Quickstart: Set up Azure NetApp Files and create an NFS volume

Article
03/11/2025

This article shows you how to quickly set up Azure NetApp Files and create an NFS volume.

In this quickstart, you set up the following items:

Registration for NetApp Resource Provider
A NetApp account
A capacity pool
An NFS volume for Azure NetApp Files

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

To see all features that you can enable for an NFS volume and relevant considerations, see Create an NFS volume.

Register for NetApp Resource Provider

Note

The registration process can take some time to complete.

For registration steps using Portal, open a Cloud Shell session as indicated above and follow these Azure CLI steps:

Specify the subscription that has been approved for Azure NetApp Files:
```
az account set --subscription <subscriptionId>
```

az provider register --namespace Microsoft.NetApp --wait

This how-to article requires the Azure PowerShell module Az version 2.6.0 or later. Run Get-Module -ListAvailable Az to find your current version. If you need to install or upgrade, see Install Azure PowerShell module. If you prefer, you can use Cloud Shell console in a PowerShell session instead.

In a PowerShell command prompt (or PowerShell Cloud Shell session), specify the subscription that has been approved for Azure NetApp Files:
```
Select-AzSubscription -Subscription <subscriptionId>
```

Register-AzResourceProvider -ProviderNamespace Microsoft.NetApp

Prepare your environment for the Azure CLI.

Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Get started with Azure Cloud Shell.
If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.
- If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Authenticate to Azure using Azure CLI.
- When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use and manage extensions with the Azure CLI.
- Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Specify the subscription that has been approved for Azure NetApp Files:
```
az account set --subscription <subscriptionId>
```

az provider register --namespace Microsoft.NetApp --wait

Create a NetApp account

In the Azure portal's search box, enter Azure NetApp Files and then select Azure NetApp Files from the list that appears.
Select + Create to create a new NetApp account.
In the New NetApp Account window, provide the following information:
1. Enter myaccount1 for the account name.
2. Select your subscription.
3. Select Create new to create new resource group. Enter myRG1 for the resource group name. Select OK.
4. Select your account location.
Select Create to create your new NetApp account.

Define some variables so we can refer to them throughout the rest of the examples:
```
$resourceGroup = "myRG1"
$location = "eastus"
$anfAccountName = "myaccount1"
```
Note

Please refer to Products available by region for a list of supported regions. To obtain the region name that is supported by our command line tools, please use Get-AzLocation | select Location
Create a new resource group by using the New-AzResourceGroup command:
```
New-AzResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroup -Location $location
```

Create Azure NetApp Files account with New-AzNetAppFilesAccount command:

New-AzNetAppFilesAccount -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -Name $anfAccountName

Define some variables so we can refer to them throughout the rest of the examples:
```
RESOURCE_GROUP="myRG1"
LOCATION="eastus"
ANF_ACCOUNT_NAME="myaccount1"
```
Note

Please refer to Products available by region for a list of supported regions. To obtain the region name that is supported by our command line tools, please use az account list-locations --query "[].{Region:name}" --out table

Create a new resource group by using the az group create command:

az group create \
    --name $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --location $LOCATION

Create Azure NetApp Files account with az netappfiles account create command:

az netappfiles account create \
    --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --location $LOCATION \
    --account-name $ANF_ACCOUNT_NAME

An Azure Resource Manager template is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file that defines the infrastructure and configuration for your project. The template uses declarative syntax. You describe your intended deployment without writing the sequence of programming commands to create the deployment.

The following code snippet shows how to create a NetApp account in an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template), using the Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts resource. To run the code, download the full ARM template from our GitHub repo.

{
  "type": "Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts",
  "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
  "name": "[parameters('netAppAccountName')]",
  "location": "[parameters('location')]",
  "properties": {}
},

The following code snippet shows how to create a NetApp account using Terraform. The sample code for this article is located in the Azure Terraform GitHub repo. You can view the log file containing the test results from current and previous versions of Terraform.

