Docker client under WSL2 doesn't work without sudo

Question

On WSL2 (Ubuntu 20.04), I'm trying to connect to the Docker daemon that's running on Windows.

$ docker ps
Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at tcp://localhost:2375. Is the docker daemon running?
(exit code 1)

$ sudo docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE               COMMAND             CREATED             STATUS              PORTS               NAMES
(exit code 0)

Why does it work with sudo, but not without sudo? How can I make it work without sudo?

I have done

$ sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

which ran successfully, but didn't help with the issue.

I have also restarted everything many times, which didn't help.

reflectorfaculty · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-07 00:57:56Z

34

Weird solution for this one - but go ahead and try:

unset DOCKER_HOST

And if that works, you can make the fix permanent by going back and commenting out the "export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://localhost:2375" in your .bashrc file. I think it has something to do with how docker is configured in WSL 2 vs. WSL 1, but Docker never updated their documentation to reflect this.

answered Dec 7, 2020 at 0:57

reflectorfaculty

3563 silver badges3 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

Prof. Legolasov Over a year ago

I didn’t expect this to work at first but somehow it solved the issue. Thanks for your help!

Marcus Over a year ago

This was unexpected, saved me a lot of hassle, thanks!.

rob2universe Over a year ago

the solution to unset it works, but it is not set in .bashrc. Any other clues where it may be set?

Thumpers Over a year ago

try ~/.bash_aliases

Charlie Large Over a year ago

I just needed to close and reopen my terminal after verifying my user was in docker group

Tarun Kumar · Accepted Answer · 2023-01-23 11:11:42Z

15

For me below commands worked (execute them in order)

sudo addgroup --system docker
sudo adduser $USER docker
newgrp docker
# And something needs to be done so $USER always runs in group `docker` on the `Ubuntu` WSL
sudo chown root:docker /var/run/docker.sock
sudo chmod g+w /var/run/docker.sock

Reference : https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop/issues/1156#issuecomment-1017042882

answered Jan 23, 2023 at 11:11

Tarun Kumar

9151 gold badge10 silver badges19 bronze badges

Comments

BusyChild77 · Accepted Answer · 2024-01-02 13:36:12Z

5

For those who want to know a bit more about why the client doesn't work initially without sudo :

The Docker daemon binds to a Unix socket, not a TCP port. By default it's the root user that owns the Unix socket, and other users can only access it using sudo. The Docker daemon always runs as the root user.

Try the following commands:

 sudo groupadd docker
 sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
 newgrp docker

Source and solution : https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/

answered Jan 2, 2024 at 13:36

BusyChild77

1561 silver badge10 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Docker client under WSL2 doesn't work without sudo

3 Answers 3

5 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

5 Comments

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related