Shares
A key feature of Unraid is the management of shares. Shares are folders or drives on your Unraid server that can be accessed over a network. You can create as many shares as you want on your Unraid server. These shares can be secured, and their configuration determines how data is written and distributed across your array or named pool of drives.
Unraid offers two types of shares to optimize your data management:
- User Shares: These utilize Linux FUSE and represent folders within the broader file system.
- Disk Shares: These share the entire disk using the drive’s file system.
It's important to remember that both share types present different views of the same underlying file system; any file or folder visible in a user share will also appear under the disk share for its respective physical drive.
When you start services like Docker or VM Manager, Unraid automatically creates a set of default user shares designed to support common plugins, Docker containers, and virtual machines (VMs). You can conveniently create additional shares for your personal data as needed.
To manage your shares, simply navigate to the Shares tab in the WebGUI. Here, you can easily enable or disable shares through Settings → Global Share Settings. By default, user shares are enabled, providing a straightforward starting point for your file organization.
User shares
User shares provide an aggregated view of top-level folders with the same name across cache and array drives. The share name corresponds to the folder name, creating a unified network-accessible view that spans multiple drives. It's important to note that while directories appear merged, individual files remain stored on a single drive.
Managing user shares
You can access and manage User shares from the Shares tab in the WebGUI. This interface allows you to:
- Review all existing shares
- Create new shares
- Modify or delete existing shares
Any top-level folder that is manually created on a drive is automatically recognized as a User Share and assigned default attributes.
File system structure
At the Linux level, User shares are accessible under /mnt/user
, which combines files from both the array and pools. This logical view overlays the physical file system, meaning files are also visible through Disk Shares at the drive level.
The deprecated /mnt/user0
mount point (which excludes pool files) may be removed in future Unraid releases.
Storage allocation
The physical drive that stores a file is determined by share settings such as Allocation Method, Included/Excluded Disks, and Split Level. Changes to these settings will affect only new files; existing files will remain untouched unless moved manually.
Do not mix User Shares and Disk Shares
Never copy or move files directly between a user share and a disk share (for example, between /mnt/user/share
and /mnt/disk1/share
) - especially if the folder names are the same. This can cause file corruption or permanent data loss.
For safe file management practices and more details, see the Disk share guidelines below.
Add a share
Before creating a share, consider how you'll use it, your performance needs, security, and where files should be stored.
To add a share:
-
Start the process: Go to the Shares tab and click on Add Share.
-
Choose a share name: Pick a unique name for your share, like
Media
orDocuments
.Share namesEven though network shares (SMB) don’t care about capitalization (e.g.,
MEDIA
is the same asmedia
), Linux file systems do. Avoid using names that are identical but only differ in case to prevent issues. -
Optional settings:
- Comments: Write a short description to identify your share (e.g., "Family Photos").
- Minimum Free Space: Decide on a minimum amount of free space (e.g.,
50GB
for large files). (For more details, see Minimum free space)
-
Select storage locations:
- Primary Storage: Choose where the share will initially be stored (e.g., cache, array, or a specific pool).
- Secondary Storage: Set an overflow location that can be used when primary storage is full, and also serves as the final destination for the share once the Mover runs.
(For more details, see Primary and secondary storage.)
-
Set data rules:
- Allocation Method: Pick how data will be stored - options include high-water, fill-up, or most-free. (For more details, see Allocation method.)
- Split Level: Determine how folders should be organized. (For more details, see Split level.)
-
Manage drives:
- Included Disks: Choose specific drives to include (e.g.,
disk1,disk2
). - Excluded Disks: Specify any drives you want to exclude (like older drives).
(For more details, see Included or excluded disks.)
tipYou can configure either Included or Excluded Disks, but not both at the same time.
- Included Disks: Choose specific drives to include (e.g.,
-
Mover Settings (if needed)
- Mover Action: Decide the direction of data movement (either Primary → Secondary or Secondary → Primary).
(For more details, see Moving files between cache and array.)
-
Complete the process: Click Add Share to finish setting up your new share.
By default, a new share will not be shared over the network. You must configure network access after the share is created.
Delete a share
To prevent any potential data loss, shares that contain data cannot be deleted. Therefore, you should either delete or relocate all contents within the share first. Always double-check to confirm that the share is empty before proceeding with its removal for a secure process.
Shares containing data
For shares containing data:
- Empty the share first:
- Use the built-in File Manager accessible through the system shortcuts (Tools → File Manager) or click the
icon in the top-right corner.
- Find your share in Shares and click the Browse icon.
- Delete or move all files using the file manager.
- Use the built-in File Manager accessible through the system shortcuts (Tools → File Manager) or click the
Using the Command Line (Advanced)
-
Open the terminal: Use the Web Terminal (Tools → Terminal) or connect via SSH.
-
Delete files:
Run this command, replacing[share_name]
with your share's name:
rm -rf /mnt/user/[share_name]/*
- Delete the share: Follow the steps to delete an empty share above.
- The
rm -rf
command will permanently delete files. Double-check before using it. - Make sure no Docker or VM services are using the share before you delete it.
- Delete the share:
- Go back to Shares and click on the now-empty share.
- Check the Delete box and click Delete.
- Confirm and click Done.
Deleting an empty share
- Go to the Shares tab.
- Click on the share you want to delete.
- Check the box next to Delete. The button will change to Delete.
- Click Delete.
- Confirm the deletion and click Done.