# Create NetApp Account
resource "azurerm_netapp_account" "account" {
  name                = "account-${random_string.name.result}"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
}

Create a capacity pool

From the Azure NetApp Files management blade, select your NetApp account (myaccount1).
From the Azure NetApp Files management blade of your NetApp account, select Capacity pools.
Select + Add pools.
Provide information for the capacity pool:
- Enter mypool1 as the pool name.
- Select Premium for the service level.
- Specify 4 (TiB) as the pool size.
- Use the Auto QoS type.
Select Create.

Defining some new variables for future reference

$poolName = "mypool1"
$poolSizeBytes = 4398046511104 # 4TiB
$serviceLevel = "Premium" # Valid values are Standard, Premium and Ultra

Create a new capacity pool by using the New-AzNetAppFilesPool

New-AzNetAppFilesPool -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -AccountName $anfAccountName -Name $poolName -PoolSize $poolSizeBytes -ServiceLevel $serviceLevel

Defining some new variables for future reference

POOL_NAME="mypool1"
POOL_SIZE_TiB=4 # Size in Azure CLI needs to be in TiB unit (minimum 4 TiB)
SERVICE_LEVEL="Premium" # Valid values are Standard, Premium and Ultra

Create a new capacity pool by using the az netappfiles pool create

az netappfiles pool create \
    --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --location $LOCATION \
    --account-name $ANF_ACCOUNT_NAME \
    --pool-name $POOL_NAME \
    --size $POOL_SIZE_TiB \
    --service-level $SERVICE_LEVEL

The following code snippet shows how to create a capacity pool in an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template), using the Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts/capacityPools resource. To run the code, download the full ARM template from our GitHub repo.

{
  "type": "Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts/capacityPools",
  "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
  "name": "[variables('capacityPoolName')]",
  "location": "[parameters('location')]",
  "dependsOn": [
    "[resourceId('Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts', parameters('netAppAccountName'))]"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "serviceLevel": "[parameters('serviceLevel')]",
    "size": "[parameters('poolSizeBytes')]"
  }
},

The following code snippet shows how to create a NetApp capacity pool using Terraform. The sample code for this article is located in the Azure Terraform GitHub repo. You can view the log file containing the test results from current and previous versions of Terraform.

# Create NetApp Pool
resource "azurerm_netapp_pool" "pool" {
  name                = "pool-${random_string.name.result}"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  account_name        = azurerm_netapp_account.account.name
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  service_level       = "Premium"
  size_in_tb          = 4
}

Create an NFS volume for Azure NetApp Files

From the Azure NetApp Files management blade of your NetApp account, select Volumes.
Select + Add volume.
In the Create a Volume window, provide information for the volume:
1. Enter myvol1 as the volume name.
2. Select your capacity pool (mypool1).
3. Use the default value for quota.
4. Under virtual network, select Create new to create a new Azure virtual network (VNet). Then fill in the following information:
  - Enter myvnet1 as the Vnet name.
  - Specify an address space for your setting, for example, 10.7.0.0/16
  - Enter myANFsubnet as the subnet name.
  - Specify the subnet address range, for example, 10.7.0.0/24. You cannot share the dedicated subnet with other resources.
  - Select Microsoft.NetApp/volumes for subnet delegation.
  - Select OK to create the VNet.
5. In subnet, select the newly created Vnet (myvnet1) as the delegate subnet.
Select Protocol, and then complete the following actions:
- Select NFS as the protocol type for the volume.
- Enter myfilepath1 for the file path used to create the export path for the volume.
- Select the NFS version (NFSv3 or NFSv4.1) for the volume. See considerations and best practice about NFS versions.
Select Review + create to display information for the volume you're creating.
Select Create to create the volume. The created volume appears in the Volumes blade.

Create a subnet delegation to "Microsoft.NetApp/volumes" with New-AzDelegation command.

$anfDelegation = New-AzDelegation -Name ([guid]::NewGuid().Guid) -ServiceName "Microsoft.NetApp/volumes"

Create a subnet configuration by using New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig command.

$subnet = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig -Name "myANFSubnet" -AddressPrefix "10.7.0.0/24" -Delegation $anfDelegation

Create the virtual network by using the New-AzVirtualNetwork command.

