How to fix Error response from daemon: unknown logging driver: mydriver in Docker

First, verify which logging drivers are available on your system:

docker info | grep -i logging

This shows the default driver and lists supported drivers. You should see something like:

Logging Driver: json-file
 Supported Logging Drivers: awslogs, fluentd, gcplogs, gelf, journald, json-file, local, splunk, syslog

If the driver you need isn't listed, it either requires a plugin or isn't supported on your system.

Check your configuration for typos. The driver name must exactly match one of the supported drivers.

In daemon.json (/etc/docker/daemon.json):

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  }
}

In docker-compose.yml:

services:
  app:
    image: myapp
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "10m"
        max-file: "3"

Common built-in drivers: json-file, local, syslog, journald, gelf, fluentd, awslogs, splunk, gcplogs, none

Some logging drivers require installing a Docker plugin first.

For Loki logging driver:

docker plugin install grafana/loki-docker-driver:latest --alias loki --grant-all-permissions

For Splunk Connect:

docker plugin install splunk/docker-logging-plugin:latest --alias splunk-logging-plugin

For Docker Desktop:
Go to Settings > Plugins and enable the logging plugin you need.

After installing, verify the plugin is active:

docker plugin ls

If you recently upgraded Docker or changed the daemon configuration, restart the Docker service:

On Linux (systemd):

sudo systemctl restart docker

On macOS/Windows:
Restart Docker Desktop from the system tray/menu bar.

Important: If you're using --live-restore, containers will keep running during restart, but they may have issues with the new logging driver configuration. You may need to restart the affected containers:

docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d

Invalid JSON in daemon.json can cause logging driver issues. Validate your configuration:

cat /etc/docker/daemon.json | python3 -m json.tool

Common mistakes:
- Missing quotes around option values (all values must be strings)
- Trailing commas after the last item
- Missing commas between items

Correct format:

{
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  }
}

Note: All log-opts values must be strings, even numbers like "3".

If you need containers running immediately while troubleshooting, switch to the default json-file driver:

Remove custom driver from daemon.json or set:

{
  "log-driver": "json-file"
}

Override at container level:

docker run --log-driver=json-file myimage

In docker-compose.yml:

services:
  app:
    image: myapp
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"

This allows you to run containers while you resolve the logging driver issue.