docker run -v <dir> vs Dockerfile's VOLUME <dir>

Question

Is there any relationship between mounting volume with docker run -v command and Dockerfile's VOLUME instruction?

Answer 1

The -v option can be used to bind a directory on the host to the container, but the VOLUME instruction cannot. Other than that they are two different ways for making a volume available in the container.

Both instructions create a mount point in the container, but only -v can actually mount anything there.

See:
http://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/builder/#volume and
http://docs.docker.com/engine/userguide/dockervolumes/#mount-a-host-directory-as-a-data-volume
for more in-depth descriptions of what both do.