hashicorp/vagrant · error · VagrantPlugins::DockerProvider::Errors::ExecuteError

A Docker command executed by Vagrant didn't complete success

Error message

A Docker command executed by Vagrant didn't complete successfully!
The command run along with the output from the command is shown
below.

Command: %{command}

Stderr: %{stderr}

Stdout: %{stdout}

What it means

The Docker provider's local executor runs the docker CLI via Vagrant::Util::Subprocess wrapped in Busy (so Ctrl-C is fenced). Any non-zero exit that is not the result of an interruption raises ExecuteError with the full command array, stderr, and stdout - it is the generic wrapper for 'the docker CLI failed'.

Source

Thrown at plugins/providers/docker/executor/local.rb:27

    module Executor
      # The Local executor executes a Docker client that is running
      # locally.
      class Local
        def execute(*cmd, **opts, &block)
          # Append in the options for subprocess
          cmd << { notify: [:stdout, :stderr] }

          interrupted  = false
          int_callback = ->{ interrupted = true }
          result = ::Vagrant::Util::Busy.busy(int_callback) do
            ::Vagrant::Util::Subprocess.execute(*cmd, &block)
          end

          result.stderr.gsub!("\r\n", "\n")
          result.stdout.gsub!("\r\n", "\n")

          if result.exit_code != 0 && !interrupted
            raise Errors::ExecuteError,
              command: cmd.inspect,
              stderr: result.stderr,
              stdout: result.stdout
          end

          if opts
            if opts[:with_stderr]
              return result.stdout + " " + result.stderr
            else
              return result.stdout
            end
          end
        end

        def windows?
          ::Vagrant::Util::Platform.windows? || ::Vagrant::Util::Platform.wsl?
        end
      end

View on GitHub (pinned to 35f3160f4a)

Solutions

1. Read the Stderr: section - it carries the docker CLI's own message
2. Check the daemon with `docker info`; start Docker Desktop or `sudo systemctl start docker`
3. For socket permission denied: `sudo usermod -aG docker $USER` then log out and back in
4. Fix the named conflict (free the port, correct the tag, `docker login`) and re-run

Example fix

# before: daemon down
$ vagrant up --provider=docker
# ExecuteError: Cannot connect to the Docker daemon...

# after
$ sudo systemctl start docker   # or launch Docker Desktop
$ vagrant up --provider=docker

docker info >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo 'start the docker daemon first'; exit 1; }
vagrant up

begin
  driver.execute(*cmd)
rescue VagrantPlugins::DockerProvider::Errors::ExecuteError => e
  stderr = e.extra_data[:stderr]
  if stderr.include?('Cannot connect to the Docker daemon')
    start_docker_and_retry
  else
    raise
  end
end

When it happens

Trigger: Any native docker CLI failure during a Vagrant docker-provider run: daemon unreachable ('Cannot connect to the Docker daemon'), image pull/registry auth failures, 'port is already allocated', container name conflicts, no space left on device.

Common situations: Docker Desktop or the daemon not started; user not in the docker group (permission denied on /var/run/docker.sock); image tag typos; port collisions with other containers.

Related errors

• A Docker command executed by Vagrant didn't complete success
• Multiple URLs for a box can't be specified when adding versi
• You requested to remove the box '%{name}' version '%{version
• The box you're attempting to add already exists. Remove it b
• This command was not invoked properly. The help for this com

AI-assisted analysis of hashicorp/vagrant@35f3160f4a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2cdab549d69f419d. Report an issue: GitHub.