i have creted a docker volume with such command
docker run -ti --rm -v TestVolume1:/testvolume1 ubuntu
then i created a file there, called TestFile.txt and added text to it
Also i have a simple "Hello world" .net core app with Dockerfile
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:6.0
COPY bin/Release/net6.0/publish/ ShareFileTestInstance1/
WORKDIR /ShareFileTestInstance1
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "ShareFileTestInstance1.dll"]
I published it using
dotnet publish -c Release
then ran
docker build -t counter-image -f Dockerfile .
And finally executed
docker run -it --rm --name=counter-container counter-image -v TestVolume1:/testvolume1 ubuntu
to run my app with a docker volume
So what i want to achive to access a file which is in a volume("TestFile.txt" in my case) from a code in the container.
for example
Console.WriteLine(File.Exists("WHAT FILE PATH HAS TO BE HERE") ? "File exists." : "File does not exist.");
Is it also possible to combine all this stuff in a Dockerfile? I want to add one more container next and connect to the volume to save data there.
The parameters for docker run can be either for docker or for the program running in the docker container. Parameters for docker go before the image name and parameters for the program in the container go after the image name.
The volume mapping is a parameter for docker, so it should go before the image name. So instead of
docker run -it --rm --name=counter-container counter-image -v TestVolume1:/testvolume1 ubuntu
you should do
docker run -it --rm --name=counter-container -v TestVolume1:/testvolume1 counter-image
When you do that, your file should be accessible for your program at /testvolume1/TestFile.txt.
It's not possible to do the mapping in the Dockerfile as you ask. Mappings may vary from docker host to docker host, so they need to be specified at run-time.
I can't copy the file from the host into the container using the Dockerfile, because i'm simply not allowed to, as mentioned in Docker Documentation:
The path must be inside the context of the build; you cannot
COPY ../something /something, because the first step of a docker build
is to send the context directory (and subdirectories) to the docker
daemon.
I'm also unable to do so from inside jenkins job, because the job commands run inside the shell of the docker container, there is not way to talk to the parent(which is the jenkins host).
This jenkins plugin could have been a life saver, but as mentioned in the first section: distribution of this plugin has been suspended due to unresolved security vulnerabilities.
This is how I copy files from host to docker image using Dockerfile
I have a folder called tomcat
Inside that, I have a tar file and Dockerfile
Commands to do the whole process just for understanding
$ pwd
/home/user/Documents/dockerfiles/tomcat/
$ ls
apache-tomcat-7.0.84.tar.gz Dockerfile
Sample Docker file:
FROM ubuntu_docker
COPY apache-tomcat-7.0.84.tar.gz /home/test/
...
Docker commands:
$ docker build -it testserver .
$ docker run -itd --name test1 testserver
$ docker exec -it bash
Now you are inside docker container
# ls
apache-tomcat-7.0.84.tar.gz
As you can see I am able to copy apache-tomcat-7.0.84.tar.gz from host to Docker container.
Notice the Docker Documentation first line which you have shared
The path must be inside the context of the build;
So as long as the path is reachable during build you can copy.
Another way of doing this would be using volume
docker run -itd -v $(pwd)/somefolder:/home/test --name test1 testserver
Notice -v parameter
You are telling Docker to mount Current_Directory/somefolder to Docker's path at /home/test
Once the container is up and running you can simply copy any file to $(pwd)/somefolder and it will get copied
inside container at /home/test
I was using Docker in the old way, with a volume container:
docker run -d --name jenkins-data jenkins:tag echo "data-only container for Jenkins"
But now I changed to the new way by creating a named volume:
docker volume create --name my-jenkins-volume
I bound this new volume to a new Jenkins container.
The only thing I've left is a folder in which I have the /var/jenkins_home of my previous jenkins container. (by using docker cp)
Now I want to fill my new named volume with the content of that folder.
Can I just copy the content of that folder to /var/lib/jenkins/volume/my-jenkins-volume/_data?
You can certainly copy data directly into /var/lib/docker/volumes/my-jenkins-volume/_data, but by doing this you are:
Relying on physical access to the docker host. This technique won't work if you're interacting with a remote docker api.
Relying on a particular aspect of the volume implementation would could change in the future, breaking any processes you have that rely on it.
