Firefox via VNC as a Docker Container

March 9, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Running

Docker hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/tenox7/vncfox

docker run -d \
    --name vncfox \
    -p 5900:5900 \
    tenox7/vncfox:latest

This container is dual architecture, AMD64 and ARM64, it can be run on Mac host with Apple Silicon, Raspberry PI, etc.

VNC Password is: vncfox

Persistent Profiles

If you want the profile to persist between sessions, mount /home/vncfox/.mozilla as a volume. Either create a persistent Docker volume or bind mount to a folder on the host.

docker volume create vncfox
docker run -d \
    --name vncfox \
    -v vncfox:/home/vncfox/.mozilla
    -p 5900:5900 \
    tenox7/vncfox:latest

Download Redirect

I typically bind mount a folder exported via NFS to /home/vncfox/Downloads.

-v /net/nas/Downloads:/home/vncfox/Downloads

Resolution

The default resolution is 1024x768. This is because I mostly work on workstations with 1280x1024 and I want a smaller window. However you can set custom resolution by using WIDTH and HEIGHT env variables.

docker volume create vncfox
docker run -d \
    --name vncfox \
    -v vncfox:/home/vncfox/.mozilla
    -p 5900:5900 \
    -e WIDTH=1600 -e HEIGHT=1200 \
    tenox7/vncfox:latest

The server side runs TigerVNC which allows remote resizing. Requires TigerVNC Viewer.

VNC Client

It's recommended to use Tight or Tiger VNC client to reduce CPU usage and improve performance.

A collection of Tight VNC ports is available here: http://osarchive.org/apps/vnc/tight/ports

Useful keyboard shortcuts

  • F6 - enters URL input box
  • F8 - opens VNC menu, clipboard transfer etc
  • F10 - opens FireFox Menu
  • F11 - FireFox full screen mode

Note: As of TigerVNC Client 1.16.0, the default menu shortcut is Ctrl-Alt-M. This can be changed to use other modifier keys as part of the command line options with the -ShortcutModifiers option. It only accepts modifer keys like Ctrl,Shift,Alt,Win/Super. To set it up to use Control-Shift, use the following argument.

-ShortcutModifiers=Ctrl,Shift

Firefox Customization

Better scrollbars:

about:config
widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.style = 1
layout.testing.overlay-scrollbars.always-visible = true

FBI recommends installation of an ad blocker.