tests.sh
 ```
 
@@ -110,6 +103,8 @@ The `run.sh` script (optionally downloads and) runs ARS Docker images.
 
 The two scripts have similar options to make it easy to run the specific image you just built.
 
+If you want to run the docker containers directly on remote servers (with no display), there are methods to do this via VNC in \subpage vnc-docker or X11 in \subpage ssh-docker
+
 # Building Docker images
 
 ## Build stages

diff --git a/scripts/start_vnc.sh b/scripts/start_vnc.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# This script is designed to be run inside the container (Dockerfile "CMD") to start up the necessary daemons.
+
+export DISPLAY=${DISPLAY:-:0} # Select screen 0 by default.
+x11vnc -bg -forever -nopw -quiet -display WAIT$DISPLAY &
+Xvfb $DISPLAY -screen 0 1024x768x16 &
+sleep 1
+
+xdpyinfo
+
+# disable screen saver and power management
+xset -dpms &
+xset s noblank &
+xset s off &
+
+# start window manager
+/usr/bin/startxfce4 --replace > $HOME/wm.log &
+
+# CMD script should not exit
+sleep infinity