
The Sphinx build was issuing hundreds of warning for duplicate labels. The reason for this was because all of the tables we had were named as .rst files. This would cause Sphinx to process them twice and it would think there were duplicated sections. There were two ways this could be handled: 1) Exclude the tables directory from the docs build. 2) Name the files as they should have always been so they weren't build twice. Given that option 1 just masked the problem, I am implementing this patch using option 2. So, all the tables we are including in our documentation have been named from .rst to .inc and the .. include:: directives that use them have also been updated to use the new file name. Change-Id: If395eb652f7e3b789bcbd5e6d6d05954c23d8d8a
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IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack
Introduction
The IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack is a software component of the OpenStack cloud environment that enables utilization of storage resources provided by supported IBM storage systems.
The driver was validated on the following storage systems:
- IBM DS8000 Family
- IBM FlashSystem A9000
- IBM FlashSystem A9000R
- IBM Spectrum Accelerate
- IBM XIV Storage System
After the driver is configured on the OpenStack cinder nodes, storage volumes can be allocated by the cinder nodes to the nova nodes. Virtual machines on the nova nodes can then utilize these storage resources.
Note
Unless stated otherwise, all references to XIV storage system in this guide relate all members of the Spectrum Accelerate Family (XIV, Spectrum Accelerate and FlashSystem A9000/A9000R).
Concept diagram
This figure illustrates how an IBM storage system is connected to the OpenStack cloud environment and provides storage resources when the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack is configured on the OpenStack cinder nodes. The OpenStack cloud is connected to the IBM storage system over Fibre Channel or iSCSI (DS8000 systems support only Fibre Channel connections). Remote cloud users can issue requests for storage resources from the OpenStack cloud. These requests are transparently handled by the IBM Storage Driver, which communicates with the IBM storage system and controls the storage volumes on it. The IBM storage resources are then provided to the nova nodes in the OpenStack cloud.

Configuration
Configure the driver manually by changing the
cinder.conf
file as follows:
volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.ibm.ibm_storage.IBMStorageDriver
Security
The following information provides an overview of security for the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack.
Avoiding man-in-the-middle attacks
When using a Spectrum Accelerate Family product, you can prevent man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks by following these rules:
Upgrade to IBM XIV storage system version 11.3 or later.
If working in a secure mode, do not work insecurely against another storage system in the same environment.
Validate the storage certificate. If you are using an XIV-provided certificate, use the CA file that was provided with your storage system (
XIV-CA.pem
). The certificate files should be copied to one of the following directories:/etc/ssl/certs
/etc/ssl/certs/xiv
/etc/pki
/etc/pki/xiv
If you are using your own certificates, copy them to the same directories with the prefix
XIV
and in the.pem
format. For example:XIV-my_cert.pem
.To prevent the CVE-2014-3566 MITM attack, follow the OpenStack community directions.
Troubleshooting
Refer to this information to troubleshoot technical problems that you might encounter when using the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack.
Checking the cinder node log files
The cinder log files record operation information that might be useful for troubleshooting.
To achieve optimal and clear logging of events, activate the verbose
logging level in the cinder.conf
file, located in the
/etc/cinder
folder. Add the following line in the file,
save the file, and then restart the cinder-volume
service:
verbose = True
debug = True
To turn off the verbose logging level, change True
to
False
, save the file, and then restart the
cinder-volume
service.
Check the log files on a periodic basis to ensure that the IBM Storage Driver is functioning properly:
- Log into the cinder node.
- Go to the
/var/log/cinder
folder - Open the activity log file named
cinder-volume.log
orvolume.log
. The IBM Storage Driver writes to this log file using the[IBM DS8K STORAGE]
or[IBM XIV STORAGE]
prefix (depending on the relevant storage system) for each event that it records in the file.
Best practices
This section contains the general guidance and best practices.
Working with multi-tenancy
The XIV storage systems, running microcode version 11.5 or later, Spectrum Accelerate and FlashSystem A9000/A9000R can employ multi-tenancy.
In order to use multi-tenancy with the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack:
- For each storage system, verify that all predefined storage pools are in the same domain or, that all are not in a domain.
- Use either storage administrator or domain administrator user's credentials, as long as the credentials grant a full access to the relevant pool.
- If the user is a domain administrator, the storage system domain
access policy can be
CLOSED
(domain_policy: access=CLOSED
). Otherwise, verify that the storage system domain access policy isOPEN
(domain_policy: access=OPEN
). - If the user is not a domain administrator, the host management
policy of the storage system domain can be
BASIC
(domain_policy: host_management=BASIC
). Otherwise, verify that the storage system domain host management policy isEXTENDED
(domain_policy: host_management=EXTENDED
).
Working with IBM Real-time Compression™
XIV storage systems running microcode version 11.6 or later, Spectrum Accelerate and FlashSystem A9000/A9000R can employ IBM Real-time Compression™.
Follow these guidelines when working with compressed storage resources using the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack:
- Compression mode cannot be changed for storage volumes, using the IBM Storage Driver for OpenStack. The volumes are created according to the default compression mode of the pool. For example, any volume created in a compressed pool will be compressed as well.
- The minimum size for a compressed storage volume is 87 GB.