# OverlayFS storage driver — The container layer

> Containers also exist on-disk in the Docker host's filesystem under /var/lib/docker/overlay/.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-docker-c81d8a53c6141733cb2d>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.475661+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `docker`, `manuals`, `engine`, `storage`, `drivers`, `overlayfs`, `driver`, `container`, `layer`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/docker/docs/blob/3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244/content/manuals/engine/storage/drivers/overlayfs-driver.md>
- Source name: Docker Documentation
- Source revision: `3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244`
- Source license: `Apache-2.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

Containers also exist on-disk in the Docker host's filesystem under /var/lib/docker/overlay/. If you list a running container's subdirectory using the ls -l command, three directories and one file exist

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
$ ls -l /var/lib/docker/overlay2/&lt;directory-of-running-container&gt;

total 16
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   64 Jun 20 16:39 lower-id
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4096 Jun 20 16:39 merged
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jun 20 16:39 upper
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jun 20 16:39 work
```

The lower-id file contains the ID of the top layer of the image the container is based on, which is the OverlayFS lowerdir.

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
$ cat /var/lib/docker/overlay2/ec444863a55a9f1ca2df72223d459c5d940a721b2288ff86a3f27be28b53be6c/lower-id

55f1e14c361b90570df46371b20ce6d480c434981cbda5fd68c6ff61aa0a5358
```

The upper directory contains the contents of the container's read-write layer, which corresponds to the OverlayFS upperdir.

The merged directory is the union mount of the lowerdir and upperdirs, which comprises the view of the filesystem from within the running container.

The work directory is internal to OverlayFS.

To view the mounts which exist when you use the overlay2 storage driver with Docker, use the mount command. The following output is truncated for readability.

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
$ mount | grep overlay

overlay on /var/lib/docker/overlay2/l/ec444863a55a.../merged
type overlay (rw,relatime,lowerdir=/var/lib/docker/overlay2/l/55f1e14c361b.../root,
upperdir=/var/lib/docker/overlay2/l/ec444863a55a.../upper,
workdir=/var/lib/docker/overlay2/l/ec444863a55a.../work)
```

The rw on the second line shows that the overlay mount is read-write.

Attribution: Adapted from Docker Documentation under Apache-2.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.