How to Connect an MCDrive Disk to a Virtual Machine: NFS, SFTP and Synology Drive

MCDrive is handy not only on employees’ computers but on servers too: store backups, 1C exports and application files there. Here are three ways to connect the disk to a virtual machine, on Linux and on Windows.

Which method to choose

In short: if your server is with us, use NFS — it is the fastest and works like a local folder. If the server is elsewhere, use SFTP. If people work on a Windows VM over remote desktop, use Synology Drive Client.

What you need

• Your MCDrive login and password — from the email you received after ordering the disk. The same credentials work for SFTP and Synology Drive Client. The login is always shown in your mcvps.uz account: “MCDrive → service row → MCDrive access”. Lost the password? Click “New password” there.
• Server address — mcdrive.uz.
• For NFS — a VM with an IP address from the MYCLOUD network 212.47.58.0/24. The server address is shown in your account on the VM card.

Below, replace LOGIN with your MCDrive login.

Linux: connecting over NFS

NFS doesn’t ask for a password: access is allowed only for machines in the MYCLOUD network, and the disk path contains your login — /volume1/LOGIN. The commands are for Ubuntu and Debian.

Step 1. Install the NFS client

sudo apt update
sudo apt install nfs-common

On AlmaLinux, Rocky and CentOS: sudo dnf install nfs-utils.

Step 2. Mount the disk

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/mcdrive
sudo mount -t nfs mcdrive.uz:/volume1/LOGIN /mnt/mcdrive

Check that the disk is mounted and its size is visible:

df -h /mnt/mcdrive
ls /mnt/mcdrive

Now you can work with /mnt/mcdrive like a regular folder: copy files, point your backup settings to it, keep exports there.

Step 3. Mount after a reboot

To mount the disk automatically, add a line to /etc/fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

mcdrive.uz:/volume1/LOGIN  /mnt/mcdrive  nfs  defaults,_netdev,nofail  0  0

_netdev tells the system to wait for the network, nofail keeps the boot going if the disk is unavailable. Test the entry without rebooting:

sudo umount /mnt/mcdrive
sudo mount -a
df -h /mnt/mcdrive

If it doesn’t connect

• access denied by server — check the login in the path (it is case-sensitive) and that the VM’s IP address is in 212.47.58.0/24. NFS doesn’t work from servers outside MYCLOUD — use SFTP.
• The command hangs and times out — check whether the VM firewall blocks outgoing connections: sudo ufw status.
• Permission denied when writing — message the chat in your mcvps.uz account and we will check the permissions on the storage side.

Linux: connecting over SFTP

SFTP works from anywhere, and data is transferred encrypted. The login and password are the same as for MCDrive.

Copy files once

sftp LOGIN@mcdrive.uz

After logging in, ls shows your folder on the disk — work inside it. Upload a file with put file, download with get file, quit with exit. For whole folders, scp -r or rclone is more convenient.

Mount as a folder with sshfs

sudo apt install sshfs
mkdir -p ~/mcdrive
sshfs LOGIN@mcdrive.uz: ~/mcdrive

Unmount with fusermount -u ~/mcdrive. sshfs is slower than NFS and less suited to a permanent server connection: use it when NFS isn’t available.

Scheduled backups with rclone

For scripts and cron, rclone is the most convenient: it resumes transfers and copies only changes.

sudo apt install rclone
rclone config

In the setup wizard choose n (new remote), name — mcdrive, type — sftp, host — mcdrive.uz, user — your login, password — from the email (rclone stores it obscured). The remaining questions can be left at their defaults. Check and copy:

rclone lsd mcdrive:
rclone copy /var/backups mcdrive:LOGIN/backups --progress

If your folder at the disk root has a different name, use the one shown by rclone lsd mcdrive:.

Windows: Synology Drive Client

Suits a Windows VM that people use over remote desktop: the folder syncs both ways.

1. Download Synology Drive Client from the official Synology website: “Downloads” → “Desktop Utilities”.
2. Install and launch it, click “Start Now”.
3. Server address — mcdrive.uz, login and password — from the email.
4. Choose the MCDrive folder and the VM folder to sync.

Keep in mind: with sync, a copy of the files is also stored on the VM disk, so it needs enough space. If you only need access to the files without a copy on the VM, use NFS or SFTP.

On Linux with a desktop, Synology Drive Client installs the same way — Synology provides a package for Ubuntu.

Windows: connecting over SFTP

• Copy files — the free WinSCP: protocol SFTP, host name mcdrive.uz, port 22, login and password from the email.
• A drive letter in File Explorer — the free SSHFS-Win with WinFsp: after installing, open “This PC” → “Map network drive” and enter \\sshfs\LOGIN@mcdrive.uz. RaiDrive also works.

Windows Server: connecting over NFS

Works only on VMs in the MYCLOUD network. Open PowerShell as administrator and install the NFS client:

Install-WindowsFeature NFS-Client

Then map the disk to Z: — in a regular command prompt (cmd):

mount -o anon \\mcdrive.uz\volume1\LOGIN Z:

The disk appears in File Explorer. Disconnect with umount Z:. On Windows 10 and 11 (Pro and Enterprise) the client is enabled in “Windows Features” → “Services for NFS”.

Good to know

• The price doesn’t depend on the method or traffic. MCDrive is billed only for capacity — 20 UZS per gigabyte per day. Connect as many servers and computers as you like.
• Changed the password? Update it in your clients. After “New password” the old one stops working immediately: re-enter it in SFTP, rclone and Synology Drive Client. NFS isn’t affected.
• Watch the free space. When the disk is full, writes stop. You can increase capacity in your account in a minute: “MCDrive access” → “Change”.
• Keep the backup separate. Copies from a VM to MCDrive are storage in a different system, as the 3-2-1 rule requires. Never keep the only copy of your data on the same server.

No disk yet? Order one on the MCDrive page, with step-by-step help in the connection guide. You can create a server to work with the disk on the VPS servers page. If something doesn’t work, message the chat in your mcvps.uz account: an AI assistant or an operator will reply.