Use an Azure File share | GKE on Azure

The product described by this documentation, GKE on Azure, is now in maintenance mode and will be shut down on March 17, 2027.

GKE on Azure supports mounting Azure Files shares. If you already have an Azure File share to use with GKE on Azure, you can create a PersistentVolume (PV) object and reserve it for a specific PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC).

This page explains how to create a PV by using an existing share populated with data, and how to use the PV in a Pod.

Before you begin

Connect to your cluster
Have access to or create an Azure File share. For more information, see Create an Azure file share .

Store your Azure storage account information

GKE on Azure stores information to access your Azure storage account in a Secret. If you haven't created a Secret in your cluster, you must add one. If you have this Secret in you cluster, skip to Create a PersistentVolume for a pre-existing share .

To create the Secret, copy the following manifest into a file named 'azure-service-account-key.yaml'.

  --- 
 apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 Secret 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 azure-secret-account-key 
 type 
 : 
  
 Opaque 
 stringData 
 : 
  
 accountname 
 : 
  
  STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME 
 
  
 accountkey 
 : 
  
  STORAGE_ACCOUNT_KEY

Replace the following:

STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME : your Azure storage account name
STORAGE_ACCOUNT_KEY : your Azure storage account key

Apply the file to your cluster with the kubectl tool:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
azure-service-account-key.yaml

Create a PersistentVolume for a pre-existing share

You import an existing Azure File share by specifying a new PV in your cluster. To create the PV, do the following:

Copy the following YAML into a file named existing-volume.yaml :

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 PersistentVolume 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
  VOLUME_NAME 
 
 spec 
 : 
  
 capacity 
 : 
  
 storage 
 : 
  
  VOLUME_CAPACITY 
 
  
 storageClassName 
 : 
  
 standard-rwx 
  
 accessModes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 ReadWriteMany 
  
 persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy 
 : 
  
 Retain 
  
 csi 
 : 
  
 driver 
 : 
  
 file.csi.azure.com 
  
 readOnly 
 : 
  
 false 
  
 volumeHandle 
 : 
  
  VOLUME_ID

Replace the following:

VOLUME_NAME : a name for the volume
VOLUME_CAPACITY : size of the volume. For example, 30Gi . For more information on specifying volume capacity in Kubernetes, see the Meaning of memory .
VOLUME_ID : a unique ID for the volume, formatted as a string of RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME # STORAGE_ACCOUNT_NAME # FILESHARE_NAME # where
FILE_SHARE_NAME : the Azure File share name

If your storage account is in a different resource group than your cluster, you need to add a reference to a Secret that contains your storage account key. To add the reference, insert the following in the spec.csi section:

  # Optional. Only required if your storageAccount is in a different resource group than the cluster. 
  
 nodeStageSecretRef 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
  NODE_STAGE_SECRET_NAME 
 
  
 namespace 
 : 
  
  NODE_STAGE_SECRET_NAMESPACE

Replace the following:

NODE_STAGE_SECRET_NAME : the name of the Secret
NODE_STAGE_SECRET_NAMESPACE the Namespace that contains the Secret

Apply the YAML to your cluster.

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
existing-volume.yaml

Confirm the creation of your PV with kubectl describe pv .
```
 kubectl  
describe  
pv  
 VOLUME_NAME 
 
```
The output of this command contains the status of the PV.

Use the volume with a PersistentVolumeClaim and Pod

After you have imported your volume, you can create a PVC and a Pod that mounts the PVC.

The following YAML creates a PVC and attaches it to a Pod running the Nginx web server. Copy it into a file named nginx.yaml :

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 PersistentVolumeClaim 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 my-pvc 
 spec 
 : 
  
 storageClassName 
 : 
  
  STORAGE_CLASS_NAME 
 
  
 volumeName 
 : 
  
  VOLUME_NAME 
 
  
 accessModes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
  ACCESS_MODE 
 
  
 resources 
 : 
  
 requests 
 : 
  
 storage 
 : 
  
  VOLUME_CAPACITY 
 
 --- 
 apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 Pod 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 web-server 
 spec 
 : 
  
 containers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 web-server 
  
 image 
 : 
  
 nginx 
  
 volumeMounts 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 mountPath 
 : 
  
 /var/lib/www/html 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 data 
  
 volumes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 data 
  
 persistentVolumeClaim 
 : 
  
 claimName 
 : 
  
 my-pvc

Replace the following:

STORAGE_CLASS : the name of the StorageClass from the PersistentVolume you created previously. For example, standard-rwo .
ACCESS_MODE : the access mode of the volume. For Azure Disk, use ReadWriteOnce . For Azure File, use ReadWriteMany .
VOLUME_CAPACITY : size of the volume. For example, 30Gi .

Apply the YAML to your cluster.
```
 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
nginx.yaml 
```
Check the status of your Nginx instance with kubectl describe . The output should have a STATUS of Running .
```
 kubectl  
describe  
pod  
web-server 
```
To delete the Pod, use the kubectl delete command.
```
 kubectl  
delete  
-f  
nginx.yaml 
```

What's next

Use additional storage drivers with GKE on Azure.
Read the documentation for the Azure File CSI driver .