jensenm/feisol repository overview

This is a public Docker image containing FEISol⁠ and its legacy FEniCS dependencies⁠. The instructions below assume an Apple Silicon Mac with Docker Desktop installed.

First, make sure Docker Desktop is running. Then open Terminal and download the image:

docker pull jensenm/feisol:apple-silicon

Create a folder on the Mac for the generated results:

mkdir -p "$HOME/Desktop/FEISol-results"

Start a persistent FEISol container:

docker run -d \
  --name feisol-demos \
  --platform linux/arm64 \
  -v "$HOME/Desktop:/shared" \
  -v "$HOME/Desktop/FEISol-results:/opt/FEISol/out" \
  jensenm/feisol:apple-silicon \
  sleep infinity

The -v arguments create shared folders between macOS and the container:

• The Mac Desktop is available inside the container as /shared.
• FEISol’s /opt/FEISol/out folder is connected to ~/Desktop/FEISol-results, so generated files appear directly on the Desktop.

Docker Desktop or macOS may ask for permission to access the Desktop. Please allow this. If Docker reports “Mounts denied,” add your home directory or Desktop under Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → File Sharing.

To perform a quick FEniCS test, run:

docker exec feisol-demos python3 -c \
  "import dolfin; mesh=dolfin.UnitSquareMesh(4,4); print('DOLFIN:', dolfin.__version__); print('Mesh cells:', mesh.num_cells())"

A successful result should print a DOLFIN version and:

Mesh cells: 32

To run both FEISol demos:

docker exec -it feisol-demos bash run-demos.sh

Please use bash, not sh, because the demo helper uses Bash’s pipefail option. During the first run, FEniCS may print several JIT compiler messages; this is normal.

The results will appear in:

~/Desktop/FEISol-results

The principal ParaView files are:

FEISol-results/2_player_chase/donut/1/v.xdmf
FEISol-results/skorokhod/lconcave/01/v.xdmf

Each .xdmf file references an accompanying .h5 file, so the files should remain together.

ParaView is optional but useful for visualising the results. If it is not installed, download the macOS version from:

https://www.paraview.org/download/⁠

In ParaView, open one of the .xdmf files and click “Apply.” The time-step controls can then be used to move through the computed solution.

To enter the container interactively:

docker exec -it feisol-demos bash

Use exit to leave it.

The container can be stopped and restarted without losing the host-side results:

docker stop feisol-demos
docker start feisol-demos

To remove the container completely:

docker rm -f feisol-demos

The downloaded image and the files in ~/Desktop/FEISol-results will remain.