Modify Docker Installed Directory

If you had only / partition getting filled up with docker images or containers, and you wish to move the docker directory to other location below steps can help you ..

OS: CentOS

Change your default storage base directory for docker(containers and images) from file /etc/sysconfig/docker.

# grep other_args /etc/sysconfig/docker

other_args="-g /your_desired_directory"

#

steps to be taken note while moving from one location to other location: 

1. stop your running containers on the docker 

#docker ps 

#docker stop <container_names>

2. stop docker service 

#service docker stop or systemctl stop docker.service

Double check and confirm docker service stopped. 

3. make sure you backup your current /var/lib/docker before making any changes. 

#tar -cvf var_lib_docker-backup-$(date +%s).tar.gz /var/lib/docker/

4. Move your directory to your desired location 

#mv /var/lib/docker /your_desired_directory

5. Create a symlink to your new diretory

# ln -s /your_desired_directory /var/lib/docker

6. start your docker service

#service docker start or systemctl start docker.service

7. start your containers

# docker ps -a

# docker start <container_names>

Thank you​