⚠️ Disclaimer: This repository is no longer maintained

To use the newest version of SCT in a Docker container, please visit the installation instructions found on https://spinalcordtoolbox.com/.

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Spinal Cord Toolbox Docker

This documentation shows how to install SCT within a Docker container. If you want install a different version of SCT please specify the version number you want.

Contents

• Spinal Cord Toolbox Docker
  • Docker for Windows
    • Installation
    • Video tutorials
    • Usage
  • Docker for UNIX (GNU/Linux, BSD family, MacOS)
    • Installation
    • Usage
  • Offline Archives
    • Usage
  • Generation and Distribution
    • Notes
  • Support

Docker for Windows

That would be the main reason to use Docker, as SCT can be installed directly pretty much anywhere else.

Note: in case of problem, see Support.

When using Docker Toolbox, mounting folders in a docker container can be a bit complicated and has certain limitations. The main limitation is that by default we will only be able to mount folders that are inside the C:/Users folder, for compatibility reasons we will consider a shared folder under this folder, but it can be changed.

To be able to process NIFTI volumes that we have in our Windows PC we will go to the folder C:/Users and create a folder called docker_shared_folder This folder that we have just created will be our work folder in which we will place all the volumes that we want to process using the SCT.

Installation

1. Install git (in case you don't already have it), this is to provide an SSH binary.

2. Install Xming.

3. Install Docker:

   • If you are on Windows 10 Pro/Enterprise: Install Docker

     See this tutorial to install Docker.

   • If you are on Windows XP/VISTA/7/8/8.1/10 others than Pro/Enterprise: Install Docker Toolbox.

     See this tutorial to install Docker Toolbox.

4. Fetch the SCT image

   Either:

   • Online, from Docker Hub:

     Open CMD or if you are using Docker Toolbox open Docker Quickstart Terminal wait until get a prompt and run:

     docker pull neuropoly/sct:latest

     Note: to list all available images on the registery, please see Generation and distribution.

   • Local, from a downloaded archive

     Open CMD or if you are using Docker Toolbox open Docker Quickstart Terminal wait until get a prompt and run:

     docker load --input latest.tar

     Note: After the --input parameter you can include the complete path where the docker image is located. In the example it is assumed that the image is in the current directory.

5. If you are NOT using Docker Toolbox skip this step. To avoid memory issues when running the SCT is important to increment the default amount of RAM (1GB) of the Docker VM. To do this:

   Open Docker Quickstart Terminal wait until get a prompt and run:

   docker-machine stop default
   
   /c/Program\ Files/Oracle/VirtualBox/VBoxManage.exe modifyvm default --memory 3072
   
   docker-machine start default

   Note: With these commands we have increased the RAM memory of the VM Docker to 3GB. It is important that your PC has at least 4 GB of RAM in order to leave at least 1 GB for your Windows host system.

6. For sharing folders between host and container:

   1. Go to C:/Users/Public and create the folder named docker_shared_folder
   2. If running Docker for Windows, click the Docker tray icon, run settings and allow sharing of your C: drive with the container, so as to allow access to the path.

7. Finally, reboot your computer after the installation. (Or you might end up with issues afterwards such as ssh: connect to host localhost port 2222: Cannot assign requested adress )

Video tutorials

Windows 10 home

Usage

1. Start throw-away container on the image.

   • If running Docker Desktop, open Docker Quickstart Terminal, wait until get a prompt and write:

     docker run -p 2222:22 --rm -it -v c:/Users/Public/docker_shared_folder://home/sct/docker_shared_folder neuropoly/sct:latest

   • If running Docker Toolbox, open Docker Quickstart Terminal, wait until get a prompt and write:

     docker run -p 2222:22 --rm -it -v //c/Users/Public/docker_shared_folder://home/sct/docker_shared_folder neuropoly/sct:latest

   Note: The folder C:/Users/docker_shared_folder on the Windows host system will be linked to the folder /home/sct/docker_shared_folder inside the Docker container and the changes made to it will be visible for both the Docker container and the Windows system.

2. Check the shared folder:

   • Run command

   ls

   The docker_shared_folder should be highlighted in green:

   

   If not, check the permission on your local host file:

   • Go to C:/Users/Public

   • Right click on the folder open properties of the folder.

   • Go to the security tab

   • Check that USER has full control over the folder:

     

     If yes, you can move on to step 3.

     If not, change the permission and run the ls command again in the docker quickstart terminal (see above).

     • If docker_shared_folder is highlighted in green, try creating a folder inside it:

       mkdir test

     • Check if a new folder appeared in C:/Users/docker_folder_shared.

       If yes, you can move on to step 3.

       If not, try the following:

       • Go to the Docker quickstart terminal

       • Stop Docker Machine:

         docker-machine stop

       • Open VirtualBox GUI

       • Add a shared folder in the default machine settings:

         

         • Write C:\Users\Public\docker_shared_folder in folder path

         • Write docker_shared_folder in Name textbox

         • Check Make Permanent and mount automatically boxes.

           

       • Go back to docker quickstart terminal.

       • Restart Docker Machine:

         docker-machine start

       • SSH into the Docker Machine:

         docker-machine ssh

       • Create a new directory:

         mkdir docker_shared_folder

         This will be /home/docker/docker_shared_folder

       • Mount the created directory at the shared point you have just created:

         sudo mount -t vboxsf -o uid=1000,gid=50 docker_shared_folder /home/docker/docker_shared_folder

         Note: sudo password is sct unless you have changed it before.

