WSL2 where is docker volume location? #4176

dryworld · 2019-06-18T03:46:59Z

dryworld
Jun 18, 2019

Your Windows build number: (Type ver at a Windows Command Prompt)

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18362.175]
Docker version 18.09.6, build 481bc77

What you're doing and what's happening: (Copy&paste the full set of specific command-line steps necessary to reproduce the behavior, and their output. Include screen shots if that helps demonstrate the problem.)

I installed ubuntu-16.04 at WSL2, and also install docker.
I maked volume by docker command.

docker volume create doc_vol

docker volume ls

DRIVER VOLUME NAME
local doc_vol

What's wrong / what should be happening instead:

I looking for the mounted location so I execute command next follow

docker volume inspect doc_vol

[
{
"CreatedAt": "2019-06-18T02:11:35Z",
"Driver": "local",
"Labels": {},
"Mountpoint": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/doc_vol/_data",
"Name": "doc_vol",
"Options": {},
"Scope": "local"
}
]

and then checked the location, It's strange result.

ls -l /var/lib/docker/volumes/doc_vol/_data

ls: cannot access '/var/lib/docker/volumes/doc_vol/_data': No such file or directory

I checked the '/var/lib/docker/volumes/' only one file exist.

ls -l /var/lib/docker/volumes/

total 32
-rw------- 1 root root 32768 Jun 18 11:08 metadata.db

where is mounted doc_vol?

craigloewen-msft · 2019-06-18T17:21:53Z

craigloewen-msft
Jun 18, 2019
Maintainer

You need to be using sudo ls to access the volumes in that folder.

caloewen@LOE-WSL:/var/lib/docker$ sudo docker run -d --name=nginxtest --mount source=doc_vol,destination=/usr/share/nginx/html nginx:latest
ec7304a051d3f1564dfa91b4a81538caea236d4b30e0092da90d1737058b145d
caloewen@LOE-WSL:/var/lib/docker$ sudo ls ./volumes/doc_vol/_data
50x.html  index.html
caloewen@LOE-WSL:/var/lib/docker$

0 replies

dryworld · 2019-06-19T00:03:00Z

dryworld
Jun 19, 2019
Author

thanks @mscraigloewen I already root user.
this editor # change to big bold font. :(

anyway previous BIG font has # prompt
also I try as you said 'sudo ls ./volumes/doc_vol/_data' result is
'ls: cannot access '/var/lib/docker/volumes/doc_vol/_data': No such file or directory'

0 replies

therealkenc · 2019-09-21T18:26:11Z

therealkenc
Sep 21, 2019

There were no takers on the question and no repro to form a WSL actionable. Might get more eyeballs over at Superuser. If you post be sure to include more specifics; I (personally) couldn't follow the ask on this one.

0 replies

david-sackstein · 2020-01-14T20:20:09Z

david-sackstein
Jan 14, 2020

@craigloewen-msft Your answer is incorrect. sudo does not solve the problem because it is not caused by lack of permissions. That path does not exist.

0 replies

craigloewen-msft · 2020-01-14T20:53:03Z

craigloewen-msft
Jan 14, 2020
Maintainer

@david-sackstein you're totally correct!

From my answer, it seems that I wasn't able to repro the error, which means it could be something specific to your setup. I agree with @therealkenc , as of right now it's hard for us to try and repro this so superuser might be your best choice, or posting more repro steps here for us to try.

Thanks!

0 replies

kerams · 2020-02-08T07:16:17Z

kerams
Feb 8, 2020

With Docker Desktop 2.1.7.0 and WSL 2 (Ubuntu), I can see the volumes at /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data/docker/volumes. Access requires elevated permissions, so you could do ubuntu.exe config --default-user root before entering wsl.

2 replies

Serhioromano Jan 6, 2021

I do not have this folder as well as var/lib/docker

vikasedu10 Apr 7, 2022

@Serhioromano, are you using a mac or Windows WSL/WSL2?

mahmoud-samy · 2020-02-20T09:54:30Z

mahmoud-samy
Feb 20, 2020

@kerams Thanks.

From linux: sudo ls /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data/docker/volumes
From windows: \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\mnt\wsl\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes

6 replies

shashi2k6 Feb 6, 2021

I agree

PhoenixNest Mar 23, 2021

Hello guys, i have met this problem as well, but there is nothing in my folder

ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt$ ls
c  d  g  w  wsl  x  y  z
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt$ cd wsl/
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl$ ls
docker-desktop  docker-desktop-bind-mounts  docker-desktop-data
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl$ cd docker-desktop-data/
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data$ ls
data  isocache  tarcache  version-pack-data
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data$ cd data/
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data$ ls
ubuntu@asdsad:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data$ ls -a
.  ..
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data$ sudo ls -a
.  ..
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data$ cd ../
ubuntu@asdsad:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data$ ls
data  isocache  tarcache  version-pack-data
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data$ cd version-pack-data/
ubuntu@asdsad:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/version-pack-data$ ls
ubuntu@asdasd:/mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/version-pack-data$

IARI Apr 27, 2021

same problem as @PhoenixNest .

