How to manage storage pools¶
See the following sections for instructions on how to create, configure, view and resize Storage pools.
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.
For Ceph-based storage pools, first see the Requirements for Ceph-based storage pools section.
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.
To create a storage pool, select Pools from the Storage section of the main navigation.
On the resulting screen, click Create pool in the upper right corner.
From this screen, you can configure the name and description of your storage pool. You can select a storage driver from the Driver dropdown. Additional settings might appear, depending on the storage driver selected.
Click Create to create the storage pool.

By default, LXD sets up loop-based storage with a sensible default size/quota: 20% of the free disk space, with a minimum of 5 GiB and a maximum of 30 GiB.
Examples¶
The following examples demonstrate how to create a storage pool using different types of storage drivers.
Create a directory pool
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 Btrfs pool
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 an LVM pool
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 ZFS 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 dataset my-tank/slice
for pool4
:
lxc storage create pool4 zfs source=my-tank/slice
Use the existing ZFS dataset my-tank/zvol
for pool5
and configure it to use ZFS block mode:
lxc storage create pool5 zfs source=my-tank/zvol volume.zfs.block_mode=yes
Create a pool named pool6
on /dev/sdX
(the ZFS zpool will also be called pool6
):
lxc storage create pool6 zfs source=/dev/sdX
Create a pool named pool7
on /dev/sdX
with the ZFS zpool name my-tank
:
lxc storage create pool7 zfs source=/dev/sdX zfs.pool_name=my-tank
Ceph-based storage pools
For Ceph-based storage pools, first see the Requirements for Ceph-based storage pools.
Create a Ceph RBD pool
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 CephFS pool
Note
Each CephFS file system consists of two OSD storage pools, one for the actual data and one for the file metadata.
Use the existing CephFS file system my-filesystem
for pool1
:
lxc storage create pool1 cephfs source=my-filesystem
Use the sub-directory my-directory
from the my-filesystem
file system for pool2
:
lxc storage create pool2 cephfs source=my-filesystem/my-directory
Create a CephFS file system my-filesystem
with a data pool called my-data
and a metadata pool called my-metadata
for pool3
:
lxc storage create pool3 cephfs source=my-filesystem cephfs.create_missing=true cephfs.data_pool=my-data cephfs.meta_pool=my-metadata
Create a Ceph Object pool
A RADOS Gateway endpoint is required for a Ceph Object storage pool. See: Ceph Object and radosgw.
For a non-clustered LXD server, create pool1
by passing in a Ceph Object Gateway endpoint (the endpoint shown below is only an example; you must use your own):
lxc storage create pool1 cephobject cephobject.radosgw.endpoint=http://192.0.2.10:8080
If your LXD server is clustered, such as in a MicroCloud deployment, see: Create a storage pool in a cluster.
Create a Dell PowerFlex pool
Create a storage pool named pool1
using the PowerFlex pool sp1
in the protection domain pd1
:
lxc storage create pool1 powerflex powerflex.pool=sp1 powerflex.domain=pd1 powerflex.gateway=https://powerflex powerflex.user.name=lxd powerflex.user.password=foo
Create a storage pool named pool2
using the ID of PowerFlex pool sp1
:
lxc storage create pool2 powerflex powerflex.pool=<ID of sp1> powerflex.gateway=https://powerflex powerflex.user.name=lxd powerflex.user.password=foo
Create a storage pool named pool3
that uses PowerFlex volume snapshots (see Limitations) when creating volume copies:
lxc storage create pool3 powerflex powerflex.clone_copy=false powerflex.pool=<id of sp1> powerflex.gateway=https://powerflex powerflex.user.name=lxd powerflex.user.password=foo
Create a storage pool named pool4
that uses a PowerFlex gateway with a certificate that is not trusted:
lxc storage create pool4 powerflex powerflex.gateway.verify=false powerflex.pool=<id of sp1> powerflex.gateway=https://powerflex powerflex.user.name=lxd powerflex.user.password=foo
Create a storage pool named pool5
that explicitly uses the PowerFlex SDC:
lxc storage create pool5 powerflex powerflex.mode=sdc powerflex.pool=<id of sp1> powerflex.gateway=https://powerflex powerflex.user.name=lxd powerflex.user.password=foo
Create a Pure Storage pool
Create a storage pool named pool1
that uses NVMe/TCP by default:
lxc storage create pool1 pure pure.gateway=https://<pure-storage-address> pure.api.token=<pure-storage-api-token>
Create a storage pool named pool2
that uses a Pure Storage gateway with a certificate that is not trusted:
lxc storage create pool2 pure pure.gateway=https://<pure-storage-address> pure.gateway.verify=false pure.api.token=<pure-storage-api-token>
Create a storage pool named pool3
that uses iSCSI to connect to Pure Storage array:
lxc storage create pool3 pure pure.gateway=https://<pure-storage-address> pure.api.token=<pure-storage-api-token> pure.mode=iscsi
Create a storage pool named pool4
that uses NVMe/TCP to connect to Pure Storage array via specific target addresses:
lxc storage create pool4 pure pure.gateway=https://<pure-storage-address> pure.api.token=<pure-storage-api-token> pure.mode=nvme pure.target=<target_address_1>,<target_address_2>
You can select a storage driver from the Driver dropdown.
