Installation

Operator Installation

1. On the OpenShift console, navigate to OperatorHub and use the keyword filter to search for Dell Container Storage Modules.

2. Click Dell Container Storage Modules tile

3. Keep all default settings and click Install.

Verify that the operator is deployed

oc get operators

NAME                                                          AGE
dell-csm-operator-certified.openshift-operators               2d21h

oc get pod -n openshift-operators

NAME                                                       READY   STATUS       RESTARTS      AGE
dell-csm-operator-controller-manager-86dcdc8c48-6dkxm      2/2     Running      21 (19h ago)  2d21h

Install Driver

1. Create namespace:

   Run kubectl create namespace <driver-namespace> using the desired name to create the namespace.

2. Create PowerMax credentials:

   Create a file called powermax-creds.yaml or pick a sample that has Powermax array connection details :

      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Secret
      metadata:
        name: powermax-creds
          # Replace driver-namespace with the namespace where driver is being deployed
        namespace: <driver-namespace>
      type: Opaque
      data:
        # set username to the base64 encoded username
        username: <base64 username>
        # set password to the base64 encoded password
        password: <base64 password>
        # Uncomment the following key if you wish to use ISCSI CHAP authentication (v1.3.0 onwards)
        # chapsecret: <base64 CHAP secret>
   

   Replace the values for the username and password parameters. These values can be obtained using base64 encoding as described in the following example:

   echo -n "myusername" | base64
   echo -n "mypassword" | base64
   # If mychapsecret is the iSCSI CHAP secret
   echo -n "mychapsecret" | base64
   

   Run the kubectl create -f powermax-creds.yaml command to create the secret.

3. Create Reverseproxy Configmap:

   Create a configmap using sample here. Fill in the appropriate values for driver configuration. Example: config.yaml

   port: 2222 # Port on which reverseproxy will listen
   logLevel: debug
   logFormat: text
   config:
     storageArrays:
         - storageArrayId: "000000000001" # arrayID
           primaryURL: https://primary-1.unisphe.re:8443 # primary unisphere for arrayID
           backupURL: https://backup-1.unisphe.re:8443   # backup unisphere for arrayID
           proxyCredentialSecrets:
             - primary-unisphere-secret-1 # credential secret for primary unisphere, e.g., powermax-creds
             - backup-unisphere-secret-1 # credential secret for backup unisphere, e.g., powermax-creds
         - storageArrayId: "000000000002"
           primaryURL: https://primary-2.unisphe.re:8443
           backupURL: https://backup-2.unisphe.re:8443
           proxyCredentialSecrets:
           - primary-unisphere-secret-2
           - backup-unisphere-secret-2
     managementServers:
       - url: https://primary-1.unisphe.re:8443 # primary unisphere endpoint
         arrayCredentialSecret: primary-unisphere-secret-1 # primary credential secret e.g., powermax-creds
         skipCertificateValidation: true
       - url: https://backup-1.unisphe.re:8443 # backup unisphere endpoint
         arrayCredentialSecret: backup-unisphere-secret-1 # backup credential secret e.g., powermax-creds
         skipCertificateValidation: false # value false, to verify unisphere certificate and provide certSecret
         certSecret: primary-certs # unisphere verification certificate
       - url: https://primary-2.unisphe.re:8443
         arrayCredentialSecret: primary-unisphere-secret-2
         skipCertificateValidation: true
       - url: https://backup-2.unisphe.re:8443
         arrayCredentialSecret: backup-unisphere-secret-2
         skipCertificateValidation: false
         certSecret: primary-certs
   

   After editing the file, run this command to create a secret called powermax-reverseproxy-config. If you are using a different namespace/secret name, just substitute those into the command.

   kubectl create configmap powermax-reverseproxy-config --from-file config.yaml -n powermax
   

4. Create Powermax Array Configmap:
   Create a configmap using the sample file here. Fill in the appropriate values for driver configuration.

