# docker orphaned overlay2 cleanup script

> Source: <https://gist.github.com/jens-maus/115ba5e6bf8c801dcbd861e20e658704>
> Published: 2025-04-16 06:36:18+00:00

docker-overlay-prune.sh

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#!/bin/bash

# partly based on https://stackoverflow.com/a/72548686

[[ $(id -u) -eq 0 ]] || exec sudo /bin/bash -c "$(printf '%q ' "$BASH_SOURCE" "$@")"

progname=$(basename $0)

quiet=false

no_dry_run=false

while getopts ":qn" opt; do

  case "$opt" in

    q)

      quiet=true

      ;;

    n)

      no_dry_run=true

      ;;

    ?)

      echo "unexpected option ${opt}"

      echo "usage: ${progname} [-q|--quiet]"

      echo "    -q: no output"

      echo "    -n: no dry run (will remove unused directories)"

      exit 1

      ;;

  esac

done

shift "$(($OPTIND -1))"

[[ ${quiet} = false ]] || exec /bin/bash -c "$(printf '%q ' "$BASH_SOURCE" "$@")" > /dev/null

images=( $(docker image ls --all --format "{{.ID}}") )

mounted=$(mount | grep "/var/lib/docker/overlay2/")

dirs=( $(find /var/lib/docker/overlay2 -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -not -path ./l -exec basename {} \;) )

unused=()

echo "Scanning for used overlays2 dirs."

for d in "${dirs[@]}"; do

  used=0

  dname=${d//"-init"/}

  # check for mounted overlays

  echo ${mounted} | grep -q ${dname}

  if [[ $? = 0 ]]; then

    continue

  fi

  # check for overlays being used by images

  for id in ${images[@]}; do

    docker inspect $id | grep -q $dname

    if [[ $? = 0 ]]; then

      used=1

      break

    fi

  done

  # if not used add to unused array

  if [[ ${used} -eq 0 ]]; then

    unused+=("${d}")

  fi

done

if [ ${#unused[@]} -gt 0 ]; then

  [[ ${no_dry_run} = true ]] || echo "Could remove:  (to automatically remove, use the -n, "'"'"no-dry-run"'"'" flag)"

  for d in "${unused[@]}"; do

    if [[ ${no_dry_run} = true ]]; then

      echo "Removing /var/lib/docker/overlay2/${d}"

      rm -rf /var/lib/docker/overlay2/${d}

    else

      echo " /var/lib/docker/overlay2/${d}"

    fi

  done

  echo Done

else

  echo "All overlay2 directories are used, nothing to clean up."

fi