How to fix Error response from daemon: network ingress not found in Docker

First, confirm that the ingress network is actually missing from your swarm:

docker network ls --filter scope=swarm

You should see an ingress network with the overlay driver. If it's not listed, the network is indeed missing.

Also check the swarm status:

docker info | grep -A5 "Swarm"

Verify you're on a manager node and the swarm is active.

The ingress network requires specific ports to be open between all swarm nodes. If ports are blocked, nodes cannot participate in the ingress network.

Required ports:
- TCP/UDP 7946: Container network discovery and gossip
- UDP 4789: Overlay network traffic (VXLAN)
- TCP 2377: Cluster management (managers only)

Check if ports are open:

# Test port connectivity from another node
nc -zv <manager-ip> 7946
nc -zuv <manager-ip> 4789

Open the required ports:

# Using ufw
sudo ufw allow 7946/tcp
sudo ufw allow 7946/udp
sudo ufw allow 4789/udp
sudo ufw allow 2377/tcp

# Using firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=7946/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=7946/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=4789/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=2377/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

If the ingress network was deleted, you can recreate it. First, remove any remnants of the old ingress network:

# This may show an error if already missing - that's okay
docker network rm ingress

Then create a new ingress network:

docker network create \
  --driver overlay \
  --ingress \
  --subnet=10.0.0.0/24 \
  --gateway=10.0.0.1 \
  --opt com.docker.network.driver.overlay.vxlanid_list=4096 \
  ingress

The --ingress flag is critical - it tells Docker this is the special routing mesh network, not a regular overlay.

Note: Only one ingress network can exist at a time. If you get a conflict error, ensure the old one is fully removed.

If the default ingress subnet (10.0.0.0/24) conflicts with your local network, create it with a different subnet:

docker network create \
  --driver overlay \
  --ingress \
  --subnet=10.255.0.0/24 \
  --gateway=10.255.0.1 \
  ingress

You can verify there's no conflict by checking existing network ranges:

docker network inspect ingress --format '{{range .IPAM.Config}}{{.Subnet}}{{end}}'
ip route show

If you initialized swarm with --default-addr-pool, ensure the ingress subnet doesn't overlap:

docker swarm init --default-addr-pool 10.10.0.0/16 --default-addr-pool-mask-length 24

Sometimes nodes need a Docker daemon restart to properly rejoin the ingress network:

# On the affected node
sudo systemctl restart docker

After restart, verify the node sees the ingress network:

docker network ls --filter scope=swarm
docker network inspect ingress

Check that the node is properly connected:

docker info --format '{{.Swarm.LocalNodeState}}'

This should return active.

If the ingress network cannot be recreated due to corrupted swarm state, you may need to reinitialize the swarm:

Warning: This will remove all services, configs, and secrets. Export important data first.

On all worker nodes first:

docker swarm leave

On all manager nodes (except one):

docker swarm leave

On the last manager:

docker swarm leave --force

Then reinitialize:

docker swarm init --advertise-addr <manager-ip>

This creates a fresh swarm with a new ingress network. Rejoin other nodes using the tokens from:

docker swarm join-token manager
docker swarm join-token worker