github.com/feiyang21687/docker@v1.5.0/docs/sources/userguide/dockervolumes.md (about) 1 page_title: Managing Data in Containers 2 page_description: How to manage data inside your Docker containers. 3 page_keywords: Examples, Usage, volume, docker, documentation, user guide, data, volumes 4 5 # Managing Data in Containers 6 7 So far we've been introduced to some [basic Docker 8 concepts](/userguide/usingdocker/), seen how to work with [Docker 9 images](/userguide/dockerimages/) as well as learned about [networking 10 and links between containers](/userguide/dockerlinks/). In this section 11 we're going to discuss how you can manage data inside and between your 12 Docker containers. 13 14 We're going to look at the two primary ways you can manage data in 15 Docker. 16 17 * Data volumes, and 18 * Data volume containers. 19 20 ## Data volumes 21 22 A *data volume* is a specially-designated directory within one or more 23 containers that bypasses the [*Union File 24 System*](/terms/layer/#union-file-system) to provide several useful features for 25 persistent or shared data: 26 27 - Volumes are initialized when a container is created 28 - Data volumes can be shared and reused between containers 29 - Changes to a data volume are made directly 30 - Changes to a data volume will not be included when you update an image 31 - Volumes persist until no containers use them 32 33 ### Adding a data volume 34 35 You can add a data volume to a container using the `-v` flag with the 36 `docker create` and `docker run` command. You can use the `-v` multiple times 37 to mount multiple data volumes. Let's mount a single volume now in our web 38 application container. 39 40 $ sudo docker run -d -P --name web -v /webapp training/webapp python app.py 41 42 This will create a new volume inside a container at `/webapp`. 43 44 > **Note:** 45 > You can also use the `VOLUME` instruction in a `Dockerfile` to add one or 46 > more new volumes to any container created from that image. 47 48 ### Mount a Host Directory as a Data Volume 49 50 In addition to creating a volume using the `-v` flag you can also mount a 51 directory from your Docker daemon's host into a container. 52 53 > **Note:** 54 > If you are using Boot2Docker, your Docker daemon only has limited access to 55 > your OSX/Windows filesystem. Boot2Docker tries to auto-share your `/Users` 56 > (OSX) or `C:\Users` (Windows) directory - and so you can mount files or directories 57 > using `docker run -v /Users/<path>:/<container path> ...` (OSX) or 58 > `docker run -v /c/Users/<path>:/<container path ...` (Windows). All other paths 59 > come from the Boot2Docker virtual machine's filesystem. 60 61 $ sudo docker run -d -P --name web -v /src/webapp:/opt/webapp training/webapp python app.py 62 63 This will mount the host directory, `/src/webapp`, into the container at 64 `/opt/webapp`. 65 66 > **Note:** 67 > If the path `/opt/webapp` already exists inside the container's image, its 68 > contents will be replaced by the contents of `/src/webapp` on the host to stay 69 > consistent with the expected behavior of `mount` 70 71 This is very useful for testing, for example we can 72 mount our source code inside the container and see our application at work as 73 we change the source code. The directory on the host must be specified as an 74 absolute path and if the directory doesn't exist Docker will automatically 75 create it for you. 76 77 > **Note:** 78 > This is not available from a `Dockerfile` due to the portability 79 > and sharing purpose of built images. The host directory is, by its nature, 80 > host-dependent, so a host directory specified in a `Dockerfile` probably 81 > wouldn't work on all hosts. 82 83 Docker defaults to a read-write volume but we can also mount a directory 84 read-only. 85 86 $ sudo docker run -d -P --name web -v /src/webapp:/opt/webapp:ro training/webapp python app.py 87 88 Here we've mounted the same `/src/webapp` directory but we've added the `ro` 89 option to specify that the mount should be read-only. 90 91 ### Mount a Host File as a Data Volume 92 93 The `-v` flag can also be used to mount a single file - instead of *just* 94 directories - from the host machine. 95 96 $ sudo docker run --rm -it -v ~/.bash_history:/.bash_history ubuntu /bin/bash 97 98 This will drop you into a bash shell in a new container, you will have your bash 99 history from the host and when you exit the container, the host will have the 100 history of the commands typed while in the container. 101 102 > **Note:** 103 > Many tools used to edit files including `vi` and `sed --in-place` may result 104 > in an inode change. Since Docker v1.1.0, this will produce an error such as 105 > "*sed: cannot rename ./sedKdJ9Dy: Device or resource busy*". In the case where 106 > you want to edit the mounted file, it is often easiest to instead mount the 107 > parent directory. 108 109 ## Creating and mounting a Data Volume Container 110 111 If you have some persistent data that you want to share between 112 containers, or want to use from non-persistent containers, it's best to 113 create a named Data Volume Container, and then to mount the data from 114 it. 115 116 Let's create a new named container with a volume to share. 117 While this container doesn't run an application, it reuses the `training/postgres` 118 image so that all containers are using layers in common, saving disk space. 119 120 $ sudo docker create -v /dbdata --name dbdata training/postgres 121 122 You can then use the `--volumes-from` flag to mount the `/dbdata` volume in another container. 123 124 $ sudo docker run -d --volumes-from dbdata --name db1 training/postgres 125 126 And another: 127 128 $ sudo docker run -d --volumes-from dbdata --name db2 training/postgres 129 130 You can use multiple `--volumes-from` parameters to bring together multiple data 131 volumes from multiple containers. 132 133 You can also extend the chain by mounting the volume that came from the 134 `dbdata` container in yet another container via the `db1` or `db2` containers. 135 136 $ sudo docker run -d --name db3 --volumes-from db1 training/postgres 137 138 If you remove containers that mount volumes, including the initial `dbdata` 139 container, or the subsequent containers `db1` and `db2`, the volumes will not 140 be deleted. To delete the volume from disk, you must explicitly call 141 `docker rm -v` against the last container with a reference to the volume. This 142 allows you to upgrade, or effectively migrate data volumes between containers. 143 144 ## Backup, restore, or migrate data volumes 145 146 Another useful function we can perform with volumes is use them for 147 backups, restores or migrations. We do this by using the 148 `--volumes-from` flag to create a new container that mounts that volume, 149 like so: 150 151 $ sudo docker run --volumes-from dbdata -v $(pwd):/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/backup.tar /dbdata 152 153 Here we've launched a new container and mounted the volume from the 154 `dbdata` container. We've then mounted a local host directory as 155 `/backup`. Finally, we've passed a command that uses `tar` to backup the 156 contents of the `dbdata` volume to a `backup.tar` file inside our 157 `/backup` directory. When the command completes and the container stops 158 we'll be left with a backup of our `dbdata` volume. 159 160 You could then restore it to the same container, or another that you've made 161 elsewhere. Create a new container. 162 163 $ sudo docker run -v /dbdata --name dbdata2 ubuntu /bin/bash 164 165 Then un-tar the backup file in the new container's data volume. 166 167 $ sudo docker run --volumes-from dbdata2 -v $(pwd):/backup busybox tar xvf /backup/backup.tar 168 169 You can use the techniques above to automate backup, migration and 170 restore testing using your preferred tools. 171 172 # Next steps 173 174 Now we've learned a bit more about how to use Docker we're going to see how to 175 combine Docker with the services available on 176 [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com) including Automated Builds and private 177 repositories. 178 179 Go to [Working with Docker Hub](/userguide/dockerrepos). 180