Kubernetes Stuck in Starting for Docker Desktop On Mac (M2)

Description

After an update of Docker Desktop to v4.26.1 I am experiencing issues launching a kubernetes cluster. It has been stuck in a starting state for over 30 mins. I had no issue using this feature in my previous version (I believe it was around ~4.18).

I am on a Macbook Pro (M2).

I have already tried a reboot of the computer and a restart of Docker Desktop but this issue still persists.

I also cannot uninstall docker from below. It is just spinning with no response.

Reproduce

Launch Docker Desktop v4.26.1 on Mac.

Expected behavior

Kubernetes cluster should launch after a few minutes of booting

docker version

Client:
 Cloud integration: v1.0.35+desktop.5
 Version:           24.0.7
 API version:       1.43
 Go version:        go1.20.10
 Git commit:        afdd53b
 Built:             Thu Oct 26 09:04:20 2023
 OS/Arch:           darwin/arm64
 Context:           desktop-linux

Server: Docker Desktop 4.26.1 (131620)
 Engine:
  Version:          24.0.7
  API version:      1.43 (minimum version 1.12)
  Go version:       go1.20.10
  Git commit:       311b9ff
  Built:            Thu Oct 26 09:08:15 2023
  OS/Arch:          linux/arm64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          1.6.25
  GitCommit:        d8f198a4ed8892c764191ef7b3b06d8a2eeb5c7f
 runc:
  Version:          1.1.10
  GitCommit:        v1.1.10-0-g18a0cb0
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

docker info

Client:
 Version:    24.0.7
 Context:    desktop-linux
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.12.0-desktop.2
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.23.3-desktop.2
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  dev: Docker Dev Environments (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.0
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-dev
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.21
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  feedback: Provide feedback, right in your terminal! (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.1
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-feedback
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.0-beta.10
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-sbom
  scan: Docker Scan (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.26.0
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scan
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.2.0
    Path:     /Users/jmccoy/.docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout

Server:
 Containers: 43
  Running: 7
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 36
 Images: 67
 Server Version: 24.0.7
 Storage Driver: overlay2
  Backing Filesystem: extfs
  Supports d_type: true
  Using metacopy: false
  Native Overlay Diff: true
  userxattr: false
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs
 Cgroup Version: 2
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay
  Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local logentries splunk syslog
 Swarm: inactive
 Runtimes: runc io.containerd.runc.v2
 Default Runtime: runc
 Init Binary: docker-init
 containerd version: d8f198a4ed8892c764191ef7b3b06d8a2eeb5c7f
 runc version: v1.1.10-0-g18a0cb0
 init version: de40ad0
 Security Options:
  seccomp
   Profile: unconfined
  cgroupns
 Kernel Version: 6.5.11-linuxkit
 Operating System: Docker Desktop
 OSType: linux
 Architecture: aarch64
 CPUs: 10
 Total Memory: 7.663GiB
 Name: docker-desktop
 ID: 103c3b25-3e97-4190-a3cd-05b2a6fce0a8
 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker
 Debug Mode: false
 HTTP Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 HTTPS Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 No Proxy: hubproxy.docker.internal
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  hubproxy.docker.internal:5555
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false

WARNING: daemon is not using the default seccomp profile

Diagnostics ID

886FC460-314B-4BCD-AA4F-D8CA578AC39F/20240119015202

Additional Info

No response

Did you find a workaround? Same issue here

I have not. I am still stuck spinning :/. I just moved over to using minikube for the time being because the docker engine still seems to work.

Having the same issue here. MacMini with M1, running MacOS 14.2.1. Fresh download, cannot get k8s to start. Can't seem to kill / restart Docker Desktop while this is spinning. Reset/Restart don't seem to do anything.

Diagnostic ID for my system: 6ea2cc11-f19e-44db-b478-3e300000bdf1/20240119223712

Same issue on 2 different machines. I'm now downgrading to the previous major version.

Upgraded to the latest 4.27.0, reset and restarted K8s and I'm seeing it properly starting up. Not sure what broke in 4.26.1, but it seems to be unbroken in 4.27.0 for me.

https://github.com/docker/for-mac/issues/5027#issuecomment-718076014
I had this issue but found a fix for my situation, I've read it has helped but there are some that say it does not. It worked for me so it might help you.

For me, Kubernetes is failing to start once Docker is restarted (it only works the 1st time).

Something that seems to be working for me is to edit ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker/settings.json and setting

"kubernetesEnabled": false,
"kubernetesInitialInstallPerformed": false,

Then kill Docker Desktop and re-enable Kubernetes

It occurred for me too on Docker 4.28 when I first upgraded to macOS Sonoma 14.4. I had to factory reset Docker Desktop to disable k8s. Enabling k8s after factory reset causes the issue to happen again. When k8s is stuck, Docker Desktop can't quit and I have to kill the processes via Activity Monitor.

Upgrading to macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 seems to fix the issue.

Im still getting this issue on latest version

@sluongng

@sluongng I'm facing the same issue as well.

same issue on windows 11 pro. docker desktop version 4.37.1 (178610)

Same problem here, MacOS 14.6.1 with docker desktop 4.37.2 (179585)

Same problem here, MacOS 14.6.1 with docker desktop 4.37.2 (179585)

do you have try to restart docker engine? i mean like from system tray.
right click docker and restart docker engine.

on my windows computer. i can run my local kubernetes after that

Same problem here, MacOS 14.6.1 with docker desktop 4.37.2 (179585)

do you have try to restart docker engine? i mean like from system tray. right click docker and restart docker engine.

on my windows computer. i can run my local kubernetes after that

Many, many times

Still facing the same issue. On a M2 Ultra

Even reset cluster is just in a loop. Nothing seems to work

This used to work for me, but now I had to:

open ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker/settings-store.json
change these from true to false

  "KubernetesEnabled": false,
  "KubernetesInitialInstallPerformed": false,

For me, Kubernetes is failing to start once Docker is restarted (it only works the 1st time).

