The default docker machine AMI stopped working (Error creating machine: Error running provisioning: error installing docker)

The default AMI used by docker machine with AWS (Ubuntu 16.04) has stopped working today.

Creating machine...                               [0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
(runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596) Launching instance...[0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
Waiting for machine to be running, this may take a few minutes...[0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
Detecting operating system of created instance... [0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
Waiting for SSH to be available...                [0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
Detecting the provisioner...                      [0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
Provisioning with ubuntu(systemd)...              [0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
Installing Docker...                              [0;m  driver[0;m=amazonec2 name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=create
[31;1mERROR: Error creating machine: Error running provisioning: error installing docker: [0;m  [31;1mdriver[0;m=amazonec2 [31;1mname[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 [31;1moperation[0;m=create
[0;33mWARNING: Problem while reading command output     [0;m  [0;33merror[0;m=read |0: file already closed
[31;1mERROR: Machine creation failed                    [0;m  [31;1merror[0;m=exit status 1 [31;1mname[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 [31;1mtime[0;m=1m7.671749679s
[0;33mWARNING: Requesting machine removal               [0;m  [0;33mlifetime[0;m=1m7.671930912s [0;33mname[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 [0;33mnow[0;m=2022-04-27 04:41:47.130678429 +0000 UTC m=+881.193089789 [0;33mreason[0;m=Failed to create [0;33mused[0;m=1m7.671931312s [0;33musedCount[0;m=0
[0;33mWARNING: Stopping machine                         [0;m  [0;33mlifetime[0;m=1m7.691143808s [0;33mname[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 [0;33mreason[0;m=Failed to create [0;33mused[0;m=19.184165ms [0;33musedCount[0;m=0
Stopping "runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596"...[0;m  name[0;m=runner-xxx-gitlab-runner-docker-machine-1651034439-c2a41596 operation[0;m=stop

Switching to Ubuntu 18.04 solved the issue for me:

  [runners.machine]
    ...
    MachineDriver = "amazonec2"
    MachineOptions = [
      ...
      "amazonec2-ami=ami-00bc9b7f0e98dc134"
    ]

This AMI ID is for the ap-northeast-1 region.

I think the default AMI should be updated.

Edited Apr 27, 2022 by Alex Pravdin