      # To create this configmap use: kubectl create -f powermax-array-config.yaml
      apiVersion: v1
      kind: ConfigMap
      metadata:
        name: powermax-array-config
        namespace: powermax
      data:
        powermax-array-config.yaml: |
          # List of comma-separated port groups (ISCSI only). Example: PortGroup1, portGroup2 Required for iSCSI only
          X_CSI_POWERMAX_PORTGROUPS: ""
          # Choose which transport protocol to use (ISCSI, FC, NVMETCP, auto) defaults to auto if nothing is specified
          X_CSI_TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL: ""
          # IP address of the Unisphere for PowerMax (Required), Defaults to https://0.0.0.0:8443
          X_CSI_POWERMAX_ENDPOINT: "https://10.0.0.0:8443" 
          # List of comma-separated array ID(s) which will be managed by the driver (Required)
          X_CSI_MANAGED_ARRAYS: "000000000000,000000000000,"
   

5. Create a CR (Custom Resource) for PowerFlex using the sample files provided

   a. Default Configuration: Use the sample file for default settings. Modify if needed.

   [OR]

   b. Detailed Configuration: Use the sample file for detailed settings.

NOTE: Replication module must be enabled to use the Metro volume

Example:

    - name: replication
      enabled: true

Target clusterID should be set as self

Example:

    - name: "TARGET_CLUSTERS_IDS"
      value: "self"

6. Users should configure the parameters in CR. The following table lists the primary configurable parameters of the PowerMax driver and their default values:

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Required	Default
dnsPolicy	Determines the DNS Policy of the Node service	Yes	ClusterFirstWithHostNet
replicas	Controls the number of controller Pods you deploy. If controller Pods are greater than the number of available nodes, excess Pods will become stuck in pending. The default is 2 which allows for Controller high availability.	Yes	2
fsGroupPolicy	Defines which FS Group policy mode to be used, Supported modes None, File and ReadWriteOnceWithFSType. In OCP <= 4.16 and K8s <= 1.29, fsGroupPolicy is an immutable field.	No	“ReadWriteOnceWithFSType”
Common parameters for node and controller
X_CSI_K8S_CLUSTER_PREFIX	Define a prefix that is appended to all resources created in the array; unique per K8s/CSI deployment; max length - 3 characters	No	CSM
X_CSI_POWERMAX_PROXY_SERVICE_NAME	Name of CSI PowerMax ReverseProxy service.	Yes	csipowermax-reverseproxy
X_CSI_IG_MODIFY_HOSTNAME	Change any existing host names. When nodenametemplate is set, it changes the name to the specified format else it uses driver default host name format.	No	false
X_CSI_IG_NODENAME_TEMPLATE	Provide a template for the CSI driver to use while creating the Host/IG on the array for the nodes in the cluster. It is of the format a-b-c-%foo%-xyz where foo will be replaced by host name of each node in the cluster.	No	-
X_CSI_POWERMAX_DRIVER_NAME	Set custom CSI driver name. For more details on this feature see the related documentation	No	-
X_CSI_HEALTH_MONITOR_ENABLED	Enable/Disable health monitor of CSI volumes from Controller and Node plugin. Provides details of volume status, usage and volume condition. As a prerequisite, external-health-monitor sidecar section should be uncommented in samples which would install the sidecar	No	false
X_CSI_VSPHERE_ENABLED	Enable VMware virtualized environment support via RDM	No	false
X_CSI_VSPHERE_PORTGROUP	Existing portGroup that driver will use for vSphere	Yes	""
X_CSI_VSPHERE_HOSTNAME	Existing host(initiator group)/host group(cascaded initiator group) that driver will use for vSphere	Yes	""
X_CSI_VCenter_HOST	URL/endpoint of the vCenter where all the ESX are present	Yes	""
Node parameters
X_CSI_POWERMAX_ISCSI_ENABLE_CHAP	Enable ISCSI CHAP authentication. For more details on this feature see the related documentation	No	false
X_CSI_TOPOLOGY_CONTROL_ENABLED	Enable/Disabe topology control. It filters out arrays, associated transport protocol available to each node and creates topology keys based on any such user input.	No	false
CSI Reverseproxy Module
X_CSI_REVPROXY_TLS_SECRET	Name of TLS secret defined in config map	Yes	“csirevproxy-tls-secret”
X_CSI_REVPROXY_PORT	Port number where reverseproxy will listen as defined in config map	Yes	“2222”
X_CSI_CONFIG_MAP_NAME	Name of config map as created for CSI PowerMax	Yes	“powermax-reverseproxy-config”

7. Execute the following command to create the PowerMax custom resource:kubectl create -f <input_sample_file.yaml>. The above command will deploy the CSI-PowerMax driver.

