Docker

Volumes Commands

Persist and share data between containers and the host. Learn volume types, backup strategies, and best practices for managing stateful applications in Docker.

9 commands

Pro Tips

Use named volumes for production data and bind mounts for development (hot reload of code).

Backup volumes with: docker run --rm -v volume:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/backup.tar.gz /data

Use 'docker volume ls -f dangling=true' to find unused volumes taking up disk space.

Common Mistakes

Deleting a container does not delete its volumes. Use 'docker volume prune' to clean up orphaned volumes.

Bind mounting host directories exposes the host filesystem - be careful with permissions and paths.

Commands

List volumes

$ docker volume ls

Show all Docker volumes.

Create volume

$ docker volume create <volume-name>

Create a named volume.

Inspect volume

$ docker volume inspect <volume-name>

Show volume details and mount point.

Remove volume

$ docker volume rm <volume-name>

Remove a volume.

Remove unused volumes

$ docker volume prune

Remove all unused volumes.

Run with volume mount

$ docker run -v <volume>:/app/data <image>

Mount named volume to container.

Run with bind mount

$ docker run -v $(pwd):/app -w /app <image>

Mount current directory into container.

Run with read-only mount

$ docker run -v /host/path:/container/path:ro <image>

Mount volume as read-only.

Run with tmpfs mount

$ docker run --tmpfs /tmp <image>

Mount temporary filesystem in memory.