"Docker daemon not running" error with Podman

[royderks]

I'm new to Podman, the recommended manager in the installation docs, and I was no aware of it being "deamonless". Thus I did not understand why I got the error "Docker daemon not running" when setting up OpenRAG, instead I had to start a Podman machine first. Should the installation manager in the OpenRAG TUI give me more information? Or should the quickstart say "Start a machine" when using Podman, or include this in the troubleshooting section?

(nit: the start a machine commands are part of the Podman installation process. But you'll easily forget about this when running OpenRAG a second time after the podman machine was previously stopped).

[aimurphy]

@phact this issue mentions the quickstart, which uses the install script. I didn't have this error when I installed Podman with the script a few weeks ago. Maybe something changed since then and the script doesn't start podman correctly now?

[royderks]

Sorry I had used https://docs.openr.ag/install-uv, the install script seems to have a way to start podman indeed. Is there a plan to streamline the instal script and the python library?

[aimurphy]

Unfortunately, I am not sure about the plans for the script.

Before I update the docs, please let me know if I understand correctly, @royderks:

You got the error message when attempting to start OpenRAG because you hadn't yet opened the Podman app (which auto-starts a machine) or run the command to start a machine (podman machine init/podman machine start)?

Did the error happen when you ran uv run openrag (to open the TUI) or when you clicked Start OpenRAG in the TUI?

[royderks]

opened the Podman app (which auto-starts a machine)

I opened the Podman Desktop app, before launching OpenRAG, which did not start a machine in my case. I had Podman installed it +/- 2 months ago, when I first installed OpenRAG, and followed the installation instructions on their websites which tells you to start a machine.

Now revisiting the latest version of OpenRAG 2 months later, I only opened the Podman Desktop app. Assuming it would work similar to Docker and Docker alternatives, and it to start the docker daemon. Not knowing Podman is "daemonless" and you need to start a Podman machine -- which did not happen automatically for me when starting the Podman app.

Did the error happen when you ran uv run openrag (to open the TUI) or when you clicked Start OpenRAG in the TUI?

The error happened when I clicked "Start" in the TUI. If the bash install script is checking if podman is installed/active and start a machine, perhaps the TUI can do too...

[aimurphy]

@phact / @lucaseduoli - I need someone to investigate this before/if I update the docs. This might not be a docs issue, and we had another Podman error reported last week.

On my machine, I open the Podman app, uv run openrag, and then Start OpenRAG. I don't get any error.
Maybe there is a configuration setting or version we need to recommend, or, as @royderks suggested, maybe the TUI can make sure a Podman machine is running before trying to start the containers.

Edit: I did get an error when I didn't open the Podman app first. I have since added a note to the docs that a Docker/Podman VM must be running before you start the TUI.

[prasanthcaibmcom]

@mpawlow Please triage this one.

[prasanthcaibmcom]

Still to be investigated, Mike will connect with Roy. May already be fixed by a recent fix from Seb.