$vnet = New-AzVirtualNetwork -Name "myvnet1" -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup -Location $location -AddressPrefix "10.7.0.0/16" -Subnet $subnet

Create the volume by using the New-AzNetAppFilesVolume command.

$volumeSizeBytes = 1099511627776 # 100GiB
$subnetId = $vnet.Subnets[0].Id

New-AzNetAppFilesVolume -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup `
    -Location $location `
    -AccountName $anfAccountName `
    -PoolName $poolName `
    -Name "myvol1" `
    -UsageThreshold $volumeSizeBytes `
    -SubnetId $subnetId `
    -CreationToken "myfilepath1" `
    -ServiceLevel $serviceLevel `
    -ProtocolType NFSv3

Defining some variables for later usage.

VNET_NAME="myvnet1"
SUBNET_NAME="myANFSubnet"

Create virtual network without subnet by using the az network vnet create command.

az network vnet create \
    --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --name $VNET_NAME \
    --location $LOCATION \
    --address-prefix "10.7.0.0/16"

Create a delegated subnet by using az network vnet subnet create command.

az network vnet subnet create \
    --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --vnet-name $VNET_NAME \
    --name $SUBNET_NAME \
    --address-prefixes "10.7.0.0/24" \
    --delegations "Microsoft.NetApp/volumes"

Create the volume by using the az netappfiles volume create command.

VNET_ID=$(az network vnet show --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --name $VNET_NAME --query "id" -o tsv)
SUBNET_ID=$(az network vnet subnet show --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --vnet-name $VNET_NAME --name $SUBNET_NAME --query "id" -o tsv)
VOLUME_SIZE_GiB=100 # 100 GiB
UNIQUE_FILE_PATH="myfilepath2" # Please note that creation token needs to be unique within subscription and region

az netappfiles volume create \
    --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --location $LOCATION \
    --account-name $ANF_ACCOUNT_NAME \
    --pool-name $POOL_NAME \
    --name "myvol1" \
    --service-level $SERVICE_LEVEL \
    --vnet $VNET_ID \
    --subnet $SUBNET_ID \
    --usage-threshold $VOLUME_SIZE_GiB \
    --file-path $UNIQUE_FILE_PATH \
    --protocol-types "NFSv3"

The following code snippets show how to set up a VNet and create an Azure NetApp Files volume in an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template). VNet setup uses the Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks resource. Volume creation uses the Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts/capacityPools/volumes resource. To run the code, download the full ARM template from our GitHub repo.

{
  "type": "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks",
  "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
  "name": "[parameters('virtualNetworkName')]",
  "location": "[parameters('location')]",
  "properties": {
    "addressSpace": {
      "addressPrefixes": [
        "[parameters('vnetAddressPrefix')]"
      ]
    },
    "subnets": [
      {
        "name": "[parameters('subnetName')]",
        "properties": {
          "addressPrefix": "[parameters('subnetAddressPrefix')]",
          "delegations": [
            {
              "name": "NetAppDelegation",
              "properties": {
                "serviceName": "Microsoft.NetApp/volumes"
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
},

{
  "type": "Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts/capacityPools/volumes",
  "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
  "name": "[variables('volumeName')]",
  "location": "[parameters('location')]",
  "dependsOn": [
    "[resourceId('Microsoft.NetApp/netAppAccounts/capacityPools', parameters('netAppAccountName'), parameters('netAppPoolName'))]",
    "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks', parameters('virtualNetworkName'))]"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "serviceLevel": "[parameters('serviceLevel')]",
    "creationToken": "[parameters('netAppVolumeName')]",
    "usageThreshold": "[parameters('volSizeBytes')]",
    "exportPolicy": {
      "rules": [
        {
          "ruleIndex": 1,
          "unixReadOnly": "[parameters('unixReadOnly')]",
          "unixReadWrite": "[parameters('unixReadWrite')]",
          "cifs": false,
          "nfsv3": "[if(equals( parameters('protocolTypes'), 'NFSv3'),bool('true'),bool('false'))]",
          "nfsv41": "[if(equals(parameters('protocolTypes'), 'NFSv4.1'),bool('true'),bool('false'))]",
          "allowedClients": "[parameters('allowedClients')]"
        }
      ]
    },
    "protocolTypes": [
      "[parameters('protocolTypes')]"
    ],
    "subnetId": "[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets', parameters('virtualNetworkName'), parameters('subnetName'))]",
    "snapshotDirectoryVisible": "[parameters('snapshotDirectoryVisible')]"
  }
}

