Not able to execute the docker compose and up a docker compose in the startup script of a GCP vm

Question

This below start up script doesn't result in Kafka containers running when I check using "docker ps -a".

              #!/bin/bash
              sudo apt update
              sudo apt install -y docker.io
              sudo curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/latest/download/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
              sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
              sudo git clone https://github.com/XXXXX/Nodejs_Kafka.git  /home/XXXX/app 
              sudo mv /home/XXXXX/app/docker-compose.yml /home/XXXXXXX/docker-compose.yml
              sudo cd /home/XXXXXX
              sudo docker-compose up -d

I tried using a nodejs client library and then using it to create a GCP VM giving all the necessary details and in the metadata section I gave this script. I cloned a repo to get a docker-compose file and moved to home directory. But whenever I login to the vm by ssh and then try to see the containers by giving "docker ps -a" , no containers are ever created , which means the docker compose never ran.

As @Puteri mentioned, if executed on bash one by one after ssh, it 100 % works.

Does the script works if you run it in the VM? (not as an startup script) — Puteri, Jun 08 '23 at 05:58
When the startup script run, it is ran as root user. the SUDO should not work in your case (you are already SU!) Try without SUDO! — guillaume blaquiere, Jun 08 '23 at 07:32

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 09 '23 at 18:26

OK the sudo was really indeed not required. And as to the answer to my question, i found that the docker compose yaml file being having 9 containers , it was taking its own time to be up. After 4-5 mins when i checked randomly , i suddenly found it to be there, all up. Kudos

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '23 at 13:10

Below troubleshooting steps will help you in resolving the issue:

1.As @puteri mentioned, check if the script is running when you manually run on the VM and before that check for any errors in the logs.

2.For better lifetime management by writing out a systemd unit (together with the bash script) with restart=true and just enable/start the unit during the boot process.

3.As @guillaume mentioned, try to run without sudo or switch to a non-root user in the script.

4.You can also try running a docker container in the detached process as suggested by the community member Sim in the SO post.

For more troubleshooting you can follow this document.

thanks but i will answer my own question since the fix was somethign else — Lithin, Jun 09 '23 at 18:23

Not able to execute the docker compose and up a docker compose in the startup script of a GCP vm

2 Answers2