Storage

Volumes

• Managed by Docker
• Isolated
  • Non-Docker processes on the host should not modify this data
• Portable
  • Easy to back up, migrate, or share volumes between containers
• Better Performance

Syntax

docker volume         # list default volume commands
docker volume create <volume-name>
docker volume ls
ls /var/lib/docker/volumes/<volume-name>/_data/ # check files in the volume

docker run --mount type=volume,src=<volume-name>,dst=<mount-path> # preferred
docker run --volume <volume-name>:<mount-path>

Bind Mounts

• User Managed
  • You control exactly where the data sits on your hard drive Shared Access
  • Both the container and host processes (like your Code Editor or File Explorer) can modify the files simultaneously.

Syntax

docker run --mount type=bind,src=<host-path>,dst=<container-path> # preferred
docker run --volume <host-path>:<container-path>

Tmpfs Mounts

• Only available on Linux
• Tmpfs mount is temporary, when container stops, the mount is removed, and files written there won't be persisted
• The data is only stored in the host system's volatile memory (RAM), not HDD or SSD

Syntax

docker run --mount type=tmpfs,dst=<mount-path> # preferred
docker run --tmpfs <mount-path>