[docker] OCI runtime exec failed: exec failed: (...) executable file not found in $PATH": unknown

I have dockerized an app which has ffmpeg installed in it via libav-tools. The app launches without problem, yet the problem occured when fluent-ffmpeg npm module tried to execute ffmpeg command, which was not found. When I wanted to check the version of the ffmpeg and the linux distro set up in the image, I used sudo docker exec -it c44f29d30753 "lsb_release -a" command, but it gave the following error: OCI runtime exec failed: exec failed: container_linux.go:296: starting container process caused "exec: \"lsb_release -a\": executable file not found in $PATH": unknown

Then I realized that it gives me the same error with all the commands that I try to run inside the image or the container.

OCI runtime exec failed: exec failed: container_linux.go:296: starting container process caused "exec: \"ffmpeg -a\": executable file not found in $PATH": unknown

This is my Dockerfile:

FROM ubuntu:xenial
FROM node
RUN apt-get -y update
RUN apt-get --yes install libav-tools
RUN mkdir -p /usr/src/app
WORKDIR /usr/src/app
COPY package.json /usr/src/app
RUN npm install
COPY . /usr/src/app
RUN npm run build
ENV NODE_ENV production
EXPOSE 8000
CMD ["npm", "run", "start:prod"]

I would kindly ask for your help. Thank you very much!

This question is related to docker ffmpeg

The answer is


You can use another shell to execute the same command:

Error I get when i execute:

[jenkins@localhost jenkins_data]$ docker exec -it mysqldb \bin\bash
OCI runtime exec failed: exec failed: container_linux.go:345: starting container process caused "exec: \"binsh\": executable file not found in $PATH": unknown

Solution: When I execute it with below command, using bash shell it works:

[jenkins@localhost jenkins_data]$ docker exec -it mysqldb bash
root@<container-ID>:/#

@papigee should work on Windows 10 just fine. I'm using the integrated VSCode terminal with git bash and this always works for me.

winpty docker exec -it <container-id> //bin//sh

Get rid of your quotes around your command. When you quote it, docker tries to run the full string "lsb_release -a" as a command, which doesn't exist. Instead, you want to run the command lsb_release with an argument -a, and no quotes.

sudo docker exec -it c44f29d30753 lsb_release -a

Note, everything after the container name is the command and arguments to run inside the container, docker will not process any of that as options to the docker command.


I solved this with this commands:

1- Run the container

# docker run -d <image-name>

2- List containers

   # docker ps -a

3- Use the container ID

# docker exec -it <container-id> /bin/sh

docker exec -it <containerId> sh

If @papigee does solution doesn't work, maybe you don't have the permissions.

I tried @papigee solution but does't work without sudo.

I did :

sudo docker exec -it <container id or name> /bin/sh

This happened to me on windows. Any of these commands will work

On Windows CMD (not switching to bash)

docker exec -it <container-id> /bin/sh

On Windows CMD (after switching to bash)

docker exec -it <container-id> //bin//sh

or

winpty docker exec -it <container-id> //bin//sh

On Git Bash

winpty docker exec -it <container-id> //bin//sh

NB: You might need to run use /bin/bash or /bin/sh, depending on the shell in your container.

The reason is documented in the ReleaseNotes file of Git and it is well explained here - Bash in Git for Windows: Weirdness...

"The cause has to do with trying to ensure that posix paths end up being passed to the git utilities properly. For this reason, Git for Windows includes a modified MSYS layer that affects command arguments."


This has happened to me. My issue was caused when I didn't mount Docker file system correctly, so I configured the Disk Image Location and re-bind File sharing mount, and this now worked correctly. For reference, I use Docker Desktop in Windows.


I had this due to a simple ordering mistake on my end. I called

[WRONG] docker run <image> <arguments> <command>

When I should have used

docker run <arguments> <image> <command>

Same resolution on similar question: https://stackoverflow.com/a/50762266/6278


I was running into this issue and it turned out that I needed to do this:

docker run ${image_name} bash -c "${command}"

Hope that helps someone who finds this error.


What I did to solve was simply:

  1. Run docker ps -a
  2. Check for the command of the container (mine started with /bin/sh)
  3. Run docker-compose exec < name_of_service > /bin/sh (if that is what started your command

This is for solving when using docker compose