Prerequisites

• Docker and buildx installed on your personal computer.
• X11 installed on your ALPON — see Running GUI Apps with X11 in Containers.

To run PiSignage on ALPON, you build both the server and player images. Sixfab has containerized these applications to run on ALPON devices; the Dockerfiles are included below.

1. 1

   Build the server image

   Run these steps on your personal computer, where Docker and buildx are installed. Create a directory for the server:

   bash · create directory

   mkdir pisignage-server
   cd pisignage-server

   Create a Dockerfile with this content:

   Dockerfile · server

   FROM node:14.15-alpine3.10
   RUN apk update && apk add bash
   RUN apk add git
   RUN apk add ffmpeg
   RUN apk add imagemagick
   
   ENV NODE_ENV=production
   
   WORKDIR /pisignage-server
   RUN git clone https://github.com/colloqi/pisignage-server.git /pisignage-server
   
   COPY . .
   
   RUN npm install --production
   
   RUN chmod +x ./wait-for-it.sh
   
   CMD [ "./wait-for-it.sh", "127.0.0.1:27017", "--", "node", "server.js"]

   Build the server image:

   bash · build server

   docker buildx build --platform linux/arm64 -t pisignage-server:latest .

2. 2

   Build the player image

   Create a directory for the player:

   bash · create directory

   mkdir pisignage-player
   cd pisignage-player

   Create a Dockerfile with this content:

   Dockerfile · player

   FROM bitnami/minideb:latest-arm64
   
   WORKDIR /root
   COPY . .
   
   RUN apt -y update && apt -y upgrade
   RUN apt install -y wget unzip nodejs npm sudo chromium net-tools iproute2 rfkill
   RUN ln -s /usr/bin/chromium /usr/bin/chromium-browser
   RUN wget https://pisignage.com/releases/pi-image-p2-v14.zip
   RUN unzip -o pi-image-p2-v14.zip
   RUN cp player2/build-scripts/install-pisignage.sh .
   RUN chmod +x install-pisignage.sh
   RUN chmod +x -R player2/build-scripts
   RUN chmod +x -R player2/shell-scripts
   RUN ./install-pisignage.sh
   RUN sed -i "s/\"--default-background-color='00000000'\"/\"--default-background-color='00000000'\", \"--no-sandbox\"/g" player2/pisignage.js
   RUN apt update --fix-missing
   
   CMD ["./start.sh"]

   Build the player image:

   bash · build player

   docker buildx build --platform linux/arm64 -t pisignage-player:latest .

3. 3

   Push both images to the Sixfab Registry

   Upload both images so they're available to the device:

   • Open the Sixfab Registry page.
   • Click + Add Container and follow the prompts for each image.
4. 4

   Deploy the containers

   Deploy three containers from the Applications tab of your asset, in order.

   1 · MongoDB

   • Click + Deploy, enter a container name, and check “I would like to use my own container path”.
   • Set the image name to arm64v8/mongo:4.4.18.
   • Enable Host Network, then click Deploy.

   2 · PiSignage server

   • Click + Deploy, enter a container name, and select the server image and tag.
   • Enable Host Network, then click Deploy.

   3 · PiSignage Player2

   First grant the container access to the graphical interface by running this on the device terminal (see Running GUI Apps with X11 in Containers):

   bash · grant X11 access

   xhost +

   Then click + Deploy, enter a container name, and select the Player2 image and tag. Add this environment variable:

   DISPLAY :0

   Add these volumes (all Read/Write):

   X11 socket /tmp/.X11-unix → /tmp/.X11-unix

   .Xauthority /root/.Xauthority → /root/.Xauthority

   Audio /dev/snd → /dev/snd

   Enable Host Network and Privileged, then click Deploy.

5. 5

   Verify the deployment

   • Check the device's main screen to confirm Player2 is running in fullscreen.
   • In a browser, open ports 3000 and 8000 at the device's IP to confirm the server and player are up.
   • To use the local server, update the server address in the Player2 interface (port 8000) to 127.0.0.1:3000 — otherwise the device keeps talking to the default main server.

Troubleshooting

Make sure a display is physically connected. Without one, xhost + fails to open the display:

xhost: unable to open display ""

If a display is connected, export the variable and retry:

export DISPLAY=:0