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Container Exits Immediately

Problem

A container exits the instant it starts, and never stays running.

Symptoms

docker ps

Nothing appears. But docker ps -a shows the container as Exited just seconds after it was created.

Common Causes

  • The container's main process finished and exited (a container lives only as long as its main process)
  • The start command runs a task that completes and returns, rather than a long-running service
  • The command errored out immediately

Investigation

Check the logs and the exit code.

docker logs CONTAINER_NAME
docker ps -a

An exit code of 0 means it finished cleanly; a non-zero code means it errored.

Resolution

Make sure the container runs a long-lived foreground process, such as a web server. If you only ran a one-off command, exiting is expected and correct.

Prevention

Remember the rule: a container runs for exactly as long as its main process does. Design the start command to stay in the foreground.