docker: error during connect: In the default daemon configuration on Windows, the docker client must be run with elevated privileges to connect

Question

I'm trying to run Docker in process isolation mode on Windows Server 2019 (Docker Desktop does not work here, my VPS does not support Hyper-V). I run this in PowerShell (all in Administrator mode) docker run -it --isolation=process mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2019 cmd.exe /c ping 127.0.0.1 -t

Then I get error:

docker: error during connect: In the default daemon configuration on Windows, the docker client must be run with elevated privileges to connect.: Post http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2Fdocker_engine/v1.24/containers/create: open //./pipe/docker_engine: The system cannot find the file specified. See 'docker run --help'.

I ran command & 'C:\Program Files\Docker\DockerCli.exe' -SwitchDaemon, as suggested here: Docker cannot start on Windows

However, DockerCli.exe does not exist in a clean Docker install:

As suggested here I tried copying the file DockerCli.exe from my local Windows 10 Docker Desktop installation and reran, but then I get:

Unhandled Exception: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Docker.Core, Version=3.0.0.50646, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified. at Docker.Cli.MainBackendCli.Run(IReadOnlyCollection`1 args) at Docker.Cli.MainBackendCli.Main(String[] args)

Regardless, copying files from Docker Desktop does not feel like the right approach.

I then ran dockerd in PowerShell since that's the only other executable in that folder:

Since I'm a newbie, I'm not sure if I just started a container and if so, which one, I just see start., but no idea where that comes from or how I can configure it.

UPDATE 1

Based on Peter Wishart's suggestion I tried uninstall-Package -Name docker, but then I get

uninstall-Package : No package found for 'docker'. At line:1 char:1
+ uninstall-Package -Name docker
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Power...ninstallPackage:UninstallPackage) [Uninstall-Package]
   , Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.UninstallPackage

Here's the full code of what I tried:

PS C:\Users\Administrator> uninstall-Package -Name docker
uninstall-Package : No package found for 'docker'.
At line:1 char:1
+ uninstall-Package -Name docker
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Microsoft.Power...ninstallPackage:UninstallPackage) [Uninstall-Package]
   , Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : NoMatchFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.UninstallPackage

PS C:\Users\Administrator> docker

Usage:  docker [OPTIONS] COMMAND

A self-sufficient runtime for containers

Options:
      --config string      Location of client config files (default
                           "C:\\Users\\Administrator\\.docker")
  -c, --context string     Name of the context to use to connect to the
                           daemon (overrides DOCKER_HOST env var and
                           default context set with "docker context use")
  -D, --debug              Enable debug mode
  -H, --host list          Daemon socket(s) to connect to
  -l, --log-level string   Set the logging level
                           ("debug"|"info"|"warn"|"error"|"fatal")
                           (default "info")
      --tls                Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
      --tlscacert string   Trust certs signed only by this CA (default
                           "C:\\Users\\Administrator\\.docker\\ca.pem")
      --tlscert string     Path to TLS certificate file (default
                           "C:\\Users\\Administrator\\.docker\\cert.pem")
      --tlskey string      Path to TLS key file (default
                           "C:\\Users\\Administrator\\.docker\\key.pem")
      --tlsverify          Use TLS and verify the remote
  -v, --version            Print version information and quit

Management Commands:
  app*        Docker Application (Docker Inc., v0.8.0)
  builder     Manage builds
  cluster*    Manage Mirantis Container Cloud clusters (Mirantis Inc., v1.9.0)
  config      Manage Docker configs
  container   Manage containers
  context     Manage contexts
  image       Manage images
  manifest    Manage Docker image manifests and manifest lists
  network     Manage networks
  node        Manage Swarm nodes
  plugin      Manage plugins
  registry*   Manage Docker registries (Docker Inc., 0.1.0)
  secret      Manage Docker secrets
  service     Manage services
  stack       Manage Docker stacks
  swarm       Manage Swarm
  system      Manage Docker
  trust       Manage trust on Docker images
  volume      Manage volumes

