# Don't forget to run docker remove app when reinstalling discourse
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/dont-forget-to-run-docker-remove-app-when-reinstalling-discourse/347139
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [January 14, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/dont-forget-to-run-docker-remove-app-when-reinstalling-discourse/347139 "2025-01-14T21:22:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Godmar\_Back](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Godmar_Back)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/dont-forget-to-run-docker-remove-app-when-reinstalling-discourse/347139/1 "2025-01-14T21:22:48Z")
I have been using Discourse for several years now. I am setting up a new instance every 6 months. My setup includes docker and an nginx-based proxy, so it’s perhaps slightly non-standard. I’m not using `discourse-setup` for this reason.
Every 6 months, when I repeat this process, after I reclone a fresh copy of discourse from its git and run `./launcher bootstrap app`, the container fails to start. The log shows:
```plaintext
anacron: Can't chdir to /var/spool/anacron: No such file or directory
run-parts: /etc/runit/1.d/anacron exited with return code 1
run-parts: executing /etc/runit/1.d/00-ensure-links
run-parts: executing /etc/runit/1.d/00-fix-var-logs
run-parts: executing /etc/runit/1.d/01-cleanup-web-pids
run-parts: executing /etc/runit/1.d/anacron
anacron: Can't chdir to /var/spool/anacron: No such file or directory
```
ad infinitum.
I then usually do a number of steps to rebootstrap, restart, removing plugins, readding them, etc., until it finally works, without ever learning what ultimately made it work. 6 months later, the same thing happens again. I work just to fix it, and it’s not clear which of the many steps I take then ultimately made it work.
This time, though, I believe I finally found the issue, and it’s this: apparently, `./launcher start app` restarts old container instances called `app`, even when Discourse was recloned and rebootstrapped.
The missing step is `docker remove app`. In summary:
```plaintext
./launcher stop app
docker remove app
... now reclone, rebootstrap and launcher start app works
```
My mistake was to expect that after running `./launcher bootstrap app`, the next `./launcher start app` would start the new container image, but this doesn’t appear to be the case. Naturally, things go haywire with the old one since the `/var/discourse/shared` path has been reinitialized.
I’m leaving this here in case others search for the same log error messages.
As a possible improvement, it would be nice if the container detected that its `/var/discourse/shared` directory changed.
---
### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/dont-forget-to-run-docker-remove-app-when-reinstalling-discourse/347139/2 "2025-01-14T21:56:21Z")
If you want to run bootstrap, the “discourse way” is
```plaintext
./launcher bootstrap app
./launcher destroy app
./launcher start app
```
But if you have just one container, there’s no reason not to just
```plaintext
./launcher rebuild app
```
like pretty much every example says. That stops the running container, bootstraps a new one, and starts it. If the bootstrap fails for some reason, you can (usually) restart the old one with `./launcher start app` (as you’ve described).
---
### Author:  [@Godmar\_Back](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Godmar_Back)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/dont-forget-to-run-docker-remove-app-when-reinstalling-discourse/347139/3 "2025-01-14T22:44:26Z")
I think I see the problem, and it’s related to the usual conflation of “container instance” and “container image.”
If you look at [10. Post-Install Maintenance](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md#10-post-install-maintenance), for instance, it says:
```plaintext
Usage: launcher COMMAND CONFIG [--skip-prereqs] [--docker-args STRING]
Commands:
start: Start/initialize a container
stop: Stop a running container
restart: Restart a container
destroy: Stop and remove a container
enter: Use nsenter to get a shell into a container
logs: View the Docker logs for a container
bootstrap: Bootstrap a container for the config based on a template
rebuild: Rebuild a container (destroy old, bootstrap, start new)
cleanup: Remove all containers that have stopped for > 24 hours
```
In most uses of the word “container” in this help output, it’s referring to an instance of a container. Except in bootstrap, where it refers to an image. (`./launcher bootstrap` uses `docker commit` to create a new image from which subsequent container instances can be launched.) I think this was unexpected (and I naively assumed it would affect the current `app` instance as well.)
In `rebuild`, the word container refers to both container images and instances since it involves a set of operations that affects both container instances and container images.
And it’s not clear what it refers to in `cleanup` - will only the instances be removed, or the bootstrapped image as well?