Creating a persistent volume

If you just want a single disk attached to your instance, this will get created with the instance and does not need to be separately created. If you want multiple disk, then you need to create and attach the additional disks to the instance.

New volumes can either be empty or be based on:

  • A previous image, public or private.

  • A current volume (only in the cloud management portal).

  • A snapshot (only in OpenStack Horizon or via OpenStack terminal client).

If your intention was to create an instance from a previous volume, follow the steps in our guide Creating an instance from an existing volume.

Note

New volumes that are created and attached to an instance may not get deleted with the instance - existing volumes will be billed even though not used.

Cloud management portal

To create a volume using the Cloud management portal

  • Press Storage and then Volumes in the sidebar menu.

  • Press the “+” icon in the bottom right corner.

  • Region should be europe-se-1.

  • availability zone should be the same as the one your instance is running in. Choosing default means europe-se-1a.

  • Name your volume and optionally give it a description.

  • Choose what to use as base for your volume (see above).

  • Choose the size of the volume in GB.

  • Choose which volume type you want for your volume.

  • Press Create

In order to attach your volume, follow these steps:

  • Press Compute and then Instances

  • Press the instance you want to connect the volume to.

  • Press the Volumes tab. It might require scrolling the tabs to the right.

  • Press Connect volume

  • Select your volume in the list and press Attach

OpenStack Horizon

To create a volume using OpenStack Horizon

  • Under Project, click Volumes and then Volumes in the sidebar menu.

  • Click + Create volume in the right upper corner.

  • Name your volume and optionally give it a description.

  • Choose what to use as source for your volume (see above).

  • Choose which volume type you want for your volume.

  • Choose the size of the volume in GB.

  • Choose availability zone, it should be the same as the one the instance you want to connect the volume to is running in. Choosing default means europe-se-1a.

  • Press Create volume

In order to attach your volume, follow these steps:

  • Under Project, click Compute and then Instances in the sidebar menu.

  • Click the name of the instance to which you want to attach the volume.

  • Press the small dropdown to the far right on the row of the instance you want to add the volume to and choose Attach volume

  • Select the volume you created and press Attach volume

OpenStack Terminal Client

To create a volume using the OpenStack Terminal Client

  • Run this command: openstack volume type list. Save the name of the volume type you want to use.

  • Run this command: openstack availability zone list --volume. Save the name of the availability zone you want to use.

  • Run this command: openstack volume create --type [VOLUME_TYPE_NAME] --size [SIZE_IN_GB] --availability-zone [AVAILABILITY_ZONE] [VOLUME_NAME], replacing the values in angle brackets with values from previous steps and your selections.

In order to attach your volume, follow these steps:

  • Run this command: openstack volume list, save the ID (not name) of the volume you want to attach.

  • Run this command: openstack server list, save the ID (not name) of the instance to which you want to attach the volume.

  • Run this command: openstack server add volume [INSTANCE_ID] [VOLUME_ID]