GoogleContainerTools/jib · error · IllegalStateException

Cannot build to a container registry in offline mode

Error message

Cannot build to a container registry in offline mode

What it means

Offline mode disables all network access for base image and dependency pulls. Registry-target builds inherently require network access, so calling setOfflineMode(true) on a Containerizer configured for a registry target (mustBeOnline set via to(RegistryImage...)) throws IllegalStateException immediately.

Source

Thrown at jib-core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/api/Containerizer.java:283

   * @param allowInsecureRegistries if {@code true}, insecure connections will be allowed
   * @return this
   */
  public Containerizer setAllowInsecureRegistries(boolean allowInsecureRegistries) {
    this.allowInsecureRegistries = allowInsecureRegistries;
    return this;
  }

  /**
   * Sets whether or not to run the build in offline mode. In offline mode, the base image is
   * retrieved from the cache instead of pulled from a registry, and the build will fail if the base
   * image is not in the cache or if the target is an image registry.
   *
   * @param offline if {@code true}, the build will run in offline mode
   * @return this
   */
  public Containerizer setOfflineMode(boolean offline) {
    if (mustBeOnline && offline) {
      throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot build to a container registry in offline mode");
    }
    this.offline = offline;
    return this;
  }

  /**
   * Sets the name of the tool that is using Jib Core. The tool name is sent as part of the {@code
   * User-Agent} in registry requests and set as the {@code created_by} in the container layer
   * history. Defaults to {@code jib-core}.
   *
   * @param toolName the name of the tool using this library
   * @return this
   */
  public Containerizer setToolName(String toolName) {
    this.toolName = toolName;
    return this;
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to fb949e2676)

Solutions

1. Remove setOfflineMode(true) when the target is a registry, or build to a Docker daemon (DockerDaemonImage) or tar (TarImage) target in offline mode
2. Make sure base image and dependencies are available locally and switch target to DockerDaemonImage before enabling offline
3. Gate offline mode on the target type in shared configuration code

Example fix

// before
Containerizer.to(RegistryImage.named("repo/img")).setOfflineMode(true);
// after
Containerizer.to(DockerDaemonImage.named("repo/img")).setOfflineMode(true);

if (target instanceof RegistryImage && offline) throw new IllegalStateException("Registry target cannot be offline");

boolean offlineAllowed(Containerizer c) { return !isRegistryTarget(c); }

try { containerizer.setOfflineMode(offline); } catch (IllegalStateException e) { containerizer = rebuildForDaemonTarget(); containerizer.setOfflineMode(offline); }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling containerizer.setOfflineMode(true) after Containerizer.to(RegistryImage.named(...)); mustBeOnline is true for registry targets, so the combination is rejected at configuration time.

Common situations: Reusing a shared containerizer-building method for both registry and daemon/tar targets and enabling offline for local builds; CI environments without network trying to push to a registry.

Related errors

• Image name must be set when building a TarImage; use TarImag
• Invalid container configuration in Docker V2.2/OCI manifest:
• <message from BuildStepsExecutionException>
• <message from BuildStepsExecutionException>
• Path does not start with forward slash (/): ${unixPath}

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/jib@fb949e2676 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/be2756b4ce1a307f. Report an issue: GitHub.