Integrating Kasten K10 with TrueNAS for Backup on OpenShift

4 min readApr 11, 2026

Modern Kubernetes environments require reliable backup and disaster recovery. Kasten K10 is a Kubernetes-native data protection platform that provides policy-driven backups, application mobility, and disaster recovery. When combined with TrueNAS NFS storage, it becomes a powerful and cost-effective backup repository for OpenShift workloads.

This article explains how to integrate Kasten K10 with TrueNAS using NFS storage to enable automated application backups.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following are in place:

TrueNAS Server : A TrueNAS server with the NFS service running
TrueNAS NFS Host : IP address or hostname of the TrueNAS server
NFS Mount Path : Dataset path exported via NFS
Storage Capacity : Sufficient storage allocated for backups
NFS Permissions : Appropriate dataset permissions configured
Kasten K10 : Installed on the OpenShift cluster in the kasten-io namespace
VolumeSnapshotClass

Why Use TrueNAS as a Backup Target

TrueNAS provides enterprise-grade storage with strong data integrity.

Key advantages:

ZFS filesystem

End-to-end checksums
Data corruption protection
Snapshot capability

NFS support

Native integration with Kubernetes
RWX access mode
Easy external storage integration

Large backup repository

Ideal for long-term backup retention
Cost-efficient compared to cloud object storage

Creating the TrueNAS NFS Backup Repository

First, create a dataset inside the storage pool.

Example dataset:

/mnt/pool0/k10-repo

Then configure the NFS share.

Important settings:

| Setting       | Value      |
| ------------- | ---------- |
| Maproot User  | root       |
| Maproot Group | wheel      |

Disabling root squashing ensures Kasten can write backup data.

Connecting OpenShift to TrueNAS

Create a static PersistentVolume pointing to the TrueNAS NFS share.

kind: PersistentVolume
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: truenas-persistent-volume
spec:
  capacity:
    storage: 50Gi
  nfs:
    server: 112.12.11.21 # Your TrueNAS server IP
    path: /mnt/pool0/k10-repo # NFS export path on TrueNAS
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteMany
  mountOptions:
    - hard
    - nfsvers=4.1



Expected output:

```
NAME                        STATUS   VOLUME       CAPACITY   ACCESS MODES   STORAGECLASS   
truenas-persistent-volume   Bound    truenas-pv     50Gi       RWX            nfs            
```

Then create a PVC in the kasten namespace.

kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: truenas-persistent-volume-claim
  namespace: kasten-io
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteMany
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 50Gi
  volumeName: truenas-persistent-volume
  storageClassName: "" #it should be nfs storage class or cephfs
  volumeMode: Filesystem

This PVC becomes the backup repository for Kasten exports.

Creating the Kasten Location Profile

Kasten uses a Location Profile to define backup storage.

kind: Profile
apiVersion: config.kio.kasten.io/v1alpha1
metadata:
  name: truenas-profile
  namespace: kasten-io
spec:
  type: Location
  locationSpec:
    type: FileStore
    fileStore:
      claimName: truenas-persistent-volume-claim
      path: /

This configuration tells Kasten to store backup exports on the TrueNAS NFS volume.

Create the Shallow StorageClass

If your cluster uses ODF/OCS with CephFS, create a shallow StorageClass to optimize export performance.

Without this:

Full clone is created
Higher storage usage
Slower backups

With backingSnapshot: "true":

Instant snapshot-backed clone
Minimal storage usage
Faster exports

kind: StorageClass
apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: cephfs-shallow
  annotations:
    k10.kasten.io/sc-supports-block-mode-exports: 'true'
    k10.kasten.io/sc-supports-read-only-mount: 'true'
provisioner: openshift-storage.cephfs.csi.ceph.com
parameters:
  clusterID: openshift-storage
  fsName: ocs-storagecluster-cephfilesystem
  backingSnapshot: 'true'
reclaimPolicy: Delete
allowVolumeExpansion: true
volumeBindingMode: Immediate

Annotate the VolumeSnapshotClass

Kasten requires a VolumeSnapshotClass annotated with its specific annotation. Without this, backup policies will fail with a “Failed to find VolumeSnapshotClass” error.

# Find your existing VolumeSnapshotClasses:


$ oc get volumesnapshotclass


# Annotate the one that matches your storage provisioner

# For CephFS

$ oc annotate volumesnapshotclass ocs-storagecluster-cephfsplugin-snapclass \
  k10.kasten.io/is-snapshot-class=true

# For RBD
$ oc annotate volumesnapshotclass ocs-storagecluster-rbdplugin-snapclass \
  k10.kasten.io/is-snapshot-class=true

Backup Policy Example

Kasten policies define how often backups run.

Example weekly policy:

apiVersion: config.kio.kasten.io/v1alpha1
kind: Policy
metadata:
  name: true-nas-snapshot
  namespace: kasten-io
spec:
  frequency: "@weekly"
  retention:
    daily: 7
  selector:
    matchExpressions:
      - key: k10.kasten.io/appNamespace
        operator: In
        values:
          - production      # Replace with your app namespace
  actions:
    - action: backup
      backupParameters:
        filters: {}
        profile:
          name: truenas-profile
          namespace: kasten-io
        imageRepoProfile:
          name: truenas-profile
          namespace: kasten-io
    - action: export
      exportParameters:
        frequency: "@daily"
        profile:
          name: truenas-profile
          namespace: kasten-io
        exportData:
          enabled: true
          overrides:
            - storageClassName: ocs-storagecluster-cephfs
              enabled: true
              exporterStorageClassName: cephfs-shallow
      retention:
        daily: 30

Verify the Setup

# Check all resources


$ oc get pvc truenas-pvc -n kasten-io 

$ oc get profile true-nas -n kasten-io 

$ oc get policy true-nas-dailysnapshot -n kasten-io

$ oc get volumesnapshotclass


# Trigger a manual policy run


$ oc -n kasten-io annotate policy true-nas-dailysnapshot \
  k10.kasten.io/manualTrigger=$(date +%s) --overwrite

# Monitor the run

$ oc get actions -n kasten-io --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp | tail -5

Conclusion

Integrating Kasten K10 with TrueNAS provides a cost-effective, enterprise-grade backup solution for OpenShift workloads.

With this setup:

Fast restores are handled via CSI snapshots
Long-term retention is managed through TrueNAS
Backup operations are automated and scalable

This combination ensures both operational efficiency and disaster recovery readiness for Kubernetes environments.

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About The Author
Suraj Solanki
Senior DevOps Engineer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suraj-solanki
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