[docker] docker error: /var/run/docker.sock: no such file or directory

I am new to docker. I have a shell script that loads data into impala and I want a docker file that runs builds an image and run the container. I am on mac, installed boot2docker and have the DOCKER_HOST env set up.

bash-3.2$ docker info
Containers: 0
Images: 0
Storage Driver: aufs
Root Dir: /mnt/sda1/var/lib/docker/aufs
Dirs: 0
Execution Driver: native-0.2
Kernel Version: 3.15.3-tinycore64
Debug mode (server): true
Debug mode (client): false
Fds: 10
Goroutines: 10
EventsListeners: 0
Init Path: /usr/local/bin/docker
Sockets: [unix:///var/run/docker.sock tcp://0.0.0.0:2375]

I am trying to just installed a pre-built image using:

sudo docker pull busybox

I get this error:

sudo docker pull busybox 2014/08/18 17:56:19 Post http:///var/run/docker.sock/images/create?fromImage=busybox&tag=: dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: no such file or directory

Is something wrong with my docker setup?

When I do a docker pull busybox, It pulls the image and download is complete.

bash-3.2$ docker pull busybox
Pulling repository busybox
a9eb17255234: Download complete 
fd5373b3d938: Download complete 
d200959a3e91: Download complete 
37fca75d01ff: Download complete 
511136ea3c5a: Download complete 
42eed7f1bf2a: Download complete 
c120b7cab0b0: Download complete 
f06b02872d52: Download complete 
120e218dd395: Download complete 
1f5049b3536e: Download complete 
bash-3.2$ docker run busybox /bin/echo Hello Doctor
Hello Doctor

Am I missing something?

You, maybe the not the OP, but someone may have a directory called /var/run/docker.sock/ already due to how many times you hack and slash to get things right with docker (especially noobs). Delete that directory and try again.

This helped me on my way to getting it to work on Centos 7.

In Linux, first of all execute sudo service docker start in terminal.

docker pull will fail if docker service is not running. Make sure it is running by

:~$ ps aux | grep docker
root     18745  1.7  0.9 284104 13976 ?   Ssl  21:19   0:01 /usr/bin/docker -d

If it is not running, you can start it by

sudo service docker start

For Ubuntu 15 and above use

sudo systemctl start docker

To setup your environment and to keep it for the future sessions you can do:

echo 'export DOCKER_HOST="tcp://$(boot2docker ip 2>/dev/null):2375";' >> ~/.bashrc

Then: source ~/.bashrc

And your environment will be setup in every session

On my MAC when I start boot2docker-vm on the terminal using

boot2docker start

I see the following

To connect the Docker client to the Docker daemon, please set:
    export DOCKER_CERT_PATH=
    export DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
    export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://:2376

After setting these environment variables I was able to run the build without the problem.

Update [2016-04-28] If you are using a the recent versions of docker you can do

eval $(docker-machine env) will set the environment

(docker-machine env will print the export statements)

The first /var/run/docker.sock refers to the same path in your boot2docker virtual machine. Correcly write for windows /var/run/docker.sock

You can quickly setup your environment using shellinit

At your command prompt execute:

$(boot2docker shellinit)  

That will populate and export the environment variables and initialize other features.

I also got this error. Though, I did not use boot2docker but just installed "plain" docker on Ubuntu (see https://docs.docker.com/installation/ubuntulinux/).

I got the error ("dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: no such file or directory. Are you trying to connect to a TLS-enabled daemon without TLS?") because the docker daemon was not running, yet.

On Ubuntu, you need to start the service:

sudo service docker start

See also http://blog.arungupta.me/resolve-dial-unix-docker-sock-error-techtip64

For boot2docker on Windows, after seeing:

FATA[0000] Get http:///var/run/docker.sock/v1.18/version: 
dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: no such file or directory.  
Are you trying to connect to a TLS-enabled daemon without TLS?

All I did was:

boot2docker start
boot2docker shellinit

That generated:

export DOCKER_CERT_PATH=C:\Users\vonc\.boot2docker\certs\boot2docker-vm
export DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
export DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.59.103:2376

Finally:

boot2docker ssh

And docker works again

If you're using CentOS 7, and you've installed Docker via yum, don't forget to run:

$ sudo systemctl start docker
$ sudo systemctl enable docker

This will start the server, as well as re-start it automatically on boot.