Venryx Aug 5, 2021

For people reading this discussion trying to find where their project's files are being output, from docker image-builds: In my case at least, my project files were not being output to the \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\version-pack-data\community\docker\volumes folder mentioned above, but rather the \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\version-pack-data\community\docker\overlay2\XXX\diff folders.

I found this out by using grepWin to search within the \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\version-pack-data\community\ folder for my project files that I know were included. (I know because I used the docker dive tool to inspect its contents -- but wanted to know the "actual path" since the dive tool takes a while to load)

Screenshot:

masterflitzer Feb 18, 2022

you are such a life saver

haimat · 2020-04-07T15:24:49Z

haimat
Apr 7, 2020

@mahmoud-samy Thanks for this info.
But how can I find out where Docker Desktop saves this data on the Windows host?

0 replies

kerams · 2020-04-07T15:28:29Z

kerams
Apr 7, 2020

@haimat, it might be in in a VHDX file in C:\Users\_user_\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data

0 replies

haimat · 2020-04-07T15:39:15Z

haimat
Apr 7, 2020

@kerams Ohh yes, that's it, thanks a lot!
Now, do you also know whether I can --export & --import both WSL's to another location, or does that confuse Docker Desktop? I know this is not the Docker GitHub repo, but maybe you do know that :-)

1 reply

eatcosmos Aug 30, 2022

maybe will not, because docker communicate with wsl,
then export/import is controled by wsl, wsl know data, wsl provide service for docker, docker need to know things under wsl

thejacket · 2020-04-10T09:04:49Z

thejacket
Apr 10, 2020

Thanks @mahmoud-samy

So what those paths really mean if they're not referring to host machine? (excerpt from Docker Dashboard, same as CLI's docker volume inspect)

0 replies

alexandermalfait · 2020-07-14T06:47:00Z

alexandermalfait
Jul 14, 2020

The key seems to be the "virtual" wsl distro named docker-desktop-data

See https://dev.to/kimcuonthenet/move-docker-desktop-data-distro-out-of-system-drive-4cg2 for solution

0 replies

mahmoud-samy · 2020-07-26T08:15:53Z

mahmoud-samy
Jul 26, 2020

@haimat @thejacket Sorry for the late reply

AFAIK, when you use WSL integration, two distros will be created for you (docker-desktop & docker-desktop-data)

To reach their file system, you need to access it over network

\\wsl$\docker-desktop
\\wsl$\docker-desktop-data

0 replies

dmckee-ebsco · 2020-09-25T14:25:06Z

dmckee-ebsco
Sep 25, 2020

This is... not simple. I don't know why it's this hard. I found what I was looking for after dropping into wsl session, and using the find command to locate a folder name that I knew...

find /mnt/host/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data/ -name 'jekyll'

0 replies

filipp-codes · 2020-10-12T11:16:27Z

filipp-codes
Oct 12, 2020

I found my volume here:
\\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\version-pack-data\community\docker\volumes

7 replies

mozarik Mar 27, 2021

How to open that and access that file from my default Distros (eg:Ubuntu 20.04) terminal. I tried to run that wsl image wsl -d docker-desktop-data but nothing happen.

PhoenixNest Mar 28, 2021

How to open that and access that file from my default Distros (eg:Ubuntu 20.04) terminal. I tried to run that wsl image wsl -d docker-desktop-data but nothing happen.

you can use the “add internet location” in your default windows files manager, and that access to docker

mozarik Mar 28, 2021

you can use the “add internet location” in your default windows files manager, and that access to docker

Thanks. After that i have to add the drive using

$ sudo mkdir /mnt/e
$ sudo mount -t drvfs E: /mnt/e

usister Nov 30, 2021

It worked! Thank you!

GabrielFMPinheiro May 4, 2022

It worked! Thank you!

swr71999 · 2021-01-11T21:48:03Z

swr71999
Jan 11, 2021

Maybe in WSL2 way, data only exists in Windows systems.
When we use WSL2 based engine, Docker Desktop mount "docker.sock" into Linux "/var/run/docker.sock". Linux docker client access to windows docker service.
I find this idea in below link: https://blog.csdn.net/qqhappy8/article/details/106819429

0 replies

djl2 · 2021-04-12T03:01:16Z

djl2
Apr 12, 2021

It's been almost 2 years with no clear answer on this issue. Can someone from Microsoft please respond?

