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 volume configured with the hostpath CSI driver, which is assumed to have been set up within the Nomad cluster.

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            = "csi"
      source          = "ubuntu_${{.space.id}}_home"
      read_only       = false
      attachment_mode = "file-system"
      access_mode     = "single-node-writer"
    }

    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:
  - id: "ubuntu_${{.space.id}}_home"
    name: "ubuntu_${{.space.id}}_home"
    plugin_id: "hostpath"
    capacity_min: 10G
    capacity_max: 10G
    mount_options:
      fs_type: "ext4"
      mount_flags:
        - rw
        - noatime
    capabilities:
      - access_mode: "single-node-writer"
        attachment_mode: "file-system"

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: