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Save Changes in Containers

If you make changes within a container, such as installing updates, additional toolboxes, or add-ons, you can save the container for later use. You can then deploy the updated version of the container, without needing to install the updates or toolboxes again.

Perform these steps after you have made your changes in the container and while the container is still running.

If you are using a remote Docker host, on your client machine, open another connection to the Docker host, the machine running the container, using PuTTY or the same method you used to access the Docker host and launch the container. If, instead, you are using a local Docker host, open a new shell.

In the new shell or connection, obtain the container ID of the running container using the following command.

docker ps
This command displays the details of all containers currently running. Identify the container that you want to save and take note of the container ID.

To save the container, use the docker commit command. 

docker commit <containerID> <repository>:<tag>
The docker commit command locally saves a new container image based on the specified container ID; in this case, based on the currently running container. You can view the images available locally using the docker images command.

As an example, suppose you are using MATLAB® R2020a in a MATLAB Container. You have updated MATLAB in the container you are running currently, and you want to save it for later use.

First, find the container ID of the running container.

docker ps
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                            COMMAND             CREATED              STATUS              PORTS                                            NAMES
3d555451f07a        nvcr.io/partners/matlab:r2020a   "/bin/run.sh"       24 minutes ago       Up 24 minutes       0.0.0.0:5901->5901/tcp, 0.0.0.0:6080->6080/tcp   relaxed_pasteur

Next, commit the container image.

docker commit 3d555451f07a mymatlab:r2020a
You can now launch the updated container image by specifying the tag of the updated container in the docker run command.

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