Docker images of GNU Octave

DockerHub: https://hub.docker.com/r/gnuoctave/octave

GitHub: https://github.com/gnu-octave/docker

The Octave images can be run by

# Obtain image

docker pull docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:7.2.0

# Start container (command-line interface)

docker run -it --rm gnuoctave/octave:7.2.0 octave

Podman: as before, replace docker with podman.

Singularity: most recommended for GUI mode.

singularity pull docker://gnuoctave/octave:7.2.0

# Start container (command-line interface)

singularity run octave_7.2.0.sif

See below for starting Octave with GUI.

Easy installation

An installation script is provided, that can be called directly with this shell command:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gnu-octave/docker/main/install.sh)" install -t singularity

To remove the installation, type:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gnu-octave/docker/main/install.sh)" install -u -t singularity

It creates links in $HOME/bin, as well as Desktop entries, to start the Octave and JupyterLab as if it was installed by the Linux distribution.

Note: The system must have either Docker (= Podman) or Singularity installed and the user account must be setup to use those tools properly. Please adapt the shell command after -t respectively.

Starting the Octave GUI

Using Singularity, start Octave with GUI with this command:

singularity exec --bind /run/user octave_7.2.0.sif octave --gui

Using Docker or Podman run:

docker run \
  --rm \
  --network=host \
  --env="DISPLAY" \
  --env="XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR" \
  --env="NB_USER=$USER" \
  --env="NB_UID=$(id -u)" \
  --env="NB_GID=$(id -g)" \
  --env="GRANT_SUDO=yes" \
  --user root \
  --volume="$HOME:$HOME:rw" \
  --volume="/dev:/dev:rw" \
  --volume="/run/user:/run/user:rw" \
  docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:7.2.0 start.sh octave --gui

For old Octave 4.x.x versions you might additionally pass the --env=QT_GRAPHICSSYSTEM=native environment variable.

Note: The best experience was made with Singularity and Docker. Podman had several flaws when run as unprivileged (non-root) user.

Hierarchy of all available images

graph LR
    U4[ubuntu:&lt;b&gt;2204&lt;/b&gt;] --&gt; b7[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave-build:&lt;b&gt;7&lt;/b&gt;];
    U3[ubuntu:&lt;b&gt;2004&lt;/b&gt;] --&gt; b6[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave-build:&lt;b&gt;6&lt;/b&gt;];
    U2[ubuntu:&lt;b&gt;1804&lt;/b&gt;] --&gt; b5[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave-build:&lt;b&gt;5&lt;/b&gt;];
    U1[ubuntu:&lt;b&gt;1604&lt;/b&gt;] --&gt; b4[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave-build:&lt;b&gt;4&lt;/b&gt;];
    b7 --&gt; v720[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;7.2.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b7 --&gt; v710[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;7.1.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b6 --&gt; v640[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;6.4.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b6 --&gt; v630[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;6.3.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b6 --&gt; v620[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;6.2.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b6 --&gt; v610[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;6.1.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b5 --&gt; v520[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;5.2.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b5 --&gt; v510[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;5.1.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b5 --&gt; v441[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.4.1&lt;/b&gt;];
    b5 --&gt; v440[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.4.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v422[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.2.2&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v421[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.2.1&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v420[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.2.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v403[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.0.3&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v402[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.0.2&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v401[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.0.1&lt;/b&gt;];
    b4 --&gt; v400[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;4.0.0&lt;/b&gt;];
    v720 --&gt; jl[docker.io/gnuoctave/octave:&lt;b&gt;jupyterlab&lt;/b&gt;];
    classDef U fill:#ff7f24,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    class U1 U;
    class U2 U;
    class U3 U;
    class U4 U;
    classDef b fill:#ff0,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    class b4 b;
    class b5 b;
    class b6 b;
    class b7 b;
    classDef age1 fill:#9aff9a,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef age2 fill:#7fffd4,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef age3 fill:#fff68f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef age4 fill:#ffd700,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef age5 fill:#ffa500,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef age6 fill:#ff6a6a,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    class jl age1;
    class v720 age1;
    class v710 age1;
    class v640 age2;
    class v630 age2;
    class v620 age2;
    class v610 age2;
    class v520 age3;
    class v510 age3;
    class v441 age4;
    class v440 age4;
    class v422 age5;
    class v421 age5;
    class v420 age5;
    class v403 age6;
    class v402 age6;
    class v401 age6;
    class v400 age6;

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gnu-octave / docker

Programming Languages

Docker images of GNU Octave

Easy installation

Starting the Octave GUI

Hierarchy of all available images

Further reading