Unable to start Docker service with error "Failed to start docker.service: Unit not found."

Question

I have installed Docker with yum install docker:

$ uname -a
Linux caspgval4 3.10.0-229.20.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Wed Nov 4 10:08:36 CST 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ docker --version
Docker version 1.12.6, build 3a094bd/1.12.6

$ docker info
Cannot connect to the Docker daemon. Is the docker daemon running on this host?

$ sudo systemctl status docker
● docker.service - Docker Application Container Engine
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)
     Docs: http://docs.docker.com

I am trying to install and run Docker, but it is giving an error as below:

$ sudo service docker start
Redirecting to /bin/systemctl start  docker.service
Failed to start docker.service: Unit not found.

How do I resolve this issue? I tried the following commands, but no luck:

$ sudo systemctl start docker
Failed to start docker.service: Unit not found.

Extra information:

$ journalctl -u docker
No journal files were found.
-- No entries --

$ cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/docker.service
[Unit]
Description=Docker Application Container Engine
Documentation=http://docs.docker.com
After=network.target
Wants=docker-storage-setup.service
Requires=rhel-push-plugin.socket
Requires=docker-cleanup.timer

[Service]
Type=notify
NotifyAccess=all
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/docker
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/docker-storage
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/docker-network
Environment=GOTRACEBACK=crash
Environment=DOCKER_HTTP_HOST_COMPAT=1
Environment=PATH=/usr/libexec/docker:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dockerd-current \
          --add-runtime docker-runc=/usr/libexec/docker/docker-runc-current \
          --default-runtime=docker-runc \
          --authorization-plugin=rhel-push-plugin \
          --exec-opt native.cgroupdriver=systemd \
          --userland-proxy-path=/usr/libexec/docker/docker-proxy-current \
          $OPTIONS \
          $DOCKER_STORAGE_OPTIONS \
          $DOCKER_NETWORK_OPTIONS \
          $ADD_REGISTRY \
          $BLOCK_REGISTRY \
          $INSECURE_REGISTRY
ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
LimitNOFILE=1048576
LimitNPROC=1048576
LimitCORE=infinity
TimeoutStartSec=0
Restart=on-abnormal
MountFlags=slave

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

I tried the following:

$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl start docker
Failed to start docker.service: Unit not found.
$ sudo journalctl -u docker
-- No entries --

More debug information:

$ sudo systemctl status network.target
● network.target - Network
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/network.target; static; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active since Mon 2017-01-23 02:54:39 PST; 2 months 29 days ago
     Docs: man:systemd.special(7)
           http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/NetworkTarget

Jan 23 02:54:39 mymachine systemd[1]: Starting Network.
Jan 23 02:54:39 mymachine systemd[1]: Reached target Network.

$ sudo systemctl status docker-storage-setup.service
● docker-storage-setup.service - Docker Storage Setup
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker-storage-setup.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)

$ sudo systemctl status rhel-push-plugin.socket
Unit rhel-push-plugin.socket could not be found.

$ sudo systemctl status docker-cleanup.timer
● docker-cleanup.timer - Run docker-cleanup every hour
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/docker-cleanup.timer; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)

Have you run `sudo systemctl daemon-reload`? If not, please do so and retry the `sudo systemctl start docker` and `sudo journalctl -u docker` if there are any errors. — BMitch, Apr 23 '17 at 19:43
Check your other dependent units with a `sudo systemctl status $x` for network.target, docker-storage-setup.service, rhel-push-plugin.socket, and docker-cleanup.timer. — BMitch, Apr 23 '17 at 19:49
If there is any chance you installed `docker-latest` that would be, what blocked me. — Huge, Jan 09 '19 at 16:50

score 59 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 18 '20 at 09:30

59

Run this command to list all the services:

sudo systemctl list-units --type=service

Look for the correct Docker service name (in my case it is snap.docker.dockerd.service) then run:

sudo systemctl restart snap.docker.dockerd.service

answered Dec 18 '20 at 09:30

iNSiDER

599
4
2

2

I don't know why this solution has a low rating. Works for me. Cheers – Sarz Jan 25 '21 at 19:55
Worked for me! Mine was just called `docker` rather than `dockerd` (what I was originally trying) – joe Mar 01 '21 at 02:24
This deserves higher rating indeed – user3107338 Apr 14 '22 at 04:26
4

