Is docker commit an atomic operation? (safe to run on a running container)

Docker Engine General
1

Does running docker commit on a running container produce a consistent, point-in-time image?

Are there disadvantages to doing this regularly? Does it introduce any incremental overhead in terms of the storage driver?

(for the record, I am aware of volumes and data-containers and the best practices regarding backups with docker, I’m just trying to understand how commit works)

2

I don’t know if it is atomic – that would take a careful code review. So to be on the safe side, I would recommend using docker pause on a running container before docker commit, then docker unpause.

If you end up doing the careful code review, please let us know what you learn!

3

and to confirm it - http://docs.docker.com/reference/commandline/commit/

by default docker commit pauses the container.

Sven

Docker Engineer
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