---
title: Centralized Hostpath Mapper
sidebar_label: Centralized Hostpath Mapper
---

This feature is an extension to the existing [hostpath mapper](./hpm.mdx) component of vCluster and requires an active vCluster.Pro license.
Currently, when enabled, hostpath mapper can support the following usecases:
1. [Enabling container based logging used by tools like fluentd, logstash etc.](./elk_stack.mdx) inside vCluster
2. [Enabling pod based logging used by loki](./grafana_loki.mdx) inside vCluster
3. [Velero restic backups] inside vCluster
4. Support for kubevirt workloads.

In the normal deployment of hostpath mapper which can be enabled by:
```yaml
hostpathMapper:
  enabled: true
```

A `daemonset` is spawned per node, per vCluster – which can be a resource hog as the number of `Nodes` and `vclusters` increase.

The hostpath mapper feature was extended to a Central Hostpath Mapper to overcome this potential bottleneck.

This is a loft-integrated feature, and the related docs can be found [here](https://loft.sh/docs/virtual-clusters/central-hostpath-mapper).
Alternatively, one can follow the instructions below:

* Select the 'Projects' field on the left menu bar.
* From the project drop-down menu, select the project you'd like to create the virtual cluster in.
* Click the Virtual Clusters option on the project pane.
* Click the 'Create Virtual Cluster' button on the right side of the page.
* [Optional] select the cluster in which to create the virtual cluster.
* Click the 'Select' button to continue.
* Click the 'Advanced Options' configuration tab and expand the 'Host Path Mapper' section.
* Toggle the slider 'Enable'. This will add the `loft.sh/hpm-enabled` annotation to the template metadata which will be automatically synced to the virtual cluster on creation. Secondly, it will add the `rewrite-host-paths=true` as extraArgs to the helm values for the syncer.
* Finish configuring anything else you'd like on your virtual cluster, then click the button.