I think you are better off relying on things you can accomplish using the docker api, via the command line client. The easiest solution is probably just to use a helper container, something like:
docker run -v my-jenkins-volume:/data --name helper busybox true
docker cp . helper:/data
docker rm helper
You don't need to start some container to add data to already existing named volume, just create a container and copy data there:
docker container create --name temp -v my-jenkins-volume:/data busybox
docker cp . temp:/data
docker rm temp
You can reduce the accepted answer to one line using, e.g.
docker run --rm -v `pwd`:/src -v my-jenkins-volume:/data busybox cp -r /src /data
Here are steps for copying contents of ~/data to docker volume named my-vol
Step 1. Attach the volume to a "temporary" container. For that run in terminal this command :
docker run --rm -it --name alpine --mount type=volume,source=my-vol,target=/data alpine
Step 2. Copy contents of ~/data into my-vol . For that run this commands in new terminal window :
cd ~/data
docker cp . alpine:/data
This will copy contents of ~/data into my-vol volume. After copy exit the temporary container.
You can add this BASH function to your .bashrc to copy files to a existing Docker volume without running a container
# Usage: copy-to-docker-volume SRC_PATH DEST_VOLUME_NAME [DEST_PATH]
copy-to-docker-volume() {
SRC_PATH=$1
DEST_VOLUME_NAME=$2
DEST_PATH="${3:-}"
# create smallest Docker image possible
echo -e 'FROM scratch\nLABEL empty=""' | docker build -t empty -
# create temporary container to be able to mount volume
CONTAINER_ID=$(docker container create -v my-volume:/data empty cmd)
# copy files to volume
docker cp "${SRC_PATH}" "${CONTAINER_ID}":"/data/${DEST_PATH}"
# remove temporary container
docker rm "${CONTAINER_ID}"
}
Example
# create volume as destination
docker volume create my-volume
# create directory to copy
mkdir my-dir
echo "hello file1" > my-dir/my-file-1
# copy directory to volume
copy-to-docker-volume my-dir my-volume
# list directory on volume
docker run --rm -it -v my-volume:/data busybox ls -la /data/my-dir
# show file content on volume
docker run --rm -it -v my-volume:/data busybox cat /data/my-dir/my-file-1
# create another file to copy
echo "hello file2" > my-file-2
# copy file to directory on volume
copy-to-docker-volume my-file-2 my-volume my-dir
# list (updated) directory on volume
docker run --rm -it -v my-volume:/data busybox ls -la /data/my-dir
# check volume content
docker run --rm -it -v my-volume:/data busybox cat /data/my-dir/my-file-2
If you don't want to create a docker and you can access as privileged user to , simply do (on Linux systems):
docker volume create my_named_volume
sudo cp -p . /var/lib/docker/volumes/my_named_volume/_data/
Furthermore, it also allows you to access data in docker runtime or also with docker containers stopped.
If you don't want to create a temp helper container on windows docker desktop (backed by wsl2) then
copy the files to below location
\\wsl$\docker-desktop-data\version-pack-data\community\docker\volumes\my-volume\_data
here my-volume is the name of your named volume. browse the above path from address bar in your file explorer. This is a internal network created by wsl in windows.
Note: it might be better to use docker API like mentioned by larsks, but I have not faced any issues on windows.
Similarly on linux files can be copied to
/var/lib/docker/volumes/my-volume/_data/
All I'm looking for is a Dockerfile & docker build+run commands on linux to view /var/tmp via a mount point within the container. The issues here are all complicated cases or involve OS/X & Windows or trying to do more than simply mount a volume. I my case I've simply tried to mount /var/tmp onto
/foobar of a busybox image, run a container with the image, and use "ls /foobar" to see the contents.
Running "Docker version 1.6.1, build 97cd073" on linux 4.0.1 w/ aufs
using a local repostory.
http://docs.docker.com/userguide/dockervolumes/
Notes that:
Mount a Host Directory as a Data Volume
In addition to creating a volume using the
-v flag you can also mount a directory from
your Docker daemon's host into a container.
<snip>
$ sudo docker run -d -P --name web -v /src/webapp:/opt/webapp
training/webapp python app.py
This will mount the host directory, /src/webapp,
into the container at /opt/webapp.
