Wondering what to do if Docker attach hangs? Our Docker Support team is here to lend a hand with your queries and issues.

What to do if Docker attach hangs?

If the docker attach command has been handing a lot recently, you have come to the right place. Our experts have put together a list of potential causes and solutions:

• The container is in a paused state:

  One of the reasons that the Docker attach command hangs is that the container is paused. Hence, our experts recommend checking if the container is paused or not with the docker ps command. In other words, this command will display the container status. In case the container is in pause mode, we can unpause it.
• The container is running a process that blocks the terminal:

  Certain processes like vi or top have the capability to stop the terminal from returning control even after exiting the process. Fortunately, this can be resolved by using the Ctrl+C key combination.
• The container is not running properly:

  Another reason why the docker attach command hangs is that the container is not running properly. In this scenario, we can check the container’s logs with the docker logs command to look for error messages that can help us narrow down the problem.

If none of the above solutions seem to work, our experts recommend detaching the container with CTRL-p + CTRL-q key combination and then reattaching it again.

Alternatively, we can try restarting the container. Furthermore, our experts would also like to point out that in case the container has been stopped or if the process has been terminated, the container cannot be attached again.

Let us know in the comments which one of the above solutions helped you out.

[Need assistance with a different issue? Our team is available 24/7.]

Conclusion

In conclusion, our Support Engineers demonstrated what to do if the docker attach command hangs. Furthermore, we went through different causes and solutions for this specific error.