How to fix Conflicting options: --restart and --rm in Docker

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The '--restart and --rm' conflict error occurs when you use both flags together in a docker run command. These options are mutually exclusive because --rm removes the container on exit while --restart keeps it alive for restarts.

What this error means

The "Conflicting options: --restart and --rm" error in Docker occurs when you attempt to use both the `--restart` and `--rm` flags together in the same `docker run` command. These two flags represent fundamentally incompatible container lifecycle behaviors: - **`--rm`**: Automatically removes the container and its writable layer when the container exits. This is ideal for ephemeral containers like one-off commands, build steps, or temporary development environments. - **`--restart`**: Configures a restart policy that tells the Docker daemon to automatically restart the container after it exits. Available policies include `no`, `on-failure`, `always`, and `unless-stopped`. The conflict is logical: you cannot tell Docker to both remove the container when it exits AND restart it when it exits. If Docker removed the container, there would be nothing left to restart. Conversely, if Docker plans to restart the container, it must preserve the container state. This error is a safeguard that prevents users from creating containers with contradictory configurations that would result in undefined behavior.

How to fix "Conflicting options: --restart and --rm"

1Decide on container lifecycle behavior

First, determine what behavior you actually need:

Use `--rm` when you want:
- One-off commands that run and clean up automatically
- Development/debugging containers that shouldn't persist
- Build steps or temporary processing containers
- Interactive shells you won't need to reconnect to

Use `--restart` when you want:
- Long-running services that should survive crashes
- Production containers that must stay running
- Background services that should start on boot
- Containers that might fail temporarily and need recovery

bash

# Ephemeral container (use --rm)
docker run --rm alpine echo "Hello, World!"

# Persistent service (use --restart)
docker run -d --restart unless-stopped nginx

2Remove the conflicting flag

Once you've decided on the lifecycle behavior, remove the conflicting flag:

If you want automatic cleanup (remove --restart):

bash

# Before (error)
docker run --rm --restart always myimage

# After (works)
docker run --rm myimage

If you want restart capability (remove --rm):

bash

# Before (error)
docker run --rm --restart always myimage

# After (works)
docker run -d --restart always myimage

Note: For detached containers (-d) that you want to restart, you almost always want --restart rather than --rm.

3Fix docker-compose run conflicts

If using docker-compose run on a service with a restart policy, the --rm flag (which is the default for docker-compose run) conflicts with the service's restart policy.

Option 1: Override the restart policy for the run command:

yaml

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  web:
    image: myimage
    restart: unless-stopped  # This causes conflict with 'run --rm'

bash

# This might fail or produce unexpected behavior
docker-compose run --rm web echo "test"

# Use docker-compose exec instead for running commands in existing containers
docker-compose exec web echo "test"

Option 2: Use docker-compose run without --rm:

bash

# Don't use --rm (container persists)
docker-compose run web echo "test"

# Clean up manually afterward
docker-compose rm -f web

Option 3: Create a separate service for one-off commands:

yaml

services:
  web:
    image: myimage
    restart: unless-stopped

  web-cli:  # For one-off commands
    image: myimage
    profiles: ["cli"]
    # No restart policy = compatible with --rm

4Use docker update for existing containers

If you have an existing container that was started with --rm and you want to add a restart policy, you cannot use docker update:

bash

# This will fail for --rm containers
docker update --restart always mycontainer
# Error: Cannot update a container with AutoRemove enabled

Instead, you must recreate the container:

bash

# Stop and remove the existing container
docker stop mycontainer
# (it auto-removes due to --rm, or manually: docker rm mycontainer)

# Create a new container with the desired restart policy
docker run -d --name mycontainer --restart unless-stopped myimage

For containers without --rm, docker update works normally:

bash

# Add restart policy to existing container
docker update --restart unless-stopped mycontainer

5Handle development vs production configurations

A common pattern is using --rm in development but --restart in production. Use environment-specific scripts or compose files:

Using shell scripts:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# run-dev.sh
docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/app myimage bash

# run-prod.sh
docker run -d --restart unless-stopped --name myapp myimage

Using Docker Compose override files:

yaml

# docker-compose.yml (base)
services:
  app:
    image: myimage

# docker-compose.override.yml (development - auto-loaded)
services:
  app:
    # No restart policy for development

# docker-compose.prod.yml (production)
services:
  app:
    restart: unless-stopped

bash

# Development (uses override automatically)
docker-compose up

# Production
docker-compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

How to fix Conflicting options: --restart and --rm in Docker

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