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docker, tini: link docker-init statically to fix docker run --init - #1661

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dcasota:fix/docker-init-static-5.0
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dcasota:fix/docker-init-static-5.0

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@dcasota dcasota commented Aug 7, 2026 •

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Problem

docker run --init (and compose init: true) fails on any container whose rootfs has no glibc loader:

exec /sbin/docker-init: no such file or directory

/sbin/docker-init is not a host path. It is the hardcoded in-container destination. From moby daemon/oci_linux.go:

const inContainerInitPath = "/sbin/" + dconfig.DefaultInitBinary  // "/sbin/docker-init"

s.Process.Args = append([]string{inContainerInitPath, "--", c.Path}, c.Args...)
path, err := daemonCfg.LookupInitPath() // resolves the HOST binary
s.Mounts = append(s.Mounts, specs.Mount{
    Destination: inContainerInitPath,   // /sbin/docker-init INSIDE the container
    Type: "bind", Source: path, Options: []string{"bind", "ro"},
})

LookupInitPath() searches the libexec dirs and then $PATH, finds /usr/bin/docker-init, and bind-mounts it (the symlink is resolved by the mount) into the container, which then execs it as PID 1.

/usr/bin/docker-init is a symlink to /usr/bin/tini, a dynamic PIE, so the kernel must load /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 from the container's rootfs. Alpine only ships /lib/ld-musl-x86_64.so.1. execve reports a missing ELF interpreter as ENOENT, which surfaces as "no such file or directory" for a file that is plainly present.

Reproduced on Photon OS 5.0 with docker-29.5.3-1.ph5 / tini-0.19.0-2.ph5:

# docker run --rm --init nginx:1-alpine true
exec /sbin/docker-init: no such file or directory

# docker run --rm --init debian:12 true            <- glibc image
(succeeds)

# docker run --rm -v /usr/bin/tini:/t:ro alpine:3 sh -c '/t --version'
sh: /t: not found                                   <- same ENOENT, no --init involved

# docker run --rm alpine:3 ls /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
ls: /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2: No such file or directory

debian:12 succeeding is the control: a wrong host path would break every image, not only those without a glibc loader.

The regression comes from commit b3da2fa ("tini: Initial commit / Also seperate out tini from docker spec"), released as docker-27.3.1-5.ph5. Before it, docker.spec built tini itself and installed a statically linked binary:

make tini-static %{?_smp_mflags}
cp tini-static "$GOPATH/bin/docker-init"
install -p -m 755 bin/docker-init %{buildroot}%{_bindir}/docker-init

After it, docker-init is a symlink to the dynamically linked /usr/bin/tini, and SPECS/tini/tini.spec builds tini-static only to discard it with %exclude %{_bindir}/tini-static. master, dev and 4.0 are unaffected; they still build docker-init statically.

Upstream moby links docker-init statically on purpose: hack/dockerfile/install/tini.installer runs make tini-static, and the Dockerfile asserts it with xx-verify --static. Fedora does the same, shipping a tini-static subpackage that moby-engine depends on.

The same commit also dropped tini-disable-git.patch. tini's CMakeLists.txt overwrites tini_VERSION_GIT and git_version_check_ret via execute_process(), clobbering the -D values the spec passes. An RPM builds from a tarball with no .git, so the git call fails and the version suffix is silently dropped. moby parses docker-init --version expecting tini version X.Y.Z - git.COMMIT, so docker info reports an empty init version:.

Change

SPECS/tini/tini.spec (0.19.0-2 -> 0.19.0-3; not gated by subrelease, so it serves every subrelease)

  • Package tini-static in a new subpackage instead of excluding it. The binary is already built and installed into the buildroot by %cmake_build / %cmake_install; the %exclude existed only to stop RPM's unpackaged-files check from failing the build.
  • Restore tini-disable-git.patch as Patch0.

SPECS/docker/docker.spec (29.8.0-1 -> 29.8.0-2, subreleases 91 and later) and SPECS/90/docker/docker.spec (28.2.2-7.4.1 -> 28.2.2-7.4.2, subreleases 90 and earlier), identically:

  • Point docker-init at tini-static.
  • Add Requires: tini-static >= 0.19.0-3 to docker-engine, the subpackage that ships /usr/bin/docker-init. The version bound is deliberate: if docker-engine lands while an older tini without tini-static is installed, the dangling symlink gives the identical error message, so an unversioned dependency would leave that window open.

Requires: tini stays on the docker metapackage. docker is the only package requiring tini, so removing it would orphan /usr/bin/tini to tdnf autoremove; that is out of scope here.

