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          <section id="the-lxd-csi-driver">
<span id="exp-csi"></span><h1>The LXD CSI driver<a class="headerlink" href="#the-lxd-csi-driver" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>The LXD CSI driver is an open source implementation of the Container Storage Interface (CSI) that integrates LXD storage backends with Kubernetes.</p>
<p>It leverages LXD’s wide range of supported storage drivers, enabling dynamic provisioning of both local and remote volumes.
Depending on the storage pool, the CSI supports provisioning of both block and filesystem volumes.</p>
<p>The driver is compatible with standalone and clustered LXD deployments, including <a class="reference external" href="https://canonical.com/microcloud">MicroCloud</a>.</p>
<section id="storage-capabilities">
<span id="exp-csi-capabilities"></span><h2>Storage capabilities<a class="headerlink" href="#storage-capabilities" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The LXD CSI driver supports all <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a> storage drivers provided by LXD.
The table below lists its capabilities.</p>
<div class="table-wrapper colwidths-auto docutils container">
<table class="docutils align-default">
<thead>
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head"><p>Capability</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Supported</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Storage drivers</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Description</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>Dynamic provisioning</p></td>
<td><p>✓</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Volumes are created and deleted on demand through PersistentVolumeClaims.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>Filesystem volumes</p></td>
<td><p>✓</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Supported when the driver provides filesystem volumes.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>Shared filesystem volumes</p></td>
<td><p>- (coming-soon)</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Allows attaching storage volume to multiple nodes simultaneously (through the use of volume access modes <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ReadWriteMany</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ReadOnlyMany</span></code>).</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>Block volumes</p></td>
<td><p>✓</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Supported when the driver provides block volumes.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>Volume expansion</p></td>
<td><p>✓</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Allows increasing the storage volume capacity. Block volumes can be expanded only while offline (detached), whereas filesystem volumes can be expanded while online (attached).</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>Volume snapshots</p></td>
<td><p>- (coming-soon)</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Allows creating storage volume snapshots. This also requires VolumeSnapshot custom resource definition (CRD).</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>Volume cloning</p></td>
<td><p>✓</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-remote"><span class="std std-ref">Remote</span></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-shared"><span class="std std-ref">Shared</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Allows using existing storage volume as a source for a new one.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>Topology-aware scheduling</p></td>
<td><p>✓</p></td>
<td><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/storage_drivers/#storage-drivers-local"><span class="std std-ref">Local</span></a></p></td>
<td><p>Access to local volumes is by default restricted to nodes on the same LXD cluster member. The driver sets topology constraints accordingly so the scheduler can place Pods on compatible nodes.</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</section>
<section id="architecture">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture"></span><h2>Architecture<a class="headerlink" href="#architecture" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The LXD CSI driver follows the Container Storage Interface (CSI) model.
It is deployed in Kubernetes as a set of controller and node components that interact with the Kubernetes API server, Kubelet, and the LXD API to provision and manage storage volumes.</p>
<p>The diagram below illustrates the main components and their interactions:</p>
<figure class="align-default">
<a class="reference internal image-reference" href="../../_images/architecture.svg"><img alt="LXD CSI driver architecture" src="../../_images/architecture.svg" style="width: 100%;" />
</a>
</figure>
<section id="components">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-components"></span><h3>Components<a class="headerlink" href="#components" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>The LXD CSI driver primarily consists of the controller and node services.
The controller service is responsible for external volume management operations, such as creating storage volumes and attaching them to the Kubernetes nodes.
The node service, on the other hand, handles internal node operations, such as mounting attached volume to the desired Kubernetes Pod.</p>
<section id="lxd-and-devlxd">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-devlxd"></span><h4>LXD and DevLXD<a class="headerlink" href="#lxd-and-devlxd" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<p>LXD provides the storage backend for the LXD CSI driver.</p>
<p>The driver primarily interacts with the <a class="reference internal" href="../../dev-lxd/#dev-lxd"><span class="std std-ref">DevLXD API</span></a>, which exposes LXD functionality to local processes inside an instance through the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/dev/lxd/sock</span></code> Unix socket.
In virtual machines, a LXD agent running inside the guest VM intercepts requests on this socket and delivers them to the DevLXD API over a Vsock connection, providing the same experience as in containers.</p>
<p>When a request is received, the DevLXD API first verifies that the caller is authorized to perform the requested operation on the target entity (for example, a storage volume).
If authorized, the corresponding handler in the main <a class="reference internal" href="../../rest-api/#rest-api"><span class="std std-ref">LXD API</span></a> is invoked to execute the operation against the configured storage backend.</p>
</section>
<section id="control-plane-components">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-cp"></span><h4>Control plane components<a class="headerlink" href="#control-plane-components" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<section id="kubernetes-api-server">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-cp-k8s-api"></span><h5>Kubernetes API server<a class="headerlink" href="#kubernetes-api-server" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h5>
<p>At the core of Kubernetes, the <a class="reference external" href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/kubernetes-api/">API server ↗</a> acts as the single source of truth for cluster state.
