Docker Ubuntu Manager

Fast setup for an Ubuntu server with Docker, including SSH access, persistent data, OpenVPN configuration, and optional GUI mode.

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Demo

🔑 noVNC Login

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🖥️ XFCE Desktop

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🌐 Chrome Browser

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💻 XFCE Terminal

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🔒 SSH Access

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Quick Start (TL;DR)

Copy-paste these 3 lines to bring up the lab instantly:

git clone https://github.com/william1nguyen/uvm.git
cd uvm
make start --gui

Now open http://localhost:6080/vnc.html and you’re in 🚀

Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Prerequisites
3. Docker Compose Workflow
4. Make Help
5. SSH Access
6. GUI Mode (--gui)
7. OpenVPN Management
8. Apply VPN Config to a Container
9. Verifying VPN Connection
10. Apply Push Routes on OpenVPN Server
11. Notes
12. TODO

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Features

• Quick setup of Ubuntu server containers
• Persistent data storage
• Integrated OpenVPN server with client management
• Private and external network configuration for lab isolation
• Optional GUI desktop with Chrome browser via VNC/noVNC

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Prerequisites

Ensure your Docker environment is ready:

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Basic understanding of container networking

⚠️ Note: Orbstack does not support isolated networks, which is not suitable for this lab setup. It is recommended to use standard Docker: Orbstack issue #1944

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Docker Compose Workflow

The Makefile provides the following targets:

Start Lab

# Normal mode
make start

# VPN mode (vpn)
make start mode=vpn

# GUI mode (--gui)
make start --gui

This will start all containers defined in:

• Normal: deployments/ubuntu/server/docker-compose.yml
• VPN: deployments/vpn/docker-compose.yml
• GUI: deployments/ubuntu/gui/docker-compose.yml

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Make Help

You can list all available commands with:

make help

Lazy Ubuntu - Available commands

apply-push-routes     Apply push routes to OpenVPN server
apply-vpn-config      Apply VPN config to a container (SERVER=<name>)
listconfigs           List OpenVPN profiles on server
reset                 Reset lab (remove containers, networks, volumes, images)
start                 Start lab (normal / vpn / gui)
stop                  Stop current lab
verify-vpn-config     Verify VPN interface & routes inside container (SERVER=<name>)

Reset Lab

make reset

This cleans up:

• Networks
• Containers
• Volumes
• Images

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List OpenVPN Profiles

make listconfigs

Equivalent to:

docker exec openvpn ./listconfigs.sh

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SSH Access

After starting the lab, you can connect to any ssh-ubuntu container via SSH:

ssh root@localhost -p 2222

• Username: root
• Password: rootpassword

🔑 Ports may vary if you run multiple containers. Check the docker-compose mapping or logs.

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GUI Mode (--gui)

To start an Ubuntu server with a lightweight desktop (XFCE) and Google Chrome:

make start --gui

This will:

• Run an Ubuntu server with SSH + GUI (XFCE4)
• Start VNC server on :1 (default port 5901)
• Expose noVNC at http://localhost:6080/vnc.html

Access Methods

• SSH: ssh root@localhost -p 2222
• VNC Client: Connect to localhost:5901
• Web Browser (noVNC): http://localhost:6080/vnc.html

Launching Chrome

Inside the VNC session:

• Double-click Google Chrome (Optimized) icon on desktop, OR
• Run:

/root/start-chrome.sh

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OpenVPN Management

Apply VPN Config to a Container

make apply-vpn-config SERVER=<container_name>

Steps performed:

1. Fetch PROFILE_ID from OpenVPN server:

docker exec openvpn ./listconfigs.sh

2. Copy client configuration to host and target container:

docker cp openvpn:/opt/Dockovpn_data/clients/${PROFILE_ID}/client.ovpn ./data/client.ovpn
docker cp ./data/client.ovpn <container_name>:/client.ovpn

3. Install OpenVPN and run client in container:

docker exec -d <container_name> bash -c "apt-get update && apt-get install -y openvpn && openvpn --config /client.ovpn --daemon"

Note: Ensure ./data directory exists on host.

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Apply Push Routes on OpenVPN Server

make apply-push-routes

This will:

1. Copy push-routes.conf from host into OpenVPN server:

docker cp ./config/push-routes.conf openvpn:/opt/Dockovpn/config/push-routes.conf

2. Append routes to server configuration:

docker exec -d openvpn bash -c "cat /opt/Dockovpn/config/push-routes.conf >> /opt/Dockovpn/config/server.conf"

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Verifying VPN Connection

make verify-vpn-config SERVER=<container_name>

This checks:

• VPN interface creation:

ip addr show tun0

• Routing table:

ip route show

Output is formatted for readability.

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Notes

• DATA_DIR is ./data and used for storing client configuration files.
• CONFIG_DIR is ./config and contains push-routes.conf.
• VPN_SERVER is default openvpn; adjust if container name differs.
• Ensure proper network isolation when testing VPN routes.
• Always verify network interfaces and firewall rules after configuration.

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TODO

• Assign a dedicated private IP for each ssh-ubuntu server instead of port mapping.
• Add option to load a GUI interface for Ubuntu servers (e.g., lightweight desktop environment).
• Isolate resources (CPU, memory, disk) for each Ubuntu server container to prevent interference.
• Consider automating VPN configuration application after container creation.
• Implement monitoring/logging for each Ubuntu server container.