IBM FlashSystem volume driver

updated: 2020-07-25 15:43

IBM FlashSystem volume driver¶

The volume driver for FlashSystem provides OpenStack Block Storage hosts with access to IBM FlashSystems.

Configure FlashSystem¶

Configure storage array¶

The volume driver requires a pre-defined array. You must create an array on the FlashSystem before using the volume driver. An existing array can also be used and existing data will not be deleted.

Note

FlashSystem can only create one array, so no configuration option is needed for the IBM FlashSystem driver to assign it.

Configure user authentication for the driver¶

The driver requires access to the FlashSystem management interface using SSH. It should be provided with the FlashSystem management IP using the san_ip flag, and the management port should be provided by the san_ssh_port flag. By default, the port value is configured to be port 22 (SSH).

Note

Make sure the compute node running the cinder-volume driver has SSH network access to the storage system.

Using password authentication, assign a password to the user on the FlashSystem. For more detail, see the driver configuration flags for the user and password here: Enable IBM FlashSystem FC driver or Enable IBM FlashSystem iSCSI driver.

IBM FlashSystem FC driver¶

Data Path configuration¶

Using Fiber Channel (FC), each FlashSystem node should have at least one WWPN port configured. If the flashsystem_multipath_enabled flag is set to True in the Block Storage service configuration file, the driver uses all available WWPNs to attach the volume to the instance. If the flag is not set, the driver uses the WWPN associated with the volume’s preferred node (if available). Otherwise, it uses the first available WWPN of the system. The driver obtains the WWPNs directly from the storage system. You do not need to provide these WWPNs to the driver.

Note

Using FC, ensure that the block storage hosts have FC connectivity to the FlashSystem.

Enable IBM FlashSystem FC driver¶

Set the volume driver to the FlashSystem driver by setting the volume_driver option in the cinder.conf configuration file, as follows:

volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.ibm.flashsystem_fc.FlashSystemFCDriver

To enable the IBM FlashSystem FC driver, configure the following options in the cinder.conf configuration file:

List of configuration flags for IBM FlashSystem FC driver¶
Flag name	Type	Default	Description
`san_ip`	Required		Management IP or host name
`san_ssh_port`	Optional	22	Management port
`san_login`	Required		Management login user name
`san_password`	Required		Management login password
`flashsystem_connection_protocol`	Required		Connection protocol should be set to `FC`
`flashsystem_multipath_enabled`	Required		Enable multipath for FC connections
`flashsystem_multihost_enabled`	Optional	`True`	Enable mapping vdisks to multiple hosts [1]

[1] This option allows the driver to map a vdisk to more than one host at a time. This scenario occurs during migration of a virtual machine with an attached volume; the volume is simultaneously mapped to both the source and destination compute hosts. If your deployment does not require attaching vdisks to multiple hosts, setting this flag to False will provide added safety.

IBM FlashSystem iSCSI driver¶

Network configuration¶

Using iSCSI, each FlashSystem node should have at least one iSCSI port configured. iSCSI IP addresses of IBM FlashSystem can be obtained by FlashSystem GUI or CLI. For more information, see the appropriate IBM Redbook for the FlashSystem.

Note

Using iSCSI, ensure that the compute nodes have iSCSI network access to the IBM FlashSystem.

Enable IBM FlashSystem iSCSI driver¶

Set the volume driver to the FlashSystem driver by setting the volume_driver option in the cinder.conf configuration file, as follows:

volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.ibm.flashsystem_iscsi.FlashSystemISCSIDriver

To enable IBM FlashSystem iSCSI driver, configure the following options in the cinder.conf configuration file:

List of configuration flags for IBM FlashSystem iSCSI driver¶
Flag name	Type	Default	Description
`san_ip`	Required		Management IP or host name
`san_ssh_port`	Optional	22	Management port
`san_login`	Required		Management login user name
`san_password`	Required		Management login password
`flashsystem_connection_protocol`	Required		Connection protocol should be set to `iSCSI`
`flashsystem_multihost_enabled`	Optional	`True`	Enable mapping vdisks to multiple hosts [2]
`iscsi_ip_address`	Required		Set to one of the iSCSI IP addresses obtained by FlashSystem GUI or CLI [3]
`flashsystem_iscsi_portid`	Required		Set to the id of the `iscsi_ip_address` obtained by FlashSystem GUI or CLI [4]

[2] This option allows the driver to map a vdisk to more than one host at a time. This scenario occurs during migration of a virtual machine with an attached volume; the volume is simultaneously mapped to both the source and destination compute hosts. If your deployment does not require attaching vdisks to multiple hosts, setting this flag to False will provide added safety.

[3]	On the cluster of the FlashSystem, the `iscsi_ip_address` column is the seventh column `IP_address` of the output of `lsportip`.

[4]	On the cluster of the FlashSystem, port ID column is the first column `id` of the output of `lsportip`, not the sixth column `port_id`.

Limitations and known issues¶

IBM FlashSystem only works when:

open_access_enabled=off

Supported operations¶

These operations are supported:

Create, delete, attach, and detach volumes.
Create, list, and delete volume snapshots.
Create a volume from a snapshot.
Copy an image to a volume.
Copy a volume to an image.
Clone a volume.
Extend a volume.
Get volume statistics.
Manage and unmanage a volume.

updated: 2020-07-25 15:43

Except where otherwise noted, this document is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. See all OpenStack Legal Documents.