Note: If the path /opt/webapp already exists
inside the container's image, its contents
will be replaced by the contents of
/src/webapp on the host to stay consistent
with the expected behavior of mount
This is very useful for testing, for example we can mount our source
code inside the container and see our application at work as we change
the source code. The directory on the host must be specified as an
absolute path and if the directory doesn't exist Docker will
automatically create it for you.
I'm using a local repository that acquires its "/data" directory
via the "-v" switch to docker run:
docker run -d -p 5000 \
-v '/var/lib/docker/registry:/data/registry/storage' \
'kampka/registry';
This seems to work as the hosts's /var/lib/docker/registry directory
gets entries added to it.
So I try a simple test for myself: build a minimal copy of busybox
with access to /var/tmp on the host system.
FROM localhost:5000/lembark/busybox
MAINTAINER lembark#wrkhors.com
VOLUME [ "/foobar" ]
ENV PATH /bin
WORKDIR /
ENTRYPOINT [ "/bin/sh" ]
At that point running "docker build" executes the VOLUME command, but does not create the mount point:
$ docker build --tag="localhost:5000/lembark/hak" . ;
Sending build context to Docker daemon 7.68 kB
Sending build context to Docker daemon
Step 0 : FROM localhost:5000/lembark/busybox
---> c1a1f5abbf79
Step 1 : MAINTAINER lembark#wrkhors.com
---> Using cache
---> b46677881767
Step 2 : VOLUME /foobar
---> Running in 7127bdbcfb56
---> bcf9c3f1c441
Removing intermediate container 7127bdbcfb56
Step 3 : ENV PATH /bin
---> Running in 89f92c815860
---> 780fea54a67f
Removing intermediate container 89f92c815860
Step 4 : WORKDIR /
---> Running in aa3871c408a1
---> 403190e9415b
Removing intermediate container aa3871c408a1
Step 5 : ENTRYPOINT /bin/sh
---> Running in 4850561f7ebd
---> 77c32530b4a9
Removing intermediate container 4850561f7ebd
Successfully built 77c32530b4a9
The "VOLUME /foobar" in Step 2 seems to indicate that a mount point
should be available at runtime.
At that point using either of
docker run --rm -t -i localhost:5000/lembark/hak;
docker run --rm -t -i -v /foobar localhost:5000/lembark/hak;
docker run --rm -t -i -v /var/tmp:/foobar localhost:5000/lembark/hak;
leaves me with:
# ls -al /foobar
ls: /foobar: No such file or directory
Adding a mkdir before the VOLUME leaves me with a /foobar
directory with an anonymous volume, not the mapping from /var/tmp:
...
RUN [ "mkdir", "/foobar" ]
VOLUME [ "/foobar" ]
or
# made a local ./foobar directory, added that to the image.
COPY [ "foobar", "/foobar" ]
Bofh of these leave with /foobar, but no way to map any external
directory to it. Instead I keep getting anonymous volumes:
# mount | grep foobar;
/dev/mapper/vg00-var--lib on /var/lib/docker/aufs/mnt/dd12f3e11a6fcb88627412a041b7c910e4d32dc1bf0c15330899036c59d7b3d9/foobar type xfs (rw,noatime,nodiratime,attr2,inode64,logbufs=8,logbsize=256k,logdev=/dev/vg02/var-lib-extlog,noquota)
No combination with or without each of mkdir, VOLUME, COPY, or -v leaves me viewing /var/tmp undef /foobar.
thanks
This works for me
Dockerfile
FROM busybox:latest
VOLUME /foo/bar
Command
$ docker build -t bb .
Sending build context to Docker daemon 2.048 kB
Sending build context to Docker daemon
Step 0 : FROM busybox:latest
---> 8c2e06607696
Step 1 : VOLUME /foo/bar
---> Running in a94615dd3353
---> fa500ba91831
Successfully built fa500ba91831
$ docker run -it -v /tmp:/foobar bb ls /foobar
[contents of my /tmp directory]
Note that you don't need the VOLUME command to do this. docker run -it -v /tmp:/foobar busybox:latest ls /foobar works just as well.
I did the same as #Nathaniel Waisbrot.
vagrant#vagrant:/code/busybox$ ls
Dockerfile
vagrant#vagrant:/code/busybox$ docker build -t busybox:0.0.1 .
