MongoDB Docker Container Recovery Guide | Generated by AI

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Thanks — the docker inspect output confirms the container is Dead and that your MongoDB data directory is a host bind-mount: /Users/lzwjava/projects/LibreChat/data-node:/data/db:rw. That’s good news — your MongoDB data files are on your macOS host, so they can be backed up before we do any destructive Docker-side cleanup.

Below are two safe paths. Path A (recommended) keeps your data and is simpler: back up the host data directory, then use Docker Desktop’s Troubleshoot → Clean / Purge. Path B (advanced / last-resort) goes for low-level deletion of Docker VM state. I’ll give exact commands so you can copy/paste.

Path A — recommended (backup host data, then use Docker Desktop reset)

  1. Confirm the host data directory exists and list its contents:
ls -la /Users/lzwjava/projects/LibreChat/data-node
  1. Make a tar backup of that directory (this preserves your MongoDB files):
mkdir -p ~/docker-backups/librechat
tar -czvf ~/docker-backups/librechat/data-node-backup-$(date +%Y%m%dT%H%M%S).tgz -C /Users/lzwjava/projects/LibreChat data-node
# result: ~/docker-backups/librechat/data-node-backup-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS.tgz

(You can also copy the folder instead of tar if you prefer cp -a /Users/lzwjava/projects/LibreChat/data-node ~/docker-backups/librechat/data-node-copy.)

  1. Quit Docker Desktop completely:
osascript -e 'quit app "Docker"'

  1. Open Docker Desktop → Troubleshoot (or Preferences → Troubleshoot) → click Clean / Purge data (or Reset to factory defaults if Clean not present).

    • Important: This removes Docker images, containers and volumes that live inside the Docker VM, but it will not remove files that are bind-mounted from your macOS host (your /Users/.../data-node backup ensures you’re safe).

  2. After Docker resets, start Docker Desktop again, verify Docker is running, then bring your Compose stack back up:

open -a Docker
# wait until Docker is healthy
docker compose up -d
  1. Check Mongo container and data:
docker ps -a
# docker logs <new-mongo-container-id>  (if needed)

If something in step 5/6 looks wrong, restore the backup: stop any running mongo container, move or remove the recreated data-node folder and untar the backup into /Users/lzwjava/projects/LibreChat/data-node.

Path B — advanced / last-resort (manual deletion of Docker Desktop VM files)

Only use this if you cannot use the Docker Desktop Clean/Purge UI or it didn’t solve the issue and you accept losing Docker-internal state.

  1. Quit Docker Desktop:
osascript -e 'quit app "Docker"'
  1. Backup Docker Desktop user config (optional):
cp -a ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker.backup-$(date +%Y%m%dT%H%M%S)
  1. Remove Docker Desktop internal state (DESTRUCTIVE — deletes containers/images inside Desktop VM):
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.docker
rm -rf ~/.docker
  1. Restart Docker Desktop:
open -a Docker
  1. Recreate your stack:
docker compose up -d

Again — your host bind-mounted Mongo data will remain untouched because it lives in /Users/... unless you manually delete it.

Extra checks / commands you can paste here if you want me to review before you reset

(These are non-destructive.)

# show that data exists on host
ls -la /Users/lzwjava/projects/LibreChat/data-node

# show images and volumes so we can plan saves
docker images
docker volume ls

# docker info & ps for quick diagnostics
docker info
docker ps -a

If you paste the ls -la output for the data-node folder, I’ll confirm the backup looks healthy. If you prefer, proceed with Path A: back up (step 2) then run Docker Desktop → Troubleshoot → Clean / Purge — this is the cleanest fix and typically resolves the stuck overlay2 removal error while keeping your Mongo files safe.

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