How to fix docker: Got permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket

Question

I’ve just installed docker but I have to run it with sudo every time. If I don’t add sudo I get the following error:

Got permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock: Get http://%2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/v1.40/containers/json: dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: connect: permission denied

Is there a way around that? I want to be able to run docker without having to type my password each time…

Bobby · Accepted Answer

Hello, According to the official Docker docs here: https://docs.docker.com/install/linux/linux-postinstall/#manage-docker-as-a-non-root-user You need to do the following: To create the docker group and add your user: Create the docker group. sudo groupadd docker Add your user to the docker group. sudo usermod -aG docker ${USER} You would need to loog out and log back in so that your group membership is re-evaluated or type the following command: su -s ${USER} Verify that you can run docker commands without sudo. docker run hello-world This command downloads a test image and runs it in a container. When the container runs, it prints an informational message and exits. If you initially ran Docker CLI commands using sudo before adding your user to the docker group, you may see the following error, which indicates that your ~/.docker/ directory was created with incorrect permissions due to the sudo commands. WARNING: Error loading config file: /home/user/.docker/config.json - stat /home/user/.docker/config.json: permission denied To fix this problem, either remove the ~/.docker/ directory (it is recreated automatically, but any custom settings are lost), or change its ownership and permissions using the following commands: sudo chown "$USER":"$USER" /home/"$USER"/.docker -R sudo chmod g+rwx "$HOME/.docker" -R Here’s also a quick video demo on how to do this: Also I came across this useful guide here as well: How to Fix Docker: Permission Denied Hope that this helps! Regards, Bobby

Brianlmerritt · Answer

The above is almost right, but opens up a security gap that let’s everyone get access to docker.sock Instead of sudo chmod 666 /var/run/docker.sock which opens it to everyone, enter sudo chown root:docker /var/run/docker.sock That way root still has it’s connection with docker but anyone in the docker group gets access too.

Clay Herendeen · Answer

If you run into this: ubuntu@ip-x-x-x-x:~$ docker login -u username -p password WARNING! Using --password via the CLI is insecure. Use --password-stdin. Error saving credentials: error storing credentials - err: exit status 1, out: `Cannot autolaunch D-Bus without X11 $DISPLAY` Try this:sudo apt install gnupg2 pass See this github answer for details:https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/1136#issuecomment-459649905

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How to fix docker: Got permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket

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