EFS Volume Mount with Access Point

This article describes the procedure to integrate Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) with Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) using EFS Access Points. The integration enables applications deployed on EKS to share storage across multiple pods, ensuring scalability and persistence.

Prerequisites

• AWS account with permissions to create and manage:

  • Amazon EFS

  • EKS cluster resources

  • IAM roles and policies

• Installed tools:

  • kubectl

  • helm

  • AWS CLI

• EKS cluster already running in the target VPC.

• Read/write access to EFS resources.

Steps Involved

1. Create an EFS File System

   • Log in to the AWS Management Console.

   • Navigate to Amazon EFS → Create file system.

     
   • Select Customize to configure the file system.

     
   • Provide a name for the file system and click Next.

     
   • Select the appropriate VPC and Security Groups that allow NFS traffic (port 2049).

     
   • Review the settings and click Create.

     

2. Create EFS Access Points

   • Open the created EFS in the console.

   • Select Access points → Create access point.

     
   • Enter a name and specify the root directory path (e.g., /any-name).

   • Configure POSIX user:

     • User ID: 777

     • Group ID: 777

     • Secondary Group ID: 777

     
   • Configure Root directory permissions:

     • Owner User ID: 777

     • Owner Group ID: 777

     • Permissions: 777

     
   • Save the configuration.

   • Repeat the above steps to create access points for the following directories:

     • /third-party-jars (e.g., csp-lib.jar, lineage.jar, required JARs)

     • /oelogs

     • /certs

     • /esdata

3. Update Helm Charts for Persistent Volumes

   • Update the Helm chart templates to define PersistentVolume (PV) and PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) resources for each directory. Replace placeholders <fs-filesystem_ID> and <AccessPointID> with actual values.

     • Jars

       • jars_pv.yaml

         Copy

         apiVersion: v1
         kind: PersistentVolume
         metadata:
           name: efs-pv-jars
         spec:
           capacity:
             storage: 2Gi
           volumeMode: Filesystem
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteMany
           persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
           storageClassName: efs-sc
           csi:
             driver: efs.csi.aws.com
             volumeHandle: <fs-filesystem_ID>::<AccessPointID>

       • jars_pvc.yaml

         Copy

         apiVersion: v1
         kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
         metadata:
           name: efs-claim-jars
         spec:
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteMany
           storageClassName: efs-sc
           resources:
             requests:
               storage: 2Gi

     • Certs

       • certs_pv.yaml

         Copy

         apiVersion: v1
         kind: PersistentVolume
         metadata:
           name: efs-pv-certs
         spec:
           capacity:
             storage: 1Gi
           volumeMode: Filesystem
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteMany
           persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
           storageClassName: efs-sc
           csi:
             driver: efs.csi.aws.com
             volumeHandle: <fs-filesystem_ID>::<AccessPointID>

       • certs_pvc.yaml

         Copy

         apiVersion: v1
         kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
         metadata:
           name: efs-claim-certs
         spec:
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteMany
           storageClassName: efs-sc
           resources:
             requests:
               storage: 1Gi

     • Files

       • files_pv.yaml

         Copy

         apiVersion: v1
         kind: PersistentVolume
         metadata:
           name: efs-pv-files
         spec:
           capacity:
             storage: 7Gi
           volumeMode: Filesystem
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteMany
           persistentVolumeReclaimPolicy: Retain
           storageClassName: efs-sc
           csi:
             driver: efs.csi.aws.com
             volumeHandle: <fs-filesystem_ID>::<AccessPointID>

       • files_pvc.yaml

         Copy

         apiVersion: v1
         kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
         metadata:
           name: efs-claim-files
         spec:
           accessModes:
             - ReadWriteMany
           storageClassName: efs-sc
           resources:
             requests:
               storage: 7Gi

4. Attach Volumes to Pods

   • Update the Deployment/StatefulSet specifications to mount the PVCs. Example:

     Copy

     volumes:
       - name: efs-volume-jars
         persistentVolumeClaim:
           claimName: efs-claim-jars
       - name: efs-volume-certs
         persistentVolumeClaim:
           claimName: efs-claim-certs
       - name: efs-volume-files
         persistentVolumeClaim:
           claimName: efs-claim-files
     
     volumeMounts:
       - name: efs-volume-jars
         mountPath: /home/ovaledge/third_party_jars
       - name: efs-volume-certs
         mountPath: /home/ovaledge/certificates
       - name: efs-volume-files
         mountPath: /home/ovaledgefiles

5. Install/Upgrade the Helm Chart

   • Deploy the application with the updated configuration:

     Copy

     helm install ovaledge ./ovaledge

   • or, if upgrading:

     Copy

     helm upgrade ovaledge ./ovaledge

Validation

• Verify that the PersistentVolumes and PersistentVolumeClaims are bound:

• Confirm that pods are using the mounted EFS volumes:

• Log into a pod and validate that files can be created in the mounted directories:

Error Handling and Rollback

• If a pod fails to mount the volume:

  • Check EFS CSI driver logs:

  • Verify that the Security Group allows NFS (2049).

  • Ensure that the Access Point ID matches the configured path.

• Rollback:

  • Revert to the previous Helm release:

  • Delete and recreate PVCs if binding issues persist.

Copyright © 2025, OvalEdge LLC, Peachtree Corners, GA, USA.