---
title: "Get started with TIR Shared File System"
description: "Create a TIR Shared File System and mount it on an instance so several instances can read and write the same data."
content_type: "get-started"
product: "tir-sfs"
platform: "TIR"
url: "/tir/tir-sfs/get-started/"
---

# Get started with TIR Shared File System

Create a Shared File System (SFS) and mount it on a TIR Instance, so the instance can read and write
its data. You need a TIR project; the instance can be one you already run, or one you create along
the way.

## Create the SFS

1. In TIR, open your project. In the side menu, under **Storage**, select **Shared File System**.
2. Select **Create Shared File-System**.
3. Type a name of up to 30 characters. Start with a letter, end with a letter or digit, and use only
   lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens in between.
4. Set the size with the slider or the number field. It starts at 500 GB and runs from 250 GB up, in
   steps of 50 GB. The form shows the monthly price per GB for your account.
5. Select **Create**.

The SFS appears in the list as soon as you create it.

## Mount it on an instance

1. In **Shared File System**, select the row of the SFS you created. Its tabs, **Instances** and
   **Monitoring**, open below the list.
2. On the **Instances** tab, find your instance's row, or select **Create Instance** to start one
   with this SFS already chosen. Type a mount path such as `/home/jovyan/shared`, and select
   **Mount**.
3. Mounting restarts the instance, and packages you installed by hand will need reinstalling. In the
   **Mounting File-System** dialog, tick the box and select **Continue**.

The instance restarts to apply the mount. Expect this to take two to three minutes.

## Check the mount

Once the instance is **Running** again, its row on the **Instances** tab shows **Mount Status** as
**Mounted**, with the mount path you set. Open a terminal in JupyterLab or over SSH on the instance
and list the path:

```bash
ls /home/jovyan/shared
```

Replace the path with the one you mounted. The instance can now read and write that storage, and so
can any other instance or training job that mounts the same SFS.

## What to do next

- [Create an SFS](/tir/tir-sfs/how-to/create-an-sfs/) covers every field of the create form and
  its limits.
- [Mount an SFS on an instance](/tir/tir-sfs/how-to/mount-an-sfs-on-an-instance/) covers mounting
  from the instance's own side, and the mount path rules.
- [Mount an SFS on a training job](/tir/tir-sfs/how-to/mount-an-sfs-on-a-training-job/) to share it
  across every worker of a training job instead of one instance.

For help with a refused mount, see
[Troubleshooting TIR Shared File System](/tir/tir-sfs/troubleshooting/tir-sfs/).