Use an Azure File share

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 .

1. 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

2. 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:

1. 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

2. Apply the YAML to your cluster.

    kubectl  
   apply  
   -f  
   existing-volume.yaml 
   

3. 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.

1. 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 .

2. Apply the YAML to your cluster.

    kubectl  
   apply  
   -f  
   nginx.yaml 
   

3. Check the status of your Nginx instance with kubectl describe . The output should have a STATUS of Running .

    kubectl  
   describe  
   pod  
   web-server 
   

4. 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 .