Run and persist a stateful service through Docker Desktop
Ran and persisted a stateful Postgres service entirely through Docker Desktop: pulled postgres:16, created a named volume, launched a container with a published port and mounted volume, seeded a table over the Exec tab, proved the data survived a restart, then reached it from a second Adminer container over the network.
Steps533
Duration4m 33s
Deliverables5
Rubric checks8
533 steps
Timeline · action type by step
001133266400533
←/→ step · space play
Run and persist a stateful service through Docker Desktop
Do everything through the Docker Desktop app: the Images, Volumes, and Containers tabs and each container's Logs, Files, and Exec tabs. The only step outside Docker Desktop is opening a browser for Adminer. No docker commands typed in your own shell.
- In the Images tab, use Search images (or the Docker Hub search) to find and pull
postgres:16, the specific tag, notlatest. - In the Volumes tab, click Create and make a named volume called
shopdata. - Back in Images, click Run on
postgres:16and open Optional settings. Set:/var/lib/postgresql/dataThen run it. It should appear running in the Containers tab.- Container name:
shop-db - Host port:
5432(mapped to the container's 5432) - Environment variable:
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=devpass - Volume: mount the
shopdatavolume at container path
- Container name:
- Open the container ▸ Logs tab and confirm Postgres finished starting; look for
database system is ready to accept connections. - Switch to the container's Exec tab and start a psql session with
psql -U postgres. Type these in by hand (don't paste), confirming each:`sql CREATE TABLE products (id serial primary key, name text, price int); INSERT INTO products (name, price) VALUES ('Mug', 1299), ('Bottle', 1899); SELECT * FROM products;` - Open the container's Files tab and navigate to
/var/lib/postgresql/data; the database files stored there are what theshopdatavolume is holding onto. - Stop the container, then Start it again from the Containers tab. Re-open Exec ▸ psql and run
SELECT * FROM products;. The two rows should still be there. That's the named volume doing its job: the data outlived the container restart. - Now reach the same database from a second container. In Images, search & pull
adminer, then Run it with Host port8080. Open http://localhost:8080 in a browser and log in with System: PostgreSQL, Server:host.docker.internal, Username:postgres, Password:devpass. Open theproductstable; you should see your two rows, now served to a separate container over the network.
Deliverable · captured from the machine
answer-key.jsondownload ↓
{
"shop-db": {
"image": "postgres:16",
"port": [
"5432/tcp"
],
"env_has_password": true,
"mount_type": "volume",
"volume_name": "shopdata",
"mount_dest": "/var/lib/postgresql/data"
},
"adminer": {
"container_name": "db-view",
"image": "adminer:latest",
"port": [
"8080/tcp"
]
}
}inspect-adminer.jsoninspect ↗
[
{
"Id": "a94897665f67e9a5ba59e2bc60503e73cd704a6747fe13d1cb18168a18ccf138",
"Created": "2026-08-12T23:55:53.794246418Z",
"Path": "entrypoint.sh",
"Args": [
"docker-php-entrypoint",
"php",
"-S",
"[::]:8080",
"-t",
"/var/www/html"
],
"State": {
"Status": "running",
"Running": true,
"Paused": false,
"Restarting": false,
"OOMKilled": false,
"Dead": false,
"Pid": 1288,
"ExitCode": 0,
"Error": "",
"StartedAt": "2026-08-12T23:55:54.188122668Z",
"FinishedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"
},
"Image": "sha256:890cffec7caa20159fb6f68c1a521b2e5879f7314f4845d4ebca7cc1cf145971",
"ResolvConfPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/a94897665f67e9a5ba59e2bc60503e73cd704a6747fe13d1cb18168a18ccf138/resolv.conf",
"HostnamePath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/a94897665f67e9a5ba59e2bc60503e73cd704a6747fe13d1cb18168a18ccf138/hostname",
"HostsPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/a94897665f67e9a5ba59e2bc60503e73cd704a6747fe13d1cb18168a18ccf138/hosts",
"LogPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/a94897665f67e9a5ba59e2bc60503e73cd704a6747fe13d1cb18168a18ccf138/a94897665f67e9a5ba59e2bc60503e73cd704a6747fe13d1cb18168a18ccf138-json.log",
"Name": "/db-view",
"RestartCount": 0,
"Driver": "overlayfs",
"Platform": "linux",
"MountLabel": "",
"ProcessLabel": "",
"AppArmorProfile": "",
"ExecIDs": null,
"HostConfig": {
"Binds": [],
"ContainerIDFile": "",
"LogConfig": {
"Type": "json-file",
"Config": {}
},
"NetworkMode": "bridge",
"PortBindings": {
"8080/tcp": [
{
"HostIp": "",
"HostPort": "8080"
}
]
},
"RestartPolicy": {
"Name": "no",
"MaximumRetryCount": 0
},
"AutoRemove": false,
"VolumeDriver": "",
"VolumesFrom": null,
"ConsoleSize": [
0,
0
],
"CapAdd": null,
"CapDrop": null,
"CgroupnsMode": "private",
"Dns": null,
"DnsOptions": null,
"DnsSearch": null,
"ExtraHosts": null,
"GroupAdd": null,
"IpcMode": "private",
"Cgroup": "",
"Links": null,
"OomScoreAdj": 0,
"PidMode": "",
"Privileged": false,inspect-shop-db.jsoninspect ↗
[
{
"Id": "feb3afdb78fb791f41dfbfd3125085c4738373187ac8917612947324387c96d5",
"Created": "2026-08-12T23:53:30.058676588Z",
"Path": "docker-entrypoint.sh",
"Args": [
"postgres"
],
"State": {
"Status": "running",
"Running": true,
"Paused": false,
"Restarting": false,
"OOMKilled": false,
"Dead": false,
"Pid": 1119,
"ExitCode": 0,
"Error": "",
"StartedAt": "2026-08-12T23:55:06.224771591Z",
"FinishedAt": "2026-08-12T23:55:03.961444215Z"
},
"Image": "sha256:95206741a5b214807675e14165369d05b93a9cf692223b616d07cca227e74b0b",
"ResolvConfPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/feb3afdb78fb791f41dfbfd3125085c4738373187ac8917612947324387c96d5/resolv.conf",
"HostnamePath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/feb3afdb78fb791f41dfbfd3125085c4738373187ac8917612947324387c96d5/hostname",
"HostsPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/feb3afdb78fb791f41dfbfd3125085c4738373187ac8917612947324387c96d5/hosts",
"LogPath": "/var/lib/docker/containers/feb3afdb78fb791f41dfbfd3125085c4738373187ac8917612947324387c96d5/feb3afdb78fb791f41dfbfd3125085c4738373187ac8917612947324387c96d5-json.log",
"Name": "/shop-db",
"RestartCount": 0,
"Driver": "overlayfs",
"Platform": "linux",
"MountLabel": "",
"ProcessLabel": "",
"AppArmorProfile": "",
"ExecIDs": [
"09242dea517601520892ce1ec4474c810007bac148e46cf8545a24b24c51e71f"
],
"HostConfig": {
"Binds": [
"shopdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
],
"ContainerIDFile": "",
"LogConfig": {
"Type": "json-file",
"Config": {}
},
"NetworkMode": "bridge",
"PortBindings": {
"5432/tcp": [
{
"HostIp": "",
"HostPort": "5432"
}
]
},
"RestartPolicy": {
"Name": "no",
"MaximumRetryCount": 0
},
"AutoRemove": false,
"VolumeDriver": "",
"VolumesFrom": null,
"ConsoleSize": [
0,
0
],
"CapAdd": null,
"CapDrop": null,
"CgroupnsMode": "private",
"Dns": null,
"DnsOptions": null,
"DnsSearch": null,
"ExtraHosts": null,
"GroupAdd": null,
"IpcMode": "private",
"Cgroup": "",
"Links": null,
"OomScoreAdj": 0,
"PidMode": "",
"Privileged": false,
"PublishAllPorts": false,inspect-volume.jsondownload ↓
[
{
"CreatedAt": "2026-08-12T23:52:52Z",
"Driver": "local",
"Labels": null,
"Mountpoint": "/var/lib/docker/volumes/shopdata/_data",
"Name": "shopdata",
"Options": null,
"Scope": "local"
}
]products-rows.txtdownload ↓
id | name | price ----+--------+------- 1 | Mug | 1299 2 | Bottle | 1899 (2 rows)
- ✓postgres:16 image was pulled via the Images tab (specific tag, not latest)
- ✓A named volume 'shopdata' exists (created in the Volumes tab, not an anonymous volume)
- ✓Container 'shop-db' runs the image with host port 5432 published and env POSTGRES_PASSWORD set
- ✓The 'shopdata' volume is mounted at /var/lib/postgresql/data (not a bind mount, not anonymous)
- ✓A table was created and rows inserted via the container's Exec tab (psql), not the host
- ✓After stopping and restarting the container, a SELECT returns the same rows -- the volume persisted the data
- ✓An 'adminer' container runs with host port 8080 published (second container, pulled via the UI)
- ✓Adminer connects to the Postgres DB (host.docker.internal) and displays the products rows -- reached from a second container over the network (visible on the recording)