3 replies

ZealousMacwan Apr 12, 2021

Try this on your explorer, It works for me.
\\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\version-pack-data\community\docker\volumes

a26796879 Nov 16, 2021

It works for me too

sunilgaddi Apr 3, 2022

yes it works but , but in inspect volume it shows /var/lib/docker/.....

but i dont have docker folder in the lib directory

can anyone help please

stephen-turner · 2021-04-19T12:06:31Z

stephen-turner
Apr 19, 2021

Hello everyone, this is a Docker response.

There are several correct answers above about where the files are stored, and you can read them there. However, that is not an official interface, so we don't guarantee it in future. The recommended way to backup volumes is by mounting them into another container as described in our documentation: https://docs.docker.com/storage/volumes/#backup-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes.

We are also considering building some volume manipulation functionality into the Docker Desktop GUI, but we don't have it yet.

0 replies

nvRelax · 2021-06-06T16:39:01Z

nvRelax
Jun 6, 2021

Prerequisites: wsl2 installed, ubuntu installed

A buddy above talked about how to mount docker's volumes directory into ubuntu so that you can read the contents of these volumes directly in ubuntu. But it's not very clear, so I'll recap what I did.

Step 1.

In windows command line, execute the command: net use h: \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data

Where, please replace h: with a drive letter that does not exist on your computer. After this step, you can see a network location in windows explorer

Step 2.
Go to ubuntu and execute the command.

sudo mkdir /mnt/docker
sudo mount -t drvfs h: /mnt/docker

Then you can manipulate docker's volume in the /mnt/my-docker/version-pack-data/community/docker/volumes directory.

6 replies

yhslai Oct 8, 2021

Prerequisites: wsl2 installed, ubuntu installed

A buddy above talked about how to mount docker's volumes directory into ubuntu so that you can read the contents of these volumes directly in ubuntu. But it's not very clear, so I'll recap what I did.

Step 1.

In windows command line, execute the command: net use h: \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data

Where, please replace h: with a drive letter that does not exist on your computer. After this step, you can see a network location in windows explorer

Step 2.
Go to ubuntu and execute the command.

sudo mkdir /mnt/docker
sudo mount -t drvfs h: /mnt/docker

Then you can manipulate docker's volume in the /mnt/my-docker/version-pack-data/community/docker/volumes directory.

Omg finally. After literally years, someone found the solution. I don't know what's going on with WSL and Docker's team.

ducn Oct 11, 2021

This issue supported now, using this command in wsl:

sudo mount -t drvfs '\\wsl$\docker-desktop-data' /mnt/wsl2

then you can access docker-desktop-data in wsl from /mnt/wsl2

Please refer this document: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/wsl/file-system-improvements-to-the-windows-subsystem-for-linux.

ChristianOConnor Oct 12, 2021

Oh awesome thanks! Glad it's supported now!

willburden Mar 18, 2022

I have the same problem as @ChristianOConnor. How did you solve it?

lyf9528 May 20, 2024

thanks so much!!

thusinh1969 · 2021-08-24T00:12:28Z

thusinh1969
Aug 24, 2021

Follow this git https://github.com/DamionGans/ubuntu-wsl2-systemd-script
Once done, you should be able to install microk8s OK and then full cluster can be created and run well. That is the way I got around.

Steve

0 replies

ducn · 2021-10-11T10:18:09Z

ducn
Oct 11, 2021

Please check answer at #4176 (reply in thread)

0 replies

moisesjuniorops · 2021-11-26T17:16:21Z

moisesjuniorops
Nov 26, 2021

Hi guys! I have the same problem here and i solved it trying this:

I use Ubuntu 20.04 as a subsystem on WSL 2;
I closed the Ubuntu and opened my Windows PowerShell as administrator and run this command:
wsl --shutdown and it has closed all of my applications running.
I opened my Ubuntu for the second time and as i'm trying to run docker commands such as root or with my user i kept getting errors from daemon;

Then i ran sudo dockerd to start the docker daemon.

It has started docker again and i created a new volume to located on his path, now located on the referenced on the "docker volume inpect" located in: var/lib/docker/volumes.

I hope i can help some of you guys!

0 replies

gifflet · 2022-10-18T20:03:27Z

gifflet
Oct 18, 2022

I have found my volumes in \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes

1 reply

shrikantpardhi Oct 22, 2022

Docker version 20.10.+ uses \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes. The previous version used a different directory.

pavlokolodka · 2022-11-15T20:11:10Z

pavlokolodka
Nov 15, 2022

Hi everyone!

