📖 ~1 min read
Table of contents
Symptom & Impact
Container workloads remain offline because daemon does not start.
Environment & Reproduction
Common on older Docker deployments using AUFS after abrupt host interruption.
Root Cause Analysis
Layer metadata corruption prevents graph driver initialization.
Quick Triage
Inspect daemon logs and verify storage path integrity.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis
Check AUFS mount entries, layer directories, and disk consistency signals.

Solution – Primary Fix
Backup data root, repair or reset driver state, and restart daemon safely.
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Solution – Alternative Approaches
Migrate to supported storage driver with planned image rebuild.
Verification & Acceptance Criteria
Daemon starts cleanly and critical containers pass health checks.
Rollback Plan
Revert to prior data root snapshot if new storage config fails.
Prevention & Hardening
Use clean shutdown controls and regular integrity checks for container storage.
Related Errors & Cross-Refs
Related with orphan layers, devicemapper migration issues, and disk full events.
Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
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Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.
References & Further Reading
Consult Docker storage driver and Ubuntu container runtime docs.
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