Headless rendering

[natschil]

When trying to load GLFW.jl, I get the following on a system with ENV[DISPLAY] not set to anything.

ERROR: InitError: Exception[GLFWError(PLATFORM_ERROR, "X11: The DISPLAY environment variable is missing"), ErrorException("glfwInit failed")]

it seems like things like osmesa should make it possible to render offscreen, is it possible to use this with GLFW.jl?

[SimonDanisch]

X11: The DISPLAY environment variable is missing

Yeah you need to have an environment variable "DISPLAY=:0" set ;)

[jayschwa]

Closing since it looks like a solution was provided. Feel free to re-open if I am mistaken.

[h-spiess]

Hey, on Julia 1.5 when building GLMakie (v0.1.13) with GLFW (v3.4.0) setting ENV["DISPLAY"] = ":0" still doesn't work on my headless server.

(v1.5) pkg> build GLMakie
   Building ModernGL → `~/.julia/packages/ModernGL/rVuW2/deps/build.log`
   Building FFTW ────→ `~/.julia/packages/FFTW/DMUbN/deps/build.log`
   Building GLMakie ─→ `~/.julia/packages/GLMakie/Pway1/deps/build.log`
┌ Error: Error building `GLMakie`: 
│ ERROR: LoadError: OpenGL/GLFW wasn't installed correctly. This likely means,
│ you don't have an OpenGL capable Graphic Card,
│ you don't have the newest video driver installed,
│ or the GLFW build failed. If you're on linux and `]build` GLFW failed,
│ try manually adding `sudo apt-get install libglfw3` and then `]build GLMakie`.
│ If you're on a headless server, you still need to install x-server and
│ proper GPU drivers. You can take inspiration from this article
│ on how to get Makie running on a headless system:
│ https://nextjournal.com/sdanisch/makie-1.0
│ If you don't have a GPU, there is also a Cairo software backend
│ for Makie which you can use:
│ https://github.com/JuliaPlots/CairoMakie.jl.
│ Please check the below error and open an issue at:
│ https://github.com/JuliaPlots/GLMakie.jl.
│ After you fixed your OpenGL install, please run `]build GLMakie` again!
│ GLMakie will still load, but will be disabled as a default backend for Makie
│ 
│ Stacktrace:
│  [1] error(::String) at ./error.jl:33
│  [2] top-level scope at /home/spiess/.julia/packages/GLMakie/Pway1/deps/build.jl:28
│  [3] include(::String) at ./client.jl:457
│  [4] top-level scope at none:5
│ in expression starting at /home/spiess/.julia/packages/GLMakie/Pway1/deps/build.jl:19
│ caused by [exception 1]
│ InitError: Exception[GLFW.GLFWError(GLFW.PLATFORM_ERROR, "X11: Failed to open display :0"), ErrorException("glfwInit failed")]
│ Stacktrace:
│  [1] __init__() at /home/spiess/.julia/packages/GLFW/CBo9c/src/GLFW.jl:35
│  [2] _include_from_serialized(::String, ::Array{Any,1}) at ./loading.jl:697
│  [3] _require_search_from_serialized(::Base.PkgId, ::String) at ./loading.jl:782
│  [4] _require(::Base.PkgId) at ./loading.jl:1007
│  [5] require(::Base.PkgId) at ./loading.jl:928
│  [6] require(::Module, ::Symbol) at ./loading.jl:923
│  [7] top-level scope at /home/spiess/.julia/packages/GLMakie/Pway1/deps/build.jl:20
│  [8] include(::String) at ./client.jl:457
│  [9] top-level scope at none:5
│ during initialization of module GLFW
└ @ Pkg.Operations /buildworker/worker/package_linux64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.5/Pkg/src/Operations.jl:949

Do you know why this issue seems to not been solved completely?

Thanks :)

[saikhu]

I have a similar issue, trying to run 3D application using Julia but got stuck at

ERROR: LoadError: InitError: Exception[GLFW.GLFWError(GLFW.PLATFORM_ERROR, "X11: Failed to open display :2.0"), ErrorException("glfwInit failed")]
Stacktrace:
 [1] __init__()
   @ GLFW ~/.julia/packages/GLFW/BWxfF/src/GLFW.jl:35
 [2] _include_from_serialized(path::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
   @ Base ./loading.jl:768
 [3] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:854
 [4] _tryrequire_from_serialized(modkey::Base.PkgId, build_id::UInt64, modpath::String)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:783
 [5] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:843
 [6] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1097
 [7] require(uuidkey::Base.PkgId)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:1013
 [8] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
   @ Base ./loading.jl:997
during initialization of module GLFW

[SimonDanisch]

Why do you have :2.0 for display?

