# Use Docker volumes with Amazon ECS
<a name="docker-volumes"></a>

When using Docker volumes, the built-in `local` driver or a third-party volume driver can be used. Docker volumes are managed by Docker and a directory is created in `/var/lib/docker/volumes` on the container instance that contains the volume data.

To use Docker volumes, specify a `dockerVolumeConfiguration` in your task definition. For more information, see [Volumes](https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/) in the Docker documentation.

Some common use cases for Docker volumes are the following:
+ To provide persistent data volumes for use with containers
+ To share a defined data volume at different locations on different containers on the same container instance
+ To define an empty, nonpersistent data volume and mount it on multiple containers within the same task
+ To provide a data volume to your task that's managed by a third-party driver

## Considerations for using Docker volumes
<a name="docker-volume-considerations"></a>

Consider the following when using Docker volumes:
+ Docker volumes are only supported when using the EC2 launch type or external instances.
+ Windows containers only support the use of the `local` driver.
+ If a third-party driver is used, make sure it's installed and active on the container instance before the container agent is started. If the third-party driver isn't active before the agent is started, you can restart the container agent using one of the following commands:
  + For the Amazon ECS-optimized Amazon Linux 2 AMI:

    ```
    sudo systemctl restart ecs
    ```
  + For the Amazon ECS-optimized Amazon Linux AMI:

    ```
    sudo stop ecs && sudo start ecs
    ```

For information about how to specify a Docker volume in a task definition, see [Specify a Docker volume in an Amazon ECS task definition](specify-volume-config.md).