Installation Guide

  1. Set up an OpenShift cluster following the official documentation.
  2. Proceed to the Prerequisite.
  3. Complete the base installation.
  4. Proceed with module installation.


  1. To create a new user in PowerStore, navigate to PowerStore Manager → Settings → Users, and click ‘Add’ to initiate the user creation process.

    Username: csmadmin
    User Role: Storage Operator

  2. (Optional) To create a NAS server, navigate to PowerStore Manager → Storage → NAS Servers → Create.


  1. For the protocol specific prerequisite check below.

    1. Complete the zoning of each host with the PowerStore Storage Array. Please refer the Host Connectivity Guide for the guidelines when setting a Fibre Channel SAN infrastructure.

    2. Verify the initiators of each host are logged in to the PowerStore Storage Array. CSM will perform the Host Registration of each host with the PowerStore Array.


    1. Multipathing software configuration

      a. Configure Device Mapper MPIO for PowerStore FC connectivity

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to configure the DM-MPIO service on all the worker hosts for FC connectivity.

      oc apply -f 99-workers-multipath-conf.yaml

      Example:

      cat <<EOF> multipath.conf
defaults {
  polling_interval 5
  checker_timeout 15
  disable_changed_wwids yes
  find_multipaths no
}
devices {
  device {
    vendor                   DellEMC
    product                  PowerStore
    detect_prio              "yes"
    path_selector            "queue-length 0"
    path_grouping_policy     "group_by_prio"
    path_checker             tur
    failback                 immediate
    fast_io_fail_tmo         5
    no_path_retry            3
    rr_min_io_rq             1
    max_sectors_kb           1024
    dev_loss_tmo             10
  }
}
EOF



      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-multipath-conf.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-multipath-conf
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    storage:
      files:
      - contents:
          source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,$(cat multipath.conf | base64 -w0)
          verification: {}
        filesystem: root
        mode: 400
        path: /etc/multipath.conf
EOF


      b. Enable Linux Device Mapper MPIO

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to enable the DM-MPIO service on all the worker host

      oc apply -f 99-workers-enable-multipathd.yaml


      cat << EOF > 99-workers-enable-multipathd.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-enable-multipathd.yaml
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    systemd:
      units:
      - name: "multipathd.service"
        enabled: true
EOF

    1. Complete the iSCSI network configuration to connect the hosts with the PowerStore Storage array. Please refer the Host Connectivity Guide for the best practices for attaching the hosts to a PowerStore storage array.

    2. Verify the initiators of each host are logged in to the PowerStore Storage Array. CSM will perform the Host Registration of each host with the PowerStore Array.

    3. Enable iSCSI service

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to enable the iscsid service.

      oc apply -f 99-workers-enable-iscsid.yaml

      Example:

      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-enable-iscsid.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-enable-iscsid
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    systemd:
      units:
      - name: "iscsid.service"
        enabled: true
EOF


    1. Multipathing software configuration

      a. Configure Device Mapper MPIO for PowerStore iSCSI connectivity

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to configure the DM-MPIO service on all the worker hosts for iSCSI connectivity.

      oc apply -f 99-workers-multipath-conf.yaml


      Example: 
      cat <<EOF> multipath.conf
defaults {
  polling_interval 5
  checker_timeout 15
  disable_changed_wwids yes
  find_multipaths no
}
devices {
  device {
    vendor                   DellEMC
    product                  PowerStore
    detect_prio              "yes"
    path_selector            "queue-length 0"
    path_grouping_policy     "group_by_prio"
    path_checker             tur
    failback                 immediate
    fast_io_fail_tmo         5
    no_path_retry            3
    rr_min_io_rq             1
    max_sectors_kb           1024
    dev_loss_tmo             10
  }
}
EOF


      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-multipath-conf.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-multipath-conf
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    storage:
      files:
      - contents:
          source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,$(cat multipath.conf | base64 -w0)
          verification: {}
        filesystem: root
        mode: 400
        path: /etc/multipath.conf
EOF


      b. Enable Linux Device Mapper MPIO

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to enable the DM-MPIO service on all the worker host

      oc apply -f 99-workers-enable-multipathd.yaml


      cat << EOF > 99-workers-enable-multipathd.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-enable-multipathd.yaml
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    systemd:
      units:
      - name: "multipathd.service"
        enabled: true
EOF

    1. Complete the zoning of each host with the PowerStore Storage Array. Please refer the Host Connectivity Guide for the guidelines when setting a Fibre Channel SAN infrastructure.


    1. Verify the initiators of each host are logged in to the PowerStore Storage Array. CSM will perform the Host Registration of each host with the PowerStore Array.