[saikhu]

Why do you have :2.0 for display?

because i'm using GNU/Linux 5.4.0-100-generic x86_64 (with slim /usr/bin/slim). For GUI I'm using TigerVNC server:

vncserver -list

TigerVNC server sessions:

X DISPLAY #	PROCESS ID
:2		162220

for remote session i'm using Macbook default screen sharing (vnc).

[garibarba]

This is still an issue for me. I cannot work around it by just setting DISPLAY=:0 or unsetting it. Besides X forwarding, the only way around this I've found is to use Xvfb -s '-screen 0 1024x768x24' together with DISPLAY=:0.

[xlxs4]

Exception[GLFW.GLFWError(GLFW.PLATFORM_ERROR, "X11: Failed to open display :0"), ErrorException("glfwInit failed")]. Xvfb works as expected.

[tkgunaratne]

@garibarba "This is still an issue for me. I cannot work around it by just setting DISPLAY=:0 or unsetting it. Besides X forwarding, the only way around this I've found is to use Xvfb -s '-screen 0 1024x768x24' together with DISPLAY=:0."

Can you please elaborate a bit how you achieved this? I'm having the same issue with a headless server.

[jmanthony3]

I have this issue as well. I copy/pasted the appropriate section for GLMakie from the suggested YAML file for setting up a headless GitHub action with some modifications. There were some difficulties parsing paths in pkg"dev . ./MakeCore ./GLMakie ./ReferenceTests and I added Pkg.update() on the next line too because of an error complaining that ReferenceTests was unregistered. Referencing the code section below which comprises my CI.yml file, there is a definition for DISPLAY=:0 and a command for '-screen 0 1024x768x24'.

name: CI
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    tags: ['*']
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:
concurrency:
  # Skip intermediate builds: always.
  # Cancel intermediate builds: only if it is a pull request build.
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/pull/') }}
jobs:
  test:
    name: GLMakie Julia ${{ matrix.version }}
    env:
      MODERNGL_DEBUGGING: "true" # turn on errors when running OpenGL tests
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        version:
          - '1' # automatically expands to the latest stable 1.x release of Julia
        os:
          - ubuntu-20.04
        arch:
          - x64
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: julia-actions/setup-julia@v2
        with:
          version: ${{ matrix.version }}
          arch: ${{ matrix.arch }}
      - uses: julia-actions/cache@v2
      - run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y xorg-dev mesa-utils xvfb libgl1 freeglut3-dev libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev libxi-dev libxext-dev xsettingsd x11-xserver-utils
      - name: Install Julia dependencies
        shell: julia --project=monorepo {0}
        run: |
          using Pkg;
          # dev mono repo versions
          pkg"registry up"
          Pkg.update()
          pkg"dev . MakieCore GLMakie ReferenceTests"
          Pkg.update()
      - name: Run the tests
        id: referencetests
        continue-on-error: true
        run: >
          DISPLAY=:0 xvfb-run -s '-screen 0 1024x768x24' julia --color=yes --project=monorepo -e 'using Pkg; Pkg.test("GLMakie", coverage=true)'
          && echo "TESTS_SUCCESSFUL=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
      - name: Upload test Artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: ReferenceImages_GLMakie_${{ matrix.version }}
          path: |
            ./GLMakie/test/reference_images/
      - name: Fail after artifacts if tests failed
        if: ${{ env.TESTS_SUCCESSFUL != 'true' }}
        run: exit 1
      - uses: julia-actions/julia-processcoverage@v1
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
        with:
          file: lcov.info

From the latest run of the CI workflow, I get the error message below that prevents ReferenceTests from precompiling which means running the tests also fail.

