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docker

Container exited with code 1

The container's main process exited with a non-zero status code of 1, which indicates a general application error. Unlike codes 127 or 137, code 1 usually means the application itself started but then encountered an error and shut down rather than a system-level kill.

Common causes

  • The application crashed on startup — check logs with docker logs CONTAINER_ID
  • A missing environment variable, config file, or database connection the app requires
  • A startup script or entrypoint script encountered an error and exited
  • The application depends on another service that isn't ready yet (race condition in Compose)

How to fix it

  1. Read the container logs immediately: docker logs CONTAINER_ID (add --tail 100 for the last 100 lines)
  2. Run the container interactively to debug: docker run -it --entrypoint /bin/sh myimage
  3. Check required environment variables are set: docker run -e DB_URL=... myimage
  4. Use healthchecks and depends_on with condition in Compose to wait for dependencies

Example

$ docker run myapp $ docker ps -a CONTAINER ID STATUS abc123def456 Exited (1) 3 seconds ago

Container started but immediately exited — docker logs will show the actual error

Related Docker Errors

Cannot connect to Docker daemonPermission denied connecting to Docker socketDocker daemon not running on this hostImage not found or pull access deniedImage manifest not found (tag doesn't exist)

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