How can I add a volume to an existing Docker container?

You cannot directly add a volume to an existing Docker container, but you can create a new container with the same configuration as the existing container, but with an additional volume mounted. Here are the steps:

1. Create a new volume that you want to attach to the container:

    

   Copied!

   docker volume create my-new-volume
   

2. Create a new container with the same configuration as the existing container, but with the additional volume mounted:

    

   Copied!

   docker run -d --name my-new-container \
   --volumes-from my-existing-container \
   -v my-new-volume:/path/to/new/volume \
   my-image
   

   This will create a new container called my-new-container that is based on the same image as my-existing-container. The --volumes-from option tells Docker to mount all the volumes from the existing container to the new container. The -v option mounts the new volume to the new container. You can replace /path/to/new/volume with the path where you want to mount the volume in the new container.

3. Stop and remove the old container:

    

   Copied!

   docker stop my-existing-container
   docker rm my-existing-container
   

   This will stop and remove the old container. You can also choose to keep the old container running while you test the new container to make sure everything is working correctly.

4. Rename the new container to the name of the old container:

    

   Copied!

   docker rename my-new-container my-existing-container
   

   This will rename the new container to the same name as the old container, so any scripts or commands that reference the old container by name will still work.

Got an article suggestion? Let us know

Explore more

Docker

How to Explore Docker Container’s File System?

Questions

How to pass environment variables to a Docker container?

Questions

How to Execute Multiple Commands in Docker-Compose?

Questions

How to ping Docker container from another container by name?

Questions

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.