Where are docker images and containers stored when we use it with Windows?

Question

NOTE: Am super new to both Windows and Docker

The tutorial I've been using says that they are under /var/lib/docker/containers if we're using Linux, but I can't seem to find that on my Windows machine.

Thanks!

Look here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19335444/how-do-i-assign-a-port-mapping-to-an-existing-docker-container/63455911#63455911 — rofrol, Aug 17 '20 at 17:59
Does this answer your question? [How do I assign a port mapping to an existing Docker container?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19335444/how-do-i-assign-a-port-mapping-to-an-existing-docker-container) — rofrol, Aug 17 '20 at 17:59

score 22 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 11 '16 at 07:02

Things might have changed with Windows 10 Anniversary Update. I installed Docker from source here (https://master.dockerproject.org/windows/amd64/docker-1.13.0-dev.zip) as described here:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/windowscontainers/quick_start/quick_start_windows_10

Docker puts all of the images in this folder:

C:\ProgramData\docker\windowsfilter

and all containers in this folder:

C:\ProgramData\docker\containers

An easy way to check is to execute this:

docker info

It should tell you where your files are stored:

Containers: 2
 Running: 1
 Paused: 0
 Stopped: 1
Images: 10
Server Version: 1.13.0-dev
Storage Driver: windowsfilter
 Windows:
...
Docker Root Dir: C:\ProgramData\docker
Debug Mode (client): false
Debug Mode (server): false
...

@Johny. This location is empty for me. – Naxi Feb 13 '19 at 10:28 — Naxi, Feb 13 '19 at 10:28
@NeerajChand What do you see if you run `docker info`? – Johnny Oshika Mar 19 '19 at 22:54 — Johnny Oshika, Mar 19 '19 at 22:54
This applies to windows containers only – Vadzim Sep 08 '19 at 11:14 — Vadzim, Sep 08 '19 at 11:14

score 14 · Accepted Answer · edited May 03 '16 at 19:25

14

Enter docker-machine with

docker-machine ssh

there you should find your containers.

sudo ls /var/lib/docker/containers

edited May 03 '16 at 19:25

orad

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answered Jun 09 '15 at 05:49

christian

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Note that boot2docker is now deprecated. In new versions of docker, you can do the same but with `docker-machine ssh` instead. – Charles Wood Apr 28 '16 at 22:06
After entering the given commands, I got some encrypted texts. How do I know which are the images ? – Shreyas May 02 '16 at 12:44
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@Shreyas Those long strings are actually names of container config directories. – orad May 03 '16 at 19:48

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 09 '17 at 15:40

After review some post on Stackoverflow and Google. I found this directory :

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V

Here you can fin the configuration with the Virtual Machines

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines

Another important thing is the images are virtualized by the Hyper-V, so the info should be stored here.

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual hard disks

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 29 '20 at 23:50

Update 2020 for WSL2

If you're using this with WSL2, docker images will be maintained inside of your wsl drive available at \\wsl$\ per this github issue:

Windows: \\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\mnt\wsl\docker-desktop-data\data\docker\volumes
Linux: sudo ls /mnt/wsl/docker-desktop-data/data/docker/volumes

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 05 '18 at 07:43

Docker installed on windows with docker toolbox(using virtual box in place of hyper-v) one VM is created on at C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\.docker\machine\machines with name default so you can find all VM files in default folder.

you can connect this vm using

docker-machine ssh

and you can find pulled images and container under this path (you may need to use sudo sometimes)

/var/lib/docker

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jan 05 '23 at 05:22

0

I use WSL 2 and my images downloaded to next location: c:\Users<User>\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\data
Hope it helps.

answered Jan 05 '23 at 05:22

Oleksandr Yanov

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Where are docker images and containers stored when we use it with Windows?

6 Answers6

Update 2020 for WSL2

Linked