Are you looking for a solution to the error message ‘docker an error occurred trying to connect’? We can help you in fixing it.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several causes for this error while troubleshooting Docker issues as part of our Docker Hosting Support for Docker users, web hosts, and online service providers.

Today we’ll take a look at the cause for this error message and see how to fix it.

Why does docker an error occurred trying to connect occurs

Before we get into the solution part, let us first see why this error occurs.

Normally, you come across this error message in the shell while trying to run a Docker container.

This error occurs due to the Docker OS environment not set properly.

For instance, the error appears as shown in the below image.

How we fix docker an error occurred trying to connect

Now, let us see the solution part of this error message.

After installing docker on windows, one of our customers ran into this error “docker an error occurred trying to connect” while running some Docker commands.

Here are the steps our Support Engineers provided to our customer to get rid of this error.

First, run the below command to start the docker-machine. (Here we have assumed docker-machine name as default)

docker-machine start default

Then run the below command to see if the machine is running or not.

docker-machine ls

After that, now run the below command,

docker-machine env --shell cmd default

As a result, of the above command, you will see something as below.

SET DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1
SET DOCKER_HOST=tcp://192.168.xx.xxx:2376
SET DOCKER_CERT_PATH=C:\Users\xxxxx\.docker\machine\machines\default
SET DOCKER_MACHINE_NAME=default
REM Run this command to configure your shell:
REM FOR /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('docker-machine env --shell cmd default') DO %i

Now, run the below command to configure the shell.

FOR /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('docker-machine env --shell cmd default') DO %i

Finally, this must fix the error efficiently.

[Need any further assistance in fixing Docker errors? – We’re available 24*7]

Conclusion

In short, this docker error occurs due to the Docker OS environment not being set properly. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers assisted our customers in resolving this docker error.