Docker - Desktop only launching with 'systemctl --user restart'

Docker Desktop
1

HI,
I’m running on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
I’ve installed Docker which seems to run fine.
Installed the latest version of Docker-Desktop (4.33) (did the necessary sudo sysctl -w kernel.apparmor_restrict_unprivileged_userns=0) and the only way to start it is to run ‘systemctl --user restart docker-desktop’ not even ‘systemctl --user start docker-desktop’ works, it seems to be running on the background. Clicking the app doesn’t work. It seems to work fine once launched though.

2

Not sure about the error you’re experiencing but if you’re using Linux you should not use Docker Desktop, but Docker Engine instead.

Docker Desktop sets up a Linux VM and runs Docker Engine within it, it was made for other operating systems, not Linux

3

Ok yeah sorry I’m really new to it. So I just use the Docker extension on vscode to have a graphic representation of the containers etc. and forget abhout Docker Desktop?

4

Yes, but make sure to uninstall it correctly, having both installed can get you in a world of pain

5

Actually it was originally made for other operating systems, but now it is supported on Linux as well for a long time now. I would not use it either on Linux, but that’s just me. It is just important to use supported operating systems and Ubuntu 24.04 is not yet supported. It is very clearly stated in the installation guide, yet people still upgrade Ubuntu without making sure everything supports the new OS or upgrade Docker Desktop and comment in the GitHub issue saying “it still doesn’t work with the new Docker Desktop”.

You either use a supported OS or use Docker CE as suggested by @deanayalon. For GUI, you can use an IDE or Portainer. Just never rely heavily on it. It is much much easier to copy paste something from a tutorial for debugging or creating a container than reproducing it based on screenshots. Not to mention when asking for help. Use Docker Desktop when you need its features like Docker Desktop extensions or anything that comes only with the Desktop.

Regarding having both Docker CE and Docker Desktop installed: It is possible and if you understand how both work, managable, but I don’t recommend it either for a beginner, because then it indeed could be