VSCode Devcontainers Unable to Open X11 Displays

[matthewperry97]

• VSCode Version: 1.97.2
• Local OS Version: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.22631.0
• Remote OS Version:Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS
• Remote Extension/Connection Type: Dev Containers/WSL/Remote - Tunnels/VS Code Server
• Logs: remoteContainers.log

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create an empty VS Code workspace

{
	"folders": [
		{
			"path": "."
		}
    ],
    "settings": {}
}

2. Create a devcontainer with the following devcontainer.json file:

// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
// README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/ubuntu
{
	"name": "Ubuntu",
	// Or use a Dockerfile or Docker Compose file. More info: https://containers.dev/guide/dockerfile
	"image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:jammy",
	// Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
	// "features": {},

	// Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
	// "forwardPorts": [],

	// Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
	// "postCreateCommand": "uname -a",

	// Configure tool-specific properties.
	// "customizations": {},

	// Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
	// "remoteUser": "root"
}

3. Open the workspace in the devcontainer.
4. In the devcontainers terminal run the following to install X-11 apps

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y x11-apps

5. Try running xcalc
6. Get the following error

Error: Can't open display:

• I'm able to run the same steps within WSL and the xcalc GUI opens and functions as expected.
• Within WSL using the docker run command to open the same docker container I can install the X11 apps and run xcalc as expected
• The issue started happening a couple months ago though frequency at which error showed up has increased (went from occuring once a week where a computer restart resolved the issue to anytime I try to open a GUI). I am now unable to open any GUIs from VSCode devcontainers.