It stores objects such as Pods, PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs), PersistentVolumes (PVs), and VolumeAttachments.
All CSI components, Kubelets, and controllers observe the API server for changes and reconcile state accordingly.</p>
</section>
<section id="csi-controller-service">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-cp-controller"></span><h5>CSI controller service<a class="headerlink" href="#csi-controller-service" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h5>
<p>The CSI controller service implements the controller-side Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) defined by the CSI specification. It runs as a Kubernetes Deployment and communicates with the LXD API through the DevLXD socket. The controller is responsible for creating and deleting volumes, as well as attaching and detaching them from nodes.</p>
<p>Alongside the controller run the CSI controller sidecars, helper containers maintained by the Kubernetes CSI project. These integrate the controller with Kubernetes resources.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">external-provisioner</span></code>: watches PVCs and PVs and invokes volume creation or deletion.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">external-attacher</span></code>: watches VolumeAttachment objects and invokes volume attachment or detachment.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">external-resizer</span></code>: watches for PVC updates and triggers volume expansion when user requests more storage on a PVC object.</p></li>
<li><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">livenessprobe</span></code>:  exposes an HTTP <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">/healthz</span></code> endpoint used by the Kubelet as a liveness probe to monitor the health of the CSI driver.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Leader election ensures that only one replica of the controller sidecars is active at a time.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="node-components">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-node"></span><h4>Node components<a class="headerlink" href="#node-components" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<section id="kubelet">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-node-kubelet"></span><h5>Kubelet<a class="headerlink" href="#kubelet" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h5>
<p>On every worker node, the <a class="reference external" href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/architecture/#kubelet">Kubelet ↗</a> monitors the API server for Pods scheduled to run on that node. Before starting Pod containers, it invokes the CSI node plugin to stage and publish any required volumes.</p>
</section>
<section id="csi-node-service">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-node-node"></span><h5>CSI node service<a class="headerlink" href="#csi-node-service" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h5>
<p>The CSI node service runs as a DaemonSet on every worker node and implements the node-side RPCs of the CSI specification.
It bind-mounts volumes into Pods when requested and cleans up mount points when Pods are deleted.</p>
<p>Supporting the node service are the node CSI sidecars, most notably the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">node-driver-registrar</span></code>, which registers the plugin with Kubelet so that it can receive volume operations.</p>
<p>The node service also communicates with the local DevLXD API socket to determine which LXD cluster member the node is running on.
This information is used to configure topology constraints, ensuring that the Kubernetes scheduler only places Pods on nodes that can access the required volumes, since local volumes created on one cluster member cannot be attached to another.</p>
</section>
</section>
</section>
<section id="relation-to-kubernetes-primitives">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-k8s-primitives"></span><h3>Relation to Kubernetes primitives<a class="headerlink" href="#relation-to-kubernetes-primitives" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>The LXD CSI driver integrates directly with standard Kubernetes storage objects and translates them into LXD operations.</p>
<section id="storageclass">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-k8s-primitives-sc"></span><h4>StorageClass<a class="headerlink" href="#storageclass" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<p>A <a class="reference external" href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/storage-classes/">StorageClass ↗</a>, as defined for the LXD CSI driver, represents a LXD storage pool where volumes are created and managed.
The StorageClass also defines default settings applied to every volume created with that StorageClass.
These settings cover provisioning timing, volume parameters, mount options, and reclaim behavior.
When a PersistentVolumeClaim references a StorageClass, the driver provisions the volume in the selected LXD storage pool using those settings.
Multiple StorageClasses can reference the same LXD storage pool while keeping different defaults.</p>
</section>
<section id="persistentvolumeclaim-pvc">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-k8s-primitives-pvc"></span><h4>PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC)<a class="headerlink" href="#persistentvolumeclaim-pvc" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<p>A <a class="reference external" href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/persistent-volumes/#persistentvolumeclaims">PVC ↗</a> represents a user request for storage volume.
When a PVC references a StorageClass for the LXD CSI driver, the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">external-provisioner</span></code> sidecar detects it and invokes the driver’s controller over RPC to create the volume in the configured LXD storage pool.</p>
</section>
<section id="persistentvolume-pv">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-k8s-primitives-pv"></span><h4>PersistentVolume (PV)<a class="headerlink" href="#persistentvolume-pv" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<p>Each PVC that is successfully provisioned is bound to a <a class="reference external" href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/persistent-volumes/#persistent-volumes">PV ↗</a>.
The PV contains metadata such as capacity, access mode, and an identifier managed by the driver, referencing the LXD volume.
