How to fix storageclass.storage.k8s.io "standard" not found in Kubernetes

Run this command to see what StorageClasses actually exist:

kubectl get storageclass

If this returns nothing or doesn't include the class your PVC expects, that's the problem.

Check the PVC specification and recent events:

kubectl describe pvc <pvc-name> -n <namespace>

Look at the Storage Class field in the output and the Events section at the bottom.

If the StorageClass name from the PVC doesn't appear in the list from step 1, it doesn't exist.

For cloud providers, verify the CSI driver pods are running:

kubectl get pods -A | grep -E "(ebs-csi|azure-disk|gce-pd|csi-driver)"

You have two options:

Option A: Create the StorageClass if it's the right provisioner but missing:

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: standard
provisioner: kubernetes.io/aws-ebs  # or your cloud provider
parameters:
  type: gp2
  iops: "100"
  volumeBindingMode: Immediate

Then apply it:

kubectl apply -f storageclass.yaml

Option B: Fix the PVC manifest to reference an existing StorageClass:

Edit the PVC YAML and set spec.storageClassName to a name from step 1, or remove the field to use the default StorageClass (if one exists):

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: my-pvc
spec:
  storageClassName: standard  # Match an existing class
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi

Bare metal clusters don't come with storage provisioners. Install one of these options:

Local volumes (simplest, data-local, no HA):

apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: local-storage
provisioner: kubernetes.io/no-provisioner
volumeBindingMode: WaitForFirstConsumer

NFS (network storage, multi-node access):

Deploy NFS provisioner via Helm:

helm repo add nfs-subdir-external-provisioner https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/nfs-subdir-external-provisioner/
helm install nfs-provisioner nfs-subdir-external-provisioner/nfs-subdir-external-provisioner \
  --set nfs.server=192.168.1.100 \
  --set nfs.path=/exports

Ceph/Longhorn (distributed storage, HA):

Use Helm charts for production deployments.

After creating/fixing the StorageClass, the PVC should bind automatically:

kubectl get pvc -n <namespace>

Look for STATUS = Bound instead of Pending. This may take a few seconds. If still Pending, describe the PVC again to check for new errors:

kubectl describe pvc <pvc-name> -n <namespace>