Docker / Volumes, Filesystems & Recovery
Investigate an empty bind-mounted directory without creating new data
A misspelled or wrong-host path can expose an empty directory and make an application appear to lose data. Check the exact source mapping.
Environment and inputs: Docker Engine · Compose v2 and Buildx where specified; Linux containers unless noted. Verify daemon context, installed feature support and authorized host or Swarm manager access first.
Start with this check
Confirm the environment and replace sample objects, namespaces, images, paths and hosts with approved targets. Share only relevant, sanitized output. Follow the workload owner’s process for changes.
docker container inspect --format '{{json .Mounts}}' appRead the result
Bind-mount source paths belong to the daemon host, not necessarily the CLI workstation. Some mount syntaxes can create a missing source directory instead of rejecting it.
Resolve and verify
Compare the source with approved storage inventory and host mount state. Stop unintended writes through the application owner and restore the correct mapping safely.
Before changing production
Do not initialize a fresh database in an unexpected empty directory or copy data into it before locating the original source.