I’m trying to move a server from window to Ubuntu so so I can learn some linux and start hosting some docker containers. The machine used to be window server, and is not Ubuntu 24.04. I’ve installed docker desktop following the guide. After Install docker desktop GUI does not open, no errors. I can see in System Monitor that after I click the icon a bunch of Docker Desktop services start up. But the UI does not open.
I’ve been googling and trying things for several hours with no notable changes in behavior.
Verified I have the most current version 4.51, which is documented as supporting 24.04
installed docker-ce, ran docker run hello-world successfully
checking systemctl --user status docker-desktop
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/docker-desktop.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2025-11-19 16:34:07 MST; 25min ago
[main.modules][W] unmarshalling modules manifest: Get "htXXtps://desktop.docker.com>ling modules manifest: Get “htXXtps://desktop.docker.com/modules/4.51/modules.json”: context deadline exceeded
[main.modules][W] fetching modules info: Get "htXXtps://desktop.docker.com/modules/modules info: Get “htXXtps://desktop.docker.com/modules/4.51/modules.json”: context deadline exceeded
I am able to open the url without issue in fire fox, google doesn’t return anything when looking for that error.
As a new user I’m limited to 2 link is a post, so i add XX to break those urls so the forum wouldn’t pick them up.
systemctl --user start docker-desktop and force-reload
frequent log off/on occasional reboots
add "disableHardwareAcceleration": true to ~/.docker/desktop/settings-store.json
Just about everything I find when googling is about the security change issue which was addressed in 4.35
from the command line. If it doesn’t work, try docker desktop stop first and then start again.
If that still doesn’t work, please, show the output of
docker info
and
docker version
But remove any private info from the output before sharing like userames or IP address you want to keep private.
If you use code blocks for the error message as well, you don’t need to change the URLs and we can see what the actual URLs were. But if there is a context deadline exceeded error message, it could be a networking issue, which is often caused by proxies or VPNs even if the connection works from the same host. In this case I don’T know why it would happen.
I’d been messing about trying things so I did a re-install.
Directly after the re-install I ran “docker desktop start”, after a bit I could see the services start, but the command never finished. I let it run for 15 min, and it never said anything other than “Starting Docker Desktop”. ctrl+z
“docker info” just sat there like it was locked, no result for 3 min, ctrl+z
“docker version” just sat there like it was locked, no result for 3 min, ctrl+z
Just to see what would happen, I later ran start again, instantly said Docker Desktop was already running. I tired clicking the icon to open the app, nothing. I ran stop, no result after 3 min. I let it sit for a few hours, no change in behavior.
I’ve uninstalled 4.51 with “sudo apt remove --autoremove docker-desktop”.
I then installed 4.40 and it worked without issue.
Played around a bit. The most recent version that works without issue is 4.50