Using AskUI in Docker

AskUI Controller Docker Images

We maintain Docker images for running instructions with AskUI inside a Docker Container, e.g., locally or in a CI/CD pipeline. The images are based on Ubuntu (amd64) images and contain the AskUI Controller and a browser. The AskUI SDK connects to the AskUI Controller inside the Docker container to execute workflows inside it.

You can find our images on DockerHub.

caution

If you are on an ARM architecture such as Apple Silicon, you can NOT run the images at the moment!

Configuration

The following environment variables can be used for configuring the Docker Container started from one of our Docker Images:

Variable	Default Value	Description
SE_SCREEN_WIDTH	1360	Sets the screen width
SE_SCREEN_HEIGHT	1020	Sets the screen height
SE_SCREEN_DEPTH	24
GOOGLE_CHROME_ARGS	empty
ASKUI_CONTROLLER_ARGS	empty
VERBOSE	empty

Tag Naming Schema

We use the following tag schema:

<controller-version>-<browser-name>-<browser-version>-amd64

# browser-name: chrome only for now

# Example
0.11.2-chrome-119.0.6045.123-amd64

❗️ <controller-version> is NOT the AskUI SDK version ❗️

Usage

Prerequisites

• Docker (Download here)
• AskUI Development Environment (Windows, Linux, macOS)

You will only need the Docker CLI but you can install Docker Desktop, too if you want.

Starting Container Manually

You can pull an image using docker pull, e.g.,

docker pull askuigmbh/askui-ui-controller:0.11.2-chrome-119.0-amd64

and, then, start the corresponding container using:

docker run -p 6769:6769 -p 7900:7900 askuigmbh/askui-ui-controller:0.11.2-chrome-119.0-amd64

Ports:

• AskUI Controller: 6769
• No_VNC: 7900

Password for No_VNC is secret.

Connect to the Container with AskUI SDK

You have to adjust the askui_example/helpers/askui-helper.ts that is created when running npx askui@latest init, because the UiControlClient connects to the AskUI Controller running inside the Docker container:

• Remove everything related to uiController
• Check your credentials
• Optional: Set the uiControllerUrl in UiControlClient if you exposed the AskUI Controller on a different port (see UI Control Client API Docs for more information

It should look like this:

askui_example/helper/askui-helper.ts

import { UiControlClient, UiController } from 'askui';
import { AskUIAllureStepReporter } from '@askui/askui-reporters';

// Client is necessary to use the askui API
let aui: UiControlClient;

jest.setTimeout(60 * 1000 * 60);

beforeAll(async () => {

  aui = await UiControlClient.build({
    // Uncomment next line when you did NOT expose the AskUI Controller on port 6769
    // uiControllerUrl: http://127.0.0.1:<Insert your port here>',
    credentials: {
      workspaceId: '<Insert your workspace id here>',
      token: '<Insert your access token here>',
    },
    reporter: new AskUIAllureStepReporter(),
  });

  await aui.connect();
});

beforeEach(async () => {
  await aui.startVideoRecording();
});

afterEach(async () => {
  await aui.stopVideoRecording();
  const video = await aui.readVideoRecording();
  await AskUIAllureStepReporter.attachVideo(video);
});

afterAll(async () => {
  aui.disconnect();
});

export { aui };

warning

If you initialized your AskUI project with an older version of AskUI or upgraded from an older version you may not have a askui_example/helpers/askui-helper.ts file. Please apply the changes in test/helpers/jest.setup.ts.

Connect via VNC

To check what is happening inside a running container, you can connect via VNC. For this, you need to open a browser and navigate to http://localhost:7900. When using the Testcontainers example code, the VNC port to connect to is logged to the console.

When connecting, enter the password secret when asked.

Example of a VNC connection with a Chrome browser running inside a container:

Starting Container from Within beforeAll() Using Testcontainers

Testcontainers is a Node.js library that supports starting Docker Containers from within tests and throwing them away afterwards.

To use it, first install it:

npm i -D testcontainers

After that, you can adjust the askui_example/helpers/askui-helper.ts that is created when running npx askui@latest init The following example starts the AskUI container and connects to it just before all instructions are run:

warning

If you initialized your AskUI project with an older version of AskUI or upgraded from an older version you may not have a test/helpers/askui-helper.ts file. Please apply the changes in test/helpers/jest.setup.ts.

import { UiControlClient } from 'askui';
import { GenericContainer, StartedTestContainer } from 'testcontainers';

jest.setTimeout(60 * 1000 * 60);

function getDockerImageName(): string {
  const askuiUiControllerVersion = '0.11.2';
  const browser = 'chrome';
  const browserVersion = '119.0';
  const osArch = 'amd64';
  return `askuigmbh/askui-ui-controller:${askuiUiControllerVersion}-${browser}-${browserVersion}-${osArch}`;
}

async function startTestContainer(): Promise<StartedTestContainer> {
  const container = await new GenericContainer(getDockerImageName())
    .withEnvironment({
      'SE_SCREEN_WIDTH': '1920',
      'SE_SCREEN_HEIGHT': '1080',
    })
    .withExposedPorts(6769, 7900)
    .start();

  console.log(`VNC link: ${container.getHost()}:${container.getMappedPort(7900)}`);

  return container;
}

let testContainer: StartedTestContainer;

// eslint-disable-next-line import/no-mutable-exports
let aui: UiControlClient;

beforeAll(async () => {
  testContainer = await startTestContainer();

  aui = await UiControlClient.build({
    uiControllerUrl: `http://127.0.0.1:${testContainer.getMappedPort(6769)}`,
    credentials: {
      workspaceId: '<Insert your workspace id here>',
      token: '<Insert your access token here>',
    },
    reporter: new AskUIAllureStepReporter(),
  });

  await aui.connect();
});

afterAll(async () => {
  aui.disconnect();

  await testContainer.stop();
});

export { aui };