wkhtmltopdf cannot connect to X server

Question

I have been using wkthmltopdf to convert html to pdf documents on-the-fly on my linux web server   The program originally needed X11 or similar X server to run correctly  but through many requests by developers to have this run on servers without GUI  I am pretty sure it runs a virtual X server in the static version   I have been using the static  stand-alone  version of the program and it works great   I would put the executable file in a folder  and run     wkhtmltopdf file1 html file2 pdf   However I would like to install this program system-wide   I used the apt-get install wkhtmltopdf  just installed yesterday  and since I am running on a 64 bit system  I also needed apt-get install ia32-libs   After installation I can find the version like this   wkhtmltopdf --version   output   Name    wkhtmltopdf 0 9 9  License    Copyright  C  2008 2009 Wkhtmltopdf Authors       License GPLv3   GNU GPL version 3 or later  lt http   gnu org licenses gpl html gt     This is free software  you are free to change and redistribute it  There is NO   WARRANTY  to the extent permitted by law   Authors    Written by Jakob Truelsen  Patches by M  rio Silva  Benoit Garret and Emmanuel   Bouthenot    Now when I try to run the program installed via aptitude  I get the following error   wkhtmltopdf  cannot connect to X server   Does anyone know how I can fix this   I guess this version is missing a virtual X server or something

User · Answer

Just install a version 0 12 4 or higher  This seems to solve the problem   See How can I install the latest wkhtmltopdf on Ubuntu 16 04

User · Answer

I tried to do sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf but without any success  Instead I recommend you try    Download the latest executable   11 rc1      wget https   wkhtmltopdf googlecode com files wkhtmltopdf-0 11 0 rc1-static-i386 tar bz2 uncompress it     tar -vxf wkhtmltopdf-0 11 0 rc1-static-i386 tar bz2 rename it     mv wkhtmltopdf-i386 wkhtmltopdf chmod it to executable     chmod a x wkhtmltopdf place it into  usr bin     sudo mv wkhtmltopdf  usr bin

User · Answer

Problem is probably in old version of wkhtmltopdf - version 0 9 from distribution repository require running X server  but current version - 0 12 2 1 doesnt require it - can run headless   Download package for your distribution from http   wkhtmltopdf org downloads html and install it - for Ubuntu   sudo apt-get install xfonts-75dpi sudo dpkg -i wkhtmltox-0 12 2 1 linux-trusty-amd64 deb

User · Answer

Just tell the Qt backend to not use X  QT QPA PLATFORM offscreen wkhtmltopdf  lt input gt   lt outfile pdf gt

User · Answer

for 14 04 1-Ubuntu https   wkhtmltopdf org downloads html  wget https   downloads wkhtmltopdf org 0 12 0 12 4 wkhtmltox-0 12 4 linux-generic-amd64 tar xz -O mktemp tar xz tar xf mktemp tar xz sudo cp wkhtmltox bin wkhtmltopdf  usr bin wkhtmltopdf sudo chmod  x  usr bin wkhtmltopdf rm mktemp tar xz rm wkhtmltox -rf apt-get update apt-get install -y libxrender1 libxtst6 libxi6 wkhtmltopdf http   www google com test pdf

User · Answer

I just figured out that I can simply move the static executable to the  usr bin  directory and execute it from anywhere

User · Answer

sudo -i apt-get install wkhtmltopdf xvfb libicu48 mv  usr bin wkhtmltopdf  usr bin wkhtmltopdf-origin touch  usr bin wkhtmltopdf  amp  amp  chmod  x  usr bin wkhtmltopdf  amp  amp  cat  gt   usr bin wkhtmltopdf  lt  lt  END    bin bash   usr bin xvfb-run -a -s  -screen 0 1024x768x24   usr bin wkhtmltopdf-origin        END

User · Answer

This solved the issue for me   sudo apt-get install xvfb xvfb-run --server-args  -screen 0  1024x768x24  wkhtmltopdf file1 html file2 pdf

User · Answer

Update to latest wkhtmltopdf version from SourceForge  0 12 as of this writing   It does not need an X Server to run   Example for Ubuntu 14 04     cd  tmp                                                                                                                                                                                                           wget -q http   downloads sourceforge net project wkhtmltopdf 0 12 2 1 wkhtmltox-0 12 2 1 linux-trusty-amd64 deb   dpkg -x wkhtmltox-0 12 2 1 linux-trusty-amd64 deb foo    echo   lt p gt hi lt  p gt       foo usr local bin wkhtmltopdf -  tmp hi pdf Loading pages  1 6  Counting pages  2 6                                                 Resolving links  4 6                                                         Loading headers and footers  5 6                                             Printing pages  6 6  Done                                                                          head -n3  tmp hi pdf   PDF-1 4 1 0 obj  lt  lt

User · Answer

solution for Centos7   yum -y install xorg-x11-fonts-75dpi                  xorg-x11-fonts-Type1    amp  amp  rpm -Uvh http   download gna org wkhtmltopdf 0 12 0 12 2 1 wkhtmltox-0 12 2 1 linux-centos7-amd64 rpm   We run into this problem inside docker containers and the above install has wkhtmltopdf with patched QT

User · Answer

If you config wkhtmltopdf for Rails or Somethings in Centos  you can follow these step bellow    Go to https   wkhtmltopdf org downloads html and copied the link of rpm file    In centos server bash    wget link of wkhtmltopdf rpm rpm rpm -ivh link of wkhtmltopdf rpm rpm which wkhtmltopdf      You will get path of wkhtmltopdf    Setup for wicked pdf or pdfkit with path in step 4  This is sample config with wickedpdf  config initializers wicked pdf rb  if Rails env     production      path    x which wkhtmltopdf  gsub   n       else     path    path of wkhtmltopdf in step 4  end WickedPdf config     exe path  path    Restart server    DONE

User · Answer

wkhtmltopdf   0 11 doesn t have this X-server issue   So installing 0 12 2 1 on a linux server    At first install xvfb server   sudo apt-get install xvfb  Get needed version of wkhtmltopdf from http   wkhtmltopdf org downloads html Install wkhtmltopdf   sudo dpkg -i wkhtmltox-0 12 2 1 linux-trusty-amd64 deb   or install with wget  URL  http   download gna org wkhtmltopdf 0 12 0 12 2 1 wkhtmltox-0 12 2 1 linux-trusty-amd64 deb   FILE  mktemp   wget   URL  -qO  FILE  amp  amp  sudo dpkg -i  FILE  rm  FILE  Install dependency  if needed    sudo apt-get -f install  Create symblic link in  usr local bin    echo  exec xvfb-run -a -s  -screen 0 640x480x16  wkhtmltopdf         sudo tee  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh  gt  dev null sudo chmod a x  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh  Now try below and it should work    usr local bin wkhtmltopdf http   www google com test pdf

User · Answer

For 64-bit Use   wget http   wkhtmltopdf googlecode com files wkhtmltopdf-0 9 9-static-amd64 tar bz2  tar xvjf wkhtmltopdf-0 9 9-static-amd64 tar bz2  sudo mv wkhtmltopdf-amd64  usr bin wkhtmltopdf  sudo chmod  x  usr bin wkhtmltopdf

User · Answer

I did follow the instructions here and made wkhtmltopdf work for me but I would like to offer a bit of perspective which I discovered while doing my own little dance with wkhtmltopdf - xvfb    This is important because the same reason that causes it to throw the infamous cannot connect to X server error is also causing it to run with sever limitations even if you do provide it a X server  These limitations include not being able to take multiple input sources  set header and footers  etc  check the Reduced Functionality section of the manual     wkhtmltox by itself doesn t require a X11  however it s making use of QT libraries which do  In newever versions of wkthmltox developers made a patch for QT which allows it to run with a X11    Currently some versions are built against patched QT and some are not  You can check your version by running wkhtmltopds --version  There should be a line at the end saying Compiled against wkhtmltopdf patched qt   So  to conclude  if you install and use a version that uses the patched libraries it should work on a linux server without the xvfb server  as I can confirm

User · Answer

Expanding on Timothy s answer     If you re a web developer looking to use wkhtmltopdf as part of your web app  you can simply install it into your  usr bin  folder like so   cd  usr bin  curl -C - -O http   wkhtmltopdf googlecode com files wkhtmltopdf-0 11 0 rc1-static-i386 tar bz2 tar -xvjf wkhtmltopdf-0 11 0 rc1-static-i386 tar bz2 mv wkhtmltopdf-i386 wkhtmltopdf   You can now run it anywhere using wkhtmltopdf   I personally use the Snappy library in PHP  Here is an example of how easy it is to create a PDF    lt  php     Create new PDF  pdf   new  Knp Snappy Pdf  wkhtmltopdf        Set output header header  Content-Type  application pdf        Generate PDF from HTML echo  pdf- gt getOutputFromHtml   lt h1 gt Title lt  h1 gt  lt p gt Your content goes here  lt  p gt