`sudo systemctl list-units --type=service | grep "docker"` will display only results with docker. – RubyRube Apr 15 '22 at 08:16

score 43 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 10 '20 at 16:18

43

In case someone has installed docker using snap, they can start the service using

sudo snap status docker #check the status
sudo snap start docker # start the service

answered Sep 10 '20 at 16:18

Amarjit Dhillon

2,718
3
23
62

1

This should be the accepted answer. Thanks Amarjit! – Abhinav Sharma Jan 13 '21 at 18:40
8

for the first command it says - error: unknown command "status", see 'snap help'. – Gautam Feb 02 '22 at 05:34
this command works in ubuntu 20 LTS: sudo snap start docker # start the service – Luis Estrada Feb 20 '22 at 06:23
@LuisEstrada is there any command to check Docker status in 22.04.1 LTS – deltanboi Nov 30 '22 at 09:58
@deltanboi same as above: sudo snap status docker – Luis Estrada Nov 30 '22 at 14:19
3

error: unknown command "status", see 'snap help'. – Ice Bear Mar 23 '23 at 09:40

BMitch · Answer 3 · 2020-11-20T14:12:04.887

It looks like you're missing the rhel-push-plugin.socket unit which is presumably part of a rhel-push-plugin package. You can try fixing that install, or you can install the upstream Docker package directly from Docker with the following as root:

curl -sSL https://get.docker.com/ | sh

Or more appropriately following the CentOS install guide from Docker. (The CentOS install tends to work on even a RHEL system when you have a supported version, which until the recent 20.10 release did not include CentOS 8 or RHEL 8.)

The upstream Docker install will be a more recent version of Docker, but it will not have the various RHEL modifications like the rhel-push-plugin.

score 25 · Answer 4 · edited Dec 06 '20 at 17:09

25

Use the following command if your OS is Ubuntu, it will install Docker successfully:

apt install docker.io

edited Dec 06 '20 at 17:09

Franco

669
2
8
23

answered Dec 06 '20 at 07:51

Sreenivas Dharmarajula

269
3
2

1

Installed with this command however docker.service is still not running. – Reza Taba Aug 08 '21 at 21:59
3

After wasting almost a day, this worked for me. Thanks for this. I think part of the issue is that I was using the Docker Desktop in Ubuntu. – Amila Fonseka Oct 22 '22 at 12:28
worked for me, had to add sudo though – Khuram Niaz Jan 04 '23 at 17:35

Toby 1 Kenobi · Answer 5 · 2021-10-11T11:58:00.737

if you have installed docker with snap you can check the status of the daemon like this:

sudo snap services docker

If the current column shows inactive then it's not running. Try starting it with this:

sudo snap start docker

Check the service again, if it's still not running after that you can check the logs:

sudo snap logs docker

which might give more hints on what's stopping it from running

For me, I had an error saying that docker could not create a symlink in /etc/docker/ because another file was in the way. Emptying the directory was not enough due to a known bug in the docker snap. The work-around was to delete the directory then refresh the snap (see https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/layouts-still-brittle-when-refreshing-snaps/26252/2)

sudo rm -rf /etc/docker
sudo snap refresh

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 06 '23 at 09:52

2

Try to run this command - sudo apt-get install containerd.io docker-ce

It will install containerd runtime and some dependencies for docker.service

Then try to run - sudo systemctl list-units --type=service | grep "docker" You will see docker.service is available

then check status- sudo service docker status

And you're good to go!

answered Jun 06 '23 at 09:52

Omkar Kulkarni

39
2

you saved my life. thanks :) – Tábata Baesso Jun 24 '23 at 18:09
1

Hi @TábataBaesso Glad you help! In some cases of Docker Desktop `Containerd` is not installed that's why these steps are mandatory :) – Omkar Kulkarni Jun 25 '23 at 02:33

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 06 '22 at 17:42

1

I worked around the issue by simply doing the following:

$ sudo apt-get purge containerd.io docker-ce
$ rm -rf /var/lib/containerd
[reboot]
$ sudo apt-get install containerd.io docker-ce

answered Aug 06 '22 at 17:42

emre avci

11
2

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Jan 01 '20 at 07:27

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECS/latest/developerguide/docker-basics.html

Note

In some cases, you may need to reboot your instance to provide permissions for the ec2-user to access the Docker daemon. Try rebooting your instance if you see the following error:

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered May 15 '23 at 16:29

-1

In Ubuntu, the following command works for me:

sudo apt install docker.io

answered May 15 '23 at 16:29

Welemhret

44
5

Please explain why this will help. Also, please read [how to answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer) – pierpy May 21 '23 at 08:27

score -5 · Answer 10 · edited Aug 01 '18 at 18:57

-5

Try installing Docker as root (sudo):

sudo yum install docker

See Installation on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

edited Aug 01 '18 at 18:57

Peter Mortensen

30,738
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answered Apr 23 '17 at 17:47

Siva

3
1

It was installed with root only. – Apr 23 '17 at 19:25

Unable to start Docker service with error "Failed to start docker.service: Unit not found."

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