✗ GLMakie
  ✗ BammannChiesaJohnsons
  296 dependencies successfully precompiled in 344 seconds. 9 already precompiled.
  1 dependency had output during precompilation:
┌ MKL_jll
│  Downloading artifact: IntelOpenMP
└  

The following 2 direct dependencies failed to precompile:

GLMakie [e9467ef8-e4e7-5192-8a1a-b1aee30e663a]

Failed to precompile GLMakie [e9467ef8-e4e7-5192-8a1a-b1aee30e663a] to "/home/runner/.julia/compiled/v1.10/GLMakie/jl_cXSUNg".
┌ Warning:     OpenGL/GLFW wasn't loaded correctly or couldn't be initialized.
│     This likely means, you're on a headless server without having OpenGL support setup correctly.
│     Have a look at the troubleshooting section in the readme:
│     https://github.com/MakieOrg/Makie.jl/tree/master/GLMakie#troubleshooting-opengl.
└ @ GLMakie ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/gl_backend.jl:4
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: Exception[GLFW.GLFWError(65550, "X11: The DISPLAY environment variable is missing"), ErrorException("glfwInit failed")]
Stacktrace:
  [1] __init__()
    @ GLFW ~/.julia/packages/GLFW/wmoTL/src/GLFW.jl:35
  [2] run_module_init(mod::Module, i::Int64)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1134
  [3] register_restored_modules(sv::Core.SimpleVector, pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1122
  [4] _include_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, ocachepath::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1067
  [5] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String, build_id::UInt128)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1581
  [6] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1938
  [7] __require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1812
  [8] #invoke_in_world#3
    @ ./essentials.jl:926 [inlined]
  [9] invoke_in_world
    @ ./essentials.jl:923 [inlined]
 [10] _require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1803
 [11] macro expansion
    @ ./loading.jl:1790 [inlined]
 [12] macro expansion
    @ ./lock.jl:267 [inlined]
 [13] __require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1753
 [14] #invoke_in_world#3
    @ ./essentials.jl:926 [inlined]
 [15] invoke_in_world
    @ ./essentials.jl:923 [inlined]
 [16] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1746
 [17] top-level scope
    @ ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/gl_backend.jl:2
 [18] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base ./Base.jl:495
 [19] include(x::String)
    @ GLMakie ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/GLMakie.jl:1
 [20] top-level scope
    @ ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/GLMakie.jl:81
 [21] include
    @ ./Base.jl:495 [inlined]
 [22] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt128}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2222
 [23] top-level scope
    @ stdin:3
during initialization of module GLFW
in expression starting at /home/runner/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/gl_backend.jl:1
in expression starting at /home/runner/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/GLMakie.jl:1
in expression starting at stdin:3
BammannChiesaJohnsons [056ed34d-f5e1-4b0f-b3f6-c7e5e8ee168e]

