github.com/ducheharsh/apple-container-desktop @v1.1.1

Container GUI

A modern desktop GUI application for Apple's container CLI tool, built with Tauri (Rust) and React. This application provides a user-friendly interface for managing Apple containers on macOS, designed specifically for Apple Silicon.

Features

Container GUI supports all major Apple container CLI features through an intuitive graphical interface:

🚀 Container Management

• Run Containers with comprehensive options:
• Memory and CPU resource limits (--memory, --cpus)
• Architecture selection (ARM64, AMD64 with Rosetta)
• Volume mounts (--volume and --mount syntax)
• Environment variables
• Interactive/TTY modes
• Background execution with dedicated IP addresses
• DNS domain configuration

🏗️ Image Building & Multi-Architecture Support

• Builder Management:
• Start/stop/delete builder containers
• Configure builder resources (memory, CPUs)
• Status monitoring
• Multi-Platform Builds:
• Build for ARM64 and AMD64 architectures simultaneously
• Dockerfile editor with syntax highlighting
• Build context selection
• Registry push integration

📊 Container Monitoring & Inspection

• Container Logs:
• Real-time log streaming with follow mode
• Boot logs viewing (--boot option)
• Log filtering (tail, since, until)
• System logs access
• Download logs to file
• Resource Inspection:
• Detailed JSON inspection of containers and images
• Formatted JSON output with copy-to-clipboard
• Container and image metadata viewing

🖥️ System Management

• System Overview:
• Container and image statistics
• System status monitoring
• Resource usage insights
• Advanced Features:
• System information display
• Container/image inspection tools
• Quick navigation to all features

🌐 Networking (Apple Container Approach)

• Dedicated IP Addresses: Each container gets its own IP address
• No Port Mapping Required: Direct access via container IP
• DNS Domain Support: Access containers via hostname.domain
• Network Isolation: Secure container-to-container communication

Apple Container CLI Integration

This GUI interfaces with Apple's native container CLI, supporting all major commands:

# Container operations
container run --memory 4g --cpus 8 --arch arm64 nginx:latest
container ls --format json --all
container logs --follow --boot my-container
container stop my-container

# Image operations  
container build --arch arm64 --arch amd64 --tag my-app:latest .
container images list --format json
container images push my-app:latest

# Builder management
container builder start --memory 32g --cpus 8
container builder stop
container builder delete

# System operations
container system info
container system logs
container inspect my-container

Requirements

• macOS 15+ (recommended macOS 26 beta for best compatibility)
• Apple Silicon Mac (required)
• Apple Container CLI installed from GitHub releases
• Xcode 26 Beta (for development)

Installation

1. Install Apple Container CLI: ```bash # Download from GitHub releases # https://github.com/apple/container/releases

# Install and start the system container system start ```

1. Install Container GUI: ```bash # Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/your-repo/container-gui.git cd container-gui

# Install dependencies npm install

# Run in development mode npm run tauri dev

# Build for production npm run tauri build ```

Usage

Running Containers

1. Navigate to Run Container
2. Configure your container:
3. Set image name (e.g., nginx:latest)
4. Adjust memory/CPU limits as needed
5. Add volume mounts for file sharing
6. Set environment variables
7. Choose architecture (ARM64/AMD64)
8. Click Run Container
9. Access your container via its dedicated IP address (shown in container list)

Building Images

1. Navigate to Build Image
2. Manage builder resources:
3. Start builder with custom memory/CPU allocation
4. Monitor builder status
5. Configure build:
6. Enter image tag
7. Select target architectures
8. Edit Dockerfile in integrated editor
9. Click Build Image
10. Optionally push to registry after build

Viewing Logs

1. Navigate to Logs
2. Select a container from the dropdown
3. Configure log options:
4. Enable follow mode for live streaming
5. Show boot logs for VM startup information
6. Set tail, since, until filters
7. View real-time logs or download to file

System Monitoring

1. Navigate to System Control
2. View system statistics and container overview
3. Inspect containers and images:
4. Select resource type (container/image)
5. Choose item to inspect
6. View detailed JSON metadata
7. Access system logs and information

Apple Container Networking

Unlike Docker, Apple containers use a different networking approach:

• No Port Mapping: Instead of -p 8080:80, each container gets a dedicated IP
• Direct Access: Access containers directly via their IP address
• DNS Support: Use --dns-domain test to access via hostname (e.g., my-app.test)
• Container Discovery: Use container ls to find container IP addresses

Example Workflow

# Run a web server
container run -d --name my-web --dns-domain test nginx:latest

# Check container IP
container ls
# Shows: my-web running at 192.168.64.3

# Access directly
curl http://192.168.64.3
# Or via DNS: curl http://my-web.test

Architecture

• Frontend: React 18 + Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Tauri 2.x (Rust)
• Container Runtime: Apple Container CLI
• Platform: macOS (Apple Silicon optimized)

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Test with Apple Container CLI
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Apple for the open-source Container project
• Tauri team for the excellent desktop app framework
• React and Tailwind CSS communities

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Note: This GUI is designed specifically for Apple's container CLI and requires Apple Silicon hardware. It provides a modern alternative to command-line container management on macOS.