How to create a storage pool#

LXD creates a storage pool during initialization. You can add more storage pools later, using the same driver or different drivers.

To create a storage pool, use the following command:

lxc storage create <pool_name> <driver> [configuration_options...]

See the Storage drivers documentation for a list of available configuration options for each driver.

Examples#

See the following examples for how to create a storage pool using different storage drivers.

Create a directory pool named pool1:

lxc storage create pool1 dir

Use the existing directory /data/lxd for pool2:

lxc storage create pool2 dir source=/data/lxd

Create a loop-backed pool named pool1:

lxc storage create pool1 btrfs

Use the existing Btrfs file system at /some/path for pool2:

lxc storage create pool2 btrfs source=/some/path

Create a pool named pool3 on /dev/sdX:

lxc storage create pool3 btrfs source=/dev/sdX

Create a loop-backed pool named pool1 (the LVM volume group will also be called pool1):

lxc storage create pool1 lvm

Use the existing LVM volume group called my-pool for pool2:

lxc storage create pool2 lvm source=my-pool

Use the existing LVM thin pool called my-pool in volume group my-vg for pool3:

lxc storage create pool3 lvm source=my-vg lvm.thinpool_name=my-pool

Create a pool named pool4 on /dev/sdX (the LVM volume group will also be called pool4):

lxc storage create pool4 lvm source=/dev/sdX

Create a pool named pool5 on /dev/sdX with the LVM volume group name my-pool:

lxc storage create pool5 lvm source=/dev/sdX lvm.vg_name=my-pool

Create a loop-backed pool named pool1 (the ZFS zpool will also be called pool1):

lxc storage create pool1 zfs

Create a loop-backed pool named pool2 with the ZFS zpool name my-tank:

lxc storage create pool2 zfs zfs.pool_name=my-tank

Use the existing ZFS zpool my-tank for pool3:

lxc storage create pool3 zfs source=my-tank

Use the existing ZFS data set my-tank/slice for pool4:

lxc storage create pool4 zfs source=my-tank/slice

Create a pool named pool5 on /dev/sdX (the ZFS zpool will also be called pool5):

lxc storage create pool1 zfs source=/dev/sdX

Create a pool named pool6 on /dev/sdX with the ZFS zpool name my-tank:

lxc storage create pool6 zfs source=/dev/sdX zfs.pool_name=my-tank

Create an OSD storage pool named pool1 in the default Ceph cluster (named ceph):

lxc storage create pool1 ceph

Create an OSD storage pool named pool2 in the Ceph cluster my-cluster:

lxc storage create pool2 ceph ceph.cluster_name=my-cluster

Create an OSD storage pool named pool3 with the on-disk name my-osd in the default Ceph cluster:

lxc storage create pool3 ceph ceph.osd.pool_name=my-osd

Use the existing OSD storage pool my-already-existing-osd for pool4:

lxc storage create pool4 ceph source=my-already-existing-osd

Use the existing OSD erasure-coded pool ecpool and the OSD replicated pool rpl-pool for pool5:

lxc storage create pool5 ceph source=rpl-pool ceph.osd.data_pool_name=ecpool

Create a storage pool named pool1 in the default Ceph cluster (named ceph):

lxc storage create pool1 cephfs

Create a storage pool named pool2 in the Ceph cluster my-cluster:

lxc storage create pool2 cephfs cephfs.cluster_name=my-cluster

Use the existing storage pool my-filesystem for pool3:

lxc storage create pool3 cephfs source=my-filesystem

Use the sub-directory my-directory from the my-filesystem pool for pool4:

lxc storage create pool4 cephfs source=my-filesystem/my-directory

Create a storage pool in a cluster#

If you are running a LXD cluster and want to add a storage pool, you must create the storage pool for each cluster member separately. The reason for this is that the configuration, for example, the storage location or the size of the pool, might be different between cluster members.

Therefore, you must first create a pending storage pool on each member with the --target=<cluster_member> flag and the appropriate configuration for the member. Make sure to use the same storage pool name for all members. Then create the storage pool without specifying the --target flag to actually set it up.

For example, the following series of commands sets up a storage pool with the name my-pool at different locations and with different sizes on three cluster members:

lxc storage create my-pool zfs source=/dev/sdX size=10GB --target=vm01
lxc storage create my-pool zfs source=/dev/sdX size=15GB --target=vm02
lxc storage create my-pool zfs source=/dev/sdY size=10GB --target=vm03
lxc storage create my-pool zfs

Note

For most storage drivers, the storage pools exist locally on each cluster member. That means that if you create a storage volume in a storage pool on one member, it will not be available on other cluster members.

This behavior is different for Ceph-based storage pools (ceph and cephfs) where each storage pool exists in one central location and therefore, all cluster members access the same storage pool with the same storage volumes.