    1. To ensure successful integration of NVMe protocols with the CSI Driver, the following conditions must be met:

      • Each OpenShift node that connects to Dell storage arrays must have a unique NVMe Qualified Name (NQN).
      • By default, the OpenShift deployment process for CoreOS assigns the same host NQN to all nodes. This value is stored in the file: /etc/nvme/hostnqn.
      • To resolve this and guarantee unique host NQNs across nodes, you can apply a machine configuration to your OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) cluster. One recommended approach is to add the following machine config:

      cat <<EOF > 99-worker-custom-nvme-hostnqn.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 99-worker-custom-nvme-hostnqn
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Custom CoreOS Generate NVMe Hostnqn

            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            ExecStart=/usr/bin/sh -c '/usr/sbin/nvme gen-hostnqn > /etc/nvme/hostnqn'
            RemainAfterExit=yes

            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
          enabled: true
          name: custom-coreos-generate-nvme-hostnqn.service
EOF


    1. Configure IO policy for native NVMe multipathing

      Use this comment to create the machine configuration to configure the native NVMe multipathing IO Policy to round robin.

      oc apply -f 99-workers-multipath-round-robin.yaml



      cat <<EOF> 71-nvmf-iopolicy-dell.rules
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="nvme-subsystem", ATTR{model}=="dellemc-powerstore",ATTR{iopolicy}="round-robin"
EOF


      Example: 
      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-multipath-round-robin.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-multipath-round-robin
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    storage:
      files:
      - contents:
          source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,$(cat 71-nvmf-iopolicy-dell.rules | base64 -w0)
          verification: {}
        filesystem: root
        mode: 420
        path: /etc/udev/rules.d/71-nvme-io-policy.rules
EOF


    1. Configure NVMe reconnecting forever

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to configure the NVMe reconnect

      oc apply -f 99-workers-nvmf-ctrl-loss-tmo.yaml



      cat <<EOF> 72-nvmf-ctrl_loss_tmo.rules
ACTION=="add|change", SUBSYSTEM=="nvme", KERNEL=="nvme*", ATTR{ctrl_loss_tmo}="-1"
EOF



      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-nvmf-ctrl-loss-tmo.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-nvmf-ctrl-loss-tmo
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    storage:
      files:
      - contents:
          source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,$(cat 72-nvmf-ctrl_loss_tmo.rules | base64 -w0)
          verification: {}
        filesystem: root
        mode: 420
        path: /etc/udev/rules.d/72-nvmf-ctrl_loss_tmo.rules
EOF
    1. Complete the NVMe network configuration to connect the hosts with the PowerStore Storage array. Please refer Host Connectivity Guide for the best practices for attaching the hosts to a PowerStore storage array.


    1. Verify the initiators of each host are logged in to the PowerStore Storage Array. CSM will perform the Host Registration of each host with the PowerStore Array.


    1. To ensure successful integration of NVMe protocols with the CSI Driver, the following conditions must be met:

      • Each OpenShift node that connects to Dell storage arrays must have a unique NVMe Qualified Name (NQN).
      • By default, the OpenShift deployment process for CoreOS assigns the same host NQN to all nodes. This value is stored in the file: /etc/nvme/hostnqn.
      • To resolve this and guarantee unique host NQNs across nodes, you can apply a machine configuration to your OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) cluster. One recommended approach is to add the following machine config:

      cat <<EOF > 99-worker-custom-nvme-hostnqn.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
  name: 99-worker-custom-nvme-hostnqn
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    systemd:
      units:
        - contents: |
            [Unit]
            Description=Custom CoreOS Generate NVMe Hostnqn

            [Service]
            Type=oneshot
            ExecStart=/usr/bin/sh -c '/usr/sbin/nvme gen-hostnqn > /etc/nvme/hostnqn'
            RemainAfterExit=yes

            [Install]
            WantedBy=multi-user.target
          enabled: true
          name: custom-coreos-generate-nvme-hostnqn.service
EOF


    1. Configure IO policy for native NVMe multipathing

      Use this comment to create the machine configuration to configure the native NVMe multipathing IO Policy to round robin.

      oc apply -f 99-workers-multipath-round-robin.yaml



      cat <<EOF> 71-nvmf-iopolicy-dell.rules
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="nvme-subsystem", ATTR{model}=="dellemc-powerstore",ATTR{iopolicy}="round-robin"
EOF


      Example: 
      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-multipath-round-robin.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-multipath-round-robin
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    storage:
      files:
      - contents:
          source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,$(cat 71-nvmf-iopolicy-dell.rules | base64 -w0)
          verification: {}
        filesystem: root
        mode: 420
        path: /etc/udev/rules.d/71-nvme-io-policy.rules
EOF