Sending build context to Docker daemon 9.216 kB
Sending build context to Docker daemon
Step 0 : FROM busybox:latest
---> 8c2e06607696
Step 1 : VOLUME /foobar
---> Running in 0b99eac833aa
---> a93b5ae5de5f
Removing intermediate container 0b99eac833aa
Successfully built a93b5ae5de5f
vagrant#vagrant:/code/busybox$ docker run -i -v /code/busybox/:/foobar busybox:0.0.1 ls /foobar
Dockerfile
vagrant#vagrant:/code/busybox$
Here is the Dockerfile I used to build the image.
FROM busybox:latest
VOLUME [ "/foobar" ]
Here you can see that I list my /code/busybox directory to show you the files in it.
Then I build the image.
Then I run the image and map my /code/busybox directory the images /foobar directory with -v /code/busybox:/foobar.
I then execute the image I built with the ls command and the directory I want to list ls /foobar.
The results are printed to the console.
Just to be clear I think there are a few items wrong with what you are doing. Which is why you aren't seeing the files.
FROM localhost:5000/lembark/busybox
MAINTAINER lembark#wrkhors.com
VOLUME [ "/foobar" ]
ENV PATH /bin
WORKDIR /
ENTRYPOINT [ "/bin/sh" ]
You are creating your images from an image on your pc. What is that image from. That could be one issue since the image you are building inherits it's base properties and O/S from that image.
The WORKDIR command sets the working directory. Since you aren't importing anything you don't need this command.
You are overriding the ENTRYPOINT or command that is execute each time the container is initialized by setting the ENTRYPOINT to ['/bin/sh']. That could be why your command is not executing. You run the container and that entry point executes.
Please see the example above. That is a proper Dockerfile and will compile and provide the console output listed above and does exactly what you are asking. Without seeing the Dockerfile for the image you are building your newest image from it's hard to determine exactly what other pieces you have incorrect.
I am trying to build a backup and restore solution for the Docker containers that we work with.
I have Docker base image that I have created, ubuntu:base, and do not want have to rebuild it each time with a Docker file to add files to it.
I want to create a script that runs from the host machine and creates a new container using the ubuntu:base Docker image and then copies files into that container.
How can I copy files from the host to the container?
The cp command can be used to copy files.
One specific file can be copied TO the container like:
docker cp foo.txt container_id:/foo.txt
One specific file can be copied FROM the container like:
docker cp container_id:/foo.txt foo.txt
For emphasis, container_id is a container ID, not an image ID. (Use docker ps to view listing which includes container_ids.)
Multiple files contained by the folder src can be copied into the target folder using:
docker cp src/. container_id:/target
docker cp container_id:/src/. target
Reference: Docker CLI docs for cp
In Docker versions prior to 1.8 it was only possible to copy files from a container to the host. Not from the host to a container.
Get container name or short container id:
$ docker ps
Get full container id:
$ docker inspect -f '{{.Id}}' SHORT_CONTAINER_ID-or-CONTAINER_NAME
Copy file:
$ sudo cp path-file-host /var/lib/docker/aufs/mnt/FULL_CONTAINER_ID/PATH-NEW-FILE
EXAMPLE:
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
d8e703d7e303 solidleon/ssh:latest /usr/sbin/sshd -D cranky_pare
$ docker inspect -f '{{.Id}}' cranky_pare
or
$ docker inspect -f '{{.Id}}' d8e703d7e303
d8e703d7e3039a6df6d01bd7fb58d1882e592a85059eb16c4b83cf91847f88e5
$ sudo cp file.txt /var/lib/docker/aufs/mnt/**d8e703d7e3039a6df6d01bd7fb58d1882e592a85059eb16c4b83cf91847f88e5**/root/file.txt
The cleanest way is to mount a host directory on the container when starting the container:
{host} docker run -v /path/to/hostdir:/mnt --name my_container my_image
{host} docker exec -it my_container bash
{container} cp /mnt/sourcefile /path/to/destfile
Typically there are three types:
From a container to the host
docker cp container_id:./bar/foo.txt .
Also docker cp command works both ways too.
From the host to a container
docker exec -i container_id sh -c 'cat > ./bar/foo.txt' < ./foo.txt
Second approach to copy from host to container:
docker cp foo.txt mycontainer:/foo.txt
From a container to a container mixes 1 and 2
docker cp container_id1:./bar/foo.txt .
docker exec -i container_id2 sh -c 'cat > ./bar/foo.txt' < ./foo.txt
The following is a fairly ugly way of doing it but it works.
docker run -i ubuntu /bin/bash -c 'cat > file' < file
If you need to do this on a running container you can use docker exec (added in 1.3).
