Things I wish I knew when starting out.

1) Creating shares at /mnt/user instead of /mnt/user/<base share name> would prevent me from hardlinking a bunch of stuff.

2) Using docker as a folder instead of one big file would prevent issues such as having to keep increasing the docker image size or it getting corrupt.

One day I'll tackle number 1, but I'm hoping number 2 is easier to deal with.

From my understanding, I literally just stop docker, change it to use a folder instead of docker.img, then turn Docker back on and install everything from Previous Apps. No need to even touch /appdata.

This will result is no data loss, no configuration loss, everything running just as it was.

Is this correct or do I need to do more?

Thank you!!

I strongly recommend against using a folder; in my experience, it can cause plenty of strange issues. If you keep getting problems with the Docker image, there's likely an underlying issue, but if you want to convert, it's very simple: just delete the image and recreate it as a folder.

4 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

I strongly recommend against using a folder; in my experience, it can cause plenty of strange issues. If you keep getting problems with the Docker image, there's likely an underlying issue, but if you want to convert, it's very simple: just delete the image and recreate it as a folder.

Yeah I was just wondering more about the bringing my containers back thing. Won't I have to reinstall all those containers?

And really? Well great now you gave me something to be paranoid about!

What kind of issues have you seen with the folder method?

You can restore them from CA's previous apps:

https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/troubleshooting/common-issues/docker-troubleshooting/#reinstalling-docker-applications

Also see below if you have any custom docker networks:

https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/troubleshooting/common-issues/docker-troubleshooting/#restoring-docker-custom-networks

1 hour ago, DevanteWeary said:

What kind of issues have you seen with the folder method?

Mostly containers stopping out of the blue or the Docker service not even starting without an apparent reason or logged errors.

3 hours ago, JorgeB said:

Mostly containers stopping out of the blue or the Docker service not even starting without an apparent reason or logged errors.

I personally have had the opposite experience. Using the docker folder method has never caused me any issues.

The above said I would like to second this point

5 hours ago, JorgeB said:

...If you keep getting problems with the Docker image, there's likely an underlying issue...

For most use cases you should not have to constantly expand your docker image. The exception might be if you have been adding a ton of services lately (particularly ai stuff as those tend to be hefty and they keep getting bigger). If you are often experiencing corruption of your docker image that is likely an underlying issue.