Docker Compose: Avoid recreation of data container - docker

Question

To update some images I used 'docker-compose pull'.
Then I build: 'docker-compose build'.
I wanted only to update the Application Container so I removed
it and restarted:
'docker-compose rm app' and 'docker-compose up -d app'.
But something unwanted happened. The data container was recreated too.
The old data is lost.
Dockerfile for Datacontainer:
FROM gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest
VOLUME ["/etc/gitlab", "/var/log/gitlab", "/var/opt/gitlab"]
ENTRYPOINT ["hostname"]
docker-compose.yml:
version: '2'
services:
gitlab:
image: 'gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest'
domainname: example.com
hostname: gitlab
networks:
- devenv
restart: always
environment:
GITLAB_OMNIBUS_CONFIG: |
external_url 'http://gitlab.example.com'
gitlab_rails['gitlab_shell_ssh_port'] = 2224
ports:
- '80:80'
- '2224:22'
volumes_from:
- gitlabdata
gitlabdata:
build: gitlab-data
How can I avoid this next time?

Answer 1

The docker-compose up command has the --no-recreate flag.
This flag avoid to recreate containers if they already exists.
Therefore you can run
docker-compose up -d --no-recreate app

Answer 2

Your issue was because you created a volume for a container, and then removed the container, this also removed your volumes.
You should change your volumes so that they bind mount to a host directory, this way your files are stored on the host, and you can reattach to those directories incase the container goes away. Another benefit is the ability to get access to those files from the host.
Here is roughly what your compose file would look like with the new volume config.
version: '2'
services:
gitlab:
image: 'gitlab/gitlab-ce:latest'
domainname: example.com
hostname: gitlab
networks:
- devenv
restart: always
environment:
GITLAB_OMNIBUS_CONFIG: |
external_url 'http://gitlab.example.com'
gitlab_rails['gitlab_shell_ssh_port'] = 2224
ports:
- '80:80'
- '2224:22'
volumes_from:
- gitlabdata
gitlabdata:
build: gitlab-data
Volumes:
- /etc/gitlab:/dir/on/host
- /var/log/gitlab:/dir/on/host2
- /var/opt/gitlab:/dir/on/host3
You can mount to what ever you want on the host. More info about volumes here: https://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/containers/dockervolumes/#mount-a-host-directory-as-a-data-volume

Answer 3

I'm facing an issue with this, in my case, always I restart the docker-compose service, the container is recreated:
My /docker-compose-app.service
[Unit]
Description=Docker Compose Application Service
Requires=docker.service
After=docker.service
[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes
WorkingDirectory=/srv/dockercnf
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/docker-compose up --no-recreate -d
ExecStop=/usr/local/bin/docker-compose down
TimeoutStartSec=0
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
The docker-compose.yml
version: '2'
services:
mysql2:
image: mysql/mysql-server:8.0
container_name: mysql2-container
networks:
static-network:
ipv4_address: 172.18.1.2
mysql57:
image: mysql/mysql-server:5.7
container_name: mysql57-container
networks:
static-network:
ipv4_address: 172.18.1.3
networks:
static-network:
ipam:
config:
- subnet: 172.18.0.0/16
#docker-compose v3+ do not use ip_range
ip_range: 172.18.1.0/24
I don't know what I'm missing or doing wrong.
Edited - Solved
After reading StackOverFlow Thread and getting my own conclusion, I edited my docker-compose.yml file as follows:
version: '2'
services:
mysql2:
image: mysql/mysql-server:8.0
container_name: mysql2-container
networks:
static-network:
ipv4_address: 172.18.1.2
mysql57:
image: mysql/mysql-server:5.7
container_name: mysql57-container
restart: always
volumes:
- /srv/mysql57-container:/var/lib/mysql
networks:
static-network:
ipv4_address: 172.18.1.3
networks:
static-network:
ipam:
config:
- subnet: 172.18.0.0/16
#docker-compose v3+ do not use ip_range
ip_range: 172.18.1.0/24