> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kinetica.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kinetica File System (KiFS)

<a id="kifs-tools" />

The *Kinetica File System (KiFS)* is a file system interface that's packaged
with *Kinetica*.  It provides a repository for users to store and make use of
files within the database.

*KiFS* can be leveraged by several *Kinetica* features:

* [UDFs](/content/udf_overview)
  ([in SQL](/content/sql/udf#sql-create-function))
* [External tables](/content/concepts/external_tables)
  ([in SQL](/content/sql/ddl#sql-create-ext-table))
* [/insert/records/fromfiles](/content/api/rest/insert_records_fromfiles_rest) API
  calls ([SQL LOAD INTO](/content/sql/load#sql-load-file-server))

*KiFS* files can be referenced with the following URI:

```
kifs://<kifs directory><kifs file>
```

For example, the following URI can be broken down into three components:

```
kifs://data/geospatial/flights.csv
```

| Component | Value                     |
| --------- | ------------------------- |
| Scheme    | `kifs://`                 |
| Directory | `data`                    |
| File      | `/geospatial/flights.csv` |

The unique *KiFS* file name, when referenced in the API, is the composite of the
directory and file:

```
data/geospatial/flights.csv
```

## Configuration

In the default configuration, *KiFS* is enabled and makes use of the standard
*Kinetica* persistence scheme, distributing files among the cluster nodes.

*KiFS* can also be configured to use any of the following for file storage:

* Local shared storage, mounted and accessible to every node in the *Kinetica*
  cluster
* Azure (Microsoft blob storage)
* HDFS (Apache Hadoop Distributed File System)
* S3 (Amazon S3 Bucket)

To configure *KiFS* to use one of these other storage types, update the
<Badge color="gray">/opt/gpudb/core/etc/gpudb.conf</Badge> configuration file in the
[KiFS section](/content/config#config-main-kifs) with one of the following setups,
and then restart the database.

<Info>
  Remote storage configuration parameters mirror those used for defining
  cold storage tiers.  See [Cold Storage Tier](/content/config#config-main-cold-storage-tier) in the
  *Configuration Reference* for the full set of parameters.
</Info>

```sh title="Local Shared KiFS Storage Configuration Example" theme={null}
kifs.type=disk
kifs.base_path=/opt/gpudb/kifs
```

```sh title="Azure KiFS Storage Configuration Example" theme={null}
kifs.type = azure
kifs.base_path = /gpudb/kifs
kifs.azure_container_name = kinetica
kifs.azure_storage_account_name = <azure account name>
kifs.azure_storage_account_key = <azure account key>
```

```sh title="HDFS KiFS Storage Configuration Example" theme={null}
kifs.type = hdfs
kifs.base_path = /gpudb/kifs
kifs.hdfs_uri = hdfs://localhost:9000
kifs.hdfs_principal = kinetica
kifs.hdfs_use_kerberos = true
kifs.hdfs_kerberos_keytab = /opt/gpudb/krb5.keytab
```

```sh title="S3 KiFS Storage Configuration Example" theme={null}
kifs.type = s3
kifs.base_path = /gpudb/kifs
kifs.wait_timeout = 10
kifs.connection_timeout = 30
kifs.s3_bucket_name = kifs-bucket
kifs.s3_aws_access_key_id = <aws access key>
kifs.s3_aws_secret_access_key = <aws secret key>
```

## SQL Interface

*KiFS* is able to be managed via SQL.  See [Files & Directories (KiFS)](/content/sql/kifs#sql-kifs) for details.

*Files* can be uploaded to and downloaded from *KiFS* using
[Kinetica SQL (KiSQL)](/content/tools/kisql) or any JDBC client by using the
[Kinetica JDBC Driver](/content/connectors/sql_guide#odbc-jdbc).

## Native API Support

The *Kinetica Java API* provides a streamlined interface for managing *files* &
*directories* in *KiFS*.  See [KiFS API Support](/content/tools/kifs_api) for details.