microsoft/aspire · error · DistributedApplicationException

is not running. Start and try again.

Error message

{containerRuntime.Name} is not running. Start {containerRuntime.Name} and try again.

What it means

During the pipeline's push prerequisites step, Aspire checks that the configured container runtime (Docker or Podman) is reachable/running. If the runtime fails to start or connect within the wait window, it throws DistributedApplicationException telling you to start the runtime before retrying. No image build/push can proceed without a working container runtime.

Solutions

Start your container runtime: launch Docker Desktop or run `sudo systemctl start docker`, or `podman machine start` for Podman.
Verify connectivity with `docker info` (or `podman info`) before rerunning the pipeline.
Check DOCKER_HOST/CONTAINER_HOST environment variables point to a reachable daemon (e.g. mount /var/run/docker.sock in CI containers).
On Linux, ensure your user is in the docker group or has permission to the daemon socket.

Example fix

// before (terminal)
aspire publish  # fails: Docker is not running

// after (terminal)
sudo systemctl start docker   # or: open Docker Desktop / podman machine start
docker info                   # verify daemon is up
aspire publish

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

var runtime = args.Contains("--podman") ? "podman" : "docker";
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo(runtime, "info") { RedirectStandardOutput = true };
using var p = Process.Start(psi)!;
await p.WaitForExitAsync();
if (p.ExitCode != 0) throw new InvalidOperationException($"{runtime} daemon is not reachable; start it before running the pipeline.");

Type guard

bool IsRuntimeReachable(string runtime)
{
    try { using var p = Process.Start(new ProcessStartInfo(runtime, "info") { RedirectStandardOutput = true }); p!.WaitForExit(5000); return p.ExitCode == 0; }
    catch { return false; }
}

Try / catch

try
{
    await pipeline.RunAsync(context);
}
catch (DistributedApplicationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("is not running"))
{
    logger.LogError("Start the container runtime (Docker Desktop / podman machine start) and retry.");
}

Prevention

Start Docker Desktop or podman machine before dev/deploy sessions
Add a pre-flight `docker info` / `podman info` check to CI jobs
In CI containers, mount the Docker socket or configure DOCKER_HOST correctly
Ensure your user has daemon socket permissions (docker group on Linux)

When it happens

Trigger: Executing a pipeline with container build/push steps when `docker info`/`podman info` fails or the runtime daemon isn't started; the code waits for the runtime to start, times out, and falls through to this throw.

Common situations: Docker Desktop not launched on Windows/macOS, podman machine not started (`podman machine init && podman machine start`), Docker daemon crashed, running in a container/CI without the Docker socket mounted, or DOCKER_HOST pointing at an unreachable endpoint.

Understand the failure class

Background: ECONNREFUSED and "connection refused" / "could not connect to server" errors: what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 44 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/aspire@25830f84bd (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ad3cb927ff8662f9. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Aspire.Hosting/Pipelines/DistributedApplicationPipeline.cs:210

                        waitCts.CancelAfter(TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5));

                        try
                        {
                            while (!await containerRuntime.CheckIfRunningAsync(waitCts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false))
                            {
                                await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2), timeProvider, waitCts.Token).ConfigureAwait(false);
                            }

                            return;
                        }
                        catch (OperationCanceledException) when (!context.CancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
                        {
                            // Timed out waiting for the runtime to start — fall through to the error below
                        }
                    }
                }

                throw new DistributedApplicationException(
                    $"{containerRuntime.Name} is not running. Start {containerRuntime.Name} and try again.");
            }
        });

        // Add a default "Push" meta-step that all push steps should be required by
        // Push unconditionally depends on PushPrereq to ensure annotations are set up
        var pushStep = new PipelineStep
        {
            Name = WellKnownPipelineSteps.Push,
            Description = "Aggregation step for all push operations. All push steps should be required by this step.",
            Action = _ => Task.CompletedTask
        };
        pushStep.DependsOn(WellKnownPipelineSteps.PushPrereq);
        _steps.Add(pushStep);

        _steps.Add(new PipelineStep
        {
            Name = WellKnownPipelineSteps.PushPrereq,

View on GitHub (pinned to 25830f84bd)