The PV therefore serves as the Kubernetes-side representation of the LXD volume.</p>
</section>
<section id="volumeattachment">
<span id="exp-csi-architecture-k8s-primitives-va"></span><h4>VolumeAttachment<a class="headerlink" href="#volumeattachment" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h4>
<p>When a volume is attached to a node, Kubernetes creates a <a class="reference external" href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubernetes-api/config-and-storage-resources/volume-attachment-v1/">VolumeAttachment ↗</a> object to track the relationship between a volume and the node.
The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">external-attacher</span></code> sidecar watches these objects and invokes the driver’s controller to attach or detach the volume as needed.
With the LXD CSI driver, this attaches or detaches the LXD volume to the target LXD instance.</p>
</section>
</section>
</section>
<section id="life-cycle">
<span id="exp-csi-lifecycle"></span><h2>Life cycle<a class="headerlink" href="#life-cycle" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<figure class="align-default">
<a class="reference internal image-reference" href="../../_images/lifecycle.svg"><img alt="LXD CSI driver life cycle" src="../../_images/lifecycle.svg" style="width: 100%;" />
</a>
</figure>
<p>The diagram above illustrates how a Pod with a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) progresses through the CSI volume life cycle.
It shows the interactions between the Kubernetes control plane, the LXD CSI driver, and the LXD storage backend.</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p>An administrator creates a Pod that references a PVC.</p></li>
<li><p>The Kubernetes scheduler assigns the Pod to a specific worker node.</p></li>
<li><p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">external-provisioner</span></code> sidecar requests volume creation from the CSI controller. If the volume is successfully created, the external-attacher similarly requests the volume to be attached to the previously selected node.</p></li>
<li><p>The request is authorized by the DevLXD API, which verifies that the desired operation is allowed to be executed on a particular LXD entity.</p></li>
<li><p>Upon successful authorization, the request is forwarded to the main LXD API.</p></li>
<li><p>The LXD API creates the requested volume in the configured storage pool.</p></li>
<li><p>The volume is attached to the node where the Pod was previously scheduled.</p></li>
<li><p>Kubelet invokes the CSI node service requesting the attached volume to be mounted into the Pod.</p></li>
<li><p>The node service bind-mounts the volume into the Pod.</p></li>
<li><p>With the volume mounted and available, Kubelet starts the Pod’s containers.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>When the Pod and PVC are deleted, these steps run in reverse order.
The volume is unpublished, detached from the node, and finally deleted from the LXD storage pool.</p>
</section>
<section id="security">
<span id="exp-csi-security"></span><h2>Security<a class="headerlink" href="#security" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The LXD CSI driver relies on the <a class="reference internal" href="../../dev-lxd/#dev-lxd"><span class="std std-ref">DevLXD APIs</span></a> for volume management.
These APIs are disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled on each instance that is hosting a Kubernetes node through the <a class="configref reference internal" href="../../reference/instance_options/#instance-security:security.devlxd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">security.devlxd</span></code></a> and <a class="configref reference internal" href="../../reference/instance_options/#instance-security:security.devlxd.management.volumes"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">security.devlxd.management.volumes</span></code></a> configuration options.</p>
<p>DevLXD enforces project-level isolation, allowing access to LXD entities only within a project where an invoked instance is running.
As a result, each Kubernetes cluster must run inside a single LXD <a class="reference internal" href="../projects/#exp-projects"><span class="std std-ref">project</span></a>.</p>
<p>Operations that require elevated permissions (such as creating or attaching volumes) use token-based authentication.
The token, stored as a Kubernetes Secret, identifies the caller and is checked by LXD’s <a class="reference internal" href="../authorization/#fine-grained-authorization"><span class="std std-ref">Fine-grained authorization</span></a> system.
Ownership of volumes, snapshots, and devices is tracked in the LXD configuration and ensures the identity can later manage only entities it has previously created.</p>
</section>
<section id="related-topics">
<h2>Related topics<a class="headerlink" href="#related-topics" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>How-to guides:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../howto/storage_csi/#howto-storage-csi"><span class="std std-ref">How to use the LXD CSI driver with Kubernetes</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Reference:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../../reference/driver_csi/#ref-csi"><span class="std std-ref">LXD CSI driver reference</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
</section>

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       Contents
      </span>
    </div>
    <div class="toc-tree-container">
      <div class="toc-tree">
        <ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">The LXD CSI driver</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#storage-capabilities">Storage capabilities</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#architecture">Architecture</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#components">Components</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#lxd-and-devlxd">LXD and DevLXD</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#control-plane-components">Control plane components</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#kubernetes-api-server">Kubernetes API server</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#csi-controller-service">CSI controller service</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#node-components">Node components</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#kubelet">Kubelet</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#csi-node-service">CSI node service</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#relation-to-kubernetes-primitives">Relation to Kubernetes primitives</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#storageclass">StorageClass</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#persistentvolumeclaim-pvc">PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#persistentvolume-pv">PersistentVolume (PV)</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#volumeattachment">VolumeAttachment</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#life-cycle">Life cycle</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#security">Security</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#related-topics">Related topics</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

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