ProjectStack
docker

Error response from daemon: Container X is not running

You tried to run docker exec to execute a command in a container, but the container has already stopped. docker exec only works on running containers — you can't exec into a stopped or crashed container.

Common causes

  • The container exited on its own — check docker ps -a and docker logs to find out why
  • You stopped the container before trying to exec into it
  • A crash or OOM kill stopped the container between when you started it and when you tried to exec
  • You're referencing the correct container name but the container isn't the one you expect

How to fix it

  1. Check if the container is running: docker ps — it will only appear here if it's up
  2. See all containers including stopped ones: docker ps -a to check the status
  3. Start the stopped container: docker start CONTAINER_NAME
  4. To debug a crashed container, check logs: docker logs CONTAINER_NAME, then fix the crash before re-running

Example

$ docker exec -it myapp /bin/sh Error response from daemon: Container myapp is not running

Trying to exec into a container that has already exited

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)

Browse more errors

The Developer Hub covers 150+ errors across Git, npm, Node.js, Python, TypeScript, and Docker — with plain-English explanations and fix steps.