Does the DOTNET_ASPIRE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME disable container runtime info checks?

[kostya9]

I have a problem that in Gitlab CI (on-premise Gitlab instance), I cannot run Aspire in tests because of an error "Container runtime 'docker' could not be found. See https://aka.ms/dotnet/aspire/containers for more details on supported container runtimes.". I am running tests in a Docker container. I am sure Docker works, because in other tests I use the Testcontainers library and it works.

Stack trace:

 Aspire.Hosting.DistributedApplicationException : Container runtime 'docker' could not be found. See https://aka.ms/dotnet/aspire/containers for more details on supported container runtimes.
  Stack Trace:
     at Aspire.Hosting.Dcp.DcpDependencyCheck.CheckDcpInfoAndLogErrors(ILogger logger, DcpOptions options, DcpInfo dcpInfo, Boolean throwIfUnhealthy) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/DcpDependencyCheck.cs:line 227
   at Aspire.Hosting.Dcp.DcpHost.EnsureDcpContainerRuntimeAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/DcpHost.cs:line 112
   at Aspire.Hosting.Dcp.DcpHost.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting/Dcp/DcpHost.cs:line 57
   at Aspire.Hosting.Orchestrator.OrchestratorHostService.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting/Orchestrator/OrchestratorHostService.cs:line 39
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host.<StartAsync>b__14_1(IHostedService service, CancellationToken token)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host.ForeachService[T](IEnumerable`1 services, CancellationToken token, Boolean concurrent, Boolean abortOnFirstException, List`1 exceptions, Func`3 operation)
   at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
   at Aspire.Hosting.Testing.DistributedApplicationFactory.ObservedHost.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting.Testing/DistributedApplicationFactory.cs:line 616
   at Aspire.Hosting.Testing.DistributedApplicationFactory.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting.Testing/DistributedApplicationFactory.cs:line 74
   at Aspire.Hosting.Testing.DistributedApplicationTestingBuilder.SuspendingDistributedApplicationFactory.DelegatedHost.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting.Testing/DistributedApplicationTestingBuilder.cs:line 284
   at Aspire.Hosting.Testing.DistributedApplicationTestingBuilder.SuspendingDistributedApplicationFactory.DelegatedDistributedApplication.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) in /_/src/Aspire.Hosting.Testing/DistributedApplicationTestingBuilder.cs:line 259

However, in the issue here #7802 (comment) someone mentioned that if I set DOTNET_ASPIRE_CONTAINER_RUNTIME environment, this check should be disabled. Is that "hack" still in place? I tried setting the env variable in the container, and in code, but it didn't change anything.

Aspire version: 9.3.1

[kostya9]

Ah, figured it out, Aspire expects the Docker CLI to be present while Testcontainers library connects to the socket directly.