diff --git a/docker-registry/_volumes.sh b/docker-registry/_volumes.sh
index e1fba6d..668cb1d 100755
--- a/docker-registry/_volumes.sh
+++ b/docker-registry/_volumes.sh
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 # These are used across backup, restore, create, and destroy operations
 
 get_registry_volumes() {
-    echo "volume:data:${DATA_VOLUME}"
+    echo "path:data:${DATA_PATH}"
 }
diff --git a/docker-registry/config/service.env b/docker-registry/config/service.env
index f88ccda..59f3c2e 100644
--- a/docker-registry/config/service.env
+++ b/docker-registry/config/service.env
@@ -9,4 +9,8 @@ SSH_USER="root"
 # Registry port (default: 5000)
 REGISTRY_PORT=5000
 
+# Data path - stores all registry data (images, blobs, etc.)
+# Override this to store data in a custom location
+DATA_PATH="${SERVICE_PATH}/data"
+
 TEMPLATE=docker-registry
diff --git a/docker-registry/start.sh b/docker-registry/start.sh
index cefe8e4..9592163 100755
--- a/docker-registry/start.sh
+++ b/docker-registry/start.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 source "${AGENT_PATH}/common.sh"
-_check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "IMAGE_REGISTRY" "IMAGE_REPO" "IMAGE_TAG" "DATA_VOLUME" "CONFIG_PATH" "REGISTRY_PORT"
+_check_required_env_vars "CONTAINER_NAME" "IMAGE_REGISTRY" "IMAGE_REPO" "IMAGE_TAG" "DATA_PATH" "CONFIG_PATH" "REGISTRY_PORT"
 
 # START SCRIPT
 # The start script is required for all templates.
@@ -10,11 +10,14 @@ if [ ! -f "${CONFIG_PATH}/htpasswd" ]; then
     _die "htpasswd file not found in ${CONFIG_PATH}/htpasswd - see README.txt for instructions"
 fi
 
+# Create data directory if it doesn't exist
+_create_folder "${DATA_PATH}"
+
 DOCKER_RUN_CMD="docker run -d \
                 --restart unless-stopped \
                 --name ${CONTAINER_NAME} \
                 -p ${REGISTRY_PORT}:5000 \
-                -v ${DATA_VOLUME}:/var/lib/registry \
+                -v ${DATA_PATH}:/var/lib/registry \
                 -v ${CONFIG_PATH}/htpasswd:/auth/htpasswd:ro \
                 -e REGISTRY_AUTH=htpasswd \
                 -e REGISTRY_AUTH_HTPASSWD_REALM=Registry \
diff --git a/docker-registry/template_info.env b/docker-registry/template_info.env
index 1186cea..9a9a135 100644
--- a/docker-registry/template_info.env
+++ b/docker-registry/template_info.env
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ REQUIRES_DOCKER_ROOT=false
 IMAGE_REGISTRY="docker.io"
 IMAGE_REPO="library/registry"
 
-# Volume settings - stores all registry data (images, blobs, etc.)
-DATA_VOLUME="${CONTAINER_NAME}_data"
+# Path settings - stores all registry data (images, blobs, etc.)
+DATA_PATH="${SERVICE_PATH}/data"