---
description: Using volumes
title: Use volumes
keywords: storage, persistence, data persistence, volumes
redirect_from:
- /engine/tutorials/dockervolumes/
- /engine/userguide/dockervolumes/
---

Volumes are the preferred mechanism for persisting data generated by and used
by Docker containers. While [bind mounts](bind-mounts.md) are dependent on the
directory structure of the host machine, volumes are completely managed by
Docker. Volumes have several advantages over bind mounts:

- Volumes are easier to back up or migrate than bind mounts.
- You can manage volumes using Docker CLI commands or the Docker API.
- Volumes work on both Linux and Windows containers.
- Volumes can be more safely shared among multiple containers.
- Volume drivers allow you to store volumes on remote hosts or cloud providers,
  to encrypt the contents of volumes, or to add other functionality.
- A new volume's contents can be pre-populated by a container.

In addition, volumes are often a better choice than persisting data in a
container's writable layer, because using a volume does not increase the size of
containers using it, and the volume's contents exist outside the lifecycle of a
given container.

![volumes on the Docker host](images/types-of-mounts-volume.png)

If your container generates non-persistent state data, consider using a
[tmpfs mount](tmpfs.md) to avoid storing the data anywhere permanently, and to
increase the container's performance by avoiding writing into the container's
writable layer.

Volumes use `rprivate` bind propagation, and bind propagation is not
configurable for volumes.

## Choose the -v or --mount flag

Originally, the `-v` or `--volume` flag was used for standalone containers and
the `--mount` flag was used for swarm services. However, starting with Docker
17.06, you can also use `--mount` with standalone containers. In general,
`--mount` is more explicit and verbose. The biggest difference is that the `-v`
syntax combines all the options together in one field, while the `--mount`
syntax separates them. Here is a comparison of the syntax for each flag.

> **Tip**: New users should use the `--mount` syntax. Experienced users may
> be more familiar with the `-v` or `--volume` syntax, but are encouraged to
> use `--mount`, because research has shown it to be easier to use.

If you need to specify volume driver options, you must use `--mount`.

- **`-v` or `--volume`**: Consists of three fields, separated by colon characters
  (`:`). The fields must be in the correct order, and the meaning of each field
  is not immediately obvious.
  - In the case of named volumes, the first field is the name of the volume, and is
    unique on a given host machine. For anonymous volumes, the first field is
    omitted.
  - The second field is the path where the file or directory will be mounted in
    the container.
  - The third field is optional, and is a comma-separated list of options, such
    as `ro`. These options are discussed below.

- **`--mount`**: Consists of multiple key-value pairs, separated by commas and each
  consisting of a `<key>=<value>` tuple. The `--mount` syntax is more verbose
  than `-v` or `--volume`, but the order of the keys is not significant, and
  the value of the flag is easier to understand.
  - The `type` of the mount, which can be [`bind`](bind-mounts-md), `volume`, or
    [`tmpfs`](tmpfs.md). This topic discusses volumes, so the type will always
    be `volume`.
  - The `source` of the mount. For named volumes, this is the name of the volume.
    For anonymous volumes, this field is omitted. May be specified as `source`
    or `src`.
  - The `destination` takes as its value the path where the file or directory
    will be mounted in the container. May be specified as `destination`, `dst`,
    or `target`.
  - The `readonly` option, if present, causes the bind mount to be [mounted into
    the container as read-only](#use-a-read-only-bind-mount).
  - The `volume-opt` option, which can be specified more than once, takes a
    key-value pair consisting of the option name and its value.

The examples below show both the `--mount` and `-v` syntax where possible, and
    `--mount` is presented first.

### Differences between `-v` and `--mount` behavior

As opposed to bind mounts, all options for volumes are available for both
`--mount` and `-v` flags.

When using volumes with services, only `--mount` is supported.

## Create and manage volumes

Unlike a bind mount, you can create and manage volumes outside the scope of any
container.

