Docker: Got Permission Denied While Trying to Connect to the Docker Daemon Socket

One of the most common errors Docker users encounter is:

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

This error usually appears when you try to run a Docker command without sudo or the proper user permissions, and the Docker daemon refuses access to its socket.

In this blog post, you’ll learn what causes this issue and how to resolve it on Linux and other platforms.

Table of Contents

🔍 What Does This Error Mean?

Docker communicates with the Docker daemon (dockerd) through a Unix socket located at:

/var/run/docker.sock

If your user account doesn’t have permission to access this socket file, Docker CLI commands like docker ps or docker run will fail with a permission denied error.

🛠️ Solution: Add Your User to the `docker` Group

By default, only users in the docker group have permission to interact with the Docker daemon.

✅ Step-by-step fix:

Check your user:

whoami

Add user to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Replace $USER with your username if needed.

Apply the group change:

You need to log out and log back in for the group change to take effect.

Alternatively, you can run:

newgrp docker

This refreshes your current shell session with the new group settings.

📄 Verify the Fix

Run:

docker ps

If it works without sudo, the issue is resolved.

You can also confirm your group membership:

groups

Look for docker in the output.

🧼 Quick Explanation: Why Not Always Use `sudo`?

While using sudo docker works temporarily, it’s not ideal because:

It’s inconvenient to type sudo every time.
It can cause permission issues when mounting volumes from your user directory.
It can break CI/CD tools and developer scripts that assume user-level access.

Adding your user to the Docker group is the safer, cleaner fix.

🔐 Important Security Note

The docker group has root-level access to the system because the Docker daemon runs as root. Be cautious about adding users to this group—only trusted users should be allowed.

📝 Summary

🔑 Error:

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

✅ Fix:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Then log out and log back in.

💬 Conclusion

This Docker socket permission error is frustrating but easy to fix. By understanding how Docker daemon permissions work and configuring your user access properly, you can avoid unnecessary sudo usage and ensure a smoother development workflow.