Failed to precompile BammannChiesaJohnsons [056ed34d-f5e1-4b0f-b3f6-c7e5e8ee168e] to "/home/runner/.julia/compiled/v1.10/BammannChiesaJohnsons/jl_SDX3ih".
┌ Warning:     OpenGL/GLFW wasn't loaded correctly or couldn't be initialized.
│     This likely means, you're on a headless server without having OpenGL support setup correctly.
│     Have a look at the troubleshooting section in the readme:
│     https://github.com/MakieOrg/Makie.jl/tree/master/GLMakie#troubleshooting-opengl.
└ @ GLMakie ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/gl_backend.jl:4
ERROR: LoadError: InitError: Exception[GLFW.GLFWError(65550, "X11: The DISPLAY environment variable is missing"), ErrorException("glfwInit failed")]
Stacktrace:
  [1] __init__()
    @ GLFW ~/.julia/packages/GLFW/wmoTL/src/GLFW.jl:35
  [2] run_module_init(mod::Module, i::Int64)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1134
  [3] register_restored_modules(sv::Core.SimpleVector, pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1122
  [4] _include_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, ocachepath::String, depmods::Vector{Any})
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1067
  [5] _require_search_from_serialized(pkg::Base.PkgId, sourcepath::String, build_id::UInt128)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1581
  [6] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1938
  [7] __require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1812
  [8] #invoke_in_world#3
    @ ./essentials.jl:926 [inlined]
  [9] invoke_in_world
    @ ./essentials.jl:923 [inlined]
 [10] _require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1803
 [11] macro expansion
    @ ./loading.jl:1790 [inlined]
 [12] macro expansion
    @ ./lock.jl:267 [inlined]
 [13] __require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1753
 [14] #invoke_in_world#3
    @ ./essentials.jl:926 [inlined]
 [15] invoke_in_world
    @ ./essentials.jl:923 [inlined]
 [16] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1746
 [17] top-level scope
    @ ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/gl_backend.jl:2
 [18] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base ./Base.jl:495
 [19] include(x::String)
    @ GLMakie ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/GLMakie.jl:1
 [20] top-level scope
    @ ~/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/GLMakie.jl:81
 [21] include
    @ ./Base.jl:495 [inlined]
 [22] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt128}}, source::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2222
 [23] top-level scope
    @ stdin:3
during initialization of module GLFW
in expression starting at /home/runner/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/gl_backend.jl:1
in expression starting at /home/runner/.julia/dev/Makie/GLMakie/src/GLMakie.jl:1
in expression starting at stdin:3
ERROR: LoadError: Failed to precompile GLMakie [e9467ef8-e4e7-5192-8a1a-b1aee30e663a] to "/home/runner/.julia/compiled/v1.10/GLMakie/jl_7bOsPA".
Stacktrace:
  [1] error(s::String)
    @ Base ./error.jl:35
  [2] compilecache(pkg::Base.PkgId, path::String, internal_stderr::IO, internal_stdout::IO, keep_loaded_modules::Bool)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2468
  [3] compilecache
    @ ./loading.jl:2340 [inlined]
  [4] (::Base.var"#968#969"{Base.PkgId})()
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1974
  [5] mkpidlock(f::Base.var"#968#969"{Base.PkgId}, at::String, pid::Int32; kwopts::@Kwargs{stale_age::Int64, wait::Bool})
    @ FileWatching.Pidfile /opt/hostedtoolcache/julia/1.10.5/x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.10/FileWatching/src/pidfile.jl:93
  [6] #mkpidlock#6
    @ /opt/hostedtoolcache/julia/1.10.5/x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.10/FileWatching/src/pidfile.jl:88 [inlined]
  [7] trymkpidlock(::Function, ::Vararg{Any}; kwargs::@Kwargs{stale_age::Int64})
    @ FileWatching.Pidfile /opt/hostedtoolcache/julia/1.10.5/x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.10/FileWatching/src/pidfile.jl:111
  [8] #invokelatest#2
    @ ./essentials.jl:894 [inlined]
  [9] invokelatest
    @ ./essentials.jl:[889](https://github.com/jmanthony3/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/actions/runs/11184179812/job/31094388050#step:6:890) [inlined]
 [10] maybe_cachefile_lock(f::Base.var"#968#969"{Base.PkgId}, pkg::Base.PkgId, srcpath::String; stale_age::Int64)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2983
 [11] maybe_cachefile_lock
    @ ./loading.jl:2980 [inlined]
 [12] _require(pkg::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1970
 [13] __require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1812
 [14] #invoke_in_world#3
    @ ./essentials.jl:926 [inlined]
 [15] invoke_in_world
    @ ./essentials.jl:923 [inlined]
 [16] _require_prelocked(uuidkey::Base.PkgId, env::String)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1803
 [17] macro expansion
    @ ./loading.jl:1790 [inlined]
 [18] macro expansion
    @ ./lock.jl:267 [inlined]
 [19] __require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1753
 [20] #invoke_in_world#3
    @ ./essentials.jl:926 [inlined]
 [21] invoke_in_world
    @ ./essentials.jl:923 [inlined]
 [22] require(into::Module, mod::Symbol)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:1746
 [23] include(mod::Module, _path::String)
    @ Base ./Base.jl:495
 [24] include(x::String)
    @ BammannChiesaJohnsons ~/work/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/src/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl:1
 [25] top-level scope
    @ ~/work/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/src/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl:9
 [26] include
    @ ./Base.jl:495 [inlined]
 [27] include_package_for_output(pkg::Base.PkgId, input::String, depot_path::Vector{String}, dl_load_path::Vector{String}, load_path::Vector{String}, concrete_deps::Vector{Pair{Base.PkgId, UInt128}}, source::Nothing)
    @ Base ./loading.jl:2222
 [28] top-level scope
    @ stdin:3
in expression starting at /home/runner/work/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/src/BCJ_GUI.jl:4
in expression starting at /home/runner/work/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl/src/BammannChiesaJohnsons.jl:1
in expression starting at stdin:3

What am I missing?