systemctl failed to connect to bus - docker ubuntu:16.04 container

server 16.04 systemd docker

269,780

Solution 1

I assume you start your docker container with something like

docker run -t -i ubuntu:16.04 /bin/bash

The problem now is that your init process PID 1 is /bin/bash, not systemd. Confirm with ps aux.

In addition to that you are missing dbus with would be the way to communicate. This is where your error message is coming from. But as your PID 1 is not systemd, it will not help to install dbus.

Best would be to re-think the way you plan to use docker. Do not rely on systemd as a process manager but have the docker container run your desired application in the foreground.

Solution 2

Others have reported a similar problem. Start up the terminal and type:

$ env

Do you see an environment variable like this?

XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/`id -u`

Where id -u is enclosed in backticks not single quotes. This variable is reinterpreted into a number usually 1000 for regular users and 0 for super user (sudo).

If the environment variable XDG_RUNTIME_DIR does not exist you need to create it. The full discussion is in launchpad systemd answers.

Solution 3

Just start the dbus service:

/etc/init.d/dbus start

Solution 4

If you're getting this error in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), I've found it's because Docker is unsupported. This is due to lack of cgroups and other prerequisites.

Solution 5

Try this:

docker run -ti -d --privileged=true images_docker  "/sbin/init"

docker run -ti -d --privileged=true images_docker

will be same result.

Here I get from the doc of Docker:

By default, Docker containers are “unprivileged” and cannot, for example, run a Docker daemon inside a Docker container. This is because by default a container is not allowed to access any devices, but a “privileged” container is given access to all devices (see the documentation on cgroups devices).

When the operator executes docker run --privileged, Docker will enable access to all devices on the host as well as set some configuration in AppArmor or SELinux to allow the container nearly all the same access to the host as processes running outside containers on the host. Additional information about running with --privileged is available on the Docker Blog.

View more solutions

269,780

Duncan Gravill

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Duncan Gravill over 1 year
I'm trying to use the systemctl command in a ubuntu:16.04 docker container. I'm running the following command...
```
systemctl status ssh
```
However I'm getting the error...
```
Failed to connect to bus: No such file or directory
```
Why is this not working? Is this related to Ubuntu running in a docker container? How can I get systemctl to work correctly?
- Admin almost 7 years
  
  Use service ssh start
- Admin about 4 years
  
  For those who have the same problem with sudo systemctl --user ... just remove the sudo !
- Admin over 3 years
  
  Holy shit. I had systemctl aliased to sudo systemctl --no-pager. Thanks for the tip.
Duncan Gravill over 7 years

I tried this without success. As my Ubuntu 16.04 instance has the form of a docker container and I have not set up any users I am working as root, so I used the variable XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/root/0, without success. Then I checked the folder /run and found that there is no subfolder /run/root. Is there anyway I can get a more verbose error message? I had a look at systemctl --help but couldn't see a way of getting detailed error messages.
Roeland over 7 years

I am having the same issue and this also did not resolve my problem. Did you ever figure this one out @DuncanGravill
Duncan Gravill over 7 years

@Roeland Yes. I asked a similar question on SO which had a stronger response. Also I recommend watching the Self-Paced tutorials on the Docker website. It is explained (slightly vaguely) in those videos how PID 1 which is usually systemd is replaced in a Docker container with the container Entrypoint.
yop83 over 6 years

But this an Ubuntu container, which by default doesn't have systemd and wouldn't have upstart.
Zanna over 6 years

you shouldn't need sudo for that. Seems like a coincidence. Can you please re-test?
Saif over 6 years

@Zanna saif@sr-server:~$ systemctl status ssh Failed to connect to bus: No such file or directory saif@sr-server:~$ sudo systemctl status ssh [sudo] password for saif: ● ssh.service - OpenBSD Secure Shell server Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ssh.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-01-19 23:38:14 PKT; 4min 4s ago Main PID: 18222 (sshd) Tasks: 15 Memory: 32.7M CPU: 488ms
Saif over 6 years

Why -1? I just posted what worked for me.
Zanna over 6 years

downvote was not mine...
knocte over 6 years

what? ubuntu has systemd by default
Adrian Günter almost 6 years

Brilliant, thanks! I needed this to start/manage a user unit from a system unit.
Melebius almost 6 years

Could you explain your command and the difference to the accepted question?
Elder Geek almost 6 years

Welcome to AskUbuntu! Thank you for trying to help! A quick review of the documentation leads me to believe you may have made an error or 2 in this command. If you would be so kind as to edit it and explain what you are doing and how it solves the problem, ping me and I'll come back and give you an upvote!
Hugh Buntu almost 6 years

Stefan: I believe you are correct in the case of Docker.
Hugh Buntu almost 6 years

knocte: my comment covers the case of upgrading from 14.04 (Upstart) to 16.04 (systemd). When performing the version upgrade, Upstart is not replaced with systemd for understandable reasons (like: not breaking the system). In retrospect, I realize the release upgrade process wouldn't be used in Docker. See the link I called out. I see that a number of answers and comments fail to consider the specific case of Docker, and I'll look for that when answering in the future.
Parth Shah over 5 years

When you say images_docker, do you mean the vanilla ubuntu:16.04? Or something else?
Parth Shah over 5 years

Services like openssh-server are configured to log to the default syslog facility. How can I get sshd logs without relying on systemctl?
user228505 over 5 years

@ParthShah please check out sshd man page. Mine has the following options: By caling it with -D you can keep it in the foreground. with -e you instruct it to directly print the logs. these can then later be inspected the docker way with docker log.
DimG over 5 years

[FYI] was getting this error with /sbin/init being PID=1 process. Adding --privileged=true as suggested by @sonjaya sonjaya below solved the isssue.
Sachin Verma almost 5 years

beautiful answer!!
Dan almost 4 years

The question is about getting the systemctl status ssh command to run in the ubuntu:16.04 docker container. SSH is not installed in that container by default. You also don't need sudo to run these commands in a docker container. Normal best practices in permission management are different between docker containers and normal OS's. I assume your answer is for normal Ubuntu installation.
Efren over 3 years

this is for system V not systemd
am70 over 3 years

@DuncanGravill that's because the directory should be /run/user/0 and not /run/root/0