    1. Configure NVMe reconnecting forever

      Use this command to create the machine configuration to configure the NVMe reconnect

      oc apply -f 99-workers-nvmf-ctrl-loss-tmo.yaml



      cat <<EOF> 72-nvmf-ctrl_loss_tmo.rules
ACTION=="add|change", SUBSYSTEM=="nvme", KERNEL=="nvme*", ATTR{ctrl_loss_tmo}="-1"
EOF



      cat <<EOF> 99-workers-nvmf-ctrl-loss-tmo.yaml
apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
kind: MachineConfig
metadata:
  name: 99-workers-nvmf-ctrl-loss-tmo
  labels:
    machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
spec:
  config:
    ignition:
      version: 3.4.0
    storage:
      files:
      - contents:
          source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,$(cat 72-nvmf-ctrl_loss_tmo.rules | base64 -w0)
          verification: {}
        filesystem: root
        mode: 420
        path: /etc/udev/rules.d/72-nvmf-ctrl_loss_tmo.rules
EOF


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

CSI Driver Installation


  1. Create project:

    Use this command to create new project. You can use any project name instead of powerstore.

    oc new-project powerstore
  2. Create config secret:

    Create a file called config.yaml or use sample:

    Example:

    cat << EOF > config.yaml
arrays:
  - endpoint: "https://powerstore.example.com/api/rest"
    globalID: "PSxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    username: "csmadmin"
    password: "P@ssw0rd123"
    skipCertificateValidation: true
    blockProtocol: "FC"
EOF

    Add blocks for each PowerStore array in config.yaml, and include both source and target arrays if replication is enabled.

    The username in config.yaml must be from PowerStore’s authentication providers and have at least the Storage Operator role.


    Edit the file, then run the command to create the powerstore-config.

    oc create secret generic powerstore-config --from-file=config=config.yaml -n powerstore --dry-run=client -oyaml > secret-powerstore-config.yaml

    Use this command to create the config:

    oc apply -f secret-powerstore-config.yaml

    Use this command to replace or update the config:

    oc replace -f secret-powerstore-config.yaml --force

    Verify config secret is created.

    oc get secret -n powerstore

NAME                 TYPE        DATA   AGE
powerstore-config    Opaque      1      3h7m

  1. Create Custom Resource ContainerStorageModule for powerstore.

    Use this command to create the ContainerStorageModule Custom Resource:

    oc create -f csm-powerstore.yaml

    Example:

    cat << EOF > csm-powerstore.yaml
apiVersion: storage.dell.com/v1
kind: ContainerStorageModule
metadata:
  name: powerstore
  namespace: powerstore
spec:
 driver:
   csiDriverType: "powerstore"
   configVersion: v2.15.1
   forceRemoveDriver: true
EOF

    Detailed Configuration: Use the sample file for detailed settings or use Wizard to generate the sample file.


    To set the parameters in CR. The table shows the main settings of the PowerStore driver and their defaults.
    Parameters
    Check if ContainerStorageModule CR is created successfully: 
    oc get csm powerstore -n powerstore

NAME        CREATIONTIME   CSIDRIVERTYPE   CONFIGVERSION         STATE
powerstore  3h             powerstore      v2.15.1               Succeed

    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.


  1. Create Storage class:

    Use this command to create the Storage Class:

    oc apply -f sc-powerstore.yaml

    Example:

    cat << EOF > sc-powerstore.yaml
apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: StorageClass
metadata:
  name: "powerstore"
  annotations:
    storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class: "true"
provisioner: "csi-powerstore.dellemc.com"
parameters:
  arrayID: "Unique"
  csi.storage.k8s.io/fstype: "xfs"
reclaimPolicy: Delete
allowVolumeExpansion: true
volumeBindingMode: Immediate
EOF

    Replace placeholders with actual values for your powerstore array and various storage class sample refer here


    Verify Storage Class is created:

    oc get storageclass powerstore

NAME                    PROVISIONER                    RECLAIMPOLICY   VOLUMEBINDINGMODE   ALLOWVOLUMEEXPANSION   AGE
powerstore(default)     csi-powerstore.dellemc.com     Delete          Immediate           true                   3h8m

  2. Create Volume Snapshot Class:

    Use this command to create the Volume Snapshot:

    oc apply -f vsclass-powerstore.yaml

    Example:

    cat << EOF > vsclass-powerstore.yaml
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshotClass
metadata:
  name: powerstore-snapshot
driver: "csi-powerstore.dellemc.com"
deletionPolicy: Delete
EOF

    Verify Volume Snapshot Class is created:

    oc get volumesnapshotclass

NAME                      DRIVER                              DELETIONPOLICY   AGE
vsclass-powerstore        csi-powerstore.dellemc.com          Delete           3h9m

Configurations


Persistent Volume Claim
Volume Snapshot


Authorization v2.0
Authorization v2.0
Resiliency
Resiliency
Replication
Replication
Observability
Observability