juanfont/headscale · error

restarting container %s: %w

Error message

restarting container %s: %w

What it means

Error "restarting container %s: %w" thrown in juanfont/headscale.

Source

Thrown at integration/tsic/tsic.go:788

		return fmt.Errorf("logging out, stdout: %s, stderr: %s", stdout, stderr) //nolint:err113
	}

	return t.waitForBackendState("NeedsLogin", integrationutil.PeerSyncTimeout())
}

// Restart restarts the Tailscale container using Docker API.
// This simulates a container restart (e.g., docker restart or Kubernetes pod restart).
// The container's entrypoint will re-execute, which typically includes running
// "tailscale up" with any auth keys stored in environment variables.
func (t *TailscaleInContainer) Restart() error {
	if t.container == nil {
		return errContainerNotInitialized
	}

	// Use Docker API to restart the container
	err := t.pool.Client.RestartContainer(t.container.Container.ID, 30)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("restarting container %s: %w", t.hostname, err)
	}

	// Wait for the container to be back up and tailscaled to be ready
	// We use exponential backoff to poll until we can successfully execute a command
	_, err = backoff.Retry(context.Background(), func() (struct{}, error) {
		// Try to execute a simple command to verify the container is responsive
		_, _, err := t.Execute([]string{tailscaleBin, "version"}, dockertestutil.ExecuteCommandTimeout(5*time.Second))
		if err != nil {
			return struct{}{}, fmt.Errorf("container not ready: %w", err)
		}

		return struct{}{}, nil
	}, backoff.WithBackOff(backoff.NewExponentialBackOff()), backoff.WithMaxElapsedTime(30*time.Second))
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("timeout waiting for container %s to restart and become ready: %w", t.hostname, err)
	}

	return nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 565fd254d0)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped error for the underlying cause and correct the failing condition (restarting container); retry the operation after fixing the input, configuration, or environment.

Example fix

Inspect the wrapped error for the underlying cause and correct the failing condition (restarting container); retry the operation after fixing the input, configuration, or environment.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at integration/tsic/tsic.go:788 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: Restarting the tailscale container failed. Check Docker daemon health and container state.

AI-assisted analysis of juanfont/headscale@565fd254d0 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3bbf16a0def777c8. Report an issue: GitHub.