8. The mandatory module CSI PowerMax Reverseproxy will be installed automatically with the same command.

9. Once the driver Custom Resource (CR) is created, you can verify the installation as mentioned below

   • Check if ContainerStorageModule CR is created successfully using the command below:

     kubectl get csm/<name-of-custom-resource> -n <driver-namespace> -o yaml
     

   • Check the status of the CR to verify if the driver installation is in the Succeeded state. If the status is not Succeeded, see the Troubleshooting guide for more information.

10. Refer Volume Snapshot Class and Storage Class for the sample files.

Other features to enable

Dynamic Logging Configuration

This feature is introduced in CSI Driver for powermax version 2.0.0.

As part of driver installation, a ConfigMap with the name powermax-config-params is created using the manifest located in the sample file. This ConfigMap contains an attribute CSI_LOG_LEVEL which specifies the current log level of the CSI driver. To set the default/initial log level user can set this field during driver installation.

To update the log level dynamically user has to edit the ConfigMap powermax-config-params and update CSI_LOG_LEVEL to the desired log level.

kubectl edit configmap -n powermax powermax-config-params

Volume Health Monitoring

This feature is introduced in CSI Driver for PowerMax version 2.2.0.

Volume Health Monitoring feature is optional and by default this feature is disabled for drivers when installed via CSM operator.

To enable this feature, set X_CSI_HEALTH_MONITOR_ENABLED to true in the driver manifest under controller and node section. Also, install the external-health-monitor from sideCars section for controller plugin. To get the volume health state value under controller should be set to true as seen below. To get the volume stats value under node should be set to true.

     # Install the 'external-health-monitor' sidecar accordingly.
        # Allowed values:
        #   true: enable checking of health condition of CSI volumes
        #   false: disable checking of health condition of CSI volumes
        # Default value: false
     controller:
       envs:
         - name: X_CSI_HEALTH_MONITOR_ENABLED
           value: "true"
     node:
       envs:
        # X_CSI_HEALTH_MONITOR_ENABLED: Enable/Disable health monitor of CSI volumes from node plugin - volume usage
        # Allowed values:
        #   true: enable checking of health condition of CSI volumes
        #   false: disable checking of health condition of CSI volumes
        # Default value: false
         - name: X_CSI_HEALTH_MONITOR_ENABLED
           value: "true"

Support for custom topology keys

This feature is introduced in CSI Driver for PowerMax version 2.3.0.

Support for custom topology keys is optional and by default this feature is disabled for drivers when installed via CSM operator.

X_CSI_TOPOLOGY_CONTROL_ENABLED provides a way to filter topology keys on a node based on array and transport protocol. If enabled, user can create custom topology keys by editing node-topology-config configmap.

1. To enable this feature, set X_CSI_TOPOLOGY_CONTROL_ENABLED to true in the driver manifest under node section.

      # X_CSI_TOPOLOGY_CONTROL_ENABLED provides a way to filter topology keys on a node based on array and transport protocol
           # if enabled, user can create custom topology keys by editing node-topology-config configmap.
           # Allowed values:
           #   true: enable the filtration based on config map
           #   false: disable the filtration based on config map
           # Default value: false
           - name: X_CSI_TOPOLOGY_CONTROL_ENABLED
             value: "false"
   

2. Edit the sample config map “node-topology-config” as described here with appropriate values: Example:

           kind: ConfigMap
           metadata:
             name: node-topology-config
             namespace: powermax
           data:
             topologyConfig.yaml: |
               allowedConnections:
                 - nodeName: "node1"
                   rules:
                     - "000000000001:FC"
                     - "000000000002:FC"
                 - nodeName: "*"
                   rules:
                     - "000000000002:FC"
               deniedConnections:
                 - nodeName: "node2"
                   rules:
                     - "000000000002:*"
                 - nodeName: "node3"
                   rules:
                     - "*:*"
   

Parameters

Parameter	Description
allowedConnections	List of node, array and protocol info for user allowed configuration
allowedConnections.nodeName	Name of the node on which user wants to apply given rules
allowedConnections.rules	List of StorageArrayID:TransportProtocol pair
deniedConnections	List of node, array and protocol info for user denied configuration
deniedConnections.nodeName	Name of the node on which user wants to apply given rules
deniedConnections.rules	List of StorageArrayID:TransportProtocol pair

3. Run following command to create the configmap

kubectl create -f topologyConfig.yaml

Note: Name of the configmap should always be node-topology-config.