Issues running Rasa with Docker

Rasa Pro CALM
1

Hello,

I am trying to running Rasa by following the instructions provided in Using Docker | Rasa Documentation. Unfortunately, I am getting the error shown below. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I am currently using Ubuntu 24.04.2.

local@local-ThinkPad-P51:~$ docker run -v ~/Documents/rasa-demo2:/app      
       -e RASA_PRO_LICENSE=${RASA_PRO_LICENSE}        
     rasa/rasa-pro:3.12.6       
      init --no-prompt --template tutorial
Matplotlib created a temporary cache directory at /tmp/matplotlib-hbd8k565 because the default 
path (/app/.config/matplotlib) is not a writable directory; it is highly recommended to set the 
MPLCONFIGDIR environment variable to a writable directory, in particular to speed up the 
import of Matplotlib and to better support multiprocessing.
2025-05-08 15:55:02 WARNING  rasa.utils.common  - Failed to write global config. Error: [Errno 
13] Permission denied: '/app/.config'. Skipping.
2025-05-08 15:55:02 WARNING  rasa.utils.common  - Failed to write global config. Error: [Errno 
13] Permission denied: '/app/.config'. Skipping.
Warning: Input is not a terminal (fd=0).
2025-05-08 15:55:03 INFO     root  - creating actions
2025-05-08 15:55:03 ERROR    rasa.__main__  - {"event_info": "DistutilsFileError: could not 
create 'actions': Permission denied", "event": "cli.exception.general_exception", "level": "error", 
"exception": [{"exc_type": "DistutilsFileError", "exc_value": "could not create 'actions': Permission
 denied", "syntax_error": null, "is_cause": false, "frames": [{"filename": 
"/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/rasa/__main__.py", "lineno": 148, "name": "main", "line": 
"", "locals": {"raw_arguments": "None", "arg_parser": "'ArgumentParser(prog=\\'rasa\\', 
usage=None, description=\"Rasa command line interface'+294", "cmdline_arguments": 
"'Namespace(loglevel=None, logging_config_file=None, no_prompt=True, init_dir=None'+93", 
"log_level": "None", "logging_config_file": "None", "is_studio_command": "False", "result": "[]", 
"endpoints_file": "None", "exc": "DistutilsFileError(\"could not create 'actions': Permission 
denied\")"}}, {"filename": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/rasa/cli/scaffold.py", "lineno": 
273, "name": "run", "line": "", "locals": {"args": "'Namespace(loglevel=None, 
logging_config_file=None, no_prompt=True, init_dir=None'+93", "questionary": "\"<module 
'questionary' from '/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/questionary/_\"+12", "path": "."}}, 
{"filename": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/rasa/cli/scaffold.py", "lineno": 154, "name": 
"init_project", "line": "", "locals": {"args": "'Namespace(loglevel=None, logging_config_file=None, 
no_prompt=True, init_dir=None'+93", "path": "."}}, {"filename": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-
packages/rasa/cli/scaffold.py", "lineno": 165, "name": "create_initial_project", "line": "", "locals": 
{"path": ".", "template": "<ProjectTemplateName.TUTORIAL: 'tutorial'>", "copy_tree": "<function 
copy_tree at 0x7ac20b13d3f0>"}}, {"filename": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-
packages/setuptools/_distutils/dir_util.py", "lineno": 168, "name": "copy_tree", "line": "", "locals": 
{"src": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/rasa/cli/project_templates/tutorial", "dst": ".", 
"preserve_mode": "1", "preserve_times": "1", "preserve_symlinks": "0", "update": "0", "verbose": 
"1", "dry_run": "0", "copy_file": "<function copy_file at 0x7ac20b13df30>", "names": "\"['actions', 
'endpoints.yml', 'config.yml', 'credentials.yml', 'data', 'domain.ym\"+3", "outputs": "[]", "n": 
"actions", "src_name": "'/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-
packages/rasa/cli/project_templates/tutorial/actio'+2", "dst_name": "./actions"}}, {"filename": 
"/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages/setuptools/_distutils/dir_util.py", "lineno": 146, "name": 
"copy_tree", "line": "", "locals": {"src": "'/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-
packages/rasa/cli/project_templates/tutorial/actio'+2", "dst": "./actions", "preserve_mode": "1", 
"preserve_times": "1", "preserve_symlinks": "0", "update": "0", "verbose": "1", "dry_run": "0", 
"copy_file": "<function copy_file at 0x7ac20b13df30>", "names": "['actions.py', '__init__.py', 
'__pycache__']"}}, {"filename": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-
packages/setuptools/_distutils/dir_util.py", "lineno": 77, "name": "mkpath", "line": "", "locals": 
{"name": "actions", "mode": "511", "verbose": "1", "dry_run": "0", "created_dirs": "[]", "head": 
"actions", "tail": "actions", "tails": "['actions']", "d": "actions", "abs_head": "/app/actions"}}]}, 
{"exc_type": "PermissionError", "exc_value": "[Errno 13] Permission denied: 'actions'", 
"syntax_error": null, "is_cause": false, "frames": [{"filename": "/opt/venv/lib/python3.10/site-
packages/setuptools/_distutils/dir_util.py", "lineno": 74, "name": "mkpath", "line": "", "locals": 
{"name": "actions", "mode": "511", "verbose": "1", "dry_run": "0", "created_dirs": "[]", "head": 
"actions", "tail": "actions", "tails": "['actions']", "d": "actions", "abs_head": "/app/actions"}}]}]}
Welcome to Rasa! 🤖
2

