Backup Docker volumes

Topic: Containers core

Back up a volume with a temp container that mounts the volume and tars to backup location. Restore by mounting volume and extracting. Use when you need to preserve volume data.

Intent: How-to

Quick answer

  • Backup with container that mounts volume and backup dir. tar czf from volume to backup.
  • Restore with container that mounts volume and backup. tar xzf into volume.
  • Quiesce app for consistency. Test restore on copy.

Prerequisites

Steps

  1. Backup

    Run container with volume and backup dir. tar volume to backup file. Use --rm.

  2. Restore

    Run container with volume and backup dir. Extract tar into volume.

  3. Verify

    Start app. Confirm data. Test restore on new volume.

Summary

Back up volume with tar in one-off container. Restore by extracting. Test restore.

Prerequisites

Steps

Step 1: Backup

Mount volume and backup dir; tar volume to file.

Step 2: Restore

Mount volume and backup; extract into volume.

Step 3: Verify

Start app; confirm data; test restore.

Verification

  • Backup exists; restore works.

Troubleshooting

Inconsistent — Quiesce app or use DB dump. Restore fails — Check paths and permissions.

Next steps

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