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How to Share Files Between Mac and Linux Containers with Apple container Volumes and Mounts

Cowrie
Cowrie
Dev @ Bswen

Purpose

This post demonstrates how to share files between macOS and Linux containers, create persistent named volumes, and manage storage with Apple container.

Host Directory Mounts

Mount a directory from my Mac into a container:

Mount a host directory
container run --volume ~/Desktop/assets:/content/assets my-image

The equivalent using --mount:

Mount with key=value syntax
container run --mount source=${HOME}/Desktop/assets,target=/content/assets my-image

Changes on either side are visible immediately. This is useful for development — edit files on the Mac, run them inside the container.

Diagram showing bidirectional file synchronization between a macOS host directory and a Linux container's mount point

Named Volumes

Create a persistent volume:

Create a named volume
container volume create myvolume --opt journal=ordered

Volume driver options include:

  • size: limit the volume size (e.g. 10g)
  • journal: ext4 journaling mode — ordered (default), writeback, or journal

Attach it to a container:

Use the named volume
container run -v myvolume:/data my-image

Named volumes survive container restarts and persist even after the container stops.

Anonymous Volumes

Without a source, Apple container auto-creates an anonymous volume:

Anonymous volume
container run -v /data my-image

Anonymous volumes get UUID-based names like anon-{uuid}. Unlike Docker, they do NOT auto-cleanup with --rm. I need to remove them manually.

Timeline diagram comparing named volume and anonymous volume lifecycles across container restarts and removals

Volume Management

List volumes
container volume ls
Inspect a volume
container volume inspect myvolume
Delete a volume
container volume rm myvolume
Remove unused volumes
container volume prune

SSH Agent Forwarding

The --ssh flag mounts the macOS SSH agent into the container:

Forward SSH agent
container run --ssh my-image

This is equivalent to:

Manual SSH agent mount
container run \
  --volume "${SSH_AUTH_SOCK}:/run/host-services/ssh-auth.sock" \
  --env SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/run/host-services/ssh-auth.sock \
  my-image

Useful for cloning private git repositories from inside the container.

Architecture diagram showing SSH agent forwarding from macOS host through socket mount into a Linux container reaching a remote Git server

Summary

Volume typeHow to createPersistence
Host bind mount--volume /host:/containerHost filesystem
Named volumecontainer volume create v + -v v:/pathSurvives restarts
Anonymous volume-v /path (no source)Survives, no auto-cleanup

In this post, I showed how to mount host directories, create named volumes, and manage storage with Apple container. The syntax is Docker-compatible, with the addition of ext4 journaling options for named volumes.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others share my knowledge and experience. If you want to contact me, you can contact by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!

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