How to copy files from host to Docker container?

Question

I am trying to build a backup and restore solution for the Docker containers that we work with.

I have Docker base image that I have created, ubuntu:base

Answer 1

The solution is given below,

From the Docker shell,

root@123abc:/root#  <-- get the container ID

From the host

cp thefile.txt /var/lib/docker/devicemapper/mnt/123abc<bunch-o-hex>/rootfs/root

The file shall be directly copied to the location where the container sits on the filesystem.

Answer 2

In case it is not clear to someone like me what mycontainer in @h3nrik answer means, it is actually the container id. To copy a file WarpSquare.mp4 in /app/example_scenes/1440p60 from an exited docker container to current folder I used this.

docker cp `docker ps -q -l`:/app/example_scenes/1440p60/WarpSquare.mp4 .

where docker ps -q -l pulls up the container id of the last exited instance. In case it is not an exited container you can get it by docker container ls or docker ps

Answer 3

The following is a fairly ugly way of doing it but it works.

docker run -i ubuntu /bin/bash -c 'cat > file' < file

Answer 4

You can just trace the IP address of your local machine using

ifconfig

Then just enter into your Docker container and type

scp user_name@ip_address:/path_to_the_file destination

In any case if you don't have an SSH client and server installed, just install it using:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Answer 5

To copy a file from host to running container

docker exec -i $CONTAINER /bin/bash -c "cat > $CONTAINER_PATH" < $HOST_PATH

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Based on Erik's answer and Mikl's and z0r's comments.

Answer 6

To copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem, type the command:

docker cp {SOURCE_FILE} {DESTINATION_CONTAINER_ID}:/{DESTINATION_PATH}

For example,

docker cp /home/foo container-id:/home/dir

To get the contianer id, type the given command:

docker ps

The above content is taken from docker.com.