Windows – Mount current directory as a volume in Docker on Windows 10

dockerwindows

Description

I am using Docker version 1.12.5 on Windows 10 via Hyper-V and want to use container executables as commands in the current path. I built a Docker image that is running fine, but I have a problem to mount the current path. The idea is to create an alias and do a docker run --rm [...] command so that it could be used system-wide in the current directory.

Setup

I have a drive E with a folder "test" and in there a folder called "folder on windows host" to show that the command is working. The Dockerfile create the directory /data, defines it as VOLUME and WORKDIR.

Having E:\test as the current directory in PowerShell and executing the Docker command with an absolute path, I can see the content of E:\test:

PS E:\test> docker run --rm -it -v E:\test:/data mirkohaaser/docker-clitools ls -la
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan  4 11:45 .
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Jan  5 12:17 folder on windows host

Problem

I want to use the current directory and not an absolute notation. I could not use pwd in the volume because of different error messages:

Trying with ($pwd)

PS E:\test> docker run --rm -it -v ($pwd):/data mirkohaaser/docker-clitools ls -la
C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe: Error parsing reference: ":/data" is not a valid repository/tag.
See 'C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe run --help'.

Trying with /($pwd)

PS E:\test> docker run --rm -it -v /($pwd):/data mirkohaaser/docker-clitools ls -la
C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe: Error parsing reference: "E:\\test" is not a valid repository/tag.
See 'C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe run --help'.

Trying with \´pwd\´

PS E:\test> docker run --rm -it -v ´$pwd´:/data mirkohaaser/docker-clitools ls -la
C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe: Error response from daemon: Invalid bind mount spec "´E:\\test´:/data": invalid mode: /data.
See 'C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe run --help'.

Trying with `pwd`

PS E:\test> docker run --rm -it -v `$pwd`:/data mirkohaaser/docker-clitools ls -la
C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe: Error response from daemon: create $pwd: "$pwd" includes invalid characters for a local volume name, only "[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]" are allowed.
See 'C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\Resources\bin\docker.exe run --help'.

What is the correct syntax of mounting the current directory as a volume in Docker on Windows 10?

Best Answer

In Windows Command Line (cmd), you can mount the current directory like so:

docker run --rm -it -v %cd%:/usr/src/project gcc:4.9

In PowerShell, you use ${PWD}, which gives you the current directory:

docker run --rm -it -v ${PWD}:/usr/src/project gcc:4.9

On Linux:

docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/usr/src/project gcc:4.9

Cross Platform

The following options will work on both PowerShell and on Linux (at least Ubuntu):

docker run --rm -it -v ${PWD}:/usr/src/project gcc:4.9
docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/usr/src/project gcc:4.9
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