**Create a volume**:

```bash
$ docker volume create my-vol
```

**List volumes**:

```bash
$ docker volume ls

local               my-vol
```

**Inspect a volume**:

```bash
$ docker volume inspect my-vol
[
    {
        "Driver": "local",
        "Labels": {},
        "Mountpoint": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/my-vol/_data",
        "Name": "my-vol",
        "Options": {},
        "Scope": "local"
    }
]
```

**Remove a volume**:

```bash
$ docker volume rm my-vol
```

## Start a container with a volume

If you start a container with a volume that does not yet exist, Docker creates
the volume for you. The following example mounts the volume `myvol2` into
`/app/` in the container.

The `-v` and `--mount` examples below produce the same result. You can't run
them both unless you remove the `devtest` container and the `myvol2` volume
after running the first one.

<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
  <li class="active"><a data-toggle="tab" data-group="mount" data-target="#mount-run"><code>--mount</code></a></li>
  <li><a data-toggle="tab" data-group="volume" data-target="#v-run"><code>-v</code></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="tab-content">
<div id="mount-run" class="tab-pane fade in active" markdown="1">

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name devtest \
  --mount source=myvol2,target=/app \
  nginx:latest
```

</div><!--mount-->
<div id="v-run" class="tab-pane fade" markdown="1">

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name devtest \
  -v myvol2:/app \
  nginx:latest
```

</div><!--volume-->
</div><!--tab-content-->

Use `docker inspect devtest` to verify that the volume was created and mounted
correctly. Look for the `Mounts` section:

```json
"Mounts": [
    {
        "Type": "volume",
        "Name": "myvol2",
        "Source": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/myvol2/_data",
        "Destination": "/app",
        "Driver": "local",
        "Mode": "",
        "RW": true,
        "Propagation": ""
    }
],
```

This shows that the mount is a volume, it shows the correct source and
destination, and that the mount is read-write.

Stop the container and remove the volume.

```bash
$ docker container stop devtest

$ docker container rm devtest

$ docker volume rm myvol2
```

### Start a service with volumes

When you start a service and define a volume, each service container will use its own
local volume. None of the containers can share this data if you use the `local`
volume driver, but some volume drivers do support shared storage. Docker for AWS and
Docker for Azure both support persistent storage using the Cloudstor plugin.

The following example starts a `nginx` service with four replicas, each of which
uses a local volume called `myvol2`.

```bash
$ docker service create -d \
  --name devtest-service \
  --mount source=myvol2,target=/app \
  nginx:latest
```

Use `docker service ps devtest-service` to verify that the service is running:

```bash
$ docker service ps devtest-service

ID                  NAME                IMAGE               NODE                DESIRED STATE       CURRENT STATE            ERROR               PORTS
4d7oz1j85wwn        devtest-service.1   nginx:latest        moby                Running             Running 14 seconds ago   
```

Remove the service, which stops all its tasks:

```bash
$ docker service rm devtest-service
```

#### Syntax differences for services

The `docker service create` command does not support the `-v` or `--volume` flag.
When mounting a volume into a service's containers, you must use the `--mount`
flag.

### Populate a volume using a container

If you start a container which creates a new volume, as above, and the container
has files or directories in the directory to be mounted (such as `/app/` above),
the directory's contents will be copied into the volume. The container will then
mount and use the volume, and other containers which use the volume will also
have access to the pre-populated content.

To illustrate this, this example starts an `nginx` container and populates the
new volume `nginx-vol` with the contents of the container's
`/usr/share/nginx/html` directory, which is where Nginx stores its default HTML
content.

The `--mount` and `-v` examples have the same end result.

