---
name: gke-storage
description: >-
  Manages GKE storage, including PVCs, PersistentVolumes, and Filestore. Use when configuring GKE storage or creating PVCs. For GCS FUSE mounts, use google-cloud-storage-fuse. For diagnosing storage failures (volume attach/mount errors, disk performance/node storage pressure, or Cloud Storage FUSE OOM), use gke-storage-troubleshooting. Don't use for database administration or replication strategies outside volume provisioning context.
metadata:
  version: "1.0.1"
  category: Storage
title: gke-storage
canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/google/skills/gke-storage
last_updated: 2026-09-30T16:05:09.000Z
---

> **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything.
>
> If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install google/skills/gke-storage`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them.

# GKE Storage

> **Routing Note:** For Cloud Storage FUSE (`gcsfuse`) mounts or the GKE `gcsfuse.csi.storage.gke.io` CSI driver, open `google-cloud-storage-fuse/SKILL.md`.

This reference covers storage configuration for GKE clusters including
persistent disks, file storage, and cloud storage integration.

> **MCP Tools:** `apply_k8s_manifest`, `get_k8s_resource`,
> `describe_k8s_resource`, `get_cluster`

## Golden Path Storage Defaults

The golden path Autopilot config enables these CSI drivers:

| Driver          | Golden Path       | Access Mode     | Use Case             |
| --------------- | ----------------- | --------------- | -------------------- |
| Compute Engine  | Enabled (default) | ReadWriteOnce   | Block storage for    |
: Persistent Disk :                   :                 : databases,           :
: CSI             :                   :                 : single-pod workloads :
| Google Cloud    | Enabled           | ReadWriteMany   | Shared NFS for       |
: Filestore CSI   :                   :                 : multi-pod access     :
| Cloud Storage   | Enabled           | ReadWriteMany / | Mount GCS buckets as |
: FUSE CSI        :                   : ReadOnlyMany    : volumes              :
| Parallelstore   | Enabled           | ReadWriteMany   | High-performance     |
: CSI             :                   :                 : parallel file system :
| Boot disk type  | `pd-balanced`     | N/A             | Node boot disks      |

## StorageClasses

### Default StorageClasses

GKE provides built-in StorageClasses:

StorageClass   | Disk Type             | Use Case
-------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------
`standard-rwo` | `pd-standard`         | Cost-effective, low IOPS
`premium-rwo`  | `pd-ssd`              | High IOPS, databases
`standard-rwx` | Filestore (Basic HDD) | Shared NFS
`premium-rwx`  | Filestore (Basic SSD) | Shared NFS, higher performance

### Custom StorageClass

```yaml
apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: fast-regional
provisioner: pd.csi.storage.gke.io
parameters:
  type: pd-ssd
  replication-type: regional-pd    # Replicate across 2 zones
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer
allowVolumeExpansion: true         # Always enable for production
```

## PersistentVolumeClaims

### Block Storage (ReadWriteOnce)

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: database-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
  - ReadWriteOnce
  storageClassName: premium-rwo
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 100Gi
```

### Shared File Storage (ReadWriteMany via Filestore)

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: shared-data
spec:
  accessModes:
  - ReadWriteMany
  storageClassName: standard-rwx
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Ti    # Filestore minimum is 1 TiB for Basic tier
```

### GCS Bucket Mount (Cloud Storage FUSE)

Mount a GCS bucket as a volume without a PVC:

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: gcs-reader
  annotations:
    gke-gcsfuse/volumes: "true"
spec:
  containers:
  - name: reader
    image: busybox
    command: ["ls", "/data"]
    volumeMounts:
    - name: gcs-bucket
      mountPath: /data
  volumes:
  - name: gcs-bucket
    csi:
      driver: gcsfuse.csi.storage.gke.io
      readOnly: true
      volumeAttributes:
        bucketName: <BUCKET_NAME>
```

> Requires Workload Identity for the pod's service account to have
> `storage.objectViewer` on the bucket.

## Volume Expansion

If `allowVolumeExpansion: true` is set on the StorageClass, resize by updating
the PVC:

```bash
# kubectl
kubectl patch pvc <PVC_NAME> -p '{"spec":{"resources":{"requests":{"storage":"200Gi"}}}}'
```

```
# MCP (preferred)
patch_k8s_resource(parent="...", resourceType="persistentvolumeclaim", name="<PVC_NAME>",
  patch='{"spec":{"resources":{"requests":{"storage":"200Gi"}}}}')
```

Kubernetes automatically resizes the filesystem.

## Best Practices

1.  **Always enable volume expansion**: Set `allowVolumeExpansion: true` on all
    StorageClasses
2.  **Use regional PDs for production**: `replication-type: regional-pd`
    replicates across 2 zones for HA
3.  **Use `WaitForFirstConsumer`**: Ensures the PV is provisioned in the same
    zone as the pod
4.  **Choose the right disk type**: `pd-ssd` for databases, `pd-balanced`
    (golden path default) for general use, `pd-standard` for cold storage
5.  **Use Filestore for shared access**: When multiple pods need to read/write
    the same files
6.  **Use GCS FUSE for data pipelines**: Mount buckets directly for ML training
    data, logs, etc.
7.  **Back up PVCs**: Use Backup for GKE (see the `gke-backup-dr` skill) to
    protect persistent data