Docker Desktop Volume Backup and Restore

Introduction

If you’re running applications like OpenWebUI in Docker Desktop, you’ve probably wondered: “How do I safely backup my data before upgrading or migrating to a new machine?”

Docker volumes are great for persistent storage, but backing them up isn’t as straightforward as copying a folder. I ran into this myself and put together two simple scripts that handle the heavy lifting for you.

These scripts work across macOS, WSL, and Git Bash on Windows - so you’re covered regardless of your development environment.

The Scripts

Export (Backup)

#!/bin/bash
# export-volume.sh

VOLUME_NAME=$1
OUTPUT_FILE=$2

if [ -z "$VOLUME_NAME" ] || [ -z "$OUTPUT_FILE" ]; then
    echo "Usage: ./export-volume.sh <volume_name> <output_file.tar.gz>"
    echo "Example: ./export-volume.sh my-volume ./backup/my-volume.tar.gz"
    exit 1
fi

# Check if volume exists
if ! docker volume inspect "$VOLUME_NAME" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "Error: Volume '$VOLUME_NAME' does not exist"
    exit 1
fi

echo "Exporting volume: $VOLUME_NAME"
echo "Output file: $OUTPUT_FILE"

# Create output directory if it doesn't exist
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$OUTPUT_FILE")"

# Export the volume
docker run --rm \
    -v "$VOLUME_NAME":/source:ro \
    -v "$(pwd)":/backup \
    alpine \
    tar czf "/backup/$OUTPUT_FILE" -C /source .

echo "Export completed successfully!"
echo "File size: $(du -h "$OUTPUT_FILE" | cut -f1)"

Import (Restore)

#!/bin/bash
# import-volume.sh

VOLUME_NAME=$1
INPUT_FILE=$2

if [ -z "$VOLUME_NAME" ] || [ -z "$INPUT_FILE" ]; then
    echo "Usage: ./import-volume.sh <volume_name> <input_file.tar.gz>"
    echo "Example: ./import-volume.sh my-volume ./backup/my-volume.tar.gz"
    exit 1
fi

# Check if input file exists
if [ ! -f "$INPUT_FILE" ]; then
    echo "Error: File '$INPUT_FILE' does not exist"
    exit 1
fi

echo "Importing to volume: $VOLUME_NAME"
echo "Input file: $INPUT_FILE"

# Create volume if it doesn't exist
if ! docker volume inspect "$VOLUME_NAME" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "Creating volume: $VOLUME_NAME"
    docker volume create "$VOLUME_NAME"
fi

# Import the volume
docker run --rm \
    -v "$VOLUME_NAME":/target \
    -v "$(pwd)":/backup \
    alpine \
    sh -c "rm -rf /target/* /target/..?* /target/.[!.]* 2>/dev/null; tar xzf /backup/$INPUT_FILE -C /target"

echo "Import completed successfully!"

How to Use

1. Make the scripts executable:

chmod +x export-volume.sh import-volume.sh

2. Export a volume to a backup file:

./export-volume.sh my-volume-name ./backups/my-volume.tar.gz

3. Import from a backup file:

./import-volume.sh my-volume-name ./backups/my-volume.tar.gz

Helpful Docker Commands

Need to find your volume names? These commands come in handy:

# List all volumes
docker volume ls

# Get details about a specific volume
docker volume inspect my-volume-name

Wrapping Up

These scripts have saved me time when migrating OpenWebUI between machines and before major updates. Feel free to adapt them for any Docker volume you need to backup - they’re not specific to any particular application.

Got questions or improvements? Drop a comment below!