---
name: FileStorage-accessing-file-storage-ubuntu
title: Mounting File Storage for Classic on Ubuntu
description: Use these instructions to connect an Ubuntu Linux®-based IBM Cloud® Compute instance to a Network File System (NFS) share. For more information about how to order IBM Cloud® File Storage for Classic, see the Getting started tutorial.
last-updated: 2026-06-08
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Mounting File Storage for Classic on Ubuntu
{: #mountingUbuntu}
{: toc-content-type="tutorial"}
{: toc-services=""}
{: toc-completion-time="1h"}

Use these instructions to connect an Ubuntu Linux®-based IBM Cloud® Compute instance to a Network File System (NFS) share. For more information about how to order IBM Cloud® File Storage for Classic, see the [Getting started](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?topic=FileStorage-getting-started&format=markdown) tutorial.
{: shortdesc}

Before you begin, make sure that the host that is to access the File Storage for Classic volume is authorized. For more information, see [Authorizing the host in the console](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?topic=FileStorage-managingstorage&interface=ui&format=markdown#authhostUI){: ui}[Authorizing the host from the CLI](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?topic=FileStorage-managingstorage&interface=cli&format=markdown#authhostCLI){: cli}[Authorizing the host with Terraform](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?topic=FileStorage-managingstorage&interface=terraform&format=markdown#authhostterraform){: terraform}.
{: requirement}

## Mounting the File Storage for Classic share
{: #mountUbuntu}

1. Update and upgrade the distribution:
   ```sh
   apt update && apt upgrade
   ```
   {: pre}

1. Install the required tools.
   ```sh
   apt-get install nfs-common
   ```
   {: pre}

1. Create a `/mnt/nfs` directory.
   ```sh
   mkdir -p /mnt/nfs
   ```
   {: pre}

1. Restart your instance:
   ```sh
   reboot
   ```
   {: pre}

1. Mount the remote share.
   ```sh
   mount -t nfs -o <options> <host:/mount_point> /mnt
   ```

   Example for `storage_as_a_service` volumes.
   ```sh
   #mount -t nfs -o nfsvers=3 fsf-wdc0403a-fz.service.softlayer.com:/IBM02SEV1414935_66/data01 /mnt
   ```

   Example for `enterprise` volumes.
   ```sh
   # mount -t nfs -o nfsvers=3 nfshou0201d-fz.service.softlayer.com:/IBM01SEV1414935_2 /mnt
   ```

   The mount point information can be obtained from the File Storage for Classic Details page in the console, with an API call - `SoftLayer_Network_Storage::getNetworkMountAddress()`, or by looking at the `ibm_storage_file` resource in Terraform.
   {: tip}

1. Verify that the mount was successful by using the disk file system command.
   ```sh
   # df -h
   Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
   /dev/xvda2  25G  1.4G  22G    6%   /
   /tmpfs     1.9G     0 1.9G    0%   /dev/shm
   /dev/xvda1 97M    51M  42M   55%
   ```

1. Go to the mount point, and read/write files.
   ```sh
   # touch /mnt/test
   # ls -la /mnt
   total 12
   drwxr-xr-x   2 nobody nobody 4096 Sep 8 15:52 .
   dr-xr-xr-x. 22 root   root   4096 Sep 8 14:30 ..
   -rw-r--r--   1 nobody nobody    0 Sep 8 15:52 test
   ```

1. Make the configuration persistent by editing the file systems table (`/etc/fstab`). Add the remote share to the list of entries that are automatically mounted on startup:

   ```sh
   sudo nano /etc/fstab
   ```
   Add a line with the following syntax to the end of the file.

   ```sh
   (hostname):/(mount_point) /mnt nfs_version defaults 0 0
   ```

   Example

   ```sh
   nfsdal1301a.service.softlayer.com:/IBM01SV278685_7 /mnt nfsvers=3 defaults 0 0
   ```

1. Verify that the configuration file has no errors.

   ```sh
   # mount -fav
   ```
   {: pre}

   If the command completes with no errors, your setup is complete.

   If you're using NFS 4.1, add `sec=sys` to the mount command to prevent file ownership issues.
   {: tip}

### Managing user permissions to the content of the mounted file share
{: #ubuntu-user-group-permissions}

As a system administrator, you can manage the access to data on the mounted file storage volume. After the file share is mounted, you can refine access control by using the `chown` and `chmod` commands to assign read, write, and execute permissions to individual users and groups. For more information, see the [Ubuntu Server documentation about User management](https://ubuntu.com/server/docs/how-to/security/user-management/){: external}.

## Unmounting the file system
{: #umountUbuntu}

To unmount any currently mounted file system on your host, run the `umount` command with disk name or mount point name.

```sh
umount /dev/sdb
```
{: pre}

```sh
umount /mnt
```
{: pre}