description: "[RetroArch](https://retroarch.com/) is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players. It enables you to run classic games on a wide range of computers and consoles through its slick graphical interface."
[RetroArch](https://retroarch.com/) is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players. It enables you to run classic games on a wide range of computers and consoles through its slick graphical interface.
We utilise the docker manifest for multi-platform awareness. More information is available from docker [here](https://distribution.github.io/distribution/spec/manifest-v2-2/#manifest-list) and our announcement [here](https://blog.linuxserver.io/2019/02/21/the-lsio-pipeline-project/).
Simply pulling `lscr.io/linuxserver/retroarch:latest` should retrieve the correct image for your arch, but you can also pull specific arch images via tags.
**Note: In pure CPU mode RetroArch will use LLVMPipe for menu rendering, when in game this is less of an issue. You can configure things like the menu refresh rate in your RetroArch settings or mount in an Nvidia GPU. When running with an Nvidia GPU it will be necesarry to right click the desktop and re-launch RetroArch on your first launch only.**
>Do not put this on the Internet if you do not know what you are doing.
By default this container has no authentication and the optional environment variables `CUSTOM_USER` and `PASSWORD` to enable basic http auth via the embedded NGINX server should only be used to locally secure the container from unwanted access on a local network. If exposing this to the Internet we recommend putting it behind a reverse proxy, such as [SWAG](https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-swag), and ensuring a secure authentication solution is in place. From the web interface a terminal can be launched and it is configured for passwordless sudo, so anyone with access to it can install and run whatever they want along with probing your local network.
This image uses a self-signed certificate by default. This naturally means the scheme is `https`.
If you are using a reverse proxy which validates certificates, you need to [disable this check for the container](https://docs.linuxserver.io/faq#strict-proxy).
## Usage
To help you get started creating a container from this image you can either use docker-compose or the docker cli.
!!! info
Unless a parameter is flaged as 'optional', it is *mandatory* and a value must be provided.
### docker-compose (recommended, [click here for more info](https://docs.linuxserver.io/general/docker-compose))
```yaml
---
services:
retroarch:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/retroarch:latest
container_name: retroarch
security_opt:
- seccomp:unconfined #optional
environment:
- PUID=1000
- PGID=1000
- TZ=Etc/UTC
volumes:
- /path/to/config:/config
ports:
- 3000:3000
- 3001:3001
shm_size: "1gb"
restart: unless-stopped
```
### docker cli ([click here for more info](https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/cli/))
```bash
docker run -d \
--name=retroarch \
--security-opt seccomp=unconfined `#optional` \
-e PUID=1000 \
-e PGID=1000 \
-e TZ=Etc/UTC \
-p 3000:3000 \
-p 3001:3001 \
-v /path/to/config:/config \
--shm-size="1gb" \
--restart unless-stopped \
lscr.io/linuxserver/retroarch:latest
```
## Parameters
Containers are configured using parameters passed at runtime (such as those above). These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate `<external>:<internal>` respectively. For example, `-p 8080:80` would expose port `80` from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port `8080` outside the container.
| `PUID=1000` | for UserID - see below for explanation |
| `PGID=1000` | for GroupID - see below for explanation |
| `TZ=Etc/UTC` | specify a timezone to use, see this [list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones#List). |
### Volume Mappings (`-v`)
| Volume | Function |
| :----: | --- |
| `/config` | Users home directory in the container, stores local files and settings |
#### Miscellaneous Options
| Parameter | Function |
| :-----: | --- |
| `--shm-size=` | This is needed for retroarch to function. |
| `--security-opt seccomp=unconfined` | For Docker Engine only, many modern gui apps need this to function on older hosts as syscalls are unknown to Docker. |
## Environment variables from files (Docker secrets)
You can set any environment variable from a file by using a special prepend `FILE__`.
As an example:
```bash
-e FILE__MYVAR=/run/secrets/mysecretvariable
```
Will set the environment variable `MYVAR` based on the contents of the `/run/secrets/mysecretvariable` file.
## Umask for running applications
For all of our images we provide the ability to override the default umask settings for services started within the containers using the optional `-e UMASK=022` setting.
Keep in mind umask is not chmod it subtracts from permissions based on it's value it does not add. Please read up [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umask) before asking for support.
## User / Group Identifiers
When using volumes (`-v` flags), permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container, we avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user `PUID` and group `PGID`.
Ensure any volume directories on the host are owned by the same user you specify and any permissions issues will vanish like magic.
In this instance `PUID=1000` and `PGID=1000`, to find yours use `id your_user` as below:
[](https://mods.linuxserver.io/?mod=retroarch "view available mods for this container.") [](https://mods.linuxserver.io/?mod=universal "view available universal mods.")
We publish various [Docker Mods](https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-mods) to enable additional functionality within the containers. The list of Mods available for this image (if any) as well as universal mods that can be applied to any one of our images can be accessed via the dynamic badges above.
## Support Info
* Shell access whilst the container is running:
```bash
docker exec -it retroarch /bin/bash
```
* To monitor the logs of the container in realtime:
```bash
docker logs -f retroarch
```
* Container version number:
```bash
docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' retroarch
```
* Image version number:
```bash
docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' lscr.io/linuxserver/retroarch:latest
```
## Updating Info
Most of our images are static, versioned, and require an image update and container recreation to update the app inside. With some exceptions (noted in the relevant readme.md), we do not recommend or support updating apps inside the container. Please consult the [Application Setup](#application-setup) section above to see if it is recommended for the image.
Below are the instructions for updating containers:
### Via Docker Compose
* Update images:
* All images:
```bash
docker-compose pull
```
* Single image:
```bash
docker-compose pull retroarch
```
* Update containers:
* All containers:
```bash
docker-compose up -d
```
* Single container:
```bash
docker-compose up -d retroarch
```
* You can also remove the old dangling images:
```bash
docker image prune
```
### Via Docker Run
* Update the image:
```bash
docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/retroarch:latest
```
* Stop the running container:
```bash
docker stop retroarch
```
* Delete the container:
```bash
docker rm retroarch
```
* Recreate a new container with the same docker run parameters as instructed above (if mapped correctly to a host folder, your `/config` folder and settings will be preserved)
We recommend [Diun](https://crazymax.dev/diun/) for update notifications. Other tools that automatically update containers unattended are not recommended or supported.
## Building locally
If you want to make local modifications to these images for development purposes or just to customize the logic:
