Unleash the Voice: Running eSpeak Inside Docker

3 min readJul 23, 2023

Docker has brought about a revolution in application deployment and management, providing a seamless and portable solution. However, what you might not be aware of is that Docker can also be utilized to elevate your voice. By leveraging the espeak command, an open-source speech synthesizer, you can effortlessly generate synthesized speech directly from your local virtual machine. In this informative blog post, we will walk you through the process of setting up Docker, installing espeak, and running the command effortlessly. Whether you are an inquisitive developer exploring new frontiers or an individual keen on voice-based applications, this comprehensive guide is tailored to help you amplify your voice with utmost ease and speed.

Begin by pulling the Ubuntu Docker image to your system. This can be achieved by running the following command in your terminal or command prompt:

docker pull ubuntu

Now run the docker conatiner using the following command …

docker run -it --name <name_of_conatiner> --device /dev/snd:/dev/snd ubuntu

docker run: This is the command to run a Docker container.

-it: These are two options combined into one. It stands for "interactive" and "tty." The -i flag keeps STDIN (standard input) open, and the -t flag allocates a pseudo-TTY (terminal) to the container. This allows you to interact with the container through the command line.

--name <name_of_container>: This option assigns a custom name to the container. In the command, you should replace <name_of_container> with the desired name for your container.

--device /dev/snd:/dev/snd: This option maps the sound devices on the host machine to the sound devices inside the Docker container. In this case, it specifically allows access to the /dev/snd directory on the host, which is where sound devices are typically located, and it maps it to the same location (/dev/snd) inside the container.

ubuntu: This specifies the base image that the container will be built from. In this case, it is the official Ubuntu image, which is a popular choice for many Docker containers.