docker-entrypoint-initdb.d script cannot be executed when I have data binding even though the data doesn't exist

[leohliao]

Hello, I am encountering a problem where if I bind my volume to /var/lib/postgresql/data, then my initializing script won't execute even if the folder does not exists in the beginning.

image: postgres:16.6-alpine3.20

Here's what my docker compose

version: "3.7"

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:16.6-alpine3.20
    restart: always
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=db
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
      - PGPORT=${POSTGRES_PORT}
    ports:
      - ${POSTGRES_PORT}:${POSTGRES_PORT}
    volumes:
      - ./my-db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
      - ./db-seed.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/seed.sql
    command: postgres -c 'log_statement=all'

My initializing sql is just to create the database

# db-seed.sql

CREATE DATABASE test_db;
\connect test_db;

I am trying to have the initializing sql to run when the my-db folder does not exist.

When I run with one or another then the behavior is as expected, however, if I have both together (and that my my-db folder is deleted and volumes are destroyed) then the initializing sql won't run.

I have tried same thing in postgres 12 and it worked.

Is this an issue with version 16?