Commands:
  attach      Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
  build       Build an image from a Dockerfile
  commit      Create a new image from a container's changes
  cp          Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
  create      Create a new container
  diff        Inspect changes to files or directories on a container's filesystem
  events      Get real time events from the server
  exec        Run a command in a running container
  export      Export a container's filesystem as a tar archive
  history     Show the history of an image
  images      List images
  import      Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
  info        Display system-wide information
  inspect     Return low-level information on Docker objects
  kill        Kill one or more running containers
  load        Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
  login       Log in to a Docker registry
  logout      Log out from a Docker registry
  logs        Fetch the logs of a container
  pause       Pause all processes within one or more containers
  port        List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
  ps          List containers
  pull        Pull an image or a repository from a registry
  push        Push an image or a repository to a registry
  rename      Rename a container
  restart     Restart one or more containers
  rm          Remove one or more containers
  rmi         Remove one or more images
  run         Run a command in a new container
  save        Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
  search      Search the Docker Hub for images
  start       Start one or more stopped containers
  stats       Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
  stop        Stop one or more running containers
  tag         Create a tag TARGET_IMAGE that refers to SOURCE_IMAGE
  top         Display the running processes of a container
  unpause     Unpause all processes within one or more containers
  update      Update configuration of one or more containers
  version     Show the Docker version information
  wait        Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes

Run 'docker COMMAND --help' for more information on a command.

To get more help with docker, check out our guides at https://docs.docker.com/go/guides/
PS C:\Users\Administrator> Get-PackageProvider -ListAvailable

Name                     Version          DynamicOptions
----                     -------          --------------
DockerMsftProvider       1.0.0.8          Update
msi                      3.0.0.0          AdditionalArguments
msu                      3.0.0.0
NuGet                    2.8.5.208        Destination, ExcludeVersion, Scope, SkipDependencies, Headers, FilterOnTag...
PowerShellGet            1.0.0.1          PackageManagementProvider, Type, Scope, AllowClobber, SkipPublisherCheck, ...
Programs                 3.0.0.0          IncludeWindowsInstaller, IncludeSystemComponent


PS C:\Users\Administrator> Get-Package -Name Docker -ProviderName DockerMsftProvider

Name                           Version          Source                           ProviderName
----                           -------          ------                           ------------
docker                         20.10.0          DockerDefault                    DockerMsftProvider


PS C:\Users\Administrator> Install-Package -Name docker -ProviderName DockerMsftProvider

The package(s) come(s) from a package source that is not marked as trusted.
Are you sure you want to install software from 'DockerDefault'?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "N"): y
PS C:\Users\Administrator> Install-Package -Name docker -ProviderName DockerMsftProvider

The package(s) come(s) from a package source that is not marked as trusted.
Are you sure you want to install software from 'DockerDefault'?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "N"): A
PS C:\Users\Administrator> uninstall-Package -Name docker
WARNING: Docker Service is not available.
uninstall-Package : The property 'Status' cannot be found on this object. Verify that the property exists.
At line:1 char:1
+ uninstall-Package -Name docker
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (Microsoft.Power...ninstallPackage:UninstallPackage) [Uninstall-Package],
   Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PropertyNotFoundStrict,Microsoft.PowerShell.PackageManagement.Cmdlets.UninstallPackage

PS C:\Users\Administrator>

Answer 1

The pipe access that the error message mentions is a (probably unrelated) issue when docker client is run by non-admin users (see here).

I think the most likely explanation is that the docker service has failed to start.

When you ran dockerd you were actually starting an instance of the daemon - and the line API listen on //./pipe/docker_engine means that the system service hadn't started previously - as the instance you started could create the pipe.

If you stop the running dockerd instance and run:

 Get-Service docker | Restart-Service
 Get-WinEvent -logname application | where ProviderName -eq docker | sort TimeCreated

You should be able to compare the log output with your manual start of dockerd, and see if any errors are blocking the service from starting.

If the event log records API listen on //./pipe/docker_engine then Get-Service docker should show the service as running, and your docker commands should be ok.

[Edit]

Looks like the uninstall of docker was failing because the service doesn't exist. Yet, the install is succeeding except for the service installation.

You can re-register the service with &'C:\Program Files\Docker\dockerd.exe' --register-service

Maybe this will fail if the VPS provider is somehow stopping services from being registered?

Another option is to run docker interactively in one shell with &'C:\Program Files\Docker\dockerd.exe' --run-service, and run your docker commands in another shell.