Some storage drivers offer additional settings. Click the driver name in the secondary menu to further configure the storage pool.

See the Storage drivers documentation for a list of available configuration options for each driver.
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.
To create a storage pool via the CLI, start by creating 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.
Also see How to configure storage for a cluster.
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
, cephfs
and cephobject
) where each storage pool exists in one central location and therefore, all cluster members access the same storage pool with the same storage volumes.
Examples
See the following examples for different storage drivers for instructions on how to create local or remote storage pools in a cluster.
Create a local storage pool
Create a storage pool named my-pool
using the ZFS driver at different locations and with different sizes on three cluster members:
~$
lxc storage create my-pool zfs source=/dev/sdX size=10GiB --target=vm01
Storage pool my-pool pending on member vm01
~$
lxc storage create my-pool zfs source=/dev/sdX size=15GiB --target=vm02
Storage pool my-pool pending on member vm02
~$
lxc storage create my-pool zfs source=/dev/sdY size=10GiB --target=vm03
Storage pool my-pool pending on member vm03
~$
lxc storage create my-pool zfs
Storage pool my-pool created
Create a remote or distributed storage pool
Create a storage pool named my-ceph-pool
using the Ceph RBD driver and the on-disk name my-osd
on three cluster members.
Because the ceph.osd.pool_name
configuration setting isn’t member-specific, it must be set when creating the actual storage pool:
~$
lxc storage create my-ceph-pool ceph --target=vm01
Storage pool my-ceph-pool pending on member vm01
~$
lxc storage create my-ceph-pool ceph --target=vm02
Storage pool my-ceph-pool pending on member vm02
~$
lxc storage create my-ceph-pool ceph --target=vm03
Storage pool my-ceph-pool pending on member vm03
~$
lxc storage create my-ceph-pool ceph ceph.osd.pool_name=my-osd
Storage pool my-ceph-pool created
Create a storage pool named my-cephobject-pool
using the Ceph Object driver and a preconfigured RADOS Gateway endpoint (the endpoint shown below is only an example):
~$
lxc storage create my-cephobject-pool cephobject --target=vm01
Storage pool my-cephobject-pool pending on member vm01
~$
lxc storage create my-cephobject-pool cephobject --target=vm02
Storage pool my-cephobject-pool pending on member vm02
~$
lxc storage create my-cephobject-pool cephobject --target=vm03
Storage pool my-cephobject-pool pending on member vm03
~$
lxc storage create my-cephobject-pool cephobject cephobject.radosgw.endpoint=http://192.0.2.10:8080
Storage pool my-cephobject-pool created
Create a storage pool named my-powerflex-pool
using the Dell PowerFlex driver in SDC mode and the pool sp1
in protection domain pd1
:
~$
lxc storage create my-powerflex-pool powerflex --target=vm01
Storage pool my-powerflex-pool pending on member vm01
~$
lxc storage create my-powerflex-pool powerflex --target=vm02
Storage pool my-powerflex-pool pending on member vm02
~$
lxc storage create my-powerflex-pool powerflex --target=vm03
Storage pool my-powerflex-pool pending on member vm03
~$
lxc storage create my-powerflex-pool powerflex powerflex.mode=sdc powerflex.pool=sp1 powerflex.domain=pd1 powerflex.gateway=https://powerflex powerflex.user.name=lxd powerflex.user.password=foo
Storage pool my-powerflex-pool created
Create a storage pool named my-purestorage-pool
using the Pure Storage driver:
~$
lxc storage create my-purestorage-pool pure --target=vm01
Storage pool my-purestorage-pool pending on member vm01
~$
lxc storage create my-purestorage-pool pure --target=vm02
Storage pool my-purestorage-pool pending on member vm02
~$
lxc storage create purestorage-pool pure --target=vm03
Storage pool purestorage-pool pending on member vm03
~$
lxc storage purestorage-pool pure pure.gateway=https://<pure-storage-address> pure.api.token=<pure-storage-api-token>
Storage pool purestorage-pool created
To create a storage pool in a cluster, select Pools from the Storage section of the main navigation, then click Create pool in the upper right corner.
