abiosoft/colima · info

pid file not found: %w

Error message

pid file not found: %w

What it means

Returned by status (cmd/daemon/daemon.go:115) when os.Stat fails on the daemon pid file (daemon.pid in the daemon directory). Within colima this is less an error than the 'daemon not running' sentinel: start() treats a non-nil status() result as not-running and proceeds, and stop() returns nil early.

Source

Thrown at cmd/daemon/daemon.go:115

	for {
		alive := status() == nil
		if !alive {
			return nil
		}
		select {
		case <-ctx.Done():
			return ctx.Err()
		default:
			time.Sleep(time.Second * 1)
		}
	}

}

func status() error {
	info := Info()
	if _, err := os.Stat(info.PidFile); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("pid file not found: %w", err)
	}

	// check if process is actually running
	p, err := os.ReadFile(info.PidFile)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("error reading pid file: %w", err)
	}
	pid, _ := strconv.Atoi(string(p))
	if pid == 0 {
		return fmt.Errorf("invalid pid: %v", string(p))
	}

	process, err := os.FindProcess(pid)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("process not found: %v", err)
	}

	if err := process.Signal(syscall.Signal(0)); err != nil {

View on GitHub (pinned to c3a5f9184d)

Solutions

1. No action needed if the daemon is expected to be stopped — this message means 'not running'
2. To have it running, start colima normally (features needing the daemon start it on demand) and re-check status
3. If it should be running, the daemon died earlier — inspect daemon.log in the same directory for the cause

// Interpret missing pid file as 'not running' instead of an error
info := daemon.Info()
if _, err := os.Stat(info.PidFile); os.IsNotExist(err) {
    // daemon not running — proceed with start or report stopped status
}

// Classify daemon status outcomes
func daemonNotRunning(err error) bool {
    return err != nil && strings.HasPrefix(err.Error(), "pid file not found")
}

if err := daemonStatus(); err != nil {
    if daemonNotRunning(err) {
        // expected state on fresh installs — not a fault
        return stoppedState, nil
    }
    return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any status/start/stop flow before the daemon has ever been started; the daemon crashed without cleaning up its pid file; cleanup tools removed the pid file; the daemon directory was deleted.

Common situations: Checking daemon status on a fresh install; inspecting the daemon after a colima uninstall/reinstall; log inspection showing this error although nothing is actually wrong.

Related errors

• invalid pid: %v
• process signal(0) returned error: %w
• cannot make dir: %w
• process not found: %v
• error checking vmnet process: %w

AI-assisted analysis of abiosoft/colima@c3a5f9184d (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/73404c72d062c764. Report an issue: GitHub.