[SOLVED] Error Docker: failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed

✨ Quick Answer

When running docker run or docker compose up, containerd may abort container execution with failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed: runc create failed: unable to start container process: exec: "...": executable file not found in $PATH. This fatal error prevents container startup because the Linux host kernel cannot invoke the binary or script defined in ENTRYPOINT or CMD.

Quick Diagnostics

Cause

ENTRYPOINT or CMD binary missing inside container image or lacks execution rights

Solution

Verify absolute binary path and apply chmod +x in Dockerfile

Cause

Windows CRLF line endings present in entrypoint.sh shell script

Solution

Convert entrypoint script to Unix LF format with dos2unix entrypoint.sh

When running docker run or docker compose up, containerd may abort container execution with failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed: runc create failed: unable to start container process: exec: "...": executable file not found in $PATH. This fatal error prevents container startup because the Linux host kernel cannot invoke the binary or script defined in ENTRYPOINT or CMD.

Quick Solution (1 Minute):

1. Strip Windows CRLF line endings from your startup script: dos2unix entrypoint.sh
2. Ensure executable permissions before building image: chmod +x entrypoint.sh && docker build -t my-app .

Step-by-Step Solution

1. 1

   Step 1: Convert Windows CRLF Line Endings to Unix LF

   If your entrypoint.sh script was touched on Windows or committed with Git core.autocrlf enabled, carriage returns (\r) corrupt the shebang line. Linux tries to resolve /bin/sh\r, failing instantly:

   BASH Copy

   # Install dos2unix and sanitize the startup script
   sudo apt-get install -y dos2unix
   dos2unix entrypoint.sh
   

2. 2

   Step 2: Grant Explicit Execution Permissions in Dockerfile

   Ensure execution permissions are permanently baked into the image layers during docker build:

   DOCKERFILE Copy

   # Inside your Dockerfile
   COPY entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh
   RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh
   ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh"]
   

3. 3

   Step 3: Validate Shebang and Alpine Linux Compatibility

   Check that your script's shebang calls an interpreter installed in the base image. Alpine Linux does not bundle /bin/bash by default, requiring /bin/sh:

   BASH Copy

   #!/bin/sh
   set -e
   exec "$@"
   

   When using JSON exec syntax in ENTRYPOINT ["entrypoint.sh"], always provide the absolute path (["/usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh"]) or ensure the target directory is in $PATH.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does this error specifically hit Alpine-based Docker images?

Alpine uses musl libc instead of glibc. Compiled binaries and scripts with dynamic dependencies targeting GNU glibc will fail with executable file not found unless libc6-compat or gcompat is installed.

How do I debug a crashing container that exits before inspection?

Override the container entrypoint by launching a raw shell: docker run --rm -it --entrypoint /bin/sh my-image.