[Bug]: Inconsistent "As no valid configuration was found, execution cannot continue. " on GitHub Actions runner

Module

Core

Testcontainers version

1.21.3

Using the latest Testcontainers version?

Yes

Host OS

ubuntu-22.04

Host Arch

x86

Docker version

Client: Docker Engine - Community
 Version:           28.0.4
 API version:       1.48
 Go version:        go1.23.7
 Git commit:        b8034c0
 Built:             Tue Mar 25 15:07:11 2025
 OS/Arch:           linux/amd64
 Context:           default

Server: Docker Engine - Community
 Engine:
  Version:          28.0.4
  API version:      1.48 (minimum version 1.24)
  Go version:       go1.23.7
  Git commit:       6430e49
  Built:            Tue Mar 25 15:07:11 2025
  OS/Arch:          linux/amd64
  Experimental:     false
 containerd:
  Version:          1.7.27
  GitCommit:        05044ec0a9a75232cad458027ca83437aae3f4da
 runc:
  Version:          1.2.5
  GitCommit:        v1.2.5-0-g59923ef
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

What happened?

I have a Gradle build service that uses Testcontainers.
When running tests locally, everything works reliably.

However, when running the same tests on GitHub Actions, I will inconsistently get "Could not find a valid Docker environment." errors.
It is inconsistent between runs; if I "Re-run jobs" enough times I can eventually produce a run that works.

The attached Gradle Build Scans are from the GHA workflows targeting the same commit, the only difference was a retry.

Note: Run 2 (when Testcontainers did start) has failing tests. These are unrelated, the important part is that the tests were successfully able to run.

Relevant log output

Could not find a valid Docker environment. Please check configuration. Attempted configurations were:	
As no valid configuration was found, execution cannot continue.	
See https://java.testcontainers.org/on_failure.html for more details.

Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Could not find a valid Docker environment. Please see logs and check configuration	
at org.testcontainers.dockerclient.DockerClientProviderStrategy.lambda$getFirstValidStrategy$7(DockerClientProviderStrategy.java:274)	
at org.testcontainers.dockerclient.DockerClientProviderStrategy.getFirstValidStrategy(DockerClientProviderStrategy.java:265)	
at org.testcontainers.DockerClientFactory.getOrInitializeStrategy(DockerClientFactory.java:154)	
at org.testcontainers.DockerClientFactory.client(DockerClientFactory.java:196)	
at org.testcontainers.DockerClientFactory$1.getDockerClient(DockerClientFactory.java:108)	
at com.github.dockerjava.api.DockerClientDelegate.authConfig(DockerClientDelegate.java:109)	
at org.testcontainers.containers.GenericContainer.start(GenericContainer.java:321)	
at com.mussonindustrial.ignition.embr.e2e.env.TestEnvironmentService$start$1.accept(TestEnvironmentService.kt:54)	
at com.mussonindustrial.ignition.embr.e2e.env.TestEnvironmentService$start$1.accept(TestEnvironmentService.kt:54)

Additional Information

Start with DockerClientProviderStrategy.getFirstValidStrategy and DockerClientFactory.getOrInitializeStrategy, the entry points named in the stack trace. Compare the linked GitHub Actions runs and their Docker/Testcontainers logs to determine why a valid environment is intermittently missed. Done means the cause is reproducible and the behavior is fixed or clearly documented with verification on GitHub Actions.