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On this page
  • Before you begin
  • Attach a volume
  • Mount the volume (Linux)
  • Detach a volume
  • 1. Unmount inside the guest
  • 2. Detach in the portal
  • Mount Instructions tab states
  • Troubleshooting
  • Related pages
InfrastructureBlock Storage

Attach and detach a volume

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Attaching a volume connects it to a server so the OS sees it as a disk device (e.g. /dev/vdc). The portal handles the attach itself; you then format and mount the volume inside the guest using the commands on the Mount Instructions tab.

Before you begin

  • A Ready Block Storage volume (Create a volume)
  • A running IBEE Cloud server in the same region as the volume
  • SSH access to that server

Attach a volume

1

Open the volume

In the portal, go to Block Storage and click the volume you want to attach.

2

Click Attach to Server

On the Overview tab, scroll to the Attached To section. For an unattached volume you’ll see Not attached to any server with an Attach to Server button.

Click Attach to Server.

3

Pick a server

In the Attach Volume dialog:

  • Server — select a running server in the same region as the volume. The dropdown shows each server’s name and status (e.g. test (running)).

Click Attach. The button shows Attaching… while the platform connects the volume.

4

Confirmation

A toast confirms Volume <label> attached. The volume status changes to In Use, and the Attached To section now shows the server’s UUID, the device path (e.g. Device: /dev/vdc), and a Detach button.

Mount the volume (Linux)

After attaching, open the Mount Instructions tab on the volume detail page. It shows a green confirmation panel:

Volume is attached — run these commands inside your server. Device: /dev/vdc on server <server_id>

Copy the device path from the panel — that’s the placeholder you replace below.

SSH into the server and run the Mounting commands:

$# 1. Check the disk is visible
$lsblk
$
$# 2. Format (FIRST TIME ONLY — skip if volume already has data)
$sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/vdc
$
$# 3. Create mount point
$sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data
$
$# 4. Mount
$sudo mount /dev/vdc /mnt/data
$
$# 5. Verify
$df -h /mnt/data
$
$# 6. Make persistent across reboots
$UUID=$(sudo blkid -s UUID -o value /dev/vdc)
$echo "UUID=$UUID /mnt/data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Step 2 (mkfs.ext4) erases everything on the volume. Only run it on a brand-new volume. Skip it for any volume that already has data.

If the device path on your Mount Instructions tab is something other than /dev/vdc (e.g. /dev/vdb), substitute it everywhere in the commands above.

Detach a volume

Always unmount the volume inside the guest before detaching in the portal. Detaching a mounted volume can cause data corruption or filesystem errors.

1. Unmount inside the guest

SSH into the server and run the Unmounting commands from the Mount Instructions tab:

$# 1. Sync pending writes
$sync
$
$# 2. Unmount
$sudo umount /mnt/data
$
$# 3. Remove from fstab
$sudo sed -i '/\/mnt\/data/d' /etc/fstab
$
$# 4. Verify unmounted
$lsblk

lsblk should no longer show the device mounted on /mnt/data.

2. Detach in the portal

1

Open the volume

Go to Block Storage and click your volume. The Attached To section shows the server and device path.

2

Click Detach

Click Detach. The Detach Volume dialog opens.

3

Confirm unmount

Tick the I have unmounted this volume from the server before detaching checkbox. The Detach button is disabled until you check it.

4

Detach

Click Detach. A toast confirms Volume detached from <server_id>.

After detaching, the volume status returns to Ready and the Attached To section reverts to Not attached to any server. You can now reattach it to any other server in the same region.

Mount Instructions tab states

The Mount Instructions tab content changes depending on attachment state:

StateWhat’s shown
Not attachedOrange Attach first, then mount banner explaining that the device path will appear once attached. The mounting commands use /dev/<guest-disk> as a placeholder.
AttachedGreen Volume is attached — run these commands inside your server confirmation with the actual device path (/dev/vdc). Both Mounting and Unmounting scripts are shown.

Troubleshooting

Server dropdown is empty in the Attach dialog You don’t have a running server in the same region as the volume. Either start a server in that region or create a new volume in your server’s region.

Device path not shown in Mount Instructions The device path appears only after the attach completes. Wait a few seconds and refresh the page.

lsblk doesn’t show the new disk Confirm the attach succeeded (volume status should be In Use). If the platform shows attached but the OS doesn’t see it, reboot the server.

Mount doesn’t persist after reboot Re-run step 6 of the Mounting script and verify the UUID with sudo blkid /dev/vdc. The line in /etc/fstab should match the actual UUID.

Detach button disabled Tick the unmount confirmation checkbox in the Detach dialog. The button stays disabled until that’s confirmed.

Detach fails or hangs The volume is still in use by the guest. Run sudo lsof /mnt/data to find processes holding the mount, stop them, then sudo umount /mnt/data again before retrying detach.

Related pages

  • Create a volume
  • Resize a volume
  • Volume backups