Testing

  • rpmspec -P (x86_64 and aarch64) and check_spec.py --mainline 93: SPECS/tini at subreleases 90 and 92, SPECS/docker at 92, SPECS/90/docker at 90: all pass.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

@dcasota
dcasota force-pushed the fix/docker-init-static-5.0 branch from 8e70895 to 35bfb22 Compare August 7, 2026 21:55
@dcasota
dcasota force-pushed the fix/docker-init-static-5.0 branch from f59dcc7 to f97ac7d Compare September 1, 2026 10:25
@aabusair aabusair closed this Sep 2, 2026
@aabusair aabusair reopened this Sep 2, 2026
@dcasota
dcasota force-pushed the fix/docker-init-static-5.0 branch 2 times, most recently from 38c9bde to 7d4b260 Compare September 17, 2026 06:02
@dcasota dcasota closed this Oct 7, 2026
@dcasota
dcasota force-pushed the fix/docker-init-static-5.0 branch from 7d4b260 to 722ea90 Compare October 7, 2026 11:34
`docker run --init` fails on any container whose rootfs has no glibc loader:

    exec /sbin/docker-init: no such file or directory

/sbin/docker-init is not a host path. It is the hardcoded in-container
destination (inContainerInitPath in moby daemon/oci_linux.go); the daemon
resolves the host binary via LookupInitPath() and bind-mounts it there, then
execs it as PID 1 inside the container. Because /usr/bin/docker-init is a
dynamic PIE, the kernel must load /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 from the
*container's* rootfs. Alpine/musl, scratch and distroless images do not have
it, and execve reports the missing interpreter as ENOENT - which surfaces as
"no such file or directory" for a file that plainly exists.

This regressed in 27.3.1-5 (commit b3da2fa, "tini: Initial commit / Also
seperate out tini from docker spec"). Before it, docker.spec built tini itself
and installed a statically linked binary:

    make tini-static
    cp tini-static "$GOPATH/bin/docker-init"

after it, docker-init became a symlink to the dynamically linked /usr/bin/tini
from the new standalone tini package, whose spec builds tini-static and then
discards it with %exclude.

Upstream moby links docker-init statically on purpose
(hack/dockerfile/install/tini.installer runs `make tini-static`, and the
Dockerfile asserts it with `xx-verify --static`). Fedora does the same: its
tini package ships a tini-static subpackage that moby-engine depends on.
photon master/dev/4.0 are unaffected, they still build it statically.

Changes:

  tini: package tini-static in a new subpackage instead of excluding it. The
  binary is already built and installed into the buildroot by %cmake_build /
  %cmake_install - the %exclude only existed to stop RPM's unpackaged-files
  check from failing the build.

  tini: restore tini-disable-git.patch, dropped by b3da2fa. tini's
  CMakeLists.txt overwrites tini_VERSION_GIT and git_version_check_ret from
  execute_process(), clobbering the -D values the spec passes. An RPM builds
  from a tarball with no .git, so the git call fails and the version suffix is
  silently dropped. moby parses `docker-init --version` expecting
  "tini version X.Y.Z - git.COMMIT", so `docker info` showed an empty
  "init version:". With the patch both binaries report
  "tini version 0.19.0 - git.de40ad0" again.

  docker: 5.0 gates docker by subrelease, so both copies are fixed -
  SPECS/docker/docker.spec (photon_subrelease >= 91) and
  SPECS/90/docker/docker.spec (photon_subrelease <= 90). SPECS/tini/tini.spec
  is not gated, so the tini-static subpackage covers every subrelease.
  Both point docker-init at tini-static, and add a versioned
  Requires: tini-static >= 0.19.0-3 to docker-engine, which is the subpackage
  that actually ships /usr/bin/docker-init. The version is required: an
  unversioned dependency could be satisfied by an older tini that has no
  tini-static, leaving the symlink dangling and reproducing the identical
  error message.

Verified on Photon 5.0 with docker-29.5.3-1.ph5 / tini-0.19.0-2.ph5:

  before: docker run --init nginx:1-alpine  -> exec /sbin/docker-init: ...
          docker run --init debian:12       -> works (glibc image)
  after:  both work, and `ps` in the container shows PID 1 = docker-init

Change-Id: I0b08ef69c111b299fad06874c7fb1e306a040622
Signed-off-by: Daniel Casota <dcasota@gmail.com>
@dcasota dcasota reopened this Oct 9, 2026

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