Are you looking for a fix to the error message ‘docker error initializing network controller’? We can help you in fixing it.

Generally, this Docker error occurs while trying to start the docker service.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several such Docker-related errors as a part of our Docker Hosting Support for Docker users, web hosts, and online service providers.

Today we will take a look at how to fix this Docker error.

How we fix the error ‘Docker error initializing network controller ‘

Now let us see the suggestions our Support Engineers provide to our customers to resolve this Docker error.

1. Several network cards

One of our customers had approached us with the below error message.

Error starting daemon: Error initializing network controller: Error creating default "bridge" network: failed to parse pool request for address space "LocalDefault" pool "" subpool "": could not find an available predefined network

He received the error message while trying to start the docker service by running the below command.

# systemctl start docker.service

This error was relating to the machine having many network cards. So we suggested our customer to start the docker manually.

/usr/bin/docker daemon --debug --bip=192.16x.y.x/24

Here, the 192.16x.y.x is the main machine IP and /24 is the IP netmask. Docker will use this network range for building the bridge and firewall rules.

After that, we suggested killing the docker and start as usual.

Now, the docker creates a cache config for the –bip and will work without it.

2. Deleting the local-kv.db file

In some cases, the local-kv.db file may get overwritten by another daemon instance. So we suggest deleting it.

3. Activating firewalld

Sometimes, the firewalld might be stopped. So activating it can resolve the error. So we suggest our customers in activating it as well and see if the error resolves.

Here is the command to activate it.

systemctl start firewall

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

Conclusion

In short, this docker error occurs while trying to start the docker service. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers assisted our customers in resolving this docker error.