Genesis Cloud

• Usually, on our plaform, when we attach volume to the instance, it is automatically formatted and mounted. However, sometimes this process does not occur automatically, requiring manual intervention. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to format and mount volumes, both HDD and SSD. 

• It includes formatting and mounting volumes manually, checking volume availability and persistent mounting to ensure volumes remain mounted after instance reboots.

• Additionally, it also provides a script to automate this entire process.

Please follow the below steps and execute the commands in the terminal where required.

• Create an instance
• Create volume and attach it to instance
  
• Log into instance
  • for Linux or macOS
  •  for Windows 
• List available block devices to ensure the volume is detected by executing the below command.

  lsblk

  

  • Identify your volume by its size and device name (e.g., /dev/vdb). 

  • You can verify the device name in the instance's details page (instance to which you have attached the volume) under volume section. There, you can identify the volume & check device name. 

• Format the volume using the desired file system (e.g., ext4).

  sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdb

  
  • Replace /dev/vdb with the device name of your volume.

• Make sure your filesystem is correctly created. 

  lsblk -f

  
  • Check that the FSTYPE field matches ext4 for your Block volume.

• Create a directory to serve as the mount point for your volume.

  sudo mkdir /mnt/vol_b

  • You can replace /mnt/vol_b with any directory path of your choice.

• Mount the formatted volume to the mount point.

  sudo mount -o defaults /dev/vdb /mnt/vol_b

• Verify that the volume is successfully mounted by checking its status.

  df -h

  
  • You should see your volume listed among the mounted file systems.
    

• In the current configuration, the block device will not be automatically mounted when you stop and start the instance again. 

• To ensure that stopping and starting the instance does not affect your filesystem, please use the fstab file.

• You can achieve this by editing the /etc/fstab file of your instance to configure persistent mounting. Run the below command to open the file in the text editor.

  sudo vim /etc/fstab

• Add the following line to the end of the file and save it. 

  /dev/vdb    /mnt/vol_b   ext4   defaults,nofail   0   2

  • Change device name and mount point according to your device name and mount point.

• Now, when you stop and start the instance again, the block device will be automatically mounted.

• If you prefer to automate this process using a script, you have the option to do so. This eliminates the need to manually perform the steps outlined above.

• Simply create an instance, attach a volume to it, log in to the instance, and execute the following commands one by one. This streamlined approach can save time and effort, providing a more efficient workflow.

  sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/auto-format-mount https://gist.github.com/skirsten/e5aa8f739afbfc6b1e230bc96509620f/raw/auto-format-mount.py

  sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/auto-format-mount

  sudo auto-format-mount # run this after attaching a new volume or run it periodically