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Zylon stores its application data under /var/zylon. By default, this directory lives on the same disk as the operating system. As your deployment grows, you may need to move that data to a larger or dedicated disk. This guide walks through relocating Zylon data to a separate disk or partition without reinstalling the platform.

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When to use this guide

Use this procedure when:
  • The OS disk is running low on space but you have an additional disk available.
  • You want to isolate Zylon data on dedicated storage for performance or operational reasons.
  • You are preparing the server for a storage layout change (for example, before enabling disk encryption).

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What gets moved

Zylon’s persistent state is stored under /var/zylon, including:
  • Uploaded documents and knowledge-base content
  • Databases
  • Dependencies (drivers, binaries), stored in artifacts
  • AI models
  • Kubernetes persistent volumes managed by Zylon
You can choose which directories under /var/zylon to move based on what is consuming the most space on your server. The same bind-mount approach works for any path listed above.
Back up before you begin. This is a high-risk operation; data loss is possible if anything goes wrong.Create a backup and verify you can restore it before continuing:
Copy the resulting backup file to a safe external location and confirm you can access it. See the Backup guide for details.

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Overview

This procedure moves selected data directories to a dedicated disk while keeping the rest of /var/zylon on the OS volume. Zylon continues to use the same paths (for example, /var/zylon/artifacts and /var/zylon/ai-models). Bind mounts in /etc/fstab redirect those paths to the new disk, so no application configuration changes are required. At a high level, you will:
  1. Identify the target disk: find an unused disk or partition with enough space for current and future data.
  2. Prepare the disk: partition it (if needed), format it with ext4, and mount it at /mnt/data.
  3. Stop Zylon: shut down the Kubernetes cluster with sudo k0s stop so files are not in use during the copy.
  4. Migrate the data: copy the chosen directories from /var/zylon to the new disk.
  5. Configure bind mounts: add entries to /etc/fstab so the new disk paths are mounted back at their original locations under /var/zylon on every boot.
  6. Start Zylon and verify: bring the cluster back up and confirm Zylon is healthy.
  7. Remove old data: once verified, delete the original copies on the OS disk and remount the bind mounts.
Expect downtime during the migration. Zylon must be stopped while data is copied and mounts are reconfigured. The duration depends on how much data you are moving.

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Step 1: Identify the target disk

Run lsblk to see which disks are attached to the server. You need a device that is not already in use (no mount points listed) and has enough space for your Zylon data:
In our example, the output looks like this:
In this example, we use nvme0n1 as the target. Replace /dev/nvme0n1 with your actual device in every command below.

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Step 2: Prepare the target disk

Create a mount point and configure the target disk to mount automatically at boot. If the disk is already partitioned and formatted, skip the partitioning and formatting commands below and go straight to creating the mount point.
Partitioning and formatting erase all data on the target disk. Only run these commands on a blank disk, or when you are certain the device has no data you need to keep. Double-check you have selected the correct device before proceeding.
If the disk is not already partitioned and formatted, run the following to set it up with ext4:
Create the mount point on the new disk:
Get the disk UUID so the mount survives reboots:
The output will look similar to:
Add an entry to /etc/fstab using your UUID (replace the value below with the one from your output):
Reload systemd and mount the disk:
Confirm the disk is mounted:

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Step 3: Stop Zylon

Stop the Kubernetes cluster so no processes are reading or writing the directories you are about to migrate:
Wait until the command completes before continuing.

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Step 4: Migrate data to the new disk

You can decide which directories under /var/zylon to move to the new disk. Choose the paths that are using the most space or that you want to keep separate from the OS volume. In this example, we move Zylon dependencies and AI models. Dependencies are stored in the artifacts directory.
Verify the copy completed and the file counts look reasonable:
The sizes on the source and destination should match.

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Step 5: Point Zylon to the new location

Add bind mount entries to /etc/fstab. These make Linux present the data on the new disk at the original paths Zylon expects:
Confirm both bind mounts are active:
Each command should show the mount source pointing to /mnt/data/zylon/....

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Step 6: Start Zylon and verify

Start the cluster and confirm Zylon is working normally:
Log in to the workspace and run a query that uses AI models to confirm both directories are being served from the new disk.

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Step 7: Remove old data

Once you have verified Zylon is healthy, remove the original copies from the OS disk to reclaim space. This step requires stopping Zylon again and temporarily unmounting the bind mounts. Stop Zylon:
Unmount the bind mounts (this does not affect the data on /mnt/data):
Confirm they are no longer mounted:
Both commands should return no results. Remove the old data and recreate the empty mount-point directories:
Reapply the bind mounts from /etc/fstab:
Confirm the bind mounts are back:
Start Zylon: