Vulkan/VSG fails inside Docker on WSL2/WSLg: vkCreateInstance
Leah Richard
I am part of a student research group currently working with Project Chrono for a CUDA-based DEM simulation using Chrono,GPU. We are running our setup inside a Docker container (Windows) and are encountering shared library issues related to Vulkan bridge dependencies. The vulkan info fails inside the container with vkCreateInstance ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER, and the WSL host has no /usr/lib/wsl/lib/nvidia_icd.json present. CUDA works (nvidia-smi works), but Vulkan cannot create an instance. Below are our errors and results.
Thank you- Leah Richard
ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER, Chrono VSG demos abort with vsg::Exception
Environment
• Host: Windows + WSL2 Ubuntu (WSLg enabled)
• Workload: Project Chrono / chrono-wisc container image (chrono-wisc:benchmark3-prebuilt)
• GPU: NVIDIA GPU available and usable for CUDA inside container (--gpus all works)
• Goal: Run Chrono VSG visualization demos inside Docker with window output (Vulkan)
What works (important)
1. CUDA compute works in-container for benchmark runs (FSI runs start and can complete for sane parameters).
2. Chrono demo initializes terrain/vehicle and reaches the visualization setup stage before aborting (so CPU-side setup is fine).
What fails
A) VSG/Vulkan demo aborts
Running (inside container):
cd /opt/chrono/binexport LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/chrono/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH./demo_VEH_CRMTerrain_WheeledVehicle
Result:
• Runs through terrain + vehicle creation
• Fails at “Create path…”
• Aborts with:
◦ terminate called after throwing an instance of 'vsg::Exception'
◦ Aborted (core dumped)
B) Vulkan tools inside container cannot create a Vulkan instance
Inside container:
apt-get update && apt-get install -y vulkan-tools libvulkan1
vulkaninfo --summary
Result:
• Cannot create Vulkan instance
• vkCreateInstance failed with ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER
This strongly indicates the container’s Vulkan loader cannot access a compatible ICD/driver stack.
Steps already attempted
1) Fixed command formatting / shell issues
• Resolved bash: cd: too many arguments by using proper line breaks / &&.
2) Verified this is not a general “laptop can’t run it” issue
• A CUDA-side benchmark was tested with different --d0_multiplier values.
• d0_multiplier=1.0 succeeded with reasonable discretization:
◦ HSML=0.02, binSize0=0.04, gridSize=755 181 40
• Smaller multipliers caused “illegal memory access,” which correlated with grid explosion:
◦ d0_multiplier=0.1 → gridSize=7550 1815 403 → CUDA illegal memory access
◦ This appears to be parameter-driven indexing/overflow, not insufficient hardware.
3) Tried to wire WSLg display + Vulkan libraries into container
Attempted Docker run with:
• --device=/dev/dxg (present in WSL)
• /dev/dri passthrough was attempted but failed:
◦ error adding custom device "/dev/dri": no such file or directory
◦ /dev/dri not present on this WSL setup
• Mounted WSL libraries and set library path:
◦ -v /usr/lib/wsl:/usr/lib/wsl:ro
◦ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/wsl/lib:/opt/chrono/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
• Mounted X11 socket:
◦ -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix
◦ -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY
• Set NVIDIA container capabilities:
◦ NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,utility,graphics,display
Despite this, Vulkan inside container still fails with ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER.
4) Investigated Vulkan ICD manifests on the WSL host
On WSL host:
• No files matching:
◦ /usr/lib/wsl/lib/*icd*.json
• Found these ICD JSON files:
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/intel_hasvk_icd.x86_64.json
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/nouveau_icd.x86_64.json
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/intel_icd.x86_64.json
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/lvp_icd.x86_64.json
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/radeon_icd.x86_64.json
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/gfxstream_vk_icd.x86_64.json
◦ /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/virtio_icd.x86_64.json
Notably absent: nvidia_icd.json under /usr/lib/wsl/lib, which many WSL Vulkan setups rely on for NVIDIA Vulkan in WSL.
5) Proposed next attempt (not yet confirmed successful)
Start container while:
• mounting /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d
• forcing Vulkan to use a specific ICD via VK_ICD_FILENAMES, e.g.:
◦ gfxstream_vk_icd.x86_64.json (WSLg-relevant)
◦ or virtio_icd.x86_64.json as fallback
Example:
docker run --rm -it --gpus all \
--device=/dev/dxg \
-e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY \
-v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
-v /usr/lib/wsl:/usr/lib/wsl:ro \
-v /usr/share/vulkan/icd.d:/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d:ro \
-e VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/gfxstream_vk_icd.x86_64.json \
-e LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/wsl/lib:/opt/chrono/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH \
-e NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,utility,graphics,display \
chrono-wisc:benchmark3-prebuilt bash
Then re-test:
VK_LOADER_DEBUG=all vulkaninfo --summary
Current diagnosis / suspected root cause
• The container can’t create a Vulkan instance because the Vulkan loader does not see a compatible Vulkan driver/ICD in the container environment.
• In WSL2, Vulkan support depends heavily on the Windows-side GPU driver + WSLg bridge components. The absence of an NVIDIA WSL ICD JSON (e.g., nvidia_icd.json) on the host suggests the WSL Vulkan driver stack may be incomplete/misaligned for NVIDIA Vulkan in this environment, or the container isn’t pointed at the correct ICD.
• VSG fails because Vulkan cannot initialize → Chrono demo aborts with vsg::Exception.
Evidence / error logs to include
• From inside container:
◦ vkCreateInstance failed with ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER
◦ terminate called after throwing an instance of 'vsg::Exception'
• From docker run attempt:
◦ /dev/dri: no such file or directory (WSL doesn’t expose /dev/dri)
What we need from support / what we’re asking
• How to properly enable Vulkan (WSLg) inside Docker on WSL2 with NVIDIA GPU.
• Whether a missing/incorrect Vulkan ICD (e.g., no nvidia_icd.json under /usr/lib/wsl/lib) is expected, and what is the supported fix.
• Recommended container runtime configuration for Vulkan + WSLg + NVIDIA (ICD paths, required mounts, env vars like VK_ICD_FILENAMES, etc.).
Radu Serban
Leah – this doesn’t appear to be a Chrono issue, but rather a Vulkan+WSL one. As far as I can tell, others had similar issues with Vulkan support on WSL being not very robust.
--Radu
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Patrick CHEN
This is a WSL2 issue(and is Windows enviornment and WSL2 version dependent), there are work-arounds we are aware of with the plan to include some documentation support effort for Chrono on WSL2, we will let you know once it has been published, this should be coming soon.
Best,
Patrick