---
description: Troubleshooting the Rootless mode
keywords: security, namespaces, rootless, troubleshooting
title: Troubleshooting
weight: 30
---

### Distribution-specific hint

{{< tabs >}}
{{< tab name="Ubuntu" >}}
- Ubuntu 24.04 and later enables restricted unprivileged user namespaces by
  default, which prevents unprivileged processes in creating user namespaces
  unless an AppArmor profile is configured to allow programs to use
  unprivileged user namespaces.

  If you install `docker-ce-rootless-extras` using the deb package (`apt-get
  install docker-ce-rootless-extras`), then the AppArmor profile for
  `rootlesskit` is already bundled with the `apparmor` deb package. With this
  installation method, you don't need to add any manual the AppArmor
  configuration. If you install the rootless extras using the [installation
  script](https://get.docker.com/rootless), however, you must add an AppArmor
  profile for `rootlesskit` manually:

  1. Create and install the currently logged-in user's AppArmor profile:

     ```console
     $ filename=$(echo $HOME/bin/rootlesskit | sed -e 's@^/@@' -e 's@/@.@g')
     $ [ ! -z "${filename}" ] && sudo cat <<EOF > /etc/apparmor.d/${filename}
     abi <abi/4.0>,
     include <tunables/global>

     "$HOME/bin/rootlesskit" flags=(unconfined) {
       userns,

       include if exists <local/${filename}>
     }
     EOF
     ```
  2. Restart AppArmor.

     ```console
     $ systemctl restart apparmor.service
     ```

{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab name="Arch Linux" >}}
- Add `kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1` to `/etc/sysctl.conf` (or
  `/etc/sysctl.d`) and run `sudo sysctl --system`
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab name="openSUSE and SLES" >}}
- `sudo modprobe ip_tables iptable_mangle iptable_nat iptable_filter` is required.
  This might be required on other distributions as well depending on the configuration.

- Known to work on openSUSE 15 and SLES 15.
{{< /tab >}}
{{< tab name="CentOS, RHEL, and Fedora" >}}
- For RHEL 8 and similar distributions, installing `fuse-overlayfs` is recommended. Run `sudo dnf install -y fuse-overlayfs`.
  This step is not required on RHEL 9 and similar distributions.

- You might need `sudo dnf install -y iptables`.
{{< /tab >}}
{{< /tabs >}}

## Known limitations

- Only the following storage drivers are supported:
  - `overlay2` (only if running with kernel 5.11 or later)
  - `fuse-overlayfs` (only if running with kernel 4.18 or later, and `fuse-overlayfs` is installed)
  - `btrfs` (only if running with kernel 4.18 or later, or `~/.local/share/docker` is mounted with `user_subvol_rm_allowed` mount option)
  - `vfs`
- cgroup is supported only when running with cgroup v2 and systemd. See [Limiting resources](./tips.md#limiting-resources).
- Following features are not supported:
  - AppArmor
  - Checkpoint
  - Overlay network
  - Exposing SCTP ports
- To use the `ping` command, see [Routing ping packets](./tips.md#routing-ping-packets).
- To expose privileged TCP/UDP ports (< 1024), see [Exposing privileged ports](./tips.md#exposing-privileged-ports).
- `IPAddress` shown in `docker inspect` is namespaced inside RootlessKit's network namespace.
  This means the IP address is not reachable from the host without `nsenter`-ing into the network namespace.
- Host network (`docker run --net=host`) is also namespaced inside RootlessKit.
- NFS mounts as the docker "data-root" is not supported. This limitation is not specific to rootless mode.

## Troubleshooting

### Unable to install with systemd when systemd is present on the system

``` console
$ dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install
[INFO] systemd not detected, dockerd-rootless.sh needs to be started manually:
...
```
`rootlesskit` cannot detect systemd properly if you switch to your user via `sudo su`. For users which cannot be logged-in, you must use the `machinectl` command which is part of the `systemd-container` package. After installing `systemd-container` switch to `myuser` with the following command:
``` console
$ sudo machinectl shell myuser@
```
Where `myuser@` is your desired username and @ signifies this machine.

