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

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