Volumes Configuration

Configure automatic persistent storage for containers.

Configuration

[volumes]
auto_create = true
prefix = "gordon"
preserve = true

Options

How It Works

Gordon automatically creates Docker volumes from Dockerfile VOLUME directives:

FROM postgres:18
VOLUME ["/var/lib/postgresql/data"]

When Gordon deploys this container:

1. Reads VOLUME directives from image metadata
2. Creates named volumes with prefix-domain-path naming
3. Mounts volumes to the container
4. Preserves data across container updates

Volume Naming

Volumes are named: {prefix}-{domain}-{path}

Persistence

Default: Preserve Volumes

[volumes]
preserve = true

With preserve = true:

• Volumes persist when containers are updated
• Data survives container restarts
• Volumes remain even if container is removed

Remove with Container

[volumes]
preserve = false

With preserve = false:

• Volumes are removed when containers are removed
• Useful for stateless containers
• Frees up disk space automatically

Examples

Database Container

# my-postgres.Dockerfile
FROM postgres:18
VOLUME ["/var/lib/postgresql/data"]
ENV POSTGRES_DB=myapp
ENV POSTGRES_USER=app

Gordon automatically:

• Creates gordon-db-mydomain-com-var-lib-postgresql-data volume
• Mounts it to /var/lib/postgresql/data
• Preserves data across postgres container updates

Application with Uploads

FROM node:18
WORKDIR /app
VOLUME ["/app/uploads", "/app/data"]
COPY . .
CMD ["npm", "start"]

Creates two volumes:

• gordon-app-mydomain-com-app-uploads
• gordon-app-mydomain-com-app-data

Custom Prefix

[volumes]
prefix = "prod"

Volume names become:

• prod-app-mydomain-com-data
• prod-db-mydomain-com-var-lib-postgresql-data

Managing Volumes

List Volumes

docker volume ls | grep gordon

Inspect Volume

docker volume inspect gordon-app-mydomain-com-data

Backup Volume

docker run --rm \
  -v gordon-db-mydomain-com-var-lib-postgresql-data:/data \
  -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar -czf /backup/db-backup.tar.gz -C /data .

Restore Volume

docker run --rm \
  -v gordon-db-mydomain-com-var-lib-postgresql-data:/data \
  -v $(pwd):/backup \
  alpine tar -xzf /backup/db-backup.tar.gz -C /data

Volume Cleanup

If you have orphaned volumes:

# List all gordon volumes
docker volume ls -f name=gordon

# Remove specific volume (warning: deletes data!)
docker volume rm gordon-old-app-data

# Prune unused volumes (be careful!)
docker volume prune

Related

• Attachments
• Configuration Overview