Hi @ntntnlstdnt

Thanks for sharing the error message! It looks like the issue is caused because the directory you mounted (~/Documents/rasa-demo2) is read-only inside the Docker container. Rasa is trying to create a folder called actions inside that directory, but it doesn’t have permission to do so, that’s why you’re seeing:

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'actions'

Try changing permissions for this directory by running this command

chmod -R a+w ~/Documents/rasa-demo2

Please let me know if this helped to resolve the issue.

1 Like
3

Thank you for the prompt response, @m_ashurkina. Changing the permission worked! However, the docker container exited after the training. Is the intended behavior? I assume the container should persist if I am to run rasa inpect in the folder as instructed in the installation log. I also ran docker ps and docker ps -a to check if there are any containers running and the history of ran containers.

...
Welcome to Rasa! 🤖

By installing and using this software, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of the 
Developer Terms available at https://rasa.com/developer-terms. Please review the Developer 
Terms carefully before proceeding.

To get started quickly, an initial project will be created.
If you need some help, check out the documentation at https://rasa.com/docs/rasa-pro.

Created project directory at '/app'.
Finished creating project structure.
Training an initial model...

------------------------------------------------------
Want to help shape the future of Rasa Pro?
Share your feedback in a short conversation with our team.
Sign up at: https://calendly.com/alvaro-rasa/rasa-pro-installation
------------------------------------------------------

If you want to speak to the assistant, run 'rasa inspect' at any time inside the project directory.
local@local-ThinkPad-P51:~/Documents/rasa-demo2$ ls
actions  config.yml  credentials.yml  data  domain.yml  endpoints.yml  models
local@local-ThinkPad-P51:~/Documents/rasa-demo2$ rasa inspect
rasa: command not found
local@local-ThinkPad-P51:~/Documents/rasa-demo2$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES
local@local-ThinkPad-P51:~/Documents/rasa-demo2$ docker ps -a
CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                             COMMAND                  CREATED          STATUS                        PORTS     NAMES
eea86a4029a6   rasa/rasa-pro:3.12.6              "rasa init --no-prom…"   7 minutes ago    Exited 
(0) 7 minutes ago                great_solomon
a0a9ce123da1   rasa/rasa-pro:3.12.6              "rasa init --no-prom…"   14 minutes ago   Exited 
(1) 14 minutes ago               peaceful_williamson
36b8ce0c0df4   rasa/rasa-pro:3.12.6              "rasa init --no-prom…"   32 minutes ago   Exited (0) 31 minutes ago               clever_villani
4

Hi @ntntnlstdnt, this is the expected behaviour for the Docker command to exit after the training has completed.

To be able to run and access the inspector, presuming the training completed successfully, you’d need to then run another Docker command, e.g.:

docker run -v ~/rasa-demo2:/app -e RASA_PRO_LICENSE=${RASA_PRO_LICENSE} -p 5005:5005 rasa/rasa-pro:3.12.6 inspect

And then you’d be able to access the inspector from your browser by going to

http://localhost:5005

Hope this is helpful.

1 Like
5

It works! Thank you.

It would very helpful for novices like me if these inspect instructions were added to the Using Docker | Rasa Documentation. I think having the Rasa Inspector up and running would be a small victory and a great indicator that we have set everything up correctly.

6

Hi @ntntnlstdnt thank you so much for your feedback and for raising this issue. We plan to update the page Using Docker | Rasa Documentation with relevant instructions.