# How to move the default /var/lib/docker to another directory for Docker on Linux?

[How to move the default /var/lib/docker to another directory for Docker on Linux? | DigitalOcean](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/how-to-move-the-default-var-lib-docker-to-another-directory-for-docker-on-linux)

- Stop the server: `sudo systemctl stop docker`
- Create/edit the configuration at `/etc/docker/daemon.json`, for example: `{ "data-root": "/new/path/docker-data-root" }`
- Copy your data there:
    
```shell
sudo cp -axT /var/lib/docker /new/path/docker-data-root
```
    
(if the target `docker-data-root` directory already exists, make sure you don’t accidentally copy into a `docker` subdirectory).
    
- Start the server:
    
```shell
sudo systemctl start docker
```
    
- Check everything works:
    
```shell
sudo docker images
```