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Docker

Interact with Docker via Portainer API

Overview

This node interacts with Docker through the Portainer API, specifically focusing on managing Docker volumes. The "Volume List" operation retrieves a list of Docker volumes from a specified Docker endpoint managed by Portainer. This is useful for scenarios where you want to monitor, audit, or manage Docker volumes programmatically within an n8n workflow.

Practical examples include:

  • Automatically listing all unused (dangling) volumes to clean up disk space.
  • Filtering volumes by driver type or labels to organize resources.
  • Integrating volume information into dashboards or reports.

Properties

Name Meaning
EndpointID Name or ID Selects the Docker endpoint (managed by Portainer) from which to retrieve the volumes. You can choose from a dynamically loaded list of endpoints or specify an ID directly using an expression. This identifies the target Docker environment.
Additional Fields A collection of optional fields to refine the volume list query:
- Filters JSON encoded filters applied to the volume list request. Supported filters include:
dangling=<boolean> — Returns volumes not in use (true) or only those in use (false).
driver=<volume-driver-name> — Filters volumes by their driver.
label=<key> or label=<key>:<value> — Filters volumes by label presence or specific label value.
name=<volume-name> — Matches volumes by name or partial name.

Output

The node outputs a JSON array under the json field containing the list of Docker volumes matching the query parameters. Each item in the array represents a volume object as returned by the Portainer API, typically including details such as volume name, driver, mount points, labels, and usage status.

No binary data output is produced by this operation.

Dependencies

  • Requires access to a Portainer instance with API enabled.
  • Needs an API authentication token credential configured in n8n to authenticate requests to the Portainer API.
  • The node dynamically loads available Docker endpoints from Portainer to populate the endpoint selection property.

Troubleshooting

  • Common issues:

    • Incorrect or missing endpoint ID will cause the request to fail; ensure the endpoint exists and is accessible.
    • Malformed JSON in the filters field can cause errors; validate JSON syntax before input.
    • Insufficient permissions or invalid API credentials will result in authentication errors.
  • Error messages:

    • Authentication failures usually indicate invalid or expired API tokens; reconfigure credentials.
    • "Endpoint not found" errors suggest the selected endpoint ID does not exist or is unreachable.
    • JSON parsing errors for filters mean the filter string is not valid JSON; correct the format.

Links and References

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