Docker "failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed: executable file not found"
containerd’s shim could not start the container because the command it was told to run does not exist on PATH inside the image. The entrypoint/CMD names a binary the image does not have.
What this error means
A docker run/compose up fails with failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed: ... exec: "<cmd>": executable file not found in $PATH. The container never starts because its command cannot be resolved.
Error response from daemon: failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create
failed: runc create failed: unable to start container process: exec:
"yarn": executable file not found in $PATH: unknownCommon causes
The CMD/ENTRYPOINT binary is not installed
The image lacks the named tool (e.g. yarn, python, a custom script) because it was never installed in the final stage or was dropped in a multi-stage build.
The binary is not on PATH
The executable exists but lives outside the directories in $PATH, so the shim cannot find it by bare name.
A typo or wrong shell form in CMD
A misspelled command, or exec-form CMD pointing at a path that does not exist, resolves to nothing the runtime can exec.
How to fix it
Confirm the command exists in the final image
Open a shell in the image and check the binary resolves.
docker run --rm -it --entrypoint sh myorg/api:1.4.2 -c 'command -v yarn || echo missing'Install the binary or fix the command/PATH
Make sure the tool is present in the final stage and on PATH.
# install in the final stage, not just a builder stage
RUN corepack enable && corepack prepare yarn@stable --activate
# or reference an absolute path / fix the typo in CMD
CMD ["/usr/local/bin/yarn", "start"]How to prevent it
- Install runtime binaries in the final stage, not only in builder stages.
- Smoke-test images with
docker run --rm <image>before publishing. - Use absolute paths or verify PATH for entrypoint commands.