GoogleContainerTools/jib · error · IOException

'docker load' command failed with error: + getStderrOutput(d

Error message

'docker load' command failed with error: + getStderrOutput(dockerProcess)

What it means

CliDockerClient.load() writes the tarball to 'docker load' stdin, then reads stdout and waits for the process. If 'docker load' exits with a nonzero exit code, Jib throws IOException ''docker load' command failed with error: <stderr>'. This is docker itself rejecting the load, reported via its stderr output.

Source

Thrown at jib-core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/docker/CliDockerClient.java:248

      // message from the tarball I/O write failure when reading from stderr fails.
      String error;
      try (InputStreamReader stderr =
          new InputStreamReader(dockerProcess.getErrorStream(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
        error = CharStreams.toString(stderr);
      } catch (IOException ignored) {
        // This ignores exceptions from reading stderr and uses the original exception from
        // writing to stdin.
        error = ex.getMessage();
      }
      throw new IOException("'docker load' command failed with error: " + error, ex);
    }

    try (InputStreamReader stdout =
        new InputStreamReader(dockerProcess.getInputStream(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
      String output = CharStreams.toString(stdout);

      if (dockerProcess.waitFor() != 0) {
        throw new IOException(
            "'docker load' command failed with error: " + getStderrOutput(dockerProcess));
      }

      return output;
    }
  }

  @Override
  public void save(
      ImageReference imageReference, Path outputPath, Consumer<Long> writtenByteCountListener)
      throws InterruptedException, IOException {
    Process dockerProcess = docker("save", imageReference.toString());

    try (InputStream stdout = new BufferedInputStream(dockerProcess.getInputStream());
        OutputStream fileStream = new BufferedOutputStream(Files.newOutputStream(outputPath));
        NotifyingOutputStream notifyingFileStream =
            new NotifyingOutputStream(fileStream, writtenByteCountListener)) {
      ByteStreams.copy(stdout, notifyingFileStream);

View on GitHub (pinned to fb949e2676)

Solutions

Read the stderr text in the message — it contains docker's actual error
Test 'docker load -i your.tar' manually to confirm and see full output
Re-export the image tarball (docker save / jib build output) and verify it is not truncated
Ensure the docker daemon has sufficient disk space and supports the archive format

Example fix

// before
dockerClient.load(badTarball); // nonzero exit
// after
Path tar = exportImageTarball(); // regenerate a valid 'docker save'-format tar
assert Files.size(tar) > 0;
dockerClient.load(tar);

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Sanity-check the archive before load
try (var zf = new java.util.zip.ZipFile(tarPath.toFile())) { /* will throw if not a tar/zip */ }
// better: check manifest.json present via tar listing

Try / catch

try {
  dockerClient.load(tarPath);
} catch (IOException e) {
  String dockerError = e.getMessage(); // contains docker's stderr
  throw new ImageLoadFailedException("docker rejected archive: " + dockerError, e);
}

Prevention

Only load tarballs produced by docker save or jib's tar builder
Verify tarball integrity (checksum) after transfer
Ensure daemon disk space is sufficient for the image

When it happens

Trigger: The 'docker load' process spawned by load() terminates with waitFor() != 0 — invalid/corrupt tar archive format, daemon errors, or unsupported archive contents.

Common situations: Feeding a non-docker tarball (e.g. an OCI layout or a truncated file) into load(), disk-full during image extraction, or daemon version incompatibilities with the image format.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of GoogleContainerTools/jib@fb949e2676 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cb41aff8e8cc7d99. Report an issue: GitHub.