How to Take Backup and Restore of Docker Container

For example, create a new container named dbstore:

# docker run -v /dbdata --name dbstore ubuntu /bin/bash

Then in the next command, we:

Launch a new container and mount the volume from the dbstore container
Mount a local host directory as /backup
Pass a command that tars the contents of the dbdata volume to a backup.tar file inside our /backup directory.

# docker run --rm --volumes-from dbstore -v $(pwd):/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/backup.tar /dbdata

When the command completes and the container stops, we are left with a backup of our dbdata volume.

With the backup just created, you can restore it to the same container, or another that you made elsewhere.

For example, create a new container named dbstore2:

# docker run -v /dbdata --name dbstore2 ubuntu /bin/bash

Then un-tar the backup file in the new container`s data volume:

# docker run --rm --volumes-from dbstore2 -v $(pwd):/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /dbdata && tar xvf /backup/backup.tar --strip 1"

You can use the techniques above to automate backup, migration and restore testing using your preferred tools.

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