Zombie docker container that can't be killed - docker

Question

I use docker-compose to create a bunch of containers and link them together. For some of the container definitions, I might have restart: always as the restart policy.
Now I have a postgres container that respawns back to life if stopped.
$docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
a8bb2b781630 postgres:latest "docker-entrypoint.s…" About an hour ago Up About an hour 5432/tcp dcat_postgres.1.z3pyl24kiq2n4clt0ua77nfx5
docker stop a8bb2b781630
a8bb2b781630
$ docker rm -f a8bb2b781630
a8bb2b781630
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
93fa7b72c2ca postgres:latest "docker-entrypoint.s…" 12 seconds ago Up 4 seconds 5432/tcp dcat_postgres.1.oucuo5zg3y9ws3p7jvlfztflb
Using docker-compose down in the dir that started the service doesn't work either.
$ docker-compose down
Removing dcat_postgres_1 ... done
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
7ee7fb0e98cd postgres:latest "docker-entrypoint.s…" 13 seconds ago Up 5 seconds 5432/tcp dcat_postgres.1.jhv1q6vns1avakqjxdusmbb78
How can I kill a container and keep it from coming back to life?
EDIT: The container respawns even after restarting the Docker service.
Docker - 18.06.1-ce-mac73 (26764)
macOS High-Sierra, (10.13.6)

Answer 1

I figured it out. Turns out it was related to docker swarm. I had experimented with it at some point without fully understanding what it is and what it does and apparently it just stayed there.
All I had to do was:
docker swarm leave --force
and it worked like a head-shot to an actual zombie.

Answer 2

Can you try an option like moby/moby issue 10032:
docker stop $(docker ps -a -q) &
docker update --restart=no $(docker ps -a -q) &
systemctl restart docker
(this assume here you have only one running container: the one you cannot prevent to start)
A docker rm -f should be enough though, unless you are using docker with a provision tool like Puppet.
As it turned out, another process (other than docker itself) was responsible for the container to restart (here docker swarm)
Update 2020/2021: For multiple containers, possibly without having to restart the docker daemon
docker ps -a --format="{{.ID}}" | \
xargs docker update --restart=no | \
xargs docker stop
Check if you need, as in the issue, remove the images as well ( | xargs docker rmi $(docker images -qa) --force)