louislam/dockge · error · Error

Failed to stop service ${serviceName}, please check logs for

Error message

Failed to stop service ${serviceName}, please check logs for more information.

What it means

Stack.stopService() runs `docker compose stop <serviceName>` in the stack directory. A non-zero exit code means docker could not stop the service, so the method throws this error naming the service. The actual docker diagnostic is printed to the attached terminal output.

Source

Thrown at backend/stack.ts:568

            return statusList;
        }
    }

    async startService(socket: DockgeSocket, serviceName: string) {
        const terminalName = getComposeTerminalName(socket.endpoint, this.name);
        const exitCode = await Terminal.exec(this.server, socket, terminalName, "docker", [ "compose", "up", "-d", serviceName ], this.path);
        if (exitCode !== 0) {
            throw new Error(`Failed to start service ${serviceName}, please check logs for more information.`);
        }

        return exitCode;
    }

    async stopService(socket: DockgeSocket, serviceName: string): Promise<number> {
        const terminalName = getComposeTerminalName(socket.endpoint, this.name);
        const exitCode = await Terminal.exec(this.server, socket, terminalName, "docker", [ "compose", "stop", serviceName ], this.path);
        if (exitCode !== 0) {
            throw new Error(`Failed to stop service ${serviceName}, please check logs for more information.`);
        }

        return exitCode;
    }

    async restartService(socket: DockgeSocket, serviceName: string): Promise<number> {
        const terminalName = getComposeTerminalName(socket.endpoint, this.name);
        const exitCode = await Terminal.exec(this.server, socket, terminalName, "docker", [ "compose", "restart", serviceName ], this.path);
        if (exitCode !== 0) {
            throw new Error(`Failed to restart service ${serviceName}, please check logs for more information.`);
        }

        return exitCode;
    }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to f809ae192b)

Solutions

Read the terminal output for the docker stop error
Confirm the service name matches the compose file (`docker compose config --services`)
Check `docker ps` to see the container's actual state and project label
Retry after restoring daemon connectivity or correcting the service name

Example fix

// before
await stack.stopService(socket, "api"); // 'api' removed from compose.yml
// after
if (composeFileHasService(stack.path, "api")) {
  await stack.stopService(socket, "api");
} else {
  await dockerRemoveOrphanContainer("api");
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

const services = (await exec(`docker compose -f ${stack.path}/compose.yml config --services`)).stdout.split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean);
if (!services.includes(serviceName)) {
  throw new Error(`Service '${serviceName}' is not defined; cannot stop`);
}

Try / catch

try {
  await stack.stopService(socket, serviceName);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.startsWith("Failed to stop service")) {
    const ps = await exec("docker compose ps");
    console.error(`stop failed for ${serviceName}; current state:\n${ps.stdout}`);
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Verify the service still exists in compose.yml before stopping it
Check `docker compose ps` for the container's real project/name
Ensure the docker daemon is reachable before batch stop operations
Clean up orphaned containers after renaming services (`--remove-orphans`)

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the stop-service socket action when `docker compose stop <name>` exits non-zero — typically the service name is not defined in the compose file, or docker cannot reach the daemon/containers.

Common situations: Service was renamed/removed from compose.yml while the UI still lists the old name; docker daemon stopped or restarted; compose project name mismatch so docker looks in the wrong project; permission issues on the docker socket.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of louislam/dockge@f809ae192b (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/59d32ef84dde2290. Report an issue: GitHub.