Is it Safe to Prune Docker Volumes?

Docker Volume is one of the basic data storage systems of the Docker platform that is mounted with the container. It is commonly used to store and persist data generated by Docker containers. Remember that it is impossible to access data or share data into another container when containers are removed. However, a volume is saved on the host and is completely independent of the container’s life cycle. Therefore, it provides a backup of data and shares files among other containers.

This write-up will explain:

• Is It Safe to Prune Docker Volumes?
• How to Prune a System Volume?

Is It Safe to Prune Docker Volumes?

No, it is not safe to prune the Docker volume because pruning the docker volume means it will remove all data that will not be utilized by at least one container. This is the destruction of backup data or files that may be required in the future or by other containers. Another reason is that it may cause errors when users run the older program. Instead of pruning volume, users can utilize the “rm” command along with specific volume names to remove only selected volume.

However, for any other reason, if you want to prune Docker Volumes, check out the next section!

How to Prune a Docker Volume?

To prune the Docker volume to remove volume data, follow the given instructions.

Step 1: Open Visual Studio Code Editor

From the Windows Start menu, open the Visual Studio Code editor:

Step 2: Launch Terminal

Next, launch the Visual Studio terminal by navigating to the “Terminal” menu:

Step 3: List Down All Volumes

List down all Docker volumes with the help of the “docker volume ls” command:

Step 4: Prune Docker Volume

Next, prune the Docker volume using the “docker volume prune” command. This will prompt you for confirmation. Hit “y” to prune the Docker volume. To avoid the confirmation alert, users can utilize the “-f” option:

Again, list down Docker volumes to verify if the volumes are removed or not:

It can be observed that we have successfully removed the Docker volumes:

We have elaborated on whether it is safe to prune Docker volume and how to prune it.

Conclusion

No, pruning the Docker volume is not safe because it removes all data that is not needed by at least one container. This might be the destruction of backup data or files that may be needed in the future. To prune the Docker volumes, use the “docker volume prune” command. This post has gone into detail about whether it is safe to prune Docker volume.