Something that seems to be working for me is to edit ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker/settings.json and setting
"kubernetesEnabled": false,
"kubernetesInitialInstallPerformed": false,
Then kill Docker Desktop and re-enable Kubernetes

This used to work for me, but now I had to:

open ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker/settings-store.json

change these from true to false
  "KubernetesEnabled": false,
  "KubernetesInitialInstallPerformed": false,
For me, Kubernetes is failing to start once Docker is restarted (it only works the 1st time).
Something that seems to be working for me is to edit ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker/settings.json and setting
"kubernetesEnabled": false,
"kubernetesInitialInstallPerformed": false,
Then kill Docker Desktop and re-enable Kubernetes

I needed additional steps to fix the problem:

Stop/kill Docker Desktop
Open ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker/settings-store.json
Change these from true to false

  "KubernetesEnabled": false,
  "KubernetesInitialInstallPerformed": false,

Start Docker Desktop
Run docker system prune -a to delete stopped containers which includes those needed for kubernetes
Re-enable kubernetes in the settings which will re-downloaded containers for kubernetes

Same issue here, with the latest Docker Desktop update (4.39.0 (184744)) on M3 Pro 18Go / Sequoia 15.3.2
The workaround worked for me (open/editing ~/Library/'Group Containers'/group.com.docker/settings-store.json) 👍

Same issue on windows

If your mac has low available disk space, or the 'Disk usage limit' in 'Settings' 'Resource Allocation' is too low:

can make the the storage-provisioner failed to start, even Docker Desktop for Mac said that the Kubernetes is still starting, you can still use kubectl get pod -A command to list all containers, then, describe the storage-provisioner in kube-system ns, you can find something:

kubectl describe pod storage-provisioner -n kube-system
Name:             storage-provisioner
Namespace:        kube-system
Priority:         0
Service Account:  storage-provisioner
Node:             docker-desktop/192.168.65.3
Start Time:       Thu, 14 Aug 2025 19:23:49 +0800
Labels:           component=storage-provisioner
Annotations:      <none>
Status:           Failed
Reason:           Evicted
Message:          The node was low on resource: ephemeral-storage. Threshold quantity: 2519393380, available: 2032272Ki. 
IP:               
IPs:              <none>
Containers:
  storage-provisioner:
    Container ID:  
    Image:         docker/desktop-storage-provisioner:v2.0
    Image ID:      
    Port:          <none>
    Host Port:     <none>
    Args:
      /var/lib/k8s-pvs
    State:          Terminated
      Reason:       ContainerStatusUnknown
      Message:      The container could not be located when the pod was terminated
      Exit Code:    137
      Started:      Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
      Finished:     Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000
    Ready:          False
    Restart Count:  0
    Environment:    <none>
    Mounts:
      /var/lib/k8s-pvs from pvs (rw)
      /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount from kube-api-access-zn2hc (ro)
Conditions:
  Type                        Status
  DisruptionTarget            True 
  PodReadyToStartContainers   False 
  Initialized                 True 
  Ready                       False 
  ContainersReady             False 
  PodScheduled                True 
Volumes:
  pvs:
    Type:          HostPath (bare host directory volume)
    Path:          /var/lib/k8s-pvs
    HostPathType:  Directory
  kube-api-access-zn2hc:
    Type:                    Projected (a volume that contains injected data from multiple sources)
    TokenExpirationSeconds:  3607
    ConfigMapName:           kube-root-ca.crt
    ConfigMapOptional:       <nil>
    DownwardAPI:             true
QoS Class:                   BestEffort
Node-Selectors:              <none>
Tolerations:                 node.kubernetes.io/not-ready:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
                             node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
Events:
  Type     Reason     Age   From               Message
  ----     ------     ----  ----               -------
  Normal   Scheduled  13m   default-scheduler  Successfully assigned kube-system/storage-provisioner to docker-desktop
  Warning  Evicted    13m   kubelet            The node was low on resource: ephemeral-storage. Threshold quantity: 2519393380, available: 2032272Ki.

here it says 'Evicted' and the resource 'ephemeral-storage' is lower than the threshold.

Here is how I solved this problem:

Remove some large and un-used files or no-longer needed big-size applications
Increase the 'Disk usage limit' in the Docker Settings
kill all non-Ready containers in 'kube-system' ns, just kubectl delete pod xxx -n kube-system, i know that Docker is saying Kubernetes is not yet started, but just try using the kubectl command anyway
Restart the Docker Desktop for Mac

My issue seems to have been that I had installed kubectl via homebrew, so it was in opt/homebrew.

Whereas the docs for the K8S module states that kubectl must be at usr/local/bin https://docs.docker.com/desktop/features/kubernetes/#install-and-turn-on-kubernetes

So I ran brew remove kubectl - then I planned to install it as a binary, and place it into the appropriate folder, but I found that it was already installed there.

Switching from Kubeadm to Kind fixed it for me in v4.48.0.

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Kubernetes Stuck in Starting for Docker Desktop On Mac (M2) #7136

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Kubernetes Stuck in Starting for Docker Desktop On Mac (M2) #7136

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Description

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