Volumes store your container data permanently - even if a container is recreated. In the Storage tab of your project, you can see all volumes, in which containers they are mounted and under which path, and how much space they use. A volume can be mounted in several containers.
Size and backups per volume
- Uses - how much space the volume uses, followed by the share of its snapshots. Both count towards your storage quota.
- Backed up - this switch determines whether the volume is included in automatic snapshots, backups and emergency copies. By default, every volume is backed up.
For data that can be recreated, such as a cache or a search index, switch off backups and confirm the prompt. This saves space in snapshots and backups. Existing states of the volume expire as usual. When creating a snapshot, you can still select such a volume (Backup and snapshot).
Volumes when deleting a container
If you delete a container in its settings via Delete container, a dialogue asks what should happen to its data:
- Also delete data - volumes used only by this container are preselected and deleted as well. If you remove the tick, the volume is kept and can later be mounted in another container.
- Volumes that other containers also use are always kept. The dialogue lists them.
- Snapshots and backups still contain the data until they expire: snapshots according to your plan, backups according to the booked retention of at most 90 days. After that they are deleted permanently.
To confirm, we ask for your password and - if set up - your second factor. Deletion cannot be undone.
New volumes are created when you create a container or in its settings under ‘Data, networks and start’. You can delete a volume that is no longer mounted in any container here, along with all its data.
The file browser
Click on Files for the desired volume. The file browser opens the volume; you’ll see the path at the top - clicking on any part of the path takes you back to that folder.
- Open folder - click on the folder name.
- New folder and New file - creates a folder or an empty text file in the current folder.
- Upload - up to 25 MB per file; you can upload multiple files at once or by dragging them into the file browser. Uploaded files are scanned for malware. If the file already exists, we’ll ask for confirmation before overwriting it.
- Download - arrow icon in the row.
- Rename or move - pencil icon. Specify the new path within the volume, for example
html/neu.php. - Delete - bin icon. This can only be undone via a snapshot or a backup.
Editing text files
Clicking on a text file opens the editor - for example, for a .htaccess or a configuration file. Files up to 5 MB can be edited; for larger files, please download them. Saving replaces the file immediately. If the file has been modified in the container in the meantime, the save will be rejected to prevent you from overwriting more recent changes.
Careful with files of running databases
Do not modify, move or delete any files within the volume of a running database, for example under /var/lib/mysql. Doing so may corrupt the database. Use the database’s own tools - such as an export function - and create a snapshot before carrying out any major changes.
Changes take effect immediately within the container. Access remains restricted to the selected volume; for security reasons, symbolic links (symlinks) are not opened. Only users with the ‘Manage containers’ permission may read and change the contents.