docker volume Command Reference

Manage named volumes.

docker volume groups the volume subcommands: create, ls, inspect, rm, and prune. Named volumes persist data outside a container lifecycle and are the recommended way to share or cache data between containers in a pipeline.

Common subcommands

docker volume create NAME - create a named volume
docker volume ls - list volumes (-q for names only)
docker volume inspect NAME - show volume metadata as JSON
docker volume rm NAME - remove a volume
docker volume prune -f - remove all unused volumes

Example

shell

docker volume create pgdata
docker run -d --name db -v pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data postgres:16
docker volume prune -f

In CI

Use a named volume to persist a database between steps within a job, or to share a cache directory between containers. docker volume prune -f reclaims unused volumes on a persistent runner; a volume in use by any container is skipped.

Key takeaways

Named volumes outlive containers and are the way to share or persist data.
docker volume prune -f reclaims unused volumes on long-lived runners.
A volume bound to any container is not pruned.