Problem: Docker fails to start, showing an error message similar to the following, due to insufficient bootflash storage:

root@switch# service docker start
Free bootflash: 790 MB, total bootflash: 3471 MB
Need at least 2000 MB free bootflash space for docker storage

Possible Cause: You might not have enough free bootflash storage.

Solution: Free up space or adjust the variable_dockerstrg values in /etc/sysconfig/docker as needed, then restart the Docker daemon:

root@switch# cat /etc/sysconfig/docker
# Replace the below with your own docker storage backend boundary value (in MB)
# if desired.
boundary_dockerstrg=5000

# Replace the below with your own docker storage backend values (in MB) if
# desired. The smaller value applies to platforms with less than
# $boundary_dockerstrg total bootflash space, the larger value for more than
# $boundary_dockerstrg of total bootflash space.
small_dockerstrg=300
large_dockerstrg=2000

Problem: The system fails to pull images from the Docker hub with an error message similar to the following:

root@switch# docker pull alpine
Using default tag: latest
Error response from daemon: Get https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/: x509: certificate has expired or is not yet valid

Possible Cause: The system clock might not be set correctly.

Solution: Determine if the clock is set correctly or not:

root@n9k-2# sh clock
15:57:48.963 EST Thu Apr 25 2002
Time source is Hardware Calendar

Reset the clock, if necessary:

root@n9k-2# clock set hh:mm:ss { day month | month day } year

For example:

root@n9k-2# clock set 14:12:00 10 feb 2018

Problem: The system fails to pull images from the Docker hub with an error message similar to the following:

root@switch# docker pull alpine
Using default tag: latest
Error response from daemon: Get https://registry-1.docker.io/v2/: net/http: request canceled while waiting for connection (Client.Timeout exceeded while awaiting headers)

Possible Cause: The proxies or DNS settings might not be set correctly.

Solution: Check the proxy settings and fix them, if necessary, then restart the Docker daemon:

root@switch# cat /etc/sysconfig/docker | grep proxy
#export http_proxy=http://proxy.esl.cisco.com:8080
#export https_proxy=http://proxy.esl.cisco.com:8080
root@switch# service docker [re]start

Check the DNS settings and fix them, if necessary, then restart the Docker daemon:

root@switch# cat /etc/resolv.conf 
domain cisco.com #bleed
nameserver 171.70.168.183 #bleed
root@switch# # conf t
     Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
     switch(config)# vrf context management 
     switch(config-vrf)# ip domain-name ?
     WORD Enter the default domain (Max Size 64)

     switch(config-vrf)# ip name-server ?
     A.B.C.D Enter an IPv4 address
     A:B::C:D Enter an IPv6 address
root@switch# service docker [re]start

Problem: The Docker daemon or containers do not run after you have performed a switch reload or switchover.

Possible Cause: The Docker daemon might not be configured to persist on a switch reload or switchover.

Solution: Verify that the Docker daemon is configured to persist on a switch reload or switchover using the chkconfig command, then start the necessary Docker containers using the --restart unless-stopped option. For example, to start an Alpine container:

root@switch# chkconfig --add docker
root@switch#
root@switch# chkconfig --list | grep docker
docker 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off
root@switch# docker run -dit --restart unless-stopped alpine

Problem: An attempt to resize the Docker backend storage failed.

Possible Cause: You might not have Guest Shell disabled.

Solution: Use the following command to determine if Guest Shell is disabled:

root@switch# losetup -a | grep dockerpart
root@n9k-2#

The command should not display any output if Guest Shell is disabled.

Enter the following command to disable the Guest Shell, if necessary:

switch# guestshell disable

If you still cannot resize the Docker backend storage, you can delete /bootflash/dockerpart, then adjust the [small_]large_dockerstrg in /etc/sysconfig/docker, then start Docker again to get a fresh Docker partition with the size that you want.

Problem: The Docker container doesn't receive incoming traffic on a port.

Possible Cause: The Docker container might be using a netstack port instead of a kstack port.

Solution: Verify that any ephemeral ports that are used by Docker containers are within the kstack range. Otherwise any incoming packets can get sent to netstack for servicing and dropped.

switch# show socket local-port-range 
Kstack local port range (15001 - 58000)
Netstack local port range (58001 - 63535) and nat port range (63536 - 65535)
switch# conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
switch(config)# sockets local-port-range <start_port> <end_port>
switch# run bash sudo su -
root@switch# cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_local_port_range
15001   58000
root@switch#

Problem: You are unable to see the data port or management interfaces in the Docker container.

Solution:

• Verify that the Docker container is started in the host network namespace with all host namespaces mapped in using the -v /var/run/netns:/var/run/netns:ro,rslave --network host options.

• Once in the container, you will be in the management network namespace by default. You can use the ip netns utility to move to the default (init) network namespace, which has the data port interfaces. The ip netns utility might need to be installed in the container using dnf, apk, or something similar.

Problem: You have other issues with Docker containers that were not resolved using other troubleshooting processes.

Solution:

• Look for dockerd debug output in /var/log/docker for any clues as to what is wrong.

• Verify that your switch has 8 GB or more of RAM. Docker functionality is not supported on any switch that has less than 8 GB of RAM.