version: 1
id: kubernetes-storage
title: Persist Data with PVC and Volume Mounts
summary: Create a PersistentVolumeClaim and mount it into the api Deployment at /data.
difficulty: advanced
estimatedMinutes: 40
prerequisites: [kubernetes-ingress]
image: alpine/k8s:1.31.4
shell: /bin/bash
runtime:
  type: k3d
setup:
  - "kubectl apply -f - <<'EOF'\napiVersion: apps/v1\nkind: Deployment\nmetadata:\n  name: api\nspec:\n  replicas: 1\n  selector:\n    matchLabels:\n      app: api\n  template:\n    metadata:\n      labels:\n        app: api\n    spec:\n      containers:\n        - name: api\n          image: nginx:1.27-alpine\n          ports:\n            - containerPort: 80\nEOF"
tasks:
  - id: mount-pvc
    title: Attach durable storage
    description: 'Create PVC api-data requesting 1Gi ReadWriteOnce, save it to /workspace/pvc.yaml, patch the api Deployment to mount that claim at /data, save /workspace/deployment.yaml, apply both, and verify the pod mounts /data from api-data.'
    hints:
      - 'PVC needs accessModes ReadWriteOnce and resources.requests.storage 1Gi'
      - Use volume claimName api-data and volumeMount mountPath /data.
      - k3d provides a default StorageClass, so storageClassName is optional.
    checks:
      - type: file
        name: PVC manifest saved
        path: /workspace/pvc.yaml
        value: PersistentVolumeClaim
      - type: file
        name: Storage requested
        path: /workspace/pvc.yaml
        value: 1Gi
      - type: file
        name: Mount path configured
        path: /workspace/deployment.yaml
        value: "/data"
      - type: kubernetes
        name: PVC bound or pending provision
        command: kubectl get pvc api-data
      - type: kubernetes
        name: Volume mounted
        command: "kubectl get deploy api -o yaml | grep -q 'claimName: api-data' && kubectl get deploy api -o yaml | grep -q 'mountPath: /data'"
      - type: kubernetes
        name: Pod ready with volume
        command: kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l app=api --timeout=120s
limits: {cpus: "1.0", memory: 512m, pids: 256, timeout: 3600, network: true}