java.lang.IllegalStateException: Previous attempts to find a Docker environment failed. Will not retry. Please see logs and check configuration

Question

I am trying to run my spring boot app junit tests inside docker and then create image of that app. Below is my Dockerfile:

FROM adoptopenjdk/openjdk14:alpine-jre as base

COPY .mvn/ .mvn
COPY mvnw pom.xml ./
RUN ./mvnw -B dependency:resolve-plugins dependency:resolve
COPY src ./src

FROM base as test
CMD ["./mvnw", "test"]

FROM base as build
RUN ./mvnw package

COPY target/testapp-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar testapp.jar

EXPOSE 8080
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "testapp.jar"]

Now in some of my unit test cases I am using testcontainers with maven dependency as:-

        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit-jupiter</artifactId>
            <version>1.16.0</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

I am using test containers to up cassandra and redis container while testing. But somehow the classes that are using testcontainers are failing with exception:

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Previous attempts to find a Docker environment failed. Will not retry. Please see logs and check configuration
        at org.testcontainers.dockerclient.DockerClientProviderStrategy.getFirstValidStrategy(DockerClientProviderStrategy.java:109) ~[testcontainers-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.DockerClientFactory.getOrInitializeStrategy(DockerClientFactory.java:135) ~[testcontainers-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.DockerClientFactory.client(DockerClientFactory.java:177) ~[testcontainers-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.LazyDockerClient.getDockerClient(LazyDockerClient.java:14) ~[testcontainers-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.LazyDockerClient.authConfig(LazyDockerClient.java:12) ~[testcontainers-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.containers.GenericContainer.start(GenericContainer.java:314) ~[testcontainers-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.TestcontainersExtension$StoreAdapter.start(TestcontainersExtension.java:242) ~[junit-jupiter-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.TestcontainersExtension$StoreAdapter.access$200(TestcontainersExtension.java:229) ~[junit-jupiter-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.TestcontainersExtension.lambda$null$1(TestcontainersExtension.java:59) ~[junit-jupiter-1.16.0.jar:na]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.ExtensionValuesStore.lambda$getOrComputeIfAbsent$4(ExtensionValuesStore.java:86) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.ExtensionValuesStore$MemoizingSupplier.get(ExtensionValuesStore.java:205) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.ExtensionValuesStore$StoredValue.evaluate(ExtensionValuesStore.java:182) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.ExtensionValuesStore$StoredValue.access$100(ExtensionValuesStore.java:171) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.ExtensionValuesStore.lambda$closeAllStoredCloseableValues$1(ExtensionValuesStore.java:65) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.ReferencePipeline$2$1.accept(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap$ValueSpliterator.forEachRemaining(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.copyInto(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.wrapAndCopyInto(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.ForEachOps$ForEachOp.evaluateSequential(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.ForEachOps$ForEachOp$OfRef.evaluateSequential(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.AbstractPipeline.evaluate(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at java.base/java.util.stream.ReferencePipeline.forEach(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.ExtensionValuesStore.closeAllStoredCloseableValues(ExtensionValuesStore.java:68) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.descriptor.AbstractExtensionContext.close(AbstractExtensionContext.java:74) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.execution.JupiterEngineExecutionContext.close(JupiterEngineExecutionContext.java:53) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.descriptor.JupiterTestDescriptor.cleanUp(JupiterTestDescriptor.java:222) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.jupiter.engine.descriptor.JupiterTestDescriptor.cleanUp(JupiterTestDescriptor.java:57) ~[junit-jupiter-engine-5.7.0.jar:5.