# Configure NFS for Image Catalog or VM Storage

This article describes steps to configure NFS shared storage to get it working with your Platform9 OpenStack private cloud. By default, Platform9 assumes certain locations on your Linux server for storage of virtual machine data and image catalog data. But you can customize those locations to better suit your environment.

## On the NFS Server

### Step 1 - Create and Export Shared Directories

You will want to create two separate directories, one for virtual machine storage and another for image catalog storage. Suppose that you want to create this directory structure under /pf9 on your NFS server.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
mkdir -p /pf9/instances
mkdir /pf9/imagelibrary
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

Add a line to /etc/exports to export these directories with appropriate permissions. For more information on this, refer to [Setup NFS Server on CentOS.](https://docs.platform9.com/managed-openstack/5.4/tutorials/tutorials-setup-nfs-server).

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
echo "/pf9 10.0.0.0/8(rw,no_root_squash)" > /etc/exports
```

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Restart NFS and export all directories.

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{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
service nfs restart
exportfs -a
```

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### Step 2 - Configure Iptables

Configure iptables and open appropriate NFS port to allow NFS traffic.

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{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 2049 -j ACCEPT
```

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## On the Physical Servers to Be Added to PMO

### Step 1 - Create User And Group

‘On each server that you plan to add to Platform9, create a “pf9” user, a “pf9group” group with “pf9” user being part of “pf9group” group. Make sure that the user and group have exact same UID and GIDs across all servers being added to Platform9. This step is critical for Platform9 to be able to register a virtual machine from one physical server to another.

Suppose you would like to assign UID 1024 to *pf9* user and GID 500 to *pf9group* group.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="CentOS" %}

```bash
groupadd --gid 500 pf9group
adduser --comment "The Platform9 user" --gid 500 --uid 1024 pf9
{% endtab %}
{% tab language="bash" title="Ubuntu" %}
addgroup --gid 500 pf9group
adduser --disabled-pa
```

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{% endtabs %}

### Step 2 - Mount NFS Directory for Virtual Machine Storage

Suppose that your NFS server IP address is 10.1.1.1 On each Linux Server to be added to Platform9, mount the NFS directory that will store data for virtual machines. Suppose you would like to mount it to /mnt/nfs/instances.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
mkdir -p /mnt/nfs/instances
mount 10.1.1.1:/pf9/hosts /mnt/nfs/instances
```

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{% endtabs %}

### Step 3 - Mount NFS Directory for Image Catalog Storage

In addition, on the Linux server that will also host image catalog, mount the NFS directory that will store data for image catalog. Suppose you would like to mount it to /mnt/nfs/imagelibrary.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
mkdir -p /mnt/nfs/imagelibrary
mount 10.1.10.1:/pf9/imagelibrary /mnt/nfs/imagelibrary
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

### Step 4 - Change Owner of Virtual Machine Storage and Image Catalog Storage

Now, change the owner of the virtual machine storage and the image catalog storage to *pf9* user, by using the *chown* command.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Bash" %}

```bash
chown -R pf9:pf9group /mnt/nfs/instances
chown -R pf9:pf9group /mnt/nfs/imagelibrary
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

That’s it! And now you are ready to add these servers to PMO. During authorization of the servers, you can customize the location of virtual machine and image catalog storage and specify the NFS directories we just configured above.

<figure><img src="https://1126553421-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZ8EciOmTwpkZCkUOCYd9%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-a2eced9189c2a57abcb5b254f65d235644f7fb31%2F1605554243.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

That’s it! At this point you can start using your NFS shared storage with your PMO cloud.