The following code snippets show how to set up a VNet and create an Azure NetApp Files volume using Terraform. The sample code for this article is located in the Azure Terraform GitHub repo. You can view the log file containing the test results from current and previous versions of Terraform.

# Create Virtual Network
resource "azurerm_virtual_network" "vnet" {
  name                = "vnet-${random_string.name.result}"
  address_space       = ["10.0.0.0/16"]
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
}

# Create Subnet for NetApp
resource "azurerm_subnet" "subnet" {
  name                 = "subnet-${random_string.name.result}"
  resource_group_name  = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  virtual_network_name = azurerm_virtual_network.vnet.name
  address_prefixes     = ["10.0.0.0/24"]
  delegation {
    name = "delegation"

    service_delegation {
      name = "Microsoft.Netapp/volumes"
      actions = [
        "Microsoft.Network/networkinterfaces/*",
        "Microsoft.Network/virtualNetworks/subnets/join/action"
      ]
    }
  }
}

# Create NetApp Volume
resource "azurerm_netapp_volume" "volume" {
  name                = "volume-${random_string.name.result}"
  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name
  account_name        = azurerm_netapp_account.account.name
  pool_name           = azurerm_netapp_pool.pool.name
  location            = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location
  volume_path         = "volume-${random_string.name.result}"
  protocols           = ["NFSv4.1"]
  service_level       = "Premium"
  subnet_id           = azurerm_subnet.subnet.id
  storage_quota_in_gb = 100
  export_policy_rule {
    rule_index        = 1
    allowed_clients   = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
    protocols_enabled = ["NFSv4.1"]
    unix_read_only    = false
    unix_read_write   = true
  }
}

Clean up resources

When you're done and if you want to, you can delete the resource group. The action of deleting a resource group is irreversible.

Important

Deleting a resource group also deletes all resources within it. The action can't be undone.

Important

Before you delete a resource group, you must first delete the backups. Deleting a resource group doesn't delete the backups. You can preemptively delete backups on volumes by manually delete the backups. If you delete the resource group without deleting all the backups, you lose the ability to see the backups. The backups, however, can continue to incur costs. If you're wrongly billed for some backups, open a support case ticket to get this issue resolved.

In the Azure portal's search box, enter Azure NetApp Files and then select Azure NetApp Files from the list that appears.
In the list of subscriptions, select the resource group (myRG1) you want to delete.
In the resource group page, select Delete resource group.

A window opens and displays a warning about the resources to be deleted with the resource group.
Enter the name of the resource group (myRG1) to confirm that you want to permanently delete the resource group and all resources in it, and then select Delete.

When you're done and if you want to, you can delete the resource group. The action of deleting a resource group is irreversible.

Important

Deleting a resource group also deletes all resources within it. The action can't be undone.

Delete resource group by using the Remove-AzResourceGroup command.
```
Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroup
```

When you're done and if you want to, you can delete the resource group. The action of deleting a resource group is irreversible.

Important

Deleting a resource group also deletes all resources within it. The action can't be undone.

Delete resource group by using the az group delete command.
```
az group delete \
    --name $RESOURCE_GROUP
```

When you no longer need the resources created via Terraform, do the following steps:

Run terraform plan and specify the destroy flag.
```
terraform plan -destroy -out main.destroy.tfplan
```
Key points:
- The terraform plan command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources.
- The optional -out parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the -out parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.
Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan.
```
terraform apply main.destroy.tfplan
```

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Quickstart: Set up Azure NetApp Files and create an NFS volume

Register for NetApp Resource Provider

Create a NetApp account

Create a capacity pool

Create an NFS volume for Azure NetApp Files

Clean up resources

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