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.lambda$cleanUp$9(NodeTestTask.java:155) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.ThrowableCollector.execute(ThrowableCollector.java:73) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.cleanUp(NodeTestTask.java:155) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.execute(NodeTestTask.java:87) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at java.base/java.util.ArrayList.forEach(Unknown Source) ~[na:na]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.SameThreadHierarchicalTestExecutorService.invokeAll(SameThreadHierarchicalTestExecutorService.java:38) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.lambda$executeRecursively$5(NodeTestTask.java:143) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.ThrowableCollector.execute(ThrowableCollector.java:73) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.lambda$executeRecursively$7(NodeTestTask.java:129) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.Node.around(Node.java:137) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.lambda$executeRecursively$8(NodeTestTask.java:127) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.ThrowableCollector.execute(ThrowableCollector.java:73) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.executeRecursively(NodeTestTask.java:126) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.NodeTestTask.execute(NodeTestTask.java:84) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.SameThreadHierarchicalTestExecutorService.submit(SameThreadHierarchicalTestExecutorService.java:32) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.HierarchicalTestExecutor.execute(HierarchicalTestExecutor.java:57) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.HierarchicalTestEngine.execute(HierarchicalTestEngine.java:51) ~[junit-platform-engine-1.7.0.jar:1.7.0]
        at org.junit.platform.launcher.core.DefaultLauncher.execute(DefaultLauncher.java:220) ~[junit-platform-launcher-1.3.1.jar:1.3.1]
        at org.junit.platform.launcher.core.DefaultLauncher.lambda$execute$6(DefaultLauncher.java:188) ~[junit-platform-launcher-1.3.1.jar:1.3.1]
        at org.junit.platform.launcher.core.DefaultLauncher.withInterceptedStreams(DefaultLauncher.java:202) ~[junit-platform-launcher-1.3.1.jar:1.3.1]
        at org.junit.platform.launcher.core.DefaultLauncher.execute(DefaultLauncher.java:181) ~[junit-platform-launcher-1.3.1.jar:1.3.1]
        at org.junit.platform.launcher.core.DefaultLauncher.execute(DefaultLauncher.java:128) ~[junit-platform-launcher-1.3.1.jar:1.3.1]
        at org.apache.maven.surefire.junitplatform.JUnitPlatformProvider.invokeAllTests(JUnitPlatformProvider.java:150) ~[surefire-junit-platform-2.22.2.jar:2.22.2]
        at org.apache.maven.surefire.junitplatform.JUnitPlatformProvider.invoke(JUnitPlatformProvider.java:124) ~[surefire-junit-platform-2.22.2.jar:2.22.2]
        at org.apache.maven.surefire.booter.ForkedBooter.invokeProviderInSameClassLoader(ForkedBooter.java:384) ~[surefire-booter-2.22.2.jar:2.22.2]
        at org.apache.maven.surefire.booter.ForkedBooter.runSuitesInProcess(ForkedBooter.java:345) ~[surefire-booter-2.22.2.jar:2.22.2]
        at org.apache.maven.surefire.booter.ForkedBooter.execute(ForkedBooter.java:126) ~[surefire-booter-2.22.2.jar:2.22.2]
        at org.apache.maven.surefire.booter.ForkedBooter.main(ForkedBooter.java:418) ~[surefire-booter-2.22.2.jar:2.22.2]

Although everything works perfectly fine when I don't run it inside docker but on my local.

Answer 1

For anyone finding this question because of the irritating behaviour of "Will not retry", there is a simple workaround.

Testcontainers caches the failure to find a Docker environment, and if you are using gradle or another build tool which keeps long-running daemons around, this cached failure will stick around basically forever.

Running gradle --stop (see https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/gradle_daemon.html#sec:stopping_an_existing_daemon) will stop any long-running gradle daemons and will effectively clear the cached failure. You may be using a gradle wrapper, in which case you're looking for ./gradlew --stop.

You can also use gradle --status to view running daemons.

Other build tools like Takari or mvnd (Maven Daemon) will have their own ways of stopping the long-running daemons. For mvnd, the command is mvnd --stop.

References and other reading:

• The original PR where this behaviour was introduced: https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/pull/456
• Some discussion about this issue on Github: https://github.com/testcontainers/testcontainers-java/issues/6441

Answer 2

You probably didn't add your user to the docker group, try:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Log out, log in again. Check the user has the appropriate groups and launch your app again.