K8S Reference - PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) YAML

A PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) is a request for storage made by an application. Developers create PVCs instead of dealing directly with disks or storage infrastructure. Kubernetes then finds a matching PersistentVolume (PV) or dynamically provisions one using a StorageClass.

Element	Required / Optional	Description	Example Syntax
apiVersion	Required	Specifies the Kubernetes API version. For PVCs, this is always v1.	apiVersion: v1
kind	Required	Defines the Kubernetes resource type.	kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata.name	Required	The unique name of the claim. Pods, Deployments, and StatefulSets reference this name when mounting storage.	name: my-app-claim
spec.accessModes	Required	Defines how the application intends to access the storage. The requested mode must be supported by the underlying PersistentVolume.	- ReadWriteOnce
spec.resources.requests.storage	Required	Specifies the minimum storage capacity required by the application.	storage: 10Gi
spec.storageClassName	Optional (Recommended)	References a specific StorageClass for dynamic provisioning or acts as a matching tag when binding to a static PersistentVolume.	storageClassName: manual
spec.volumeMode	Optional	Specifies whether the storage should be mounted as a traditional filesystem or exposed as a raw block device. Defaults to Filesystem.	volumeMode: Filesystem

PVC Binding Rule: Kubernetes will only bind a PVC to a PersistentVolume that satisfies all requested requirements, including storage size, accessModes, storageClassName, and volumeMode.

Relationship:

Pod → PVC → PV → Physical Storage

Applications consume storage through PVCs, while Kubernetes handles the mapping to actual disks or cloud storage resources.