I am using WLS 2 (Ubuntu-18.04, Docker version 20.10.20) and I also encountered this problem.

I found that there are two ways to locate the volume file:
In my case, I needed to save a PostgreSQL volume, so I took it as an example.

If you save your volume as follows -v postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
you can find it as mentioned before \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes
Also, if you are using Docker Desktop, you can see that the Volumes tab has new volume

But if you save your volume with "/" before your volume path, e.g. -v /postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
then your file will be saved in \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\mnt\wsl\docker-desktop-bind-mounts\Ubuntu-18.04 (folder name is hashed)
also it duplicated in \\wsl$\Ubuntu-18.04\mnt\wsl\docker-desktop-bind-mounts\Ubuntu-18.04 (folder name is hashed)
and \\wsl$\Ubuntu-18.04 (real folder name)
And in Docker Desktop nothing was created in the Volumes tab

I hope this was helpful.

2 replies

AnakinShieh Apr 10, 2023

I meet the same problem, but I didn't find the corresponding location as yours. It's kind of strange and I guess it's revelant to the windows desktop.

asimplepeople Apr 11, 2023

I meet the same problem。

pedrohfborges · 2023-04-18T23:35:07Z

pedrohfborges
Apr 18, 2023

\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes

0 replies

sick-pupil · 2023-08-30T03:49:46Z

sick-pupil
Aug 30, 2023

I find the volumes mount path is '\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes', with Docker Desktop 4.18.0

0 replies

xhiroga · 2024-10-20T15:03:07Z

xhiroga
Oct 20, 2024

To make Docker volumes accessible in WSL2 just like in a default Ubuntu installation, these steps work for me:

In your WSL2 Ubuntu terminal, run:

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/docker
sudo mount -t drvfs '\\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop-data\data\docker' /var/lib/docker

Note: This path is verified with Docker Desktop 4.34.3 (Engine 27.2.0). Older versions might use a different path.

Now you can access Docker volumes at /var/lib/docker/volumes, just as you would in a standard Ubuntu installation.
To verify the mount was successful, run:

ls /var/lib/docker/volumes
docker volume ls

You should see your Docker volumes listed in both outputs.

0 replies

abritabroad · 2024-12-13T16:21:36Z

abritabroad
Dec 13, 2024

as of Docker v4.36 the new location of the volumes can be be mounted thus:

sudo mount -t drvfs '\\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop\mnt\docker-desktop-disk\data\docker\volumes' /var/lib/docker

1 reply

xhiroga Dec 25, 2024

Thanks!
I guess sudo mount -t drvfs '\\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop\mnt\docker-desktop-disk\data\docker' /var/lib/docker is better. It make seeing /var/lib/docker/volumes possible and it's equivalent to Linux.

pwnht · 2024-12-25T09:10:57Z

pwnht
Dec 25, 2024

just run docker run -v /:/rootfs -it ubuntu:20.04 bash and edit it like linux like this
`
root@27e9cef2b051:/# ls /rootfs/var/lib/docker/containers/

1e3290c1c31db60b4b094d97d6e6a0b695ff9c799cbd533e0990a06affc5c4d2
27e9cef2b0518db71cef880f55704170e596e41661cde7502028d611a838c04b
2f7b378366b2fe684e17a9f3f8657f1031d8fc05d5c0f2c21ee5d11dcda7defa
fd04921a65985c8a524b808f72648572f70d22443fbb0755ae485dfabe138416
`

0 replies

wengtiancheng · 2025-02-22T09:12:38Z

wengtiancheng
Feb 22, 2025

I can't get access to docker-desktop-data on my computer. But I found the volumes in \\wsl.localhost\docker-desktop\mnt\docker-desktop-disk\data\docker\volumes

0 replies

WSL2 where is docker volume location? #4176

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

docker volume create doc_vol

docker volume ls

docker volume inspect doc_vol

ls -l /var/lib/docker/volumes/doc_vol/_data

ls -l /var/lib/docker/volumes/

Replies: 47 comments · 38 replies

Uh oh!

craigloewen-msft Jun 18, 2019 Maintainer

Uh oh!

dryworld Jun 19, 2019 Author

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

craigloewen-msft Jan 14, 2020 Maintainer

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Replies: 47 comments 38 replies

craigloewen-msft
Jun 18, 2019
Maintainer

dryworld
Jun 19, 2019
Author

craigloewen-msft
Jan 14, 2020
Maintainer