### Errors when starting the Docker daemon

**\[rootlesskit:parent\] error: failed to start the child: fork/exec /proc/self/exe: operation not permitted**

This error occurs mostly when the value of `/proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone` is set to 0:

```console
$ cat /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_userns_clone
0
```

To fix this issue, add  `kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1` to
`/etc/sysctl.conf` (or `/etc/sysctl.d`) and run `sudo sysctl --system`.

**\[rootlesskit:parent\] error: failed to start the child: fork/exec /proc/self/exe: no space left on device**

This error occurs mostly when the value of `/proc/sys/user/max_user_namespaces` is too small:

```console
$ cat /proc/sys/user/max_user_namespaces
0
```

To fix this issue, add  `user.max_user_namespaces=28633` to
`/etc/sysctl.conf` (or `/etc/sysctl.d`) and run `sudo sysctl --system`.

**\[rootlesskit:parent\] error: failed to setup UID/GID map: failed to compute uid/gid map: No subuid ranges found for user 1001 ("testuser")**

This error occurs when `/etc/subuid` and `/etc/subgid` are not configured. See [Prerequisites](./_index.md#prerequisites).

**could not get XDG_RUNTIME_DIR**

This error occurs when `$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` is not set.

On a non-systemd host, you need to create a directory and then set the path:

```console
$ export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME/.docker/xrd
$ rm -rf $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
$ mkdir -p $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
$ dockerd-rootless.sh
```

> [!NOTE]
>
> You must remove the directory every time you log out.

On a systemd host, log into the host using `pam_systemd` (see below).
The value is automatically set to `/run/user/$UID` and cleaned up on every logout.

**`systemctl --user` fails with "Failed to connect to bus: No such file or directory"**

This error occurs mostly when you switch from the root user to a non-root user with `sudo`:

```console
# sudo -iu testuser
$ systemctl --user start docker
Failed to connect to bus: No such file or directory
```

Instead of `sudo -iu <USERNAME>`, you need to log in using `pam_systemd`. For example:

- Log in through the graphic console
- `ssh <USERNAME>@localhost`
- `machinectl shell <USERNAME>@`

**The daemon does not start up automatically**

You need `sudo loginctl enable-linger $(whoami)` to enable the daemon to start
up automatically. See [Advanced Usage](./tips.md/#advanced-usage).

### `docker pull` errors

**docker: failed to register layer: Error processing tar file(exit status 1): lchown &lt;FILE&gt;: invalid argument**

This error occurs when the number of available entries in `/etc/subuid` or
`/etc/subgid` is not sufficient. The number of entries required vary across
images. However, 65,536 entries are sufficient for most images. See
[Prerequisites](./_index.md#prerequisites).

**docker: failed to register layer: ApplyLayer exit status 1 stdout:  stderr: lchown &lt;FILE&gt;: operation not permitted**

This error occurs mostly when `~/.local/share/docker` is located on NFS.

A workaround is to specify non-NFS `data-root` directory in `~/.config/docker/daemon.json` as follows:
```json
{"data-root":"/somewhere-out-of-nfs"}
```

### `docker run` errors

**docker: Error response from daemon: OCI runtime create failed: ...: read unix @-&gt;/run/systemd/private: read: connection reset by peer: unknown.**

This error occurs on cgroup v2 hosts mostly when the dbus daemon is not running for the user.

```console
$ systemctl --user is-active dbus
inactive

$ docker run hello-world
docker: Error response from daemon: OCI runtime create failed: container_linux.go:380: starting container process caused: process_linux.go:385: applying cgroup configuration for process caused: error while starting unit "docker
-931c15729b5a968ce803784d04c7421f791d87e5ca1891f34387bb9f694c488e.scope" with properties [{Name:Description Value:"libcontainer container 931c15729b5a968ce803784d04c7421f791d87e5ca1891f34387bb9f694c488e"} {Name:Slice Value:"use
r.slice"} {Name:PIDs Value:@au [4529]} {Name:Delegate Value:true} {Name:MemoryAccounting Value:true} {Name:CPUAccounting Value:true} {Name:IOAccounting Value:true} {Name:TasksAccounting Value:true} {Name:DefaultDependencies Val
ue:false}]: read unix @->/run/systemd/private: read: connection reset by peer: unknown.
```

To fix the issue, run `sudo apt-get install -y dbus-user-session` or `sudo dnf install -y dbus-daemon`, and then relogin.

