Installation
This section documents steps for installing and managing AIStor Volume Manager on Kubernetes infrastructure using a distribution that follows the upstream API and functionality.
Prerequisites
Kubernetes release
MinIO recommends using an in-support, active release of Kubernetes. In general, Kubernetes releases remain supported for up to one year after release.
Volume Manager requires Kubernetes release 1.29 or later.
Authorization
This procedure assumes that the user interacting with the Kubernetes cluster has authorization to:
- Install Kubernetes operators and associated resources including CustomResourceDefinitions, Statefulsets, and secrets into new or existing namespaces.
- Perform operations as a user that has broad permissions to create resources within multiple namespaces.
Install Volume Manager using Helm Charts
-
Download your SUBNET license key
Log into MinIO SUBNET and access your License Key. From the Deployments screen, select License Key to view the key.

Save the license value to a secure location for use in a subsequent step.
-
Add the AIStor Helm Repository
helm repo add minio https://helm.min.io/ helm repo update helm search repo minio -
Install the
minio/aistor-volumemanagercharthelm install directpv minio/aistor-volumemanager --set license="eyJhbGciOiJFUzM4NCIsInR..."Replace the license value with your license key from SUBNET.
For custom options such as
nodeSelectorsortolerations, see Advanced installation options. -
Next Steps
Once you have installed Volume Manager, you can prepare drives for provisioning. You can then dynamically allocate storage to pods by specifying
storageClass: directpv-min-iowhen constructing the Persistent Volume Claim.
Install the Volume Manager plugin
The plugin provides command line tools to manage your Volume Manager installation.
-
Download the Volume Manager plugin for your operating system and architecture from https://dl.min.io/aistor/directpv/release/.
The plugin is available for
amd64,arm64, andppc64learchitectures.Move the downloaded file to your system PATH. For example, move the file to
/usr/local/bin/or, for Windows,$HOME\bin\. Refer to the documentation for your operating system for where to place the file. -
Mark the downloaded plugin as executable.
chmod a+x /path/to/kubectl-directpvExecutables on macOSmacOS typically blocks unsigned binaries from running. If thekubectl-directpvcommand fails, go to System Settings, then Privacy and Security. Scroll to the Security section and select Allow Anyway for thekubectl-directpvapplication.
Advanced installation options
Custom chart values
You can customize the minio/aistor-volumemanager chart to add the license, limit node selections, or add tolerations.
These options are not required.
This chart contains the necessary Kubernetes resources for deploying AIStor Volume Manager resources through the aistor-volumemanager chart.
-
Create a YAML manifest for the chart named
aistor-volumemanager-values.yaml.For example, to create the file from the command line:
touch aistor-volumemanager-values.yaml -
Edit the
aistor-volumemanager-values.yamlfile.For example, to edit the file with the CLI text editor
nano:nano aistor-volumemanager-values.yamlThe example manifest below includes the
nodeserverkey for controlling how Volume Manager determines eligible nodes. SetnodeSelectorto limit Volume Manager to specific nodes in the cluster. Settolerationsto allow Volume Manager to ignore node taints.nodeserver: nodeSelector: { # aistor.min.io/pool-id: "1" } tolerations: [ # - key: "node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane" # operator: "Exists" # effect: "NoSchedule" ] -
Install the chart using the custom values.
helm install directpv minio/aistor-volumemanager \ --set license="eyJhbGciOiJFUzM4NCIsInR..." \ -f aistor-volumemanager-values.yamlReplace the license value with your license key from SUBNET.
If successful, the command outputs a summary of installed resources.
-
Validate the installation.
Run the following command and check the status of deployed resources.
kubectl get all -n directpv
seccomp
If seccomp is enabled, load the DirectPV seccomp profile on nodes where you want to install Volume Manager.
Then, include nodeserver.seccompLocalhostProfile in your customized Helm chart.
For example, in your aistor-volumemanager-values.yaml:
nodeserver:
seccompLocalhostProfile: "profiles/seccomp.json"
For more information, refer to the Kubernetes documentation
apparmor
If apparmor is enabled, load DirectPV apparmor profile on nodes where you want to install Volume Manager.
Then, include nodeserver.podAnnotations in your customized Helm chart.
For more information, refer to the Kubernetes documentation.