---
title: Snapshotting Configuration in Docker
slug: ps/help/en_us/vtm/cfgimport/snapshotting-configuration-in-docker
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-08-02T08:46:48.954Z
---

If you deploy a Docker container with the ZEUS\_BASE\_CONFIG environment variable set, the Traffic Manager creates a configuration snapshot after the base configuration has been applied. Any additional configuration imported from the directory specified in the ZEUS\_WATCHED\_CONFIG environment variable is layered on top of this base configuration.

In practice, this is relevant only if the base configuration and watched configuration directories are different, such that the watched configuration is applied on top of the base configuration. For example:.

| /base/config/system-settings.yaml                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <br />`version: 6.1`<br />`global_settings:`<br />`  properties:`<br />`    session:`<br />`      ip_cache_size: 65535`<br />`    web_cache:`<br />`      size: 2GB`<br />`      max_file_size: 50MB` |

| /watched/config/my-service.yaml                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <br />`version: 6.1`<br />`virtual_servers:`<br />`- name: example-service`<br />`  properties:`<br />`    basic:`<br />`      enabled: true`<br />`      port: 80`<br />`      protocol: http`<br />`      pool: discard`<br />`      request_rules: [ basic-response ]`<br />`rules:`<br />`- name: basic-response`<br />`  content: \|`<br />`    http.sendResponse("200 OK", "text/plain", "Hello World\n", "X-Served-By: Ivanti vTM");` |

Deploying a container in Docker using these configuration documents results in the base configuration in "system-settings.yaml" being applied to the Traffic Manager initially, the base configuration snapshot being updated, and then the configuration in "my-service.yaml" being applied on top of that base configuration. Any changes to configuration in the "watched" directory are applied on top of the base configuration. However, changes to configuration in the "base" directory after the container is launched have no effect as that directory is not being watched for changes.

To deploy the container, use the following command

| Deploy container with base and watched configuration                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| <br />`# Assumes the sample configuration documents shown above are saved as ./base/config/system-settings.yaml and ./watched/config/my-service.yaml`<br />`docker run --name=vtm-config-example \`<br />``            -v `pwd`/base:/base \``<br />``            -v `pwd`/watched:/watched \``<br />`            -p 8080:80 \`<br />`            -p 9090:9090 \`<br />`            -e ZEUS_BASE_CONFIG=/base \`<br />`            -e ZEUS_WATCHED_CONFIG=/watched \`<br />`            -e ZEUS_EULA=accept \`<br />`            -e ZEUS_PASS=admin \`<br />`            --privileged \`<br />`            --init \`<br />`            -t \`<br />`            -d \`<br />`            pulsesecure/vtm:<version>` |

## Snapshotting Configuration in Other Deployments

For other deployment types, take a snapshot after the Traffic Manager has been deployed to create a new base configuration snapshot.

To snapshot the current Traffic Manager configuration, run the following command:

```bash
$ZEUSHOME/zxtm/bin/config-snapshot
```