Guide to Moving the Default /var/lib/docker to Another Directory on Linux

Eric included in computer

21-08-2024 272 words 2 minutes

Contents

📦 Guide to Moving the Default `/var/lib/docker` to Another Directory on Linux

First, stop the Docker service:

sudo systemctl stop docker

If you see a warning like this:

Warning: Stopping docker.service, but it can still be activated by:
  docker.socket

Then stop the Docker socket as well:

sudo systemctl stop docker.socket

To ensure that the Docker daemon is completely stopped, you can run:

docker ps -a

If the command does not return any running containers, the daemon is stopped.

Next, create or edit the Docker configuration file at /etc/docker/daemon.json:

sudo nano /etc/docker/daemon.json

Add or modify the following content to change the Docker data directory:

{
    "data-root": "/new/path/docker"
}

Replace /new/path/docker with your desired new directory.

Now, copy all existing Docker data to the new directory:

sudo cp -axT /var/lib/docker /new/path/docker

This ensures that all your current Docker data is preserved in the new location.

After the data has been moved, start the Docker service again:

sudo systemctl start docker

To check that everything is working correctly, list your Docker images:

sudo docker images

docker info | grep "Docker Root Dir"

Use the command above to check if the new location is ready to be applied.

If your images and containers appear as expected, the move was successful!

Once you have confirmed everything is running smoothly, you can safely remove the old Docker directory:

sudo rm -r /var/lib/docker

That’s it! 🎉 You’ve successfully moved Docker’s data directory.