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[GH-ISSUE #168] Unhelpful error message when Docker is not running #110

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opened 2026-03-01 21:40:13 +03:00 by kerem · 7 comments

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:13 +03:00

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Originally created by @MaxDesiatov on GitHub (Mar 21, 2020).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/168

On macOS, when Docker is not running the error message doesn't say anything about the status of the Docker daemon. With the latest version of act installed via Homebrew the error message is:

% act
[Main/check-labels] 🚀  Start image=node:12.6-buster-slim
Error: unable to determine if image already exists for image "node:12.6-buster-slim"

The action runs normally when Docker is running, it took some time to diagnose this though. I would expect the error message to mention that the connection to the Docker daemon was not established, with a suggestion to start or to install it with a link to Docker installation instructions appropriate for the platform.

Originally created by @MaxDesiatov on GitHub (Mar 21, 2020). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/168 On macOS, when Docker is not running the error message doesn't say anything about the status of the Docker daemon. With the latest version of `act` installed via Homebrew the error message is: ``` % act [Main/check-labels] 🚀 Start image=node:12.6-buster-slim Error: unable to determine if image already exists for image "node:12.6-buster-slim" ``` The action runs normally when Docker is running, it took some time to diagnose this though. I would expect the error message to mention that the connection to the Docker daemon was not established, with a suggestion to start or to install it with a link to Docker installation instructions appropriate for the platform.

kerem

2026-03-01 21:40:13 +03:00

closed this issue
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kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@jarektkaczyk commented on GitHub (Mar 22, 2020):

2nd that, just got here with the same symptoms
thanks @MaxDesiatov for posting, helped me resolve mine quickly

@jarektkaczyk commented on GitHub (Mar 22, 2020): 2nd that, just got here with the same symptoms thanks @MaxDesiatov for posting, helped me resolve mine quickly

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@jbeveland27 commented on GitHub (Mar 23, 2020):

Same experience here. Additionally, I think it might be helpful to indicate in the README that Docker is both required to be installed locally and running for this to work.

Thanks to @MaxDesiatov for posting!

@jbeveland27 commented on GitHub (Mar 23, 2020): Same experience here. Additionally, I think it might be helpful to indicate in the README that Docker is both required to be installed locally and running for this to work. Thanks to @MaxDesiatov for posting!

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@chrisluedtke commented on GitHub (Mar 26, 2020):

Not macOS, but I also saw this message and I needed to sudo act.

Installed via:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nektos/act/master/install.sh | sudo bash

Other details:

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 19.10
Release:	19.10
Codename:	eoan

$ docker --version
Docker version 19.03.8, build afacb8b7f0

@chrisluedtke commented on GitHub (Mar 26, 2020): Not macOS, but I also saw this message and I needed to `sudo act`. Installed via: ``` curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nektos/act/master/install.sh | sudo bash ``` Other details: ``` $ lsb_release -a No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Ubuntu Description: Ubuntu 19.10 Release: 19.10 Codename: eoan $ docker --version Docker version 19.03.8, build afacb8b7f0 ```

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@AdrianoCahete commented on GitHub (Mar 30, 2020):

Same on Windows 10.

@AdrianoCahete commented on GitHub (Mar 30, 2020): Same on Windows 10.

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@neilswinton commented on GitHub (Apr 15, 2020):

I'm seeing this while running inside in a container. In my container, docker is exposed using TCP port 2375. The code seems to look for /var/run/docker.sock even when DOCKER_HOST=host.docker.internal:2375. Since there's no /var/run/docker.sock the listing of images fails along with all other access to docker. Docker commands succeed because they honor DOCKER_HOST. I realize this is not a mainstream issue...

@neilswinton commented on GitHub (Apr 15, 2020): I'm seeing this while running inside in a container. In my container, docker is exposed using TCP port 2375. The code seems to look for /var/run/docker.sock even when DOCKER_HOST=host.docker.internal:2375. Since there's no /var/run/docker.sock the listing of images fails along with all other access to docker. Docker commands succeed because they honor DOCKER_HOST. I realize this is not a mainstream issue...

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@cplee commented on GitHub (Apr 23, 2020):

fixed by github.com/nektos/act@6c4e7b9fde

@cplee commented on GitHub (Apr 23, 2020): fixed by https://github.com/nektos/act/commit/6c4e7b9fdedeeeb1eda78cefaff55750033d1327

kerem commented

2026-03-01 21:40:14 +03:00

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@kiptoomm commented on GitHub (Aug 16, 2020):

For anyone like me who was still getting this error message, ensure docker is installed and running

@kiptoomm commented on GitHub (Aug 16, 2020): For anyone like me who was still getting this error message, ensure [docker is installed and running](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40523307/brew-install-docker-does-not-include-docker-engine)

kerem referenced this issue

2026-03-01 21:50:49 +03:00

[PR #111] [MERGED] fix #110 - support path in action #1355

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