Ultimate Guide About Docker Volumes

5 min readApr 4, 2023

💎Introduction:

Docker is a popular platform for containerizing applications, allowing developers to package their code and its dependencies into a single, portable unit.

One of the key features of Docker is its support for volumes, which are a way to persist data across container restarts or even across different containers. In this ultimate guide, we will explore everything you need to know about Docker volumes.

If docker is not installed then download it from the official website.

💎What are Docker Volumes?

Docker volumes are a way to store data outside of a container’s filesystem. When a container is started, it can be configured to use one or more volumes, which will be mounted as directories inside the container. Any data written to these directories by the container will be persisted even if the container is stopped or deleted.

Docker volumes can be used for a variety of purposes, such as persisting data for a database, storing configuration files, or sharing files between containers.

💎 Types of Docker Volumes:

Host-mounted volumes: Host-mounted volumes allow you to mount a directory on the host machine into a container. This is useful for sharing files between the host and the container or for persisting data across container restarts.
To use a host-mounted volume, you specify the path to the directory on the host machine and the path inside the container that the directory should be mounted to.
Named volumes: Named volumes are a way to create a volume that is managed by Docker. When you create a named volume, Docker creates a directory on the host machine to store the data and manages the lifecycle of the volume.
Named volumes are useful for persisting data across container restarts or even across different containers. To use a named volume, you specify the name of the volume and the path inside the container that the volume should be mounted to.
Anonymous volumes: Anonymous volumes are a type of volume that is created automatically by Docker. They are useful for storing data that does not need to be persisted across container restarts or for temporary data such as logs.
Anonymous volumes are created when a container is started without specifying a volume and are deleted when the container is stopped.

💎Creating Docker Volumes:

To create a Docker volume, you can use the docker volume create command followed by the name of the volume. For example, to create a named volume called mydata, you would use the following command:

docker volume create mydata

To create a container that uses this volume, you can specify the volume using the -v flag followed by the name of the volume and the path inside the container that the volume should be mounted to. For example, to create a container that uses the mydata volume and mounts it to /data, you would use the following command:

docker run -v mydata:/data myimage

💎Managing Docker Volumes:

Docker provides a number of commands for managing volumes, such as creating, listing, and deleting volumes. Here are some useful commands for managing Docker volumes:

docker volume create: Creates a new named volume.
docker volume ls: Lists all of the named volumes.
docker volume inspect: Shows detailed information about a named volume.
docker volume rm: Deletes a named volume.
docker volume prune: Deletes all unused volumes.

💎Mounting Docker Volumes:

To mount a Docker volume, you can use the -v flag followed by the name of the volume and the path inside the container that the volume should be mounted to. For example, to mount a volume called mydata to /data inside a container, you would use the following command:

docker run -v mydata:/data myimage

You can also use a host-mounted volume by specifying the path to the directory on the host machine followed by the path inside the container that the volume should be mounted to. For example, to mount the directory /var/www on the host machine to /var/www inside a container, you would use the following command:

docker run -v /var/www:/var/www myimage

You can also use multiple volumes by specifying multiple -v flags. For example, to use two named volumes called mydata and myconfig, you would use the following command:

docker run -v mydata:/data -v myconfig:/config myimage

💎Using Docker Volumes in Docker Compose:

Docker Compose is a tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications. It provides a way to define volumes in a docker-compose.yml file, which makes it easy to manage multiple containers and volumes together.

To define a volume in a Docker Compose file, you can use the volumes key. For example, to define a named volume called mydata in a Docker Compose file, you would use the following syntax:

volumes:
  mydata:

To mount this volume in a container, you can use the volumes key in the services section of the Docker Compose file. For example, to mount the mydata volume to /data inside a container, you would use the following syntax:

services:
  myservice:
    image: myimage
    volumes:
      - mydata:/data

You can also use host-mounted volumes in a Docker Compose file by specifying the path to the directory on the host machine. For example, to mount the directory /var/www on the host machine to /var/www inside a container, you would use the following syntax:

services:
  myservice:
    image: myimage
    volumes:
      - /var/www:/var/www

💎Conclusion:

Docker volumes are a powerful feature that allow you to persist data across container restarts and share files between containers. By understanding the different types of volumes and how to create, manage, and mount them, you can take full advantage of this feature in your Docker applications. Whether you are using Docker for development or production, Docker volumes are an essential tool in your toolbox.

Hope you find this article insightful 😉 💚

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