If the error still occurs, try running `systemctl --user enable --now dbus` (without sudo).

**`--cpus`, `--memory`, and `--pids-limit` are ignored**

This is an expected behavior on cgroup v1 mode.
To use these flags, the host needs to be configured for enabling cgroup v2.
For more information, see [Limiting resources](./tips.md#limiting-resources).

### Networking errors

This section provides troubleshooting tips for networking in rootless mode.

Networking in rootless mode is supported via network and port drivers in
RootlessKit. Network performance and characteristics depend on the combination
of network and port driver you use. If you're experiencing unexpected behavior
or performance related to networking, review the following table which shows
the configurations supported by RootlessKit, and how they compare:

| Network driver | Port driver    | Net throughput | Port throughput | Source IP propagation | No SUID | Note                                                                         |
| -------------- | -------------- | -------------- | --------------- | --------------------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `slirp4netns`  | `builtin`      | Slow           | Fast ✅         | ❌                    | ✅      | Default in a typical setup                                                   |
| `vpnkit`       | `builtin`      | Slow           | Fast ✅         | ❌                    | ✅      | Default when `slirp4netns` isn't installed                                   |
| `slirp4netns`  | `slirp4netns`  | Slow           | Slow            | ✅                    | ✅      |                                                                              |
| `pasta`        | `implicit`     | Slow           | Fast ✅         | ✅                    | ✅      | Experimental; Needs pasta version 2023_12_04 or later                        |
| `lxc-user-nic` | `builtin`      | Fast ✅        | Fast ✅         | ❌                    | ❌      | Experimental                                                                 |
| `bypass4netns` | `bypass4netns` | Fast ✅        | Fast ✅         | ✅                    | ✅      | **Note:** Not integrated to RootlessKit as it needs a custom seccomp profile |

For information about troubleshooting specific networking issues, see:

- [`docker run -p` fails with `cannot expose privileged port`](#docker-run--p-fails-with-cannot-expose-privileged-port)
- [Ping doesn't work](#ping-doesnt-work)
- [`IPAddress` shown in `docker inspect` is unreachable](#ipaddress-shown-in-docker-inspect-is-unreachable)
- [`--net=host` doesn't listen ports on the host network namespace](#--nethost-doesnt-listen-ports-on-the-host-network-namespace)
- [Network is slow](#network-is-slow)
- [`docker run -p` does not propagate source IP addresses](#docker-run--p-does-not-propagate-source-ip-addresses)

#### `docker run -p` fails with `cannot expose privileged port`

`docker run -p` fails with this error when a privileged port (< 1024) is specified as the host port.

```console
$ docker run -p 80:80 nginx:alpine
docker: Error response from daemon: driver failed programming external connectivity on endpoint focused_swanson (9e2e139a9d8fc92b37c36edfa6214a6e986fa2028c0cc359812f685173fa6df7): Error starting userland proxy: error while calling PortManager.AddPort(): cannot expose privileged port 80, you might need to add "net.ipv4.ip_unprivileged_port_start=0" (currently 1024) to /etc/sysctl.conf, or set CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE on rootlesskit binary, or choose a larger port number (>= 1024): listen tcp 0.0.0.0:80: bind: permission denied.
```

When you experience this error, consider using an unprivileged port instead. For example, 8080 instead of 80.

```console
$ docker run -p 8080:80 nginx:alpine
```

To allow exposing privileged ports, see [Exposing privileged ports](./tips.md#exposing-privileged-ports).

#### Ping doesn't work

Ping does not work when `/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ping_group_range` is set to `1 0`:

```console
$ cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ping_group_range
1       0
```

For details, see [Routing ping packets](./tips.md#routing-ping-packets).

#### `IPAddress` shown in `docker inspect` is unreachable

This is an expected behavior, as the daemon is namespaced inside RootlessKit's
network namespace. Use `docker run -p` instead.

#### `--net=host` doesn't listen ports on the host network namespace

This is an expected behavior, as the daemon is namespaced inside RootlessKit's
network namespace. Use `docker run -p` instead.