<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
  <li class="active"><a data-toggle="tab" data-group="mount" data-target="#mount-empty-run"><code>--mount</code></a></li>
  <li><a data-toggle="tab" data-group="volume" data-target="#v-empty-run"><code>-v</code></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="tab-content">
<div id="mount-empty-run" class="tab-pane fade in active" markdown="1">

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name=nginxtest \
  --mount source=nginx-vol,destination=/usr/share/nginx/html \
  nginx:latest
```

</div><!--mount-->
<div id="v-empty-run" class="tab-pane fade" markdown="1">

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name=nginxtest \
  -v nginx-vol:/usr/share/nginx/html \
  nginx:latest
```

</div><!--volume-->
</div><!--tab-content-->

After running either of these examples, run the following commands to clean up the
containers and volumes.

```bash
$ docker container stop nginxtest

$ docker container rm nginxtest

$ docker volume rm nginx-vol
```

## Use a read-only volume

For some development applications, it is useful for the container to be able to
write into the bind mount, in order for changes to be propagated back to the
Docker host. At other times, the container should only be able to read the
data and not modify it. Remember that multiple containers can mount the same
volume, and it can be mounted read-write for some of them and read-only for
others, simultaneously.

This example modifies the one above but mounts the directory as a read-only
volume, by adding `ro` to the (empty by default) list of options, after the
mount point within the container. Where multiple options are present, separate
them by commas.

The `--mount` and `-v` examples have the same result.

<ul class="nav nav-tabs">
  <li class="active"><a data-toggle="tab" data-group="mount" data-target="#mount-readonly"><code>--mount</code></a></li>
  <li><a data-toggle="tab" data-group="volume" data-target="#v-readonly"><code>-v</code></a></li>
</ul>
<div class="tab-content">
<div id="mount-readonly" class="tab-pane fade in active" markdown="1">

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name=nginxtest \
  --mount source=nginx-vol,destination=/usr/share/nginx/html,readonly \
  nginx:latest
```

</div><!--mount-->
<div id="v-readonly" class="tab-pane fade" markdown="1">

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name=nginxtest \
  -v nginx-vol:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro \
  nginx:latest
```

</div><!--volume-->
</div><!--tab-content-->

Use `docker inspect nginxtest` to verify that the bind mount was created
correctly. Look for the `Mounts` section:

```json
"Mounts": [
    {
        "Type": "volume",
        "Name": "nginx-vol",
        "Source": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/nginx-vol/_data",
        "Destination": "/usr/share/nginx/html",
        "Driver": "local",
        "Mode": "",
        "RW": false,
        "Propagation": ""
    }
],
```

Stop and remove the container, and remove the volume:

```bash
$ docker container stop nginxtest

$ docker container rm nginxtest

$ docker volume rm nginx-vol
```

## Use a volume driver

When you create a volume using `docker volume create`, or when you start a
container which uses a not-yet-created volume, you can specify a volume driver.
The following examples use the `vieux/sshfs` volume driver, first when creating
a standalone volume, and then when starting a container which will create a new
volume.

### Initial set-up

This example assumes that you have two nodes, the first of which is a Docker
host and can connect to the second using SSH.

On the Docker host, install the `vieux/sshfs` plugin:

```bash
$ docker plugin install --grant-all-permissions vieux/sshfs
```

### Create a volume using a volume driver

This example specifies a SSH password, but if the two hosts have shared keys
configured, you can omit the password. Each volume driver may have zero or more
configurable options, each of which is specified using an `-o` flag.

```bash
$ docker volume create --driver vieux/sshfs \
  -o sshcmd=test@node2:/home/test \
  -o password=testpassword \
  sshvolume
```

### Start a container which creates a volume using a volume driver

This example specifies a SSH password, but if the two hosts have shared keys
configured, you can omit the password. Each volume driver may have zero or more
configurable options. **If the volume driver requires you to pass options, you
must use the `--mount` flag to mount the volume, rather than `-v`.**

```bash
$ docker run -d \
  -it \
  --name sshfs-container \
  --volume-driver vieux/sshfs \
  --mount src=sshvolume,target=/app,volume-opt=sshcmd=test@node2:/home/test,volume-opt=password=testpassword \
  nginx:latest
```

## Next steps

- Learn about [bind mounts](bind-mounts.md).
- Learn about [tmpfs mounts](tmpfs.md).
- Learn about [storage drivers](/engine/userguide/storagedriver.md).