       • Launch the container:

         docker run -p 2222:22 --rm -it -v /home/docker/docker_shared_folder://home/sct/docker_shared_folder neuropoly/sct:latest

       • Check if the Docker shared folder is highlighted in green:

         ls

       • If the folder is highlighted in green, try creating a folder inside it:

         mkdir test

       • Check if a new folder appeared in C:/Users/Public/docker_folder_shared

         If yes, you can move on to step 3.

         If not, see Support.

3. (NOT MANDATORY) Change the password (default is sct) from the container prompt:

   passwd

4. Connect to it using Xming/SSH if X forwarding is needed (eg. running FSLeyes from there):

   Open a new CMD window and clone this repository:

   git clone https:/neuropoly/sct_docker.git

   If you are using Docker Desktop, run (double click) windows/sct-win.xlaunch. If you are using Docker Toolbox, run windows/sct-win_docker_toolbox.xlaunch

   If this is the first time you have done this procedure, the system will ask you if you want to add the remote PC (the docker container) as trust pc, type yes. Then type the password to enter the docker container (by default sct).

   If there is no new open windows :

   • Double click on the 'windows/Erase_fingerprint_docker' program
   • Try again

   • if it is still not working :

     • Open the file manager and go to C:/Users/Your_username
     • In the searchbar type '.ssh'
     • Open the found '.ssh' folder.
     • Open the 'known_hosts' file with a text editor
     • Remove line starting with 192.168.99.100 or localhost
     • try again

   The graphic terminal emulator LXterminal should appear (if not check the task bar at the bottom of the screen), which allows copying and pasting commands, which makes it easier for users to use it. To check that X forwarding is working well write fsleyes & in LXterminal and FSLeyes should open, depending on how fast your computer is FSLeyes may take a few seconds to open.

   If fsleyes is not working in the LXterminal:

   • Check if it's working on the docker machine by running fsleyes & in the docker quickstart terminal

     • If it works, run all the commands in the docker terminal.

     • If it throws the error Unable to access the X Display, is $DISPLAY set properly? follow these next steps:

       • Run echo $DISPLAY in the LXterminal
       • Copy the output address
       • Run export DISPLAY=<previously obtained address> in the docker quickstart terminal
       • Run fsleyes & (in the docker quickstart terminal) to check if it is working. A new Xming window with fsleyes should appear.

   Notes:

   • If after closing a program with graphical interface (i.e. FSLeyes) LXterminal does not raise the shell ($) prompt then press Ctrl + C to finish closing the program.

   • Docker exposes the forwarded SSH server at different endpoints depending on whether Docker Desktop or Docker Toolbox is installed.

     Docker Desktop:

     ssh -Y -p 2222 [email protected]

     Docker Toolbox:

     ssh -Y -p 2222 [email protected]

Docker for UNIX (GNU/Linux, BSD family, MacOS)

Installation

1. Install Docker

2. Fetch/install the SCT image:

   • If internet access, from Docker Hub:

     docker pull neuropoly/sct:latest

   • Else, load the SCT image from a local file

     docker load --input latest-offline.tar

3. If you are on OSX and you need X forwarding (e.g. to run FSLeyes from the ssh window), install Xquartz. After installing Xquartz and after rebooting, run this command to prevent this issue:

   defaults write org.macosforge.xquartz.X11 enable_iglx -bool true

Usage

1. Create a folder called docker_shared_folder in your home directory to be able to share information between your host system a the docker container.

   mkdir ~/docker_shared_folder

2. Start throw-away container on the image:

   docker run -p 2222:22 --rm -it -v ~/docker_shared_folder://home/sct/docker_shared_folder neuropoly/sct:latest

3. (NOT MANDATORY) Change the password (default is sct) from the container prompt:

   passwd

4. Connect to container using SSH if X forwarding is needed (eg. running FSLeyes from there):

   ssh -Y -p 2222 sct@localhost

5. Then enjoy SCT ;)

Offline Archives

Usage

1. Extract archive in /home/sct (unfortunately due to hard-coded paths in the installation folder, this is mandatory):

   cd $HOME
   tar xf /path/to/latest.tar.xz

2. Add PATH:

   PATH+=":/home/sct/latest/bin"

3. Use it!

   sct_check_dependencies

Generation and Distribution

The tool sct_docker_images.py helps with creation and distribution of SCT Docker images.

List of suported distros for docker images:

• ubuntu:14.04
• ubuntu:16.04
• ubuntu:18.04
• debian:8
• debian:9
• fedora:25
• fedora:26
• fedora:27
• fedora:28
• centos:7

For the official image that is released on docker hub we use the Ubuntu 18.04 bas image.

List all available images in the registery (you will need wget for this to work):

wget -q https://registry.hub.docker.com/v1/repositories/neuropoly/sct/tags -O -  | sed -e 's/[][]//g' -e 's/"//g' -e 's/ //g' | tr '}' '\n'  | awk -F: '{print $3}'

Example: creation of all distros container images for a specific version:

./sct_docker_images.py generate --version 4.2.1

Example: creation of offline archive tarball:

./sct_docker_images.py generate --version 4.2.1 --distros ubuntu:18.04 --generate-distro-specific-sct-tarball

Example: creation and distribution:

docker login  # Make sure your account has push permission on neuropoly organization
./sct_docker_images.py generate --version 4.2.1 --publish-under neuropoly/sct

Notes

• Caveat #1: When building images, specify a tag name or commit id, not a branch name, unless you have invalidated the Docker cache... or Docker will reuse whatever was existing and not test the right version
• Caveat #2: when building distro images, you may want to run docker build discarding the Docker cache, because commands such as apt-get update are cached leading to outdated package URLs.

Support

Please try to differentiate issues about the SCT Docker packages or tools, and SCT itself.

In case of problem, create issues on the github project and provide information allowing to quickly assist you.

Thank you!