Can a .dockeringore file include a volume folder?

Question

Imagine a project folder like this:

• project_folder
  • source_code_folder_1
  • docker_volume_folder
  • source_code_file_1
  • Dockerfile
  • docker-compose.yml
  • .dockerignore

Now, if

• the Dockerfile contains an instruction ADD . /code/, and
• if the docker-compose.yml file configures a service that uses the docker_volume_folder in its volume mapping,

can I then add the docker_volume_folder in the .dockerignore file, to prevent that the volume folder is copied to the docker container by the ADD . /code/ instruction in the dockerfile?

I think adding the docker volume folder to the docker container is not only useless, maybe it's even dangerous. However, I want to avoid that Docker Compose does not want to create the volume, since it is mentioned in the .dockerignore file.

I can't find information about volumes in the dockerignore in the documentation.

Answer 1

You can include the directory in your .dockerignore file, that only affects the build, not the later volume mounts.

The only reason you may want to include the directory inside your image is if you want named volumes to be initialized with the contents of the image. If you only use host volumes, this will not be an issue.