docker resource_error ai_generated true

docker: Error response from daemon: OCI runtime create failed: cgroup memory limit exceeded for process init

ID: docker/cgroup-memory-limit-exceeded-for-process

Also available as: JSON · Markdown · 中文
85%Fix Rate
88%Confidence
1Evidence
2024-06-10First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
Docker 20.10.23 active — — —
Docker 24.0.7 active — — —
containerd 1.6.22 active — — —

Root Cause

The container's memory limit set via --memory or docker-compose mem_limit is too low for the initial process allocation, causing the OOM killer to terminate the container immediately on start.

generic

中文

通过 --memory 或 docker-compose mem_limit 设置的容器内存限制过低，无法满足初始进程的内存分配，导致 OOM 杀手在启动时立即终止容器。

Official Documentation

https://docs.docker.com/config/containers/resource_constraints/#memory

Workarounds

  1. 90% success Check the container's baseline memory usage by running it without memory limits temporarily using 'docker run --rm <image> free -m' or 'docker stats', then set --memory to at least 1.5x that value. For example, if baseline is 200MB, use '--memory=300m'. 
    Check the container's baseline memory usage by running it without memory limits temporarily using 'docker run --rm <image> free -m' or 'docker stats', then set --memory to at least 1.5x that value. For example, if baseline is 200MB, use '--memory=300m'.
  2. 85% success If using docker-compose, add 'mem_limit: 512m' or higher in the service definition, and also set 'mem_reservation: 256m' to ensure minimum memory availability. 
    If using docker-compose, add 'mem_limit: 512m' or higher in the service definition, and also set 'mem_reservation: 256m' to ensure minimum memory availability.
  3. 80% success For containers with high memory spikes on startup (e.g., Java apps), use '--memory-swap' to allow swap space. Example: 'docker run --memory=256m --memory-swap=512m <image>'. 
    For containers with high memory spikes on startup (e.g., Java apps), use '--memory-swap' to allow swap space. Example: 'docker run --memory=256m --memory-swap=512m <image>'.

中文步骤

  1. 临时运行容器而不设置内存限制，使用 'docker run --rm <image> free -m' 或 'docker stats' 检查基线内存使用量，然后将 --memory 设置为至少 1.5 倍。例如，如果基线为 200MB，使用 '--memory=300m'。
  2. 如果使用 docker-compose，在服务定义中添加 'mem_limit: 512m' 或更高，并设置 'mem_reservation: 256m' 以确保最小内存可用性。
  3. 对于启动时内存峰值高的容器（例如 Java 应用），使用 '--memory-swap' 允许交换空间。示例：'docker run --memory=256m --memory-swap=512m <image>'。

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. 60% fail

    If the container's process requires more memory than the increased limit (e.g., 256MB for a Node.js app), a small increment may still be insufficient, causing the same error.

  2. 30% fail

    While this avoids the error, it removes resource constraints, potentially causing host instability if the container consumes excessive memory.

  3. 80% fail

    The error occurs at runtime initialization, not during build; the base image size does not affect the process's memory allocation at start time.