<p>Can we assign <code>Persistent volume claim</code> to a Persistent Volume after it is in <code>Released</code> state?
Tried it but can't </p>

<p>Yes. Take a look at the <a href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/persistent-volumes/#reclaiming" rel="nofollow noreferrer">official documentation</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Reclaiming</strong> </p>
  
  <p>When a user is done with their volume, they can delete the PVC objects from the > API that allows reclamation of the resource.
  The reclaim policy for a PersistentVolume tells the cluster what to do
  with the volume after it has been <code>released</code> of its claim. Currently,
  volumes can either be Retained, Recycled, or Deleted.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Retain</strong> </p>
  
  <p>The Retain reclaim policy allows for manual reclamation of the resource. When the PersistentVolumeClaim is deleted, the
  PersistentVolume still exists and the volume is considered “released”.
  But it is not yet available for another claim because the previous
  claimant’s data remains on the volume. An administrator can manually
  reclaim the volume with the following steps.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Delete the PersistentVolume. The associated storage asset in external
  infrastructure (such as an AWS EBS, GCE PD, Azure Disk, or Cinder
  volume) still exists after the PV is deleted. </li>
  <li>Manually clean up the
  data on the associated storage asset accordingly. </li>
  <li>Manually delete the
  associated storage asset, or if you want to reuse the same storage
  asset, create a new PersistentVolume with the storage asset
  definition.</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Please let me know if that helped.</p>