First, find the container's name or ID:
$ docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
b9b7400ddd8f ubuntu:latest "/bin/bash" 2 seconds ago Up 2 seconds elated_hodgkin
In the example above we can either use b9b7400ddd8f or elated_hodgkin.
If you wanted to copy everything in /tmp/somefiles on the host to /var/www in the container:
$ cd /tmp/somefiles
$ tar -cv * | docker exec -i elated_hodgkin tar x -C /var/www
We can then exec /bin/bash in the container and verify it worked:
$ docker exec -it elated_hodgkin /bin/bash
root#b9b7400ddd8f:/# ls /var/www
file1 file2
Create a new dockerfile and use the existing image as your base.
FROM myName/myImage:latest
ADD myFile.py bin/myFile.py
Then build the container:
docker build .
The solution is given below,
From the Docker shell,
root#123abc:/root# <-- get the container ID
From the host
cp thefile.txt /var/lib/docker/devicemapper/mnt/123abc<bunch-o-hex>/rootfs/root
The file shall be directly copied to the location where the container sits on the filesystem.
Another solution for copying files into a running container is using tar:
tar -c foo.sh | docker exec -i theDockerContainer /bin/tar -C /tmp -x
Copies the file foo.sh into /tmp of the container.
Edit: Remove reduntant -f, thanks to Maartens comment.
To copy a file from host to running container
docker exec -i $CONTAINER /bin/bash -c "cat > $CONTAINER_PATH" < $HOST_PATH
Based on Erik's answer and Mikl's and z0r's comments.
This is a direct answer to the question 'Copying files from host to Docker container' raised in this question in the title.
Try docker cp. It is the easiest way to do that and works even on my Mac. Usage:
docker cp /root/some-file.txt some-docker-container:/root
This will copy the file some-file.txt in the directory /root on your host machine into the Docker container named some-docker-container into the directory /root. It is very close to the secure copy syntax. And as shown in the previous post, you can use it vice versa. I.e., you also copy files from the container to the host.
And before you downlink this post, please enter docker cp --help. Reading the documentation can be very helpful, sometimes...
If you don't like that way and you want data volumes in your already created and running container, then recreation is your only option today. See also How can I add a volume to an existing Docker container?.
I tried most of the (upvoted) solutions here but in docker 17.09 (in 2018) there is no longer /var/lib/docker/aufs folder.
This simple docker cp solved this task.
docker cp c:\path\to\local\file container_name:/path/to/target/dir/
How to get container_name?
docker ps
There is a NAMES section. Don't use aIMAGE.
With Docker 1.8, docker cp is able to copy files from host to container. See the Docker blog post Announcing Docker 1.8: Content Trust, Toolbox, and Updates to Registry and Orchestration.
To copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem, type the command:
docker cp {SOURCE_FILE} {DESTINATION_CONTAINER_ID}:/{DESTINATION_PATH}
For example,
docker cp /home/foo container-id:/home/dir
To get the contianer id, type the given command:
docker ps
The above content is taken from docker.com.
Assuming the container is already running, type the given command:
# cat /path/to/host/file/ | docker exec -i -t <container_id> bash -c "/bin/cat > /path/to/container/file"
To share files using shared directory, run the container by typing the given command:
# docker run -v /path/to/host/dir:/path/to/container/dir ...
Note: Problems with permissions might arise as container's users are not the same as the host's users.
This is the command to copy data from Docker to Host:
docker cp container_id:file path/filename /hostpath
docker cp a13fb9c9e674:/tmp/dgController.log /tmp/
Below is the command to copy data from host to docker:
docker cp a.txt ccfbeb35116b:/home/
Container Up Syntax:
docker run -v /HOST/folder:/Container/floder
In docker File
COPY hom* /myFolder/ # adds all files starting with "hom"
COPY hom?.txt /myFolder/ # ? is replaced with any single character, e.g., "home.txt"
In a docker environment, all containers are found in the directory:
/var/lib/docker/aufs/required-docker-id/
To copy the source directory/file to any part of the container, type the given command:
sudo cp -r mydir/ /var/lib/docker/aufs/mnt/required-docker-id/mnt/
Docker cp command is a handy utility that allows to copy files and folders between a container and the host system.
