Docker Desktop Started Failing to Start for Windows Containers

Docker Desktop for Windows
1

I’ve been running & using Docker Desktop 4.18 daily for some time. After restarting my machine on 4/12, I started seeing the following error when Docker Desktop tries to start:

Docker.Core.HttpBadResponseException:
no response content
   at Docker.Core.GoBackend.GoBackendClient.<PostNoBodyWithError>d__21.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.Core\GoBackend\GoBackendClient.cs:line 228
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.Engines.WindowsContainersEngine.<DoStartAsync>d__10.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.Engines\WindowsContainersEngine.cs:line 50
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.TaskExtensions.<WrapAsyncInCancellationException>d__0.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\TaskExtensions.cs:line 29
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.StartTransition.<DoRunAsync>d__7.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\StartTransition.cs:line 79
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.StartTransition.<DoRunAsync>d__7.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\StartTransition.cs:line 108
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.ApiServices.StateMachines.EngineStateMachine.<StartAsync>d__17.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.ApiServices\StateMachines\EngineStateMachine.cs:line 97
--- End of stack trace from previous location where exception was thrown ---
   at System.Runtime.ExceptionServices.ExceptionDispatchInfo.Throw()
   at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
   at Docker.Engines.Engines.<StartAsync>d__24.MoveNext() in C:\workspaces\PR-21378\src\github.com\docker\pinata\win\src\Docker.Engines\Engines.cs:line 124

I’ve tried:

  • Uninstalling and reinstalling both WSL and Docker Desktop
  • Upgrading WSL to latest pre-release 1.2.2

But haven’t had any luck. I’ve found that Linux containers work but switching to Windows containers always results in the above.

There seem to be recent reports of similar issues from the GitHub repo issues: Docker 4.18 Fails to Start After Latest WSL Update · Issue #13391 · docker/for-win · GitHub

It tried a suggestion to upgrade WSL to pre-release there but as mentioned this didn’t work.

Versions:
WSL 1.2.0.0 & (tried 1.2.2.0)
Docker Desktop 4.18
Windows Version 10.0.22621 Build 22621

Has anyone run into this and are there any suggestions to unblock? Thanks!

3 Likes
2

Same issue, came up recently.

1 Like
3

Same issue, happened on
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045

Docker Desktop 4.18.0

4

I reverted back to an older version of docker desktop (specifically 4.15.0, no particular reason for this one, just wanted to go back to a working one). It started working, so if the new updates are not important one can go back to the previous version.

1 Like
5

@utkarshbajaj Thanks for the note! I can confirm things work for me too by reverting back to 4.17.1. But it seems Docker Desktop tries to auto-upgrade to 4.18 and I repro the issue on restart.

It looks like the only workaround is to uninstall and revert back to < 4.18.

1 Like
6

Same issue. Happened on Windows 11. After I reverted back to 4.17.1, it can switch to windows container. However, Docker Desktop will always auto-upgrade to 4.18.0. Disabling auto-upgrade cannot work.