openstack-manuals/doc/config-reference/source/block-storage/drivers/ibm-flashsystem-volume-driver.rst

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: config_fc_flags or config_iscsi_flags.

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 hosts1

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 hosts2
iscsi_ip_address	Required		Set to one of the iSCSI IP addresses obtained by FlashSystem GUI or CLI3
flashsystem_iscsi_portid	Required		Set to the id of the iscsi_ip_address obtained by FlashSystem GUI or CLI4

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.

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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.↩︎

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.↩︎