Moved from Docker Desktop to Orbstack, problem with nginx.conf

[Nesquik]

I have finally moved today from Docker Desktop to Orbstack after Mark's post which I read a long time ago, I exported my database and after a few updates to my local compose files to bring them up to par to the repository ones I get this error:

/docker-entrypoint.sh: Configuration complete; ready for start up
2025/07/31 15:54:57 [emerg] 1#1: open() "/var/www/html/nginx.conf" failed (1: Operation not permitted) in /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:34
nginx: [emerg] open() "/var/www/html/nginx.conf" failed (1: Operation not permitted) in /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:34

My compose.dev.yaml's nginx is mounted like the repo one:

      - ./src/nginx.conf.sample:/var/www/html/nginx.conf:cached

I am able to run setup:upgrades after a database import, but the consequent bin/start presents that error

An ls -haltr gives this entry in the container after entering with bin/bash

-rw-r--r-- 1 app app 6.8K Jul 31 16:46 nginx.conf

Another bit of info, if I get into the container with bin/root instead to print permissions I get a bunch of operation not permitted aswell:

...
ls -haltr
...
ls: generated: Operation not permitted
ls: var: Operation not permitted
ls: nginx.conf: Operation not permitted
ls: Gruntfile.js: Operation not permitted
...
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.8K Jul 31 16:46 nginx.conf
drwxr-xr-x 1 app  app    92 Jul 31 16:56 ..
drwxr-sr-x 1 app  app  1.3K Jul 31 17:11 .
root@ebd9e7fbe577:/var/www/html# cat nginx.conf
cat: nginx.conf: Operation not permitted

My ls from the external terminal looks like this:

 $ ls -haltr src/nginx.conf.sample
-rw-r--r--  1 nesquik  staff   6.8K Jul 31 18:46 src/nginx.conf.sample

I have already tried downing the containers and removing wholly the setup and remade from scratch to the same end.

Any clues or help would be appreciated,
thanks

[dosubot]

Hi @Nesquik! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the docker-magento team.

This error is almost certainly due to how Orbstack handles file system mounts and permissions, which can differ from Docker Desktop. In docker-magento, the nginx container expects to read /var/www/html/nginx.conf as the non-root user app (UID 1000 by default), and this file is typically bind-mounted from your host into the container. If the file or its parent directory on your host is owned by root or has restrictive permissions, or if Orbstack is enforcing stricter access controls, nginx inside the container may not be able to read it—even as root—resulting in "Operation not permitted" errors. This is especially likely if you see the file owned by root inside the container and can't even cat it as root.

To resolve this, check the ownership and permissions of the nginx.conf file and its parent directories on your host. Make sure the file is owned by your user (not root) and is readable by all (at least 644). If you are using a bind mount, ensure the user and group IDs on the host match those expected in the container (typically UID/GID 1000 for app). You may need to chown or chmod the file and directories on your host accordingly. Also, check if Orbstack has any special mount or file sharing settings that could affect permissions propagation.

For reference, the nginx container runs as a non-root user and expects /var/www to be a volume mount, so host-side permissions directly impact container access rights. The error is triggered when nginx tries to include /var/www/html/nginx.conf as specified in its config, but can't read it due to these permission issues. More details on this setup can be found in the nginx Dockerfile and nginx default.conf.

No official notes or prior issues were found about Orbstack-specific permission problems, but this kind of error is consistent with differences in how Docker Desktop and Orbstack handle file sharing and user mapping.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[Nesquik]

@dosu I have already tried chmod 644 src/nginx.conf.sample , got any other ideas keeping in mind my bound volume entry is like it should be from compose.dev.yaml's repo?

- ./src/nginx.conf.sample:/var/www/html/nginx.conf:cached

[dosubot]

This looks like an Orbstack file sharing or mount permissions issue, not a problem with your docker-magento config or file permissions on the host. Orbstack can enforce stricter access controls or handle UID/GID mapping differently than Docker Desktop, which can block access to bind-mounted files—even if permissions look correct on the host and in the container.

Try these steps:

• Check Orbstack’s file sharing and mount settings, especially for any sandboxing, ACLs, or user mapping features.
• Test mounting a different file or directory into the container to see if the problem is specific to nginx.conf or affects all mounts.
• As a diagnostic, try copying nginx.conf directly into the container image (not bind-mounting) to confirm the mount is the issue.
• If Orbstack offers a way to relax security features or run in a different mode, try that to see if it changes the behavior.
• If you continue to hit this, consider using SSH/SFTP sync (as described in the repo’s compose.dev-ssh.yaml) as a workaround for development.

There are no known fixes or workarounds for this in docker-magento itself—everything points to Orbstack’s handling of mounts and permissions for non-root users in containers.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[Nesquik]

Solved: If anyone else runs into this, my issue wasn't related to docker-magento or Orbstack itself.

In my case, I had probably clicked "No" when prompted for Mac OS file access permissions. To fix it, I had to manually re-enable them:

System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Files and Folders -> Orbstack

The only option listed there for me was "Desktop" and once I enabled it everything went back to working.

[markshust]

Thanks for the update! Sorry I missed this, I was heads-down in course dev.

[ludcl]

Something similar happened to me.
I updated OrbStack and everything seemed to be working, until I had to create a new directory inside my Docker container.
I restarted my docker containers many times, but it didn't worked until I restarted OrbStack too.
Crazy, isn't it?