[BUG]: "File exists" error on mount creation when trying to run container jobs on self-hosted agent:

[NenoLoje]

What happened?

The Problem

Can not run linux container job on self-hosted Windows agent

The Error

"Initialize containers" job fails with the following error:

C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE start 9660a18a6304d3ac00fe93718a0949817af312545ea70a00f0796139cedfab7d
Error response from daemon: error while creating mount source path '/run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals': mkdir /run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals: file exists
Error: failed to start containers: 9660a18a6304d3ac00fe93718a0949817af312545ea70a00f0796139cedfab7d
##[warning]Docker start failed with exit code 1, back off 00:00:10 seconds before retry.

Versions

Azure DevOps

• Azure DevOps Services org

Machine

• Windows Server 2022 | Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.20348.3091]
• Machine is not domain-joined (workspace mode)

Docker for Windows

• is running
• can run containers (manually)
• docker.EXE version --format '{{.Server.APIVersion}}' = '1.47'

Azure Pipelines agent

• Agent version: - 4.251.0
• Agent install directory: c:\Agent2
• Agent running as:
• has been added to local group "docker-users"

Container

• mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0

YAML Pipeline:

jobs:
- job: TestContainerJob
  displayName: 'Test Container Job'
  pool:
    name: BuildAgents
  container: mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
  steps:
  - checkout: none
  - script: |
      echo %COMPUTERNAME%

Environment type (Please select at least one enviroment where you face this issue)

• Self-Hosted
• Microsoft Hosted
• VMSS Pool
• Container

Azure DevOps Server type

dev.azure.com (formerly visualstudio.com)

Azure DevOps Server Version (if applicable)

No response

Operation system

Windows Server 2022

Version controll system

No response

Relevant log output

2025-02-14T10:22:46.9815358Z ##[section]Starting: Initialize containers
2025-02-14T10:22:46.9922310Z DockerActionRetries variable value: True
2025-02-14T10:22:46.9940129Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE version --format '{{.Server.APIVersion}}'
2025-02-14T10:22:47.1795576Z '1.47'
2025-02-14T10:22:47.1871134Z Docker daemon API version: '1.47'
2025-02-14T10:22:47.1871976Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE version --format '{{.Client.APIVersion}}'
2025-02-14T10:22:47.3373269Z '1.47'
2025-02-14T10:22:47.3459008Z Docker client API version: '1.47'
2025-02-14T10:22:47.3481763Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE ps --all --quiet --no-trunc --filter "label=7bf2a3"
2025-02-14T10:22:47.5227934Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE network prune --force --filter "label=7bf2a3"
2025-02-14T10:22:47.6700870Z DockerActionRetries variable value: True
2025-02-14T10:22:47.6707988Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE pull mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
2025-02-14T10:22:48.5543163Z 8.0: Pulling from dotnet/sdk
2025-02-14T10:22:49.0210424Z Digest: sha256:a617978b6c483cf585feefa648b0d9d53c783b0cbeab59b0c06a2d807b64c4f0
2025-02-14T10:22:49.0416989Z Status: Image is up to date for mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
2025-02-14T10:22:49.0418152Z mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
2025-02-14T10:22:49.0577083Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE inspect --format="{{.Os}}" mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
2025-02-14T10:22:49.2974507Z linux
2025-02-14T10:22:49.3284176Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE info -f "{{range .Plugins.Network}}{{println .}}{{end}}"
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9090770Z bridge
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9091480Z host
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9092855Z ipvlan
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9093388Z macvlan
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9093847Z null
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9094332Z overlay
2025-02-14T10:22:49.9230392Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE network create --label 7bf2a3 vsts_network_505954306d6744759e3009f4d8afc708
2025-02-14T10:22:50.3166509Z f48c336a2a43136eb77acd11e3efc68ae93f59049f20a47e8354b89fa383eaab
2025-02-14T10:22:50.3660567Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE inspect --format="{{index .Config.Labels \"com.azure.dev.pipelines.agent.handler.node.path\"}}" mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0
2025-02-14T10:22:50.6209746Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE create --name 3f4abf185a1244d09e896849952625f4_mcrmicrosoftcomdotnetsdk80_de7e49 --label 7bf2a3 --network vsts_network_505954306d6744759e3009f4d8afc708  -v "C:\Agent2\_work\1":"/__w/1" -v "C:\Agent2\_work\_temp":"/__w/_temp" -v "C:\Agent2\_work\_tasks":"/__w/_tasks" -v "C:\Agent2\_work\_tool":"/__t" -v "C:\Agent2\externals":"/__a/externals":ro -v "C:\Agent2\_work\.taskkey":"/__w/.taskkey" mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/sdk:8.0 "node" -e "setInterval(function(){}, 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);"
2025-02-14T10:22:51.5088434Z 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:22:51.5225691Z DockerActionRetries variable value: True
2025-02-14T10:22:51.5242134Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE start 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:22:52.5829990Z Error response from daemon: error while creating mount source path '/run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals': mkdir /run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals: file exists
2025-02-14T10:22:52.5830992Z Error: failed to start containers: 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:22:52.5980958Z ##[warning]Docker start failed with exit code 1, back off 00:00:10 seconds before retry.
2025-02-14T10:23:02.6007050Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE start 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:23:03.7126885Z Error response from daemon: error while creating mount source path '/run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals': mkdir /run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals: file exists
2025-02-14T10:23:03.7137172Z Error: failed to start containers: 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:23:03.7217336Z ##[warning]Docker start failed with exit code 1, back off 00:00:10 seconds before retry.
2025-02-14T10:23:13.7220999Z ##[command]C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.EXE start 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:23:14.7745176Z Error response from daemon: error while creating mount source path '/run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals': mkdir /run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Agent2/externals: file exists
2025-02-14T10:23:14.7745884Z Error: failed to start containers: 8dea58df0f7e266357364935d4d00bfc088b4aa278689290128fc4d24f5f50e9
2025-02-14T10:23:14.7916884Z ##[warning]Docker start failed with exit code 1, back off 00:00:10 seconds before retry.
2025-02-14T10:23:24.8183634Z ##[error]Docker start fail with exit code 1
2025-02-14T10:23:24.8189077Z ##[section]Finishing: Initialize containers