What are the best practices for Docker storage?

What are the best practices for Docker storage?

When using Docker, it's important to follow best practices for storage to ensure efficiency and data integrity. Here are some key practices:

1. Use named volumes for persistent data.
2. Keep your images small to reduce storage usage.
3. Regularly clean up unused images and containers.
4. Use multi-stage builds to optimize image size.
5. Store sensitive data outside of containers.

Can you explain why named volumes are important?

Named volumes are important because they provide a way to persist data beyond the lifecycle of a container. This means that even if a container is removed, the data in the named volume remains intact and can be reused by other containers. This is crucial for applications that require data persistence, such as databases.

How can I clean up unused images and containers?

You can clean up unused images and containers using the Docker command line. To remove stopped containers, use docker container prune. To remove unused images, use docker image prune. You can also use docker system prune to remove all unused data, including networks and volumes.

What are multi-stage builds?

Multi-stage builds allow you to use multiple FROM statements in your Dockerfile. This enables you to separate the build environment from the production environment, which helps in reducing the final image size by only including the necessary artifacts in the final image.