Got permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock

What This Error Means

Docker denied access to the daemon socket due to insufficient permissions.

How to Fix It

1. On Linux, add your user to the docker group: sudo usermod -aG docker $USER (then re-login).
2. As a quick test, run the same command with sudo (do not rely on this long-term).
3. Check socket permissions: ls -la /var/run/docker.sock.
4. If SELinux/AppArmor is enabled, review the policy denial logs.

Why It Happens

• Your user is not in the docker group (Linux).
• The Docker socket has restrictive permissions.
• A security policy (SELinux/AppArmor) is blocking access.

How to Verify

1. Re-run docker version without sudo and confirm the server info is shown.
2. Retry the original command.

Manual daemon access checks

1. Print groups: groups.
2. Check daemon socket: stat /var/run/docker.sock.

Common CLI Output

Got permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock

Got permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock: connect: permission denied

Prevention Tips

• Provision CI runners with correct docker group membership.
• Avoid running Docker commands as root unless required by policy.