docker/cli · error

invalid range format for --expose: %w

Error message

invalid range format for --expose: %w

What it means

Error "invalid range format for --expose: %w" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at cli/command/container/opts.go:474

	}

	// Add published ports as exposed ports.
	exposedPorts := network.PortSet{}
	for port := range ports {
		p, err := network.ParsePort(string(port))
		if err != nil {
			return nil, err
		}
		exposedPorts[p] = struct{}{}
	}

	// Merge in exposed ports to the map of published ports
	for _, e := range copts.expose.GetSlice() {
		// support two formats for expose, original format <portnum>/[<proto>]
		// or <startport-endport>/[<proto>]
		pr, err := network.ParsePortRange(e)
		if err != nil {
			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid range format for --expose: %w", err)
		}
		// parse the start and end port and create a sequence of ports to expose
		// if expose a port, the start and end port are the same
		for p := range pr.All() {
			exposedPorts[p] = struct{}{}
		}
	}

	// validate and parse device mappings. Note we do late validation of the
	// device path (as opposed to during flag parsing), as at the time we are
	// parsing flags, we haven't yet sent a _ping to the daemon to determine
	// what operating system it is.
	devices := copts.devices.GetSlice()
	deviceMappings := make([]container.DeviceMapping, 0, len(devices))
	cdiDeviceNames := make([]string, 0, len(devices))
	for _, device := range devices {
		if cdi.IsQualifiedName(device) {
			cdiDeviceNames = append(cdiDeviceNames, device)

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at cli/command/container/opts.go:474 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of docker/cli@e9452d6e78 (2026-08-01). Data as JSON: /data/errors/1640a4542163d954.json. Report an issue: GitHub.