On the resulting page, configure the storage pool’s name and description. Depending on the selected driver, some settings can be configured per cluster member or applied globally to the cluster.
Finally, click Create to create the storage pool.

Configure storage pool settings¶
See the Storage drivers documentation for the available configuration options for each storage driver.
General keys for a storage pool (like source
) are top-level.
Driver-specific keys are namespaced by the driver name.
Use the following command to set configuration options for a storage pool:
lxc storage set <pool_name> <key> <value>
For example, to turn off compression during storage pool migration for a dir
storage pool, use the following command:
lxc storage set my-dir-pool rsync.compression false
You can also edit the storage pool configuration by using the following command:
lxc storage edit <pool_name>
To configure a storage pool, select Pools from the Storage section of the Main navigation.
The resulting screen shows a list of existing storage pools. Click a pool’s name to access its details.
Go to the Configuration tab. Here, you can configure settings such as the storage pool description.
After making changes, click the Save changes button. This button also displays the number of changes you have made.
View storage pools¶
You can display a list of all available storage pools and check their configuration.
Use the following command to list all available storage pools:
lxc storage list
The resulting table contains the storage pool that you created during initialization (usually called default
or local
) and any storage pools that you added.
To show detailed information about a specific pool, use the following command:
lxc storage show <pool_name>
To see usage information for a specific pool, run the following command:
lxc storage info <pool_name>
To view available storage pools in the UI, select Pools from the Storage section of the main navigation.
Resize a storage pool¶
If you need more storage, you can increase the size (quota) of your storage pool. You can only grow the pool (increase its size), not shrink it.
In the CLI, resize a storage pool by changing the size
configuration key:
lxc storage set <pool_name> size=<new_size>
This will only work for loop-backed storage pools that are managed by LXD.
To resize a storage pool in the UI, select Pools from the Storage section of the main navigation.
Click the name of a storage pool to open its details page, then go to its Configuration tab. Edit the Size field.
After making changes, click the Save changes button. This button also displays the number of changes you have made.
In clustered environments, the Size field appears as a per-member selector, allowing you to configure the size for each cluster member.

Requirements for Ceph-based storage pools¶
For Ceph-based storage pools, the requirements below must be met before you can Create a storage pool or Create a storage pool in a cluster.
Ceph cluster¶
Before you can create a storage pool that uses the Ceph RBD, CephFS, or Ceph Object driver, you must have access to a Ceph cluster.
To deploy a Ceph cluster, we recommend using MicroCloud. If you have completed the default MicroCloud setup, you already have a Ceph cluster deployed through MicroCeph, so this requirement is met. MicroCeph is a lightweight way of deploying and managing a Ceph cluster.
If you do not use MicroCloud, set up a standalone deployment of MicroCeph before you continue.
Ceph Object and radosgw
¶
Storage pools that use the Ceph Object driver require a Ceph cluster with the RADOS Gateway (also known as RGW or radosgw
) enabled.
Check if radosgw
is already enabled¶
To check if the RADOS Gateway is already enabled in MicroCeph, run this command from one of its cluster members:
microceph status
In the output, look for a cluster member with rgw
in its Services
list.
Example:
root@micro1:~#
microceph status
MicroCeph deployment summary:
- micro1 (192.0.2.10)
Services: mds, mgr, mon, rgw, osd
Disks: 1
- micro2 (192.0.2.20)
Services: mds, mgr, mon, osd
Disks: 1
In the output above, notice rgw
in the list of Services
for micro1
. This means that this cluster member is running the RADOS Gateway.
Look for rgw
in your output. If you do not see it, you must Enable radosgw.
If you do see it, you’ll need the corresponding port number. On the cluster member with the rgw
service, run:
sudo ss -ltnp | grep radosgw
Example:
root@micro1:~#
sudo ss -ltnp | grep radosgw
LISTEN 0 4096 0.0.0.0:8080 0.0.0.0:* users:(("radosgw",pid=11345,fd=60))
LISTEN 0 4096 [::]:8080 [::]:* users:(("radosgw",pid=11345,fd=61))
The output above shows that the radosgw
port number is 8080
.
Enable radosgw
¶
If you did not find rgw
in the Services
list for any of your cluster members in the output from microceph status
, then you must enable the RADOS Gateway. On one of the Ceph cluster members, run:
sudo microceph enable rgw --port 8080
We include the --port 8080
flag because if unspecified, the default port is 80
. This default is a commonly used port number that can often cause conflicts with other services. You are not required to use 8080
— if needed, use a different port number.
The RADOS Gateway endpoint¶
The full RADOS Gateway endpoint includes the HTTP protocol, the IP address of the Ceph cluster member where the rgw
service is enabled, and the port number specified. Example: http://192.0.2.10:8080
.