Wayland and X11 Only:

This method is mostly for Newer Display Methods like PopOS!/Ubuntu 24.04 and higher.

Prerequisites

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

id -u                    # val = 1000
id -g                    # val = 1000
ls /tmp/.X11_unix/       # val = X1
echo $DISPLAY            # val = :1
echo $WAYLAND_DISPLAY    # val = wayland-1
echo $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR    # val = /run/user/1000

echo "root:1000:1" | sudo tee -a /etc/subuid /etc/subgid

Create a new Incus Profile for GUI interface:

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

incus profile create gui_wx

Configure the new Profile:

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

incus profile edit gui_wx

This should open the profile file in a nano like interface, the final profile should like the following:

config:
  raw.idmap: both 1000 1000
description: GUI container
devices:
  waylandSocket:
    type: proxy
    bind: container
    connect: unix:/run/user/1000/wayland-0
    listen: unix:/mnt/wayland-0
    mode: '0700'
    security.gid: '1000'
    security.uid: '1000'
    gid: '1000'
    uid: '1000'
  mygpu:
    type: gpu
    gid: '1000'
    uid: '1000'
name: gui
used_by: []

Save this file using Ctrl + O and then exit using Ctrl + X

Add the Profile to a Container:

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

Assuming that you have a container called container0, append the gui profile using:

incus profile add container0 gui

Validation

The following commands are intended for the Container

Assuming the user of your Container is ubuntu

Login to the Container:

incus ubuntu container0

Install X11 Apps:

sudo apt install x11-apps -y

Run Xeyes and XClock

xeyes

Output:

xclock

Output

X11 Only:

This method is mostly for Older Display Methods like PopOS!/Ubuntu 22.04 and lower.

Prerequisites

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

id -u                    # val = 1000
id -g                    # val = 1000
ls /tmp/.X11_unix/       # val = X1
echo $DISPLAY            # val = :1

Create a new Incus Profile for GUI interface:

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

incus profile create gui

Configure the new Profile:

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

incus profile edit gui

This should open the profile file in a nano like interface, the final profile should like the following:

config:
  environment.DISPLAY: :1               # from echo $DISPLAY
  raw.idmap: both 1000 1000             # from id -u and id -g
description: Enables graphical apps use.
devices:
  X1:                                   # from ls /tmp/.X11_unix
    path: /tmp/.X11-unix/X1             
    source: /tmp/.X11-unix/X1           # from ls /tmp/.X11_unix
    type: disk
  mygpu:
    type: gpu
name: gui
used_by: []

Save this file using Ctrl + O and then exit using Ctrl + X

Add the Profile to a Container:

The following commands are intended for the Host Machine

Assuming that you have a container called container0, append the gui profile using:

incus profile add container0 gui

Minor Fixes (June 2025)

Inside the container:

echo 'DISPLAY=:1' >> /etc/environment
echo 'export DISPLAY=:1' >> /etc/profile.d/display.sh

Validation

The following commands are intended for the Container

Assuming the user of your Container is ubuntu

Login to the Container:

incus ubuntu container0

Install X11 Apps:

sudo apt install x11-apps -y

Run Xeyes and XClock

xeyes

Output:

xclock

Output