#### Network is slow

Docker with rootless mode uses [slirp4netns](https://github.com/rootless-containers/slirp4netns) as the default network stack if slirp4netns v0.4.0 or later is installed.
If slirp4netns is not installed, Docker falls back to [VPNKit](https://github.com/moby/vpnkit).
Installing slirp4netns may improve the network throughput.

For more information about network drivers for RootlessKit, see
[RootlessKit documentation](https://github.com/rootless-containers/rootlesskit/blob/v2.0.0/docs/network.md).

Also, changing MTU value may improve the throughput.
The MTU value can be specified by creating `~/.config/systemd/user/docker.service.d/override.conf` with the following content:

```systemd
[Service]
Environment="DOCKERD_ROOTLESS_ROOTLESSKIT_MTU=<INTEGER>"
```

And then restart the daemon:
```console
$ systemctl --user daemon-reload
$ systemctl --user restart docker
```

#### `docker run -p` does not propagate source IP addresses

This is because Docker in rootless mode uses RootlessKit's `builtin` port
driver by default, which doesn't support source IP propagation. To enable
source IP propagation, you can:

- Use the `slirp4netns` RootlessKit port driver
- Use the `pasta` RootlessKit network driver, with the `implicit` port driver

The `pasta` network driver is experimental, but provides improved throughput
performance compared to the `slirp4netns` port driver. The `pasta` driver
requires Docker Engine version 25.0 or later.

To change the RootlessKit networking configuration:

1. Create a file at `~/.config/systemd/user/docker.service.d/override.conf`.
2. Add the following contents, depending on which configuration you would like to use:

   - `slirp4netns`

      ```systemd
      [Service]
      Environment="DOCKERD_ROOTLESS_ROOTLESSKIT_NET=slirp4netns"
      Environment="DOCKERD_ROOTLESS_ROOTLESSKIT_PORT_DRIVER=slirp4netns"
      ```

   - `pasta` network driver with `implicit` port driver

      ```systemd
      [Service]
      Environment="DOCKERD_ROOTLESS_ROOTLESSKIT_NET=pasta"
      Environment="DOCKERD_ROOTLESS_ROOTLESSKIT_PORT_DRIVER=implicit"
      ```

3. Restart the daemon:

   ```console
   $ systemctl --user daemon-reload
   $ systemctl --user restart docker
   ```

For more information about networking options for RootlessKit, see:

- [Network drivers](https://github.com/rootless-containers/rootlesskit/blob/v2.0.0/docs/network.md)
- [Port drivers](https://github.com/rootless-containers/rootlesskit/blob/v2.0.0/docs/port.md)

### Tips for debugging

**Entering into `dockerd` namespaces**

The `dockerd-rootless.sh` script executes `dockerd` in its own user, mount, and network namespaces.

For debugging, you can enter the namespaces by running
`nsenter -U --preserve-credentials -n -m -t $(cat $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/docker.pid)`.

## Uninstall

To remove the systemd service of the Docker daemon, run `dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh uninstall`:

```console
$ dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh uninstall
+ systemctl --user stop docker.service
+ systemctl --user disable docker.service
Removed /home/testuser/.config/systemd/user/default.target.wants/docker.service.
[INFO] Uninstalled docker.service
[INFO] This uninstallation tool does NOT remove Docker binaries and data.
[INFO] To remove data, run: `/usr/bin/rootlesskit rm -rf /home/testuser/.local/share/docker`
```

Unset environment variables PATH and DOCKER_HOST if you have added them to `~/.bashrc`.

To remove the data directory, run `rootlesskit rm -rf ~/.local/share/docker`.

To remove the binaries, remove `docker-ce-rootless-extras` package if you installed Docker with package managers.
If you installed Docker with https://get.docker.com/rootless ([Install without packages](./_index.md#install)),
remove the binary files under `~/bin`:
```console
$ cd ~/bin
$ rm -f containerd containerd-shim containerd-shim-runc-v2 ctr docker docker-init docker-proxy dockerd dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh dockerd-rootless.sh rootlesskit rootlesskit-docker-proxy runc vpnkit
```
