cmd/docker: fail on unknown command with --version

Running "docker nonexistent --version" printed the CLI version and
exited 0, so it couldn't be used to check whether a command or plugin
is available. Without "--version" the same invocation fails with an
"unknown command" error.

When no built-in command or plugin matches, runDocker falls through to
executing the root command, and cobra handles the "--version" flag
before the root command reports the unknown command. Unset the root
command's version in that fallback, so the standard unknown-command
error is returned.

A global "--version" flag ("docker --version nonexistent") is parsed
before the command name and still prints the version, as do
"docker --version" and "docker nonexistent --help".

Signed-off-by: Nimesh Kulkarni <167794819+GitNimay@users.noreply.github.com>
This commit is contained in:
Nimesh Kulkarni
2026-10-19 19:35:05 +05:30
parent 52a2671034
commit e08aa72569
2 changed files with 25 additions and 0 deletions
+9
View File
@@ -580,6 +580,15 @@ func runDocker(ctx context.Context, dockerCli *command.DockerCli) error {
}
// Other missing or invalid plugins fall through to cmd.ExecuteContext(),
// which reports the standard unknown-command error.
//
// Cobra handles "--version" before it checks for unknown commands,
// so unset it to make "docker nonexistent --version" fail instead
// of printing the version. A global "--version" flag (as in
// "docker --version nonexistent") was already parsed, and still
// prints the version.
if !cmd.Flags().Changed("version") {
cmd.Version = ""
}
}
}
+16
View File
@@ -62,6 +62,22 @@ func TestNonexistingHelp(t *testing.T) {
})
}
// TestNonexistingVersion ensures correct behaviour when invoking a
// nonexistent plugin with `--version`.
func TestNonexistingVersion(t *testing.T) {
run, _, cleanup := prepare(t)
defer cleanup()
for _, flag := range []string{"--version", "-v"} {
res := icmd.RunCmd(run("nonexistent", flag))
res.Assert(t, icmd.Expected{
ExitCode: 1,
Out: icmd.None,
})
golden.Assert(t, res.Stderr(), "docker-nonexistent-err.golden")
}
}
// TestRunBad ensures correct behaviour when running an existent but invalid plugin
func TestRunBad(t *testing.T) {
run, _, cleanup := prepare(t)