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azlin storage mount

Mount Azure Files NFS storage on VMs or locally.

Description

The azlin storage mount command enables two types of storage mounting:

  1. VM Mount (NFS): Mount shared Azure Files storage on a VM's home directory for team collaboration
  2. Local Mount: Mount Azure Files storage on your local machine (Linux/macOS only)

When mounting on a VM, the existing home directory is backed up and replaced with the NFS share, enabling multiple VMs to share the same home directory and collaborate seamlessly.

Usage

# New syntax (explicit)
azlin storage mount vm STORAGE_NAME --vm VM_NAME [OPTIONS]
azlin storage mount local --mount-point PATH [OPTIONS]

# Backward compatible syntax
azlin storage mount STORAGE_NAME --vm VM_NAME [OPTIONS]

Subcommands

vm - Mount on Virtual Machine

Mount NFS storage as the VM's home directory.

Usage: 

azlin storage mount vm STORAGE_NAME --vm VM_NAME

Options: - --vm TEXT - VM name or identifier (required) - --resource-group, --rg TEXT - Azure resource group - -h, --help - Show help message

local - Mount on Local Machine

Mount Azure Files storage on your local filesystem.

Usage: 

azlin storage mount local --mount-point PATH

Options: - --mount-point PATH - Local directory for mount point (required) - --storage NAME - Storage account name (required) - --resource-group, --rg TEXT - Azure resource group - -h, --help - Show help message

Requirements: - Linux or macOS only - NFS client installed (nfs-common on Ubuntu, built-in on macOS) - sudo access for mounting

Examples

Mount Storage on VM (Team Collaboration)

# Mount shared storage on dev VM
azlin storage mount vm team-shared --vm my-dev-vm

Output: 

Mounting storage 'team-shared' on VM 'my-dev-vm'...
  Backing up existing home directory...
  Mounting NFS share at /home/azureuser...
  Configuring auto-mount...

Storage mounted successfully!

Your home directory is now shared with:
  - dev-vm-2
  - dev-vm-3

All changes are instantly visible across VMs.

Mount Storage Locally (Local Access)

# Create mount point
mkdir -p ~/azure-storage

# Mount Azure Files locally
azlin storage mount local --mount-point ~/azure-storage --storage team-shared

Output: 

Mounting storage 'team-shared' locally...
  Mount point: /Users/yourname/azure-storage
  NFS endpoint: team-shared.file.core.windows.net
  Checking permissions...
  Mounting filesystem...

Storage mounted successfully!

Access your Azure files at:
  ~/azure-storage/

To unmount:
  sudo umount ~/azure-storage

Backward Compatible Mount (Auto-detect)

# Old syntax still works (auto-detects VM mount)
azlin storage mount team-shared --vm my-dev-vm

Mount on Multiple VMs

# Share storage across entire team
for vm in dev-vm-1 dev-vm-2 dev-vm-3; do
    azlin storage mount vm team-shared --vm $vm
done

Mount with Different Resource Group

# Mount storage from different resource group
azlin storage mount vm prod-shared --vm staging-vm --rg azlin-prod-rg

Common Use Cases

Team Development Workspace

Create a shared workspace where all team members see the same files:

# 1. Create team storage
azlin storage create teamwork --size 200 --tier Premium

# 2. Provision VMs for team members
azlin new --name alice-vm
azlin new --name bob-vm
azlin new --name carol-vm

# 3. Mount shared storage on all VMs
azlin storage mount vm teamwork --vm alice-vm
azlin storage mount vm teamwork --vm bob-vm
azlin storage mount vm teamwork --vm carol-vm

# 4. Now all team members share:
#    - Same codebase
#    - Same configuration files
#    - Same SSH keys
#    - Instant file synchronization

Persistent ML Training Environment

Keep training data and checkpoints persistent:

# 1. Create ML project storage
azlin storage create ml-training --size 1000 --tier Premium

# 2. Create GPU training VM
azlin new --vm-size Standard_NC6s_v3 --name gpu-trainer

# 3. Mount persistent storage
azlin storage mount vm ml-training --vm gpu-trainer

# 4. Train models - checkpoints persist even if VM is deleted
# 5. Can recreate VM or spin up multiple workers sharing same data

Local Development with Azure Files

Work locally but keep files in Azure:

# Mount Azure storage on your laptop
mkdir ~/azure-dev
azlin storage mount local --mount-point ~/azure-dev --storage dev-shared

# Edit files locally with your favorite IDE
cd ~/azure-dev
code .

# Changes are automatically synced to Azure
# Other VMs with same storage see changes instantly

Disaster Recovery Setup

Backup critical data to shared storage:

# 1. Create backup storage
azlin storage create dr-backups --size 2000 --tier Standard

# 2. Mount temporarily for backup
azlin storage mount vm dr-backups --vm production-vm

# 3. Copy critical data
# (on VM) cp -r /var/log /opt/data /home/azureuser/backups/

# 4. Unmount after backup
azlin storage unmount --vm production-vm

# 5. Backups are safe even if VM is deleted

What Happens During VM Mount

When you mount storage on a VM:

  1. Backup: Existing home directory is backed up to ~/.azlin-backup-{timestamp}/
  2. Mount: NFS share is mounted at /home/azureuser
  3. Auto-mount: /etc/fstab is configured for automatic mounting on reboot
  4. Permissions: Directory permissions are preserved
  5. Metadata: Mount information is stored in VM tags for tracking

Important: The local home directory is replaced. Access backups if you need original files.

Troubleshooting

Mount Failed - NFS Not Available

Error: "NFS mount failed: Connection refused"

Solution: Check VM networking and storage configuration: 

# Verify VM can reach storage
azlin connect my-dev-vm
ping team-shared.file.core.windows.net

# Check if storage exists
azlin storage list

Permission Denied

Error: "Permission denied when accessing mounted files"

Solution: Re-mount to fix permissions: 

azlin storage unmount --vm my-dev-vm
azlin storage mount vm team-shared --vm my-dev-vm

Already Mounted

Error: "Storage already mounted on this VM"

Solution: Unmount first: 

azlin storage unmount --vm my-dev-vm
azlin storage mount vm team-shared --vm my-dev-vm

See Also