Running docker with X on host and GPU acceleration - PoC

host-setup.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Install host GPU drivers
# ...

# Start a bare X-server
X :0 &
# Make it possible to connect from other hosts
export DISPLAY=:0
xhost +

run-docker.sh

# There is extra requirements for the image
# 1. Must have installed exactly the same drivers that host has
# 2. Should have some desktop environment installed. I use xfce4, it works well in this case.

docker run -ti \
--privileged    \
-e "DISPLAY=unix:0.0" \
--volume "/tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix:rw" \
yourimage /bin/bash

# Now
if you start any X application then it should show up.
You can test GPU acceleration by installing mesa-utils and running glxgears
If the image has xfce4 then you can start a full-blown desktop environment by running `startxfce4`