How to add a brick to a GlusterFS volume

Adding a brick to a GlusterFS volume expands usable capacity without changing the volume name or client mount point, making growth possible without a migration.

In GlusterFS, a brick is a directory such as /srv/gluster/brick2 on a trusted pool peer, and gluster volume add-brick records that path in the volume configuration so new data can be allocated across the larger set of bricks.

Brick directories must exist before being added, remain empty, and sit on dedicated filesystems (commonly XFS) to avoid filling the operating system volume; replicated and dispersed volumes must add bricks in groups that match the replica or disperse count, and a rebalance can generate significant background I/O.

Steps to add a brick to a GlusterFS volume:

Display the current brick layout for the volume.

$ sudo gluster volume info volume1

Volume Name: volume1
Type: Distributed
Volume ID: 19550419-3495-45d7-bdc6-cab4fa4fb516
Status: Started
Number of Bricks: 2
Bricks:
Brick1: node1:/srv/gluster/brick1
Brick2: node2:/srv/gluster/brick1

Create the new brick directory on the target node.
```
$ sudo mkdir -p /srv/gluster/brick2
```
Placing bricks on / (root) or other shared system filesystems can fill the node filesystem and destabilize glusterd and other services.
Confirm the new brick directory is empty.
```
$ sudo find /srv/gluster/brick2 -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -print
```
No output indicates an empty brick directory.
Confirm the brick directory is on the intended filesystem.
```
$ sudo df -Th /srv/gluster/brick2
Filesystem     Type  Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb1      xfs   500G   35G  465G   8% /srv/gluster
```
XFS is commonly used for production bricks, but the key requirement is a dedicated, stable filesystem with sufficient free space.
Add the new brick path to the volume.
```
$ sudo gluster volume add-brick volume1 node3:/srv/gluster/brick2
volume add-brick: success
```
For replicated volumes, add bricks in multiples of the replica count to preserve the volume layout.

Confirm the volume configuration lists the new brick.

$ sudo gluster volume info volume1

Volume Name: volume1
Type: Distributed
Status: Started
Number of Bricks: 3
Bricks:
Brick1: node1:/srv/gluster/brick1
Brick2: node2:/srv/gluster/brick1
Brick3: node3:/srv/gluster/brick2

Start a rebalance to distribute existing data across the new brick layout.
```
$ sudo gluster volume rebalance volume1 start
volume rebalance: volume1: success: Rebalance on volume volume1 has been started successfully
```
Rebalance moves file layouts in the background and can compete with client I/O on busy volumes, so scheduling during lower-traffic windows reduces impact.

Related: How to rebalance a GlusterFS volume

Check the rebalance status until it reports completed state.

$ sudo gluster volume rebalance volume1 status

                              Node Rebalanced-files size scanned failures skipped status   run time in sec
                         --------- --------------- ---- ------- -------- --------- ------ --------------
                         node1                1187  10GB  1.1M        0       0   completed           233
                         node2                1234  10GB  1.2M        0       0   completed           245
                         node3                1199  10GB  1.1M        0       0   completed           240

Volumes with large file counts can remain in in progress for extended periods, so repeated checks are expected.

Verify the new brick reports online status.

$ sudo gluster volume status volume1
Status of volume: volume1
Gluster process                             TCP Port  RDMA Port  Online  Pid
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brick node1:/srv/gluster/brick1             49152     0          Y       1443
Brick node2:/srv/gluster/brick1             49153     0          Y       1398
Brick node3:/srv/gluster/brick2             49154     0          Y       1522

Author: Mohd Shakir Zakaria
Mohd Shakir Zakaria is a cloud architect with deep roots in software development and open-source advocacy. Certified in AWS, Red Hat, VMware, ITIL, and Linux, he specializes in designing and managing robust cloud and on-premises infrastructures.