Docker Runbooks

Build, run, volume, network, and daemon failures with Docker.

15 scenarios · search and filter below, or jump via the quick nav.

Foundation8 runbooks

Container exits immediately after start — exit code nonzerohigh

docker ps shows container Exited (1) seconds ago

Port already in use — cannot bind host porthigh

docker: Error response from daemon: driver failed programming external connectivity: Bind for 0.0.0.0:8080: port is already allocated

DockerFoundation3 causes

2Open runbook

Bind mount appears empty — container sees no filesmedium

Container shows empty directory for a bind mount path

DockerFoundation3 causes

3Open runbook

Data lost after container removal — no volume mountedcritical

Data written inside container is gone after docker rm

DockerFoundation3 causes

4Open runbook

OOMKilled container — memory limit exceededcritical

docker ps shows container Exited (137) or Exited (139)

DockerFoundationUSE3 causes

5Open runbook

Docker Hub rate limit — anonymous or free-tier pull limit exceededhigh

docker pull returns 'You have reached your pull rate limit'

DockerFoundation3 causes

6Open runbook

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon — daemon stopped or DOCKER_HOST wrongcritical

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock — Is the docker daemon running?

DockerFoundation3 causes

7Open runbook

Docker build sends massive context — slow builds and out of memorymedium

Sending build context to Docker daemon X.XXMB/GB takes minutes

DockerFoundation3 causes

8Open runbook

Intermediate6 runbooks

Container has no internet access — DNS or network broken insidecritical

ping: Temporary failure in name resolution inside the container

DockerIntermediate3 causes

1Open runbook

Container cannot reach host services — localhost vs host.docker.internalmedium

curl localhost inside container returns connection refused

DockerIntermediate3 causes

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Bind mount permission denied — UID/GID mismatchmedium

Permission denied when writing to a bind-mounted directory inside the container

DockerIntermediate3 causes

3Open runbook

Exec format error — image built for wrong CPU architecturehigh

exec format error when starting container on ARM host pulling amd64 image

DockerIntermediate2 causes

4Open runbook

Disk full — dangling images and layers consuming /var/lib/dockercritical

docker: error response from daemon: no space left on device

DockerIntermediateUSE3 causes

5Open runbook

apt-get install fails during docker build — network or DNS issue in buildermedium

docker build fails at RUN apt-get install with 'Could not resolve archive.ubuntu.com'

DockerIntermediate3 causes

6Open runbook

Advanced1 runbooks

Secret baked into Docker image — API key, password, or cert in layercritical

docker history shows a COPY or ARG containing a secret in an early layer

DockerAdvanced3 causes

1Open runbook