# Persistence in SciServer Containers

Your Compute containers are designed to be **ephemeral**. This means that while
you have a powerful environment to work in, most changes made to the system (the
"root" filesystem) are reset every time you restart or launch a new container.

To keep your work, configurations, and tools, you must use your
**Personal Storage Folders**.

## Personal Storage Folders

**If you want personal data or configurations to survive a restart, or be
accessible in multiple containers at a time, they must live in your Personal
Storage Folders.**

Anything outside the `~/workspace/` mounted folders is reset on every new
container and every container restart. To maintain a **consistent** personalized
workflow, you must place your configuration files in your **personal** storage
folders. These are **always available** on new containers:

- `~/workspace/Storage/$SCISERVER_USER_NAME/persistent/`
- `~/workspace/Temporary/$SCISERVER_USER_NAME/scratch/`

### Automating your environment: The `.bashrc` file

Since the root filesystem resets, you can use a `.bashrc` file in your
persistent storage to automatically load tools, environment variables, or SSH
keys upon login:

```bash
~/workspace/Storage/$SCISERVER_USER/persistent/.bashrc
```

The system automatically executes this file every time a container starts,
allowing you to make your environment feel permanent. See the
[Shell Automation](./shell_automation.md) for more details on this.

## Persistence Recipes

Depending on what you need to keep, follow the relevant guide below:

| I want to persist... | Guide | Goal |
| -------------------- | ----- | ---- |
| **The Automation Tool** | [Shell Automation](./shell_automation.md) | Learn how to manage the `.bashrc` file itself. |
| **Python Libraries** | [Python Environments](./python_environments.md) | Avoid reinstalling packages every session. |
| **SSH Keys & Access** | [SSH and other configs](./identity_access.md) | Keep your SSH keys and Git (or similar) configs without re-linking. |