If you want to copy files from your host system to the container, you should use docker cp command like this:
docker cp host_source_path container:destination_path
List your running containers first using docker ps command:
abhishek#linuxhandbook:~$ sudo docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS
PORTS NAMES
8353c6f43fba 775349758637 "bash" 8 seconds ago Up 7
seconds ubu_container
You need to know either the container ID or the container name. In my case, the docker container name is ubu_container. and the container ID is 8353c6f43fba.
If you want to verify that the files have been copied successfully, you can enter your container in the following manner and then use regular Linux commands:
docker exec -it ubu_container bash
Copy files from host system to docker container
Copying with docker cp is similar to the copy command in Linux.
I am going to copy a file named a.py to the home/dir1 directory in the container.
docker cp a.py ubu_container:/home/dir1
If the file is successfully copied, you won’t see any output on the screen. If the destination path doesn’t exist, you would see an error:
abhishek#linuxhandbook:~$ sudo docker cp a.txt ubu_container:/home/dir2/subsub
Error: No such container:path: ubu_container:/home/dir2
If the destination file already exists, it will be overwritten without any warning.
You may also use container ID instead of the container name:
docker cp a.py 8353c6f43fba:/home/dir1
If the host is CentOS or Fedora, there is a proxy NOT in /var/lib/docker/aufs, but it is under /proc:
cp -r /home/user/mydata/* /proc/$(docker inspect --format "{{.State.Pid}}" <containerid>)/root
This cmd will copy all contents of data directory to / of container with id "containerid".
docker cp [OPTIONS] SRC_PATH CONTAINER:DEST_PATH
The destination path must be pre-exist
tar and docker cp are a good combo for copying everything in a directory.
Create a data volume container
docker create --name dvc --volume /path/on/container cirros
To preserve the directory hierarchy
tar -c -C /path/on/local/machine . | docker cp - dvc:/path/on/container
Check your work
docker run --rm --volumes-from dvc cirros ls -al /path/on/container
Many that find this question may actually have the problem of copying files into a Docker image while it is being created (I did).
In that case, you can use the COPY command in the Dockerfile that you use to create the image.
See the documentation.
In case it is not clear to someone like me what mycontainer in #h3nrik answer means, it is actually the container id. To copy a file WarpSquare.mp4 in /app/example_scenes/1440p60 from an exited docker container to current folder I used this.
docker cp `docker ps -q -l`:/app/example_scenes/1440p60/WarpSquare.mp4 .
where docker ps -q -l pulls up the container id of the last exited instance. In case it is not an exited container you can get it by docker container ls or docker ps
docker cp SRC_PATH CONTAINER_ID:DEST_PATH
For example, I want to copy my file xxxx/download/jenkins to tomcat
I start to get the id of the container Tomcat
docker ps
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
63686740b488 tomcat "catalina.sh run" 12 seconds ago Up 11 seconds 0.0.0.0:8080->8080/tcp peaceful_babbage
docker cp xxxx/download/jenkins.war 63686740b488:usr/local/tomcat/webapps/
This is a onliner for copying a single file while running a tomcat container.
docker run -v /PATH_TO_WAR/sample.war:/usr/local/tomcat/webapps/myapp.war -it -p 8080:8080 tomcat
This will copy the war file to webapps directory and get your app running in no time.
My favorite method:
CONTAINERS:
CONTAINER_ID=$(docker ps | grep <string> | awk '{ print $1 }' | xargs docker inspect -f '{{.Id}}')
file.txt
mv -f file.txt /var/lib/docker/devicemapper/mnt/$CONTAINER_ID/rootfs/root/file.txt
or
mv -f file.txt /var/lib/docker/aufs/mnt/$CONTAINER_ID/rootfs/root/file.txt
The best way for copying files to the container I found is mounting a directory on host using -v option of docker run command.
There are good answers, but too specific. I find out docker ps is good way to get container id you're interested in. Then do
mount | grep <id>
to see where the volume is mounted. That's
/var/lib/docker/devicemapper/mnt/<id>/rootfs/
for me, but it might be a different path depending on the OS and configuration. Now simply copy files to that path.
Using -v is not always practical.
Try docker cp.
Usage:
docker cp CONTAINER:PATH HOSTPATH
It copies files/folders from PATH to the HOSTPATH.