Configure PDF Conversion with Docker
Steps
Docker is the default way the LaTeX extension compiles an exported package into a PDF, and the one to use wherever Docker can be installed. PDF Conversion explains how it compares with the local process converter and what it gives you.
- Install Docker on the server machine where XWiki runs.
- Make sure the XWiki process can reach the Docker daemon. On some operating systems this means defining the DOCKER_HOST environment variable in the environment XWiki is started in: without it the extension does not find Docker even though Docker itself is installed and running.
- Restart XWiki, then open the export dialog of any page. PDF (LaTeX) is now offered alongside the other formats.
Nothing else has to be configured: latex.pdf.export.hint already defaults to docker, and so do the image and the commands — Configuration Properties lists them.
The restart is not optional: the extension checks the converter only when it starts.
- Export a page to PDF (LaTeX) to confirm that the converter really compiles, and not just that the entry is there.
Expect this first export to take a while, for the reason given in PDF Conversion.
FAQ
The PDF (LaTeX) entry is still missing. What should I look at?
Docker is not reachable from the XWiki process, or XWiki has not been restarted since it became reachable — steps 2 and 3 above. PDF Conversion describes what the extension checks.
The entry is there but the export fails. How do I see why?
Turn on the converter's debug logging, which reports what the container did.