User · Answer

Download file from this link Extract it and move executable file  wkhtmltox bin wkhtmltopdf  to  usr bin  Rename it to wkhtmltopdf if current name is not wkhtmltopdf  So that now you have an executable at  usr bin wkhtmltopdf Set permissions  sudo chmod a x  usr bin wkhtmltopdf Install required support packages  sudo apt-get install openssl build-essential xorg libssl-dev Now  check with wkhtmltopdf http   www google com test pdf hint  detail information from this link

User · Answer

It is recommended to use at least 0 12 2 1   Starting from wkhtmltopdf    0 12 2 it doesn t require X server or emulation anymore  You can download new version from http   wkhtmltopdf org downloads html

User · Answer

or try this  from http   drupal org node 870058    Download wkhtmltopdf  Or better install it with a package manager   sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf  Extract it and move it to  usr local bin  Rename it to wkhtmltopdf so that now you have an executable at  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf Set permissions  sudo chmod a x  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf Install required support packages    sudo apt-get install openssl build-essential xorg libssl-dev  Check to see if it works  run    usr local bin wkhtmltopdf http   www google com test pdf   If it works  then you are done  If you get the error  Cannot connect to X server  then continue to number 7  We need to run it headless on a  virtual  x server  We will do this with a package called xvfb    sudo apt-get install xvfb  We need to write a little shell script to wrap wkhtmltopdf in xvfb  Make a file called wkhtmltopdf sh and add the following   xvfb-run -a -s  -screen 0 640x480x16  wkhtmltopdf       Move this shell script to  usr local bin  and set permissions    sudo chmod a x  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh  Check to see if it works once again  run    usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh http   www google com test pdf    Note that http   www google com may throw an error like  A finished ResourceObject received a loading finished signal  This might be an indication of an iframe taking to long to load   You may want to test with a simpler page like http   www example com

User · Answer

I found method to resolve this problem without fake X server  In newest version of wkhtmltopdf dont need X server for work  but it no into official linux repositories   Solution for Ubuntu 14 04 4 LTS  trusty  i386    sudo apt-get install xfonts-75dpi   wget http   download gna org wkhtmltopdf 0 12 0 12 2 wkhtmltox-0 12 2 linux-trusty-i386 deb   sudo dpkg -i wkhtmltox-0 12 2 linux-trusty-i386 deb   wkhtmltopdf http   www google com test pdf   Solution for Ubuntu 14 04 4 LTS  trusty  amd64    sudo apt-get install xfonts-75dpi   wget http   download gna org wkhtmltopdf 0 12 0 12 2 wkhtmltox-0 12 2 linux-trusty-amd64 deb   sudo dpkg -i wkhtmltox-0 12 2 linux-trusty-amd64 deb   wkhtmltopdf http   www google com test pdf   User felixhummel got very good solution  but repository with utilite has changed

User · Answer

Pay attention  your file could be wkhtmltopdf sh or wkhtmltopdf  check it on second step  You must copy it into directory    usr local bin  make sur it s executable and add symlink of wkhtmltopdf sh like     1- the command     sudo apt-get install wkhtmltopdf   2 - insert the binary in directory  usr bin so the browser can t have permission to execute in this directory  You must copy the wkhtmltopdf sh  to directory  usr local bin cause the browser have permission in this directory like    sudo cp  usr bin wkhtmltopdf sh  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh   3 - After make sur the binary have permission of execution like     sudo chmod a x  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh   4 - so now you can test  it s work like     usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh http   www google com google pdf   it make download the pdf in the current directory in your terminal  5 - Optional now you can add symlink in your directory  usr local bin like  ln -s  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf sh  usr local bin wkhtmltopdf

User · Answer

Just made it   1- To download wkhtmltopdf dependencies    apt-get install wkhtmltopdf  2- Download from source    wget http   downloads sourceforge net project wkhtmltopdf xxx deb    dpkg -i xxx deb  3- Try    wkhtmltopdf http   google com google pdf  Its working fine  It works

[wkhtmltopdf] wkhtmltopdf: cannot connect to X server

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