Adding a storage system to the plug-in

Use the IBM Storage Ceph Plugin for vSphere to register an IBM Storage Ceph cluster.

Before you begin

Before you begin, be sure to Add an IBM Storage Ceph storage system that meets the minimum requirements for the IBM Storage Ceph Plugin for vSphere. For a full list of compatible storage systems, see Compatibility and minimum requirements.

About this task

You can connect an NVMe-oF gateway group, NVMe-oF subsystem, and pools while adding a storage system to the vSphere Plugin.

When adding storage systems to the plug-in note the following:
  • The same cluster can be used with multiple subsystems.
  • The same NVMe-oF gateway group can be used multiple times but the subsystems must be different.
  • While the same subsystem name can be used in two different clusters, this is not recommended, as it could lead to confusion.

Procedure

Use the following procedure to add a Ceph cluster to the vSphere Plugin.
  1. From the vSphere Client, go to the plug-in dashboard from the vSphere Client main menu and click IBM Storage Ceph.
  2. From the dashboard, click ADD STORAGE SYSTEM.
    The Add Storage System wizard opens.
  3. In the Connect to IBM Storage Ceph step of the wizard, complete the mandatory fields.
    URL
    This is the Ceph Dashboard URL. Enter as [https://]<IP_ADDRESS | FQDN>:PORT.
    Note: HTTPS is optional and is automatically removed. Entering an IP address or FQDN and a port number are mandatory.
    Username
    Use the Ceph Dashboard username for the administrator account.

    Alternatively, use a custom user with the following roles: 'NVMe-oF' Create-Read-Update-Delete, 'rbd-image' Create-Read-Update-Delete, and 'Pool' Read.

    Password
    Use the Ceph Dashboard password.
  4. Click VALIDATE.
    The validate step checks proper TCP/IP connectivity and authentication credentials to the storage system.
  5. In the Storage System Details step, designate a storage alias, and click NEXT.
    The Alias field is designed to simplify administration of multiple storage systems by allowing a friendly name to help identify specific storage clusters or resources. Use the Alias field to ease administration when adding the same system multiple times to add to different NVMe-oF gateway groups, NVMe-oF gateway subsystems, or both.

    This field is optional but recommended.

  6. In the NVMe Gateway Group Selection step, select the NVMe gateway group to assign to the storage system, and click NEXT.
  7. In the NVMe Subsystem Selection step, select the NVMe subsystem NQN to assign to the storage system.
    Note: If all subsystems in the previously selected gateway group are already in use with the plug-in, they are listed before the table and no subsystems are available for selection. Click Back to select a different gateway group and subsystem combination.
  8. In the Pool Selection step, select the Ceph Block Device (RBD) pools to be used when creating volumes during datastore creation.
    A minimum of one pool must be selected.

    For more information about storage pools, see Architecture > Core Ceph components > Pools within the IBM Storage Ceph documentation.

  9. Review the storage system parameters and add the storage system to the plug-in.
    1. From the Review step, make sure that all parameters are correct.
    2. Optional: Select the host cluster to which you want to connect the storage system.
      Note: If a host has already been connected, the procedure is complete. Continue by seeing Results.
      Select the ESXi host cluster from the Select ESXi host cluster to connect to list.
    3. Click ADD to add the storage system to the plug-in.
    • If an ESXi host cluster was selected, the Select storage system wizard displays. Continue to the next step.
    • If no host cluster was selected, the wizard automatically closes on success, refreshing the dashboard to display the newly added storage system.
  10. Select a storage system to connect to the host and click ADD to complete the process.
    From the Select storage system wizard, select a storage system and host.
    The wizard automatically closes on success, refreshing the dashboard to display the newly added storage system.

Results

After a storage system is added to the plug-in dashboard, a vSphere task Populating information from IBM Storage Systems is displayed. The population process discovers host and datastore information from the vSphere environment. The process also correlates the information with any host definitions or volumes present in storage systems that are registered in the plug-in dashboard.

The population task is triggered