GUIdock-VNC

GUIdock-VNC provides VNC-based graphical interfaces for Docker-contained bioinformatics software to enable execution of GUI-dependent analyses such as gene network inference.

Key Features:

• Graphical desktop sharing (VNC): Integrates a VNC protocol-based desktop sharing system into Docker containers to render graphical applications within web-accessible sessions.
• Browser access (noVNC): Uses noVNC (VNC over HTTP) to expose containerized graphical displays via web browsers.
• Minimal image builder: Includes a minimal image builder to add the necessary desktop sharing components into existing Docker packages.
• Cloud deployment and OAuth2: Supports deployment on cloud platforms and incorporates OAuth2 authentication for access control.
• Cross-platform benchmarking: Has been benchmarked across multiple operating systems to evaluate overhead when creating containerized GUI applications.

Scientific Applications:

• Bioinformatics workflows: Enables execution of bioinformatics workflows that include GUI-dependent components and complex software dependencies within Docker containers.
• Gene network inference: Has been applied as a proof-of-concept to gene network inference tasks in genomic research.

Methodology:

Encapsulates software within Docker containers while integrating a VNC-based graphical interface (noVNC for HTTP access); a minimal image builder adds desktop sharing components to Docker packages, and OAuth2 is used for authentication in cloud deployments.