Mount a PFS on an instance

Mount a PFS on an instance at a path you choose, either read-write or read-only.

Before you begin

• A PFS in status OK, ready to mount; see Create a PFS.
• An instance in the same project as the PFS. See Create an instance.

Mount a PFS when you create an instance

On the Create Instance form, open Storage > Other storage, pick a Parallel File System, and give it a mount path. See Create an instance and Mount datasets and file systems for every field on that form.

Mount a PFS on an existing instance

1. Open the instance’s page and select the Parallel File-System tab. It lists the project’s PFS with their mount status and mount path.
2. In the PFS’s row, type a mount path. To mount it read-only, tick Read Only; leave it clear to mount the PFS read-write.
3. Select Mount. The Mounting PFS dialog reminds you that mounting restarts the instance and that you will need to reinstall any packages you installed by hand. Tick the box to confirm, then select Continue.

To unmount, select Unmount in the PFS’s row and confirm the Unmounting PFS dialog the same way. Mounting or unmounting a PFS restarts a running instance.

Several instances can mount the same PFS at once, each read-write or read-only. For the full mount path rules and how to check the mount worked, see Mount datasets and file systems.

Each mount needs its own path, unique among the SFS and PFS on that instance. TIR also refuses a second mount of a PFS that is already mounted on the instance, and an unmount of one that is already unmounted. For the exact messages and other errors, see Troubleshooting TIR Parallel File System.

Check the mount

On the Parallel File-System tab, the PFS’s Mount Status reads Mounted, with its Mount Path. To see every instance that has a PFS mounted, see See what uses a PFS.

Access and permissions

On a container instance, root has full read and write access to a mounted PFS. To let another user work with the PFS, create that user inside the container with a UID and GID between 1000 and 1050.

The PFS refuses a user outside that range, even when the file’s own permissions would allow access. Standard Linux owner, group, and other permissions still apply on top of this rule, so set a file or directory’s ownership to match the user that needs it.

To give several container users the same access, put them in one group with a GID between 1000 and 1050, and set the shared directory’s group to that group. Check permissions after mounting to confirm access works as you expect.

On a VM-based instance, any user can read or write a mounted PFS according to the file or directory’s own owner, group, and other permissions. The UID and GID range applies only inside a container.

When you need more space, increase the PFS’s size, or mount it on a training cluster as well.