EMC XtremIO OpenStack Block Storage driver guide

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Support matrix
Supported operations
Driver installation and configuration
Installation
Configuring the XtremIO Block Storage driver
XtremIO driver name
XtremIO management IP
XtremIO user credentials
Multiple back ends
Setting thin provisioning and multipathing parameters
Restarting OpenStack Block Storage
Configuring CHAP
Configuration example

The high performance XtremIO All Flash Array (AFA) offers Block Storage services to OpenStack. Using the driver, OpenStack Block Storage hosts can connect to an XtermIO Storage cluster.

This section explains how to configure and connect an OpenStack Block Storage host to an XtremIO Storage Cluster

Support matrix

Xtremapp: Version 3.0 and above

Supported operations

Create, delete, clone, attach, and detach volumes
Create and delete volume snapshots
Create a volume from a snapshot
Copy an image to a volume
Copy a volume to an image
Extend a volume

Driver installation and configuration

The following sections describe the installation and configuration of the EMC XtremIO OpenStack Block Storage driver.

The driver should be installed on the Block Storage host that has the cinder-volume component.

Installation

Procedure 1.2. To install the EMC XtremIO Block Storage driver

Configure the XtremIO Block Storage driver.
Restart cinder.
When CHAP initiator authentication is required, set the Cluster CHAP authentication mode to initiator.

Configuring the XtremIO Block Storage driver

Edit the cinder.conf file by adding the configuration below under the [DEFAULT] section of the file in case of a single back end or under a separate section in case of multiple back ends (for example [XTREMIO]). The configuration file is usually located under the following path /etc/cinder/cinder.conf.

For a configuration example, refer to the configuration example.

XtremIO driver name

Configure the driver name by adding the following parameter:

For iSCSI volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.emc.xtremio.XtremIOIscsiDriver
For Fibre Channel volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.emc.xtremio.XtremIOFibreChannelDriver

XtremIO management IP

To retrieve the management IP, use theshow-xmsCLI command.

Configure the management IP by adding the following parameter san_ip = XMS Management IP

XtremIO user credentials

OpenStack Block Storage requires an XtremIO XMS user with administrative privileges. XtremIO recommends creating a dedicated OpenStack user account that holds an administrative user role.

Refer to the XtremIO User Guide for details on user account management

Create an XMS account using either the XMS GUI or the add-user-accountCLI command.

Configure the user credentials by adding the following parameters:

san_login = XMS username

san_password = XMS username password

Multiple back ends

Configuring multiple storage back ends enables you to create several back-end storage solutions that serve the same OpenStack Compute resources.

When a volume is created, the scheduler selects the appropriate back end to handle the request, according to the specified volume type.

Procedure 1.3. To enable multiple storage back ends:

Add the back end name to the XtremIO configuration group section as follows:
volume_backend_name = XtremIO back end name
Add the configuration group name to the enabled_backendsflag in the [DEFAULT] section of the cinder.conffile. This flag defines the names (separated by commas) of the configuration groups for different back ends. Each name is associated to one configuration group for a back end:
enabled_backends = back end name1, back end name2...
Define a volume type (for examplegold) as Block Storage by running the following command:
```
$ cinder type-create gold
```
Create an extra-specification (for example XtremIOAFA) to link the volume type you defined to a back end name, by running the following command:
```
$ cinder type-key gold set
```
volume_backend_name = XtremIOAFA
When you create a volume (for example Vol1), specify the volume type. The volume type extra-specifications are used to determine the relevant back end.
```
$ cinder create --volume_type gold -display name Vol1 1
```

Setting thin provisioning and multipathing parameters

To support thin provisioning and multipathing in the XtremIO Array, the following parameters from the Nova and Cinder configuration files should be modified as follows:

Thin Provisioning
The use_cow_images parameter in thenova.conffile should be set to False as follows:
use_cow_images = false
Multipathing
The use_multipath_for_image_xfer parameter in thecinder.conf file should be set to True as follows:
use_multipath_for_image_xfer = true

Restarting OpenStack Block Storage

Save thecinder.conffile and restart cinder by running the following command:

$ openstack-service restart cinder-volume

Configuring CHAP

The XtremIO Block Storage driver supports CHAP initiator authentication. If CHAP initiator authentication is required, set the CHAP Authentication mode to initiator.

To set the CHAP initiator mode using CLI, run the following CLI command:

$ modify-chap chap-authentication-mode=initiator

The CHAP initiator mode can also be set via the XMS GUI

Refer to XtremIO User Guide for details on CHAP configuration via GUI and CLI.

The CHAP initiator authentication credentials (username and password) are generated automatically by the Block Storage driver. Therefore, there is no need to configure the initial CHAP credentials manually in XMS.

Configuration example

cinder.conf example file

You can update thecinder.conffile by editing the necessary parameters as follows:

[Default]
enabled_backends = XtremIO
[XtremIO]
volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.emc.xtremio XtremIOFibreChannelDriver
san_ip = 10.10.10.20
san_login = admin
san_password = 223344
volume_backend_name = XtremIOAFA

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