Software sources

A key part of an OpenStack deploy or upgrade is the stipulation of an application’s software sources. This will affect the software used for cloud services.

This page references charm channels. For background information on channels see the Charm delivery page.

Values

A software source is typically expressed by the user with the following syntax:

cloud:<ubuntu series>-<openstack-release>

This value is based on the Ubuntu Cloud Archive and translates to a “cloud archive OpenStack release”.

For example: cloud:focal-xena

Notes concerning the software source value:

  • It should normally be the same across all charms.

  • During an OpenStack upgrade, it will reflect the next supported combination of Ubuntu release (series) and OpenStack release (e.g. ‘cloud:focal-xena’ would become ‘cloud:focal-yoga’).

  • The value of ‘distro’ denotes an Ubuntu release’s default archive (e.g. in the case of the focal series it corresponds to OpenStack Ussuri). It is the default value.

  • See the config.yaml file of the keystone charm for an example explanation of how to specify more exotic values (PPA, deb sources entry, alternate UCA pocket).

When using channels

In addition to the above traditional syntax, when channels are in use, a software sources value can refer simply to an OpenStack release name.

For example: ussuri

With this method, the value always represents the desired OpenStack release, regardless of the underlying series. Notably, the case of an OpenStack release spanning multiple series is supported. That is, a value of ‘ussuri’ works with both Bionic (instead of ‘cloud:bionic-ussuri’) and Focal (rather than ‘distro’).

Configuration

Configuration is achieved by passing the value to charms via one of the following charm configuration options:

  • openstack-origin (for OpenStack service charms such as keystone or cinder)

  • source (for non-OpenStack service charms such as ceph-osd or ovn-central)

In this way, apt package sources can be updated on all machines associated with a given application.

The configuration should be set during deployment. For example, to deploy Cinder on Focal for an OpenStack Xena cloud:

juju deploy --config openstack-origin=cloud:focal-xena cinder

To query the cinder charm for its software sources:

juju config cinder openstack-origin

When using channels

When a charm is delivered via a channel, the software sources will be configured automatically. As expected, the case of an OpenStack release spanning multiple series is supported. That is, --channel yoga/stable will set the sources to ‘yoga’ on either Focal or Jammy:

juju deploy --channel yoga/stable cinder

Manual configuration should therefore only be needed when deploying via an exotic source (covered earlier). For example, the above command automatically performs:

juju config cinder openstack-origin=yoga

Important

With channels, an OpenStack upgrade is not performed by changing the software sources manually. It involves changing the charm’s channel.