Read this article to follow the simple method from our Support team to mount Azure File Share on Kubernetes.

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Let’s take a closer look at mounting Azure File Share on Kubernetes. Get in touch with us if you have any further inquiries.

Mount Azure File Share To Kubernetes

A mounted Azure file share can be shared across multiple containers in Microsoft’s hosted Kubernetes offering, AKS. In this article, we will see the instructions from our Expert team that guide the users through the process step by step.

We must have an active Azure Kubernetes Services cluster and an Azure Storage account before we can begin.

Make An Azure File Share

We can simply make an Azure file share with Azure Portal. Follow the below steps:

1. Create the Azure File share: Find the Files menu item on the left side of the Storage Account we want to use in the Azure Portal, click the + File share button, and give it a name.
2. Gather the connection information: Go to the Storage Account’s Access Keys section in the Azure Portal to view the details.
3. Base64 encrypts the connection information for the Kubernetes Secret: We can do Base64 encoding with code, PowerShell, or online websites. We advise not to use online sites as we are unaware of their database management. For ease, we can use Powershell to base64 and encode the values.

Define And Deploy To Kubernetes In AKS

Firstly, we need to create a new namespace for our deployment in order to define and deploy to Kubernetes. Then make a secret that contains the information necessary to connect to our Storage account. Lastly, we create a deployment that mounts the Azure File share on the containers and deploys our image.

1. To create a Kubernetes namespace: This is an optional step that depends on the scenario and infrastructure whether we need it or not. Firstly, we need to define it. We can use the below code.  Define demo-namespace.json:

   {
       "kind": "Namespace",
       "apiVersion": "v1",
       "metadata": {
         "name": "demodeployments",
         "labels": {
           "name": "demodeployments"
         }
       }
     }
   

   Then we can create it with kubectl using the command:

   kubectl create -f demo-namespace.json

   Now, this creates a Kubernetes namespace.
2. Using the Azure Storage connection information, create a Kubernetes Secret: Firstly, define secret-sauce.yaml with the below code.

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Secret
   metadata:
     name: storage-secret
     namespace: demodeployments
   type: Opaque
   data:
     azurestorageaccountname: Base64_Encoded_Value_Here
     azurestorageaccountkey: Base64_Encoded_Value_Here

   Then create the secret in the cluster using the below code.

   > kubectl create -f secret-sauce.yaml

   Finally, verify that the secret exists.

   > kubectl get secret storage-secret -n blogdemodeployments
3. To create Kubernetes Deployment and define the volume mounts: Now we have to create a new deployment that mounts the Azure File share to the containers. Let’s see an example deployment.

   apiVersion: apps/v1
   kind: Deployment
   metadata:
     name: deployment-azurestorage-test
     namespace: demodeployments
   spec:  
     selector:
         matchLabels:
           app: azuretest
     template:
       metadata:
         labels:
           app: azuretest
       spec:
         containers:
         - name: azuretest
           image: your-registry.azurecr.io/demoapp:latest
           volumeMounts:
           - name: azurefileshare
             mountPath: /myawesomefileshare
         imagePullSecrets:
         - name: your-pull-secret-if-you-have-one       
         volumes:
         - name: azurefileshare
           azureFile:
             secretName: storage-secret
             shareName: myawesomefileshare
             readOnly: false
   

   volumeMounts and volumes are two things we must keep in mind while deployment. In the volumeMounts, we specify the path we want to mount the file share inside the container. The azureFile entry with the secret name is defined by volumes.
4. Verifying volume mounts in the Kubernetes Deployment: Now we also have to verify that the mounts exist. So to confirm, we use the below code.

   kubectl get deploy -n demodeployments -o json

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Conclusion

In this article, our Tech team helps us to share a mounted Azure file share across multiple containers in the deployments in Kubernetes which primarily includes making an Azure file share.