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Re-using persistent volumes

In order to re-use a statically provisioned persistent volume (PV), you must first reclaim the volume. This involves deleting the PV so that the storage configuration can be re-used.

About reclaiming statically provisioned persistent volumes

When you reclaim a persistent volume (PV), you unbind the PV from a persistent volume claim (PVC) and delete the PV. Depending on the underlying storage, you might need to manually delete the shared storage.

You can then re-use the PV configuration to create a PV with a different name.

Statically provisioned PVs must have a reclaim policy of Retain to be reclaimed. If they do not, the PV enters a failed state when the PVC is unbound from the PV.

The Recycle reclaim policy is deprecated in OpenShift Container Platform 4.

Reclaiming statically provisioned persistent volumes

Reclaim a statically provisioned persistent volume (PV) by unbinding the persistent volume claim (PVC) and deleting the PV. You might also need to manually delete the shared storage.

Reclaiming a statically provisioned PV is dependent on the underlying storage. This procedure provides a general approach that might need to be customized depending on your storage.

Procedure

  1. Ensure that the reclaim policy of the PV is set to Retain:

    1. Check the reclaim policy of the PV:

      $ oc get pv <pv_name> -o yaml | grep 'persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy'

    2. If the persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy is not set to Retain, edit the reclaim policy with the following command:

      $ oc patch pv <pv_name> -p '{"spec":{"persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy":"Retain"}}'

  2. Ensure that no resources are using the PV:

    $ oc describe pvc <pvc_name> | grep 'Mounted By:'

    Remove any resources that use the PVC before continuing.

  3. Delete the PVC to release the PV:

    $ oc delete pvc <pvc_name>

  4. Optional: Export the PV configuration to a YAML file. If you manually remove the shared storage later in this procedure, you can refer to this configuration. You can also use spec parameters in this file as the basis to create a new PV with the same storage configuration after you reclaim the PV:

    $ oc get pv <pv_name> -o yaml > <file_name>.yaml

  5. Delete the PV:

    $ oc delete pv <pv_name>

  6. Optional: Depending on the storage type, you might need to remove the contents of the shared storage folder:

    $ rm -rf <path_to_share_storage>

  7. Optional: Create a PV that uses the same storage configuration as the deleted PV. If you exported the reclaimed PV configuration earlier, you can use the spec parameters of that file as the basis for a new PV manifest:

    To avoid possible conflict, it is good practice to give the new PV object a different name than the one that you deleted.

    		 
    $ oc create -f <new_pv_name>.yaml
Additional resources