Upgraded to wsl2 2.5.7.0 and Docker desktop for Windows 4.41.2 no longer starts

[DerekBennett]

Description

I have Docker Desktop for Windows 4.41.2 installed and I updated wsl2 so that it now has this version information:

WSL version: 2.5.7.0
Kernel version: 6.6.87.1-1
WSLg version: 1.0.66
MSRDC version: 1.2.6074
Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511
DXCore version: 10.0.26100.1-240331-1435.ge-release
Windows version: 10.0.22631.5335

Docker Desktop for Windows no longer starts fully. Instead, it shows "Engine stopped" in the status bar after many minutes. And, it displays an error box with this text "running engine: waiting for the Docker API: context deadline exceeded".

20250528194159.zip

Reproduce

Attempt to start Docker Desktop for Windows.

Expected behavior

I expect Docker Desktop for Windows to start fully so that I can use the docker daemon to create and run containers.

docker version

Client:
 Version:           28.1.1
 API version:       1.49
 Go version:        go1.23.8
 Git commit:        4eba377
 Built:             Fri Apr 18 09:53:24 2025
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           desktop-linux

docker info

Client:
 Version:    28.1.1
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.1.7
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-ai.exe
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.23.0-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-buildx.exe
  cloud: Docker Cloud (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.3.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-cloud.exe
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.35.1-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-compose.exe
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.38
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-debug.exe
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.8
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-desktop.exe
  dev: Docker Dev Environments (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.2
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-dev.exe
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.27
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-extension.exe
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-init.exe
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  dev
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-mcp.exe
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.11
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-model.exe
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sbom.exe
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.17.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-scout.exe

Server:

Diagnostics ID

B793317B-1667-4D4D-BB98-BFEF51B3344F/20250528201710

Additional Info

No response

[tlemaire]

Same for me

[mirage335]

Could have been caused by this. The workaround is apparently disabling, removing, etc, all Docker containers using NVIDIA GPUs, and instead installing equivalent Docker containers with out GPU support (ie. installing OpenWebUI Docker container for CPU support only).

open-webui/open-webui#14484

[duongnhn]

Not sure if I have the same issue but I got the same error as above. I disabled Hyper-V and it start working for me again.

[djs55]

Thanks for the reports. The logs suggest a race during startup. I've attempted to fix it in this development build: https://desktop-stage.docker.com/win/main/amd64/194619/Docker%20Desktop%20Installer.exe (Intel). Let me know if that helps, and if not, could you upload more diagnostics? Thanks!

[zcabrer]

Thanks for the reports. The logs suggest a race during startup. I've attempted to fix it in this development build: https://desktop-stage.docker.com/win/main/amd64/194619/Docker%20Desktop%20Installer.exe (Intel). Let me know if that helps, and if not, could you upload more diagnostics? Thanks!

I'm having the same issue and just tried your v4.43.0. On v4.41.2 I was experiencing the same "An unexpected error occurs" popup after docker tried to start for 5-10 minutes. Now, on v4.43.0 I no longer receive the error popup but docker engine is also stopped. So not starting as expected. Attaching my diagnostics.

20250530112807.zip

[vikastr]

I am also facing same issue.

[ManojPradhanTR]

I am also facing same issue

[bsousaa]

@vikastr @ManojPradhanTR can you please share a diagnostics id?

[vikastr]

Diagnostics ID: ADEB64AB-1442-4926-AAEB-1CB880AB503B/20250530130201