what(): feval: function 'graphics_toolkit' not found

[OliverKleinBST]

• xeus-octave version: GNU Octave, version 7.3.0, Octave was configured for "x86_64-conda-linux-gnu".
• Operating System: JupyterHub, FROM jupyter/minimal-notebook:ubuntu-20.04

Description

When opening octave as Jupyterlab Notebook deployed as JupyterHub the kernel is crashing.
When I run the same container manually and just run jupyter lab the Notebook and Octaver kernel is working as expected.

Logs:
[D 2023-01-20 00:22:44.346 SingleUserLabApp manager:388] Starting kernel: ['/opt/conda/bin/xoctave', '-f', '/home/jovyan/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/kernel-a3e90551-2faa-4658-9417-f674c4cc7db2.json']
[D 2023-01-20 00:22:44.347 SingleUserLabApp connect:604] Connecting to: tcp://127.0.0.1:41797
GLFW Error: X11: The DISPLAY environment variable is missing (65544)
Cannot initialize GLFW
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'octave::execution_exception'
what(): feval: function 'graphics_toolkit' not found

What I Did

Open xoctave notebook.

[rapgenic]

I think this is because at the moment xeus-octave needs an X server to run.

We have solved this problem in our Binder demo by using xvfb-run, which creates a virtual X server.

If you're using a custom Dockerfile I'd suggest adding a line to install xvfb via apt, and then replacing the default

CMD ["start.sh"]

With something like

CMD ["xvfb-run start.sh"]

Note that I have not tested this specifically so you might need some trial and error to get this right.

An alternative could be creating editing the kernel.json file (which I think will be located in /opt/conda/share/jupyter/kernels/xoctave/kernel.json) and replace the:

  "argv": [
      "/opt/conda/bin/xoctave",
      "-f",
      "{connection_file}"
  ],

with something like:

  "argv": [  
      "/usr/bin/xvfb-run",
      "/opt/conda/bin/xoctave",
      "-f",
      "{connection_file}"
  ],

(Also not tested directly)

[jamarier]

Hi, I have same problem.

I looked for a Docker image with jupyter and xeus-octave, but I couldn't find any so I create mine.

My docker file is here.
Dockerfile.txt

I tried both approaches: modify kernel file description and command in docker file without success.

Is there any working dockerfile of jupyter with xoctave?

Edited: I forget to mention: my host machine has an nvidia graphic card but I am using docker (without docker-nvidia or other specialized versions for nvidia).