cannot share IPC namespace with service %s: container missin

Error message

cannot share IPC namespace with service %s: container missing

What it means

The IPC arm of resolveSharedNamespaces: an `ipc: "service:<name>"` setting must be rewritten to container:<id> of a live container of that service. When containersByService has no entry (zero containers) for the referenced service, the IPC namespace cannot be shared and convergence fails.

Source

Thrown at pkg/compose/convergence.go:105

		}
		service.VolumesFrom[i] = dependencies.sorted()[0].ID
	}
	return nil
}

func resolveSharedNamespaces(service *types.ServiceConfig, containersByService map[string]Containers) error {
	if name := getDependentServiceFromMode(service.NetworkMode); name != "" {
		dependencies := containersByService[name]
		if len(dependencies) == 0 {
			return fmt.Errorf("cannot share network namespace with service %s: container missing", name)
		}
		service.NetworkMode = types.ContainerPrefix + dependencies.sorted()[0].ID
	}

	if name := getDependentServiceFromMode(service.Ipc); name != "" {
		dependencies := containersByService[name]
		if len(dependencies) == 0 {
			return fmt.Errorf("cannot share IPC namespace with service %s: container missing", name)
		}
		service.Ipc = types.ContainerPrefix + dependencies.sorted()[0].ID
	}

	if name := getDependentServiceFromMode(service.Pid); name != "" {
		dependencies := containersByService[name]
		if len(dependencies) == 0 {
			return fmt.Errorf("cannot share PID namespace with service %s: container missing", name)
		}
		service.Pid = types.ContainerPrefix + dependencies.sorted()[0].ID
	}

	return nil
}

func getContainerName(projectName string, service types.ServiceConfig, number int) string {
	name := getDefaultContainerName(projectName, service.Name, strconv.Itoa(number))
	if service.ContainerName != "" {

View on GitHub (pinned to ddc4b044b6)

Solutions

Bring up the provider alongside the dependent (add depends_on or include it in the up command)
Verify the provider container exists and stays running: `docker compose ps -a <provider>` and its logs
As a fallback for plain /dev/shm sharing, use a tmpfs/size option or shared volume instead of service IPC sharing

Example fix

# before
services:
  shm:
    image: busybox
  app:
    ipc: "service:shm"

# after
services:
  shm:
    image: busybox
  app:
    depends_on: [shm]
    ipc: "service:shm"

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if name := getDependentServiceFromMode(svc.Ipc); name != "" {
    if len(containersByService[name]) == 0 {
        return fmt.Errorf("ipc service:%s has no containers", name)
    }
}

Prevention

Add depends_on to IPC providers and verify they stay running
For /dev/shm needs consider shm_size instead of service IPC sharing

When it happens

Trigger: `docker compose up` with `ipc: service:ipcserver` where ipcserver has no created containers — same family of failures as network_mode service: sharing: provider never started, crashed, or omitted from the selected services.

Common situations: Performance-sensitive setups sharing a shared-memory IPC sidecar (e.g. chrome/selenium, databases with /dev/shm sharing); partial `up` invocations that skip the provider; provider image pull failures in CI.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of docker/compose@ddc4b044b6 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e6ff6d3095bd0523. Report an issue: GitHub.