Where Does Portainer Store Data on Linux?
Portainer keeps its database in the portainer_data Docker volume on the host running it.
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Portainer Server persists everything in one Docker volume named portainer_data: users, endpoints, stacks metadata, and settings. The volume lives under Docker root, usually /var/lib/docker/volumes. Containers it manages stay separate.
Back up with the volume, not from inside the UI alone. Stop Portainer briefly for consistent copies or snapshot the filesystem. Restores need the same Portainer major version to open the database.
Where Portainer stores this, by platform
/var/lib/docker/volumes/portainer_data
SQLite database plus TLS and state. Back up the volume dir with Portainer stopped. Custom volume drivers move it elsewhere, so confirm with volume inspect.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up Portainer?
Copy the portainer_data volume contents with the container stopped, or snapshot the disk. Restore into a fresh install of the same version before pointing agents at it.
Where are Portainer stacks stored?
Stack definitions live in the same database volume. Git backed stacks re-pull from repos, so keep repo URLs noted separately as well.
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