We can practically do anything we need to do to work with the Docker containers thanks to the Docker container volumes in Portainer. With our 24/7 Docker Hosting Support Services, we offer solutions to your Docker queries.

Why do we need Docker container volumes in Portainer?

It may be not easy to get data from another container if we install the container without a volume while deploying an application or service that saves data. This is because the data will be stored inside the container. Even worse, if something happened to that container, the data it contained might be lost.

Volumes can help with that by providing permanent storage for the containers. In this manner, we are able to build a container that uses an external volume. The data is still there in the volume even if something were to happen to the container. With the help of Docker container volumes in Portainer, we can essentially do anything to work with the Docker containers.

The steps involving the addition of container volumes in Portainer are as follows:

1. Setting-up Persistent Volume

2. Setting-up Volume In Portainer

Setting-up Persistent Volume

The steps to set up the volume on the server are as follows (Here, we’re using Samba share, an open-source Microsoft Windows file-sharing system, as the persistent volume):

1. Install the required dependencies by first logging into the Linux server:

sudo apt-get install samba cifs-utils -y

2. Next, use the command: to create a directory to store the Samba share.

mkdir ~/data

3. Now make a password for the Linux user with the below code:

sudo smbpasswd -a USER

4. Type and verify the new password when asked.

5. Now activate the Samba user using the command:

sudo smbpasswd -e USER

6. Edit the Samba configuration file to add a new share using the following command:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

7. Include the below line at the end of that file:

[data]path = /home/jack/databrowsable = yeswritable = yesread only = no

8. Save and close the file.

9. Restart Samba with:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Setting-up Volume In Portainer

1. Firstly, log into the Portainer instance.

2. Select Volumes from the left sidebar.

3. Provide a name for the new volume in the resulting window.

4. Next, move the Use CIFS volume ON/OFF slider until it is in the ON position.

5. In the CIFS Settings section, enter the IP address of the Linux server, and the share name.

6. Choose CIFS 3.0 from the version CIFS version drop-down.

7. Provide the username we added to Samba, and then type the password.

8. Finally, click on the “Create the volume” option.

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Conclusion

In this article, we’ve provided the detailed steps from our Support team to include a Docker container in Portainer.