# Manually setup an NFS server

This guide describes the manual steps required for setting up a NFS server to store users' home directories on the hub.
More information about the NFS Server can be found in [](/topic/storage-layer).

## Deploy the host Virtual Machine

We need to first deploy a small virtual machine with a persistent disk that will host the NFS server.
You can use `gcloud` commands to achieve this.

````{note}
To find the values of `--image` and `--image-project`, run the following:

```bash
gcloud compute images list
```

Add `| grep ubuntu` to filter for Ubuntu images.

You can then check the image suits your needs by running:

```bash
gcloud computer images describe IMAGE_NAME --project=IMAGE_PROJECT
```
````

```bash
gcloud compute instances create nfs-server-01 \
  --image=ubuntu-2004-focal-v20210720 \
  --image-project=ubuntu-os-cloud \
  --machine-type=g1-small \
  --boot-disk-device-name=nfs-server-01 \
  --boot-disk-size=100GB \
  --boot-disk-type=pd-standard
```

````{note}
The boot disk is where users' home directories and data are stored.
Feel free to increase `--boot-disk-size` if 100GB won't be enough.
````

```{note}
If deploying a NFS server for a **private** cluster, add the `--no-address` flag to the `gcloud compute instances create` command.
This will prevent the VM trying to claim an external IP address, which will not be allowed within the private configuration.
```

## Setting up the NFS Server

Once your VM has been deployed, SSH into it so we can configure the NFS server.

```bash
gcloud compute ssh nfs-server-01
```

```{note}
If the cluster you are setting up the NFS for is **private**, you will need to add the `--tunnel-through-iap` flag to the above command.
This is because the VM will not have an external IP address and will therefore need to be routed differently.
```

1. Install the dependencies

   ```bash
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install nfs-kernel-server nfs-common
   ```

2. Create the appropriate directory

   ```bash
   sudo mkdir -p /export/home-01
   ```

3. Set the appropriate permissions on the directory

   ```bash
   sudo chmod -R 0700 /export/
   sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /export/
   ```

4. Create the exports rule in the file `/etc/exports`

   ```bash
   sudo nano /etc/exports  # Create the file
   ```

   ```bash
   /export/home-01 10.0.0.0/8(all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000,no_subtree_check,rw,sync)  # Add this line to the bottom of the file
   ```

5. Run the export command

   ```bash
   sudo exportfs -ra
   ```