Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running? — how to fix

Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?

Quick fix: Linux: sudo systemctl start docker (and sudo systemctl enable docker to start at boot). macOS/Windows: start Docker Desktop and wait until it says it's running.

What it means

The docker command is only a client. It needs the Docker daemon (dockerd) running and listening on the socket. Nothing is answering there.

Linux

sudo systemctl status docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker     # start on boot

If it fails to start, read the reason:

sudo journalctl -u docker --no-pager -n 50

Common reasons: a syntax error in /etc/docker/daemon.json, a full disk, or a conflicting storage driver.

No systemd (some WSL setups, minimal containers)? Use sudo service docker start.

macOS and Windows

The daemon runs inside Docker Desktop. Open Docker Desktop and wait until the whale icon says running. If it's stuck, use Troubleshoot → Restart or Reset to factory defaults.

WSL 2

Either enable Settings → Resources → WSL integration for your distro in Docker Desktop, or install Docker Engine inside the distro and start it with sudo service docker start.

Wrong context or DOCKER_HOST

The CLI may be pointing to a socket that doesn't exist:

docker context ls
docker context use default
echo $DOCKER_HOST     # unset it if it points somewhere wrong: unset DOCKER_HOST

Colima, Podman, OrbStack and Rancher Desktop each create their own context or socket, so make sure the one you're using is started (colima start, podman machine start).

It works with sudo but not without

That's a permissions problem, not a daemon problem. See permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket.

Last updated 2026-10-27.