Deploy an Ubuntu Server with a Data Volume with Quick Start in InMotion Central

Introduction

A server's main disk holds the operating system. When you need more room for files, backups, or a database, a separate volume is the better place for that data. It is sized independently from the server, and it keeps your data apart from the operating system.

Adding a volume by hand means creating it, attaching it to a server, formatting it, mounting it, and making sure it mounts again after a reboot. The Server + Data Volume Quick Start template in InMotion Central does all of that for you. It launches an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server, attaches a block storage volume of the size you choose, formats it, and mounts it at /mnt/data.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to deploy a server with a data volume and confirm the volume is ready to use.

Steps to Deploy the Server + Data Volume Template

1. Open Quick Start in Your Cloud Project

1. Log in to InMotion Central and select Projects from the left navigation bar.
2. Open your cloud project and click Quick Start in the project sidebar.
3. Locate the Server + Data Volume template card and click Deploy.

2. Configure Your Deployment Settings

In the Deploy Server + Data Volume dialog, review or customize the settings:

Basic

• Stack name: Enter a name for this deployment (for example, server-with-volume). Use letters, numbers, dots, underscores, or hyphens.
• Server name: Enter a hostname for the new server (defaults to server-1).
• Image: Choose Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.
• Flavor: Choose the server size (vCPU, RAM, and NVMe storage) that fits your workload.

Storage

• Volume size (GB): Enter the size of the data volume, from 1 to 1000 GB (defaults to 20).

Networking

• Public network: Keep External selected. This is the network your public IP address comes from.
• If your project already has a private network, select it from the Private network dropdown.
• If your project does not have a private network yet, InMotion Central offers to create a Private Network + Router deployment first, using the prefilled subnet (192.168.10.0/24) and DNS servers (1.1.1.1, 8.8.8.8).

SSH

• SSH key: Select an existing SSH key, click Generate New Key, or click Paste Public Key. You need a key to sign in to the server.
• SSH whitelist: Confirm the comma-separated IP addresses or CIDR ranges allowed on port 22 (prefilled with your current public IP address). Leave this field empty if you want port 22 closed.

3. Launch and Monitor Your Deployment

1. Click Deploy (or Create Network And Deploy if you are creating a private network at the same time).
2. Scroll down to My Deployments at the bottom of the Quick Start page to track progress.
3. Wait a minute or two while the server boots, the volume attaches, and first-boot setup formats and mounts it. When setup finishes, the Status column for server-with-volume changes to CREATE_COMPLETE.

4. Copy Your Server's Public IP Address

1. Next to your server-with-volume deployment under My Deployments, click Outputs.
2. Copy the floating_ip value. This is your server's public floating IP address.

How to Know the Installation Was Successful

Once your deployment status reaches CREATE_COMPLETE, sign in to the server and check the volume:

If you attached an SSH key and whitelisted your IP address during setup, connect to the server as the ubuntu user:

1$ ssh ubuntu@<floating_ip>
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Check that the volume is attached and mounted

1$ lsblk /dev/vdb
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NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
vdb  253:16   0  20G  0 disk /mnt/data

The volume appears as the disk vdb, at the size you chose, mounted at /mnt/data.

Check the free space on the volume

1$ df -h /mnt/data
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Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/vdb         20G   24K   19G   1% /mnt/data

What Was Automatically Set Up

On first boot, the server waited for the volume to attach, then:

• Formatted it as ext4, but only because it was blank. A volume that already has a filesystem is never wiped.
• Mounted it at /mnt/data.
• Added it to /etc/fstab so it mounts again every time the server restarts.

Check the entry that remounts the volume after a reboot

1$ grep /mnt/data /etc/fstab
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UUID=2d934122-17f9-4974-a962-b6f6ad3201cf /mnt/data ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2

The UUID is unique to your volume. The nofail option lets the server finish booting even if the volume is ever detached.

Check the Ubuntu version installed

1$ lsb_release -ds
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Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS

Store your data under /mnt/data. The folder is owned by root, so use sudo or change its ownership (for example, sudo chown ubuntu:ubuntu /mnt/data) before writing to it as the ubuntu user.