Change Docker Data Location

The default location that docker use to store all the components of docker, such as images and containers is /var/lib/docker.

In some linux installation, sometimes the / or /var directories are not that big, and we would like to have our docker save all the images and containers in another directory.

To set docker to use other directory:

1. Create the new directory (let's say we are using /data/docker )

$ sudo mkdir /data/docker

2. Stop docker daemon

$ sudo systemctl stop docker

3. Create a file called /etc/docker/daemon.json (Edit if the file is already exist)

$ sudo touch /etc/docker/daemon.json

4. Edit and put in below content into the file

{

        "data-root": "/data/docker"

}

5. Save and exit the editor

6. Start docker

$ sudo systemctl start docker

7. Verify that docker is running

$ sudo systemctl status docker