knot knot

Ubuntu Desktop

The following defines a simple Ubuntu 24.04 space running an XFCE-based desktop environment using the excellent KasmVNC.

Nomad Cluster

The home directory makes use of a dynamic host volume.

This job assumes Docker is being used for container management. If Podman is being used, change the driver to podman and update the image to registry-1.docker.io/paularlott/knot-desktop:24.04 to enable spaces to be created using Podman.

Nomad Job

job "${{.space.name}}-${{.user.username}}" {
  datacenters = ["dc1"]

  update {
    max_parallel     = 1
    min_healthy_time = "30s"
    healthy_deadline = "1m"
    auto_revert      = true
  }

  group "debian" {
    count = 1

    volume "home_volume" {
      type            = "host"
      source          = "ubuntu_${{.space.id}}_home"
      read_only       = false
    }

    task "debian" {
      driver = "docker"
      config {
        image = "paularlott/knot-desktop:24.04"

        privileged = true
        hostname = "${{ .space.name }}"
      }

      env {
        # Define environment variables for agent
        KNOT_SERVER         = "${{.server.url}}"
        KNOT_AGENT_ENDPOINT = "${{.server.agent_endpoint}}"
        KNOT_SPACEID        = "${{.space.id}}"
        KNOT_VNC_HTTP_PORT  = "5680"
        KNOT_USER           = "${{.user.username}}"
        TZ                  = "${{ .user.timezone }}"
      }

      volume_mount {
        volume      = "home_volume"
        destination = "/home"
      }

      resources {
        cpu = 300
        memory = 4096
      }
    }
  }
}

Volume Definition

volumes:
  - name: "ubuntu_${{.space.id}}_home"
    type: "host"
    plugin_id: "mkdir"
    parameters:
      mode: "0755"
      uid: 1000
      gid: 1000

Docker / Podman

The following defines the same Ubuntu 24.04 desktop template with a volume attached to the home directory. The space deploys to the local server using Docker or Podman rather than Nomad. The choice of Docker or Podman is made through the selection under Platform when creating the template.

Container Specification

Note: If using Podman, the image must be fully qualified as registry-1.docker.io/paularlott/knot-desktop:24.04.

container_name: ${{ .user.username }}-${{ .space.name }}
hostname: "${{ .space.name }}"
image: paularlott/knot-desktop:24.04
volumes:
  - desktop_${{.space.id}}_home:/home/

environment:
  - "TZ=${{.user.timezone}}"
  - "KNOT_LOGLEVEL=info"
  - "KNOT_SERVER=${{.server.url}}"
  - "KNOT_AGENT_ENDPOINT=${{.server.agent_endpoint}}"
  - "KNOT_SPACEID=${{.space.id}}"
  - "KNOT_USER=${{.user.username}}"
  - "KNOT_VNC_HTTP_PORT=5680"
  - "KNOT_SERVICE_PASSWORD=${{.user.service_password}}"

Volume Definition

Volume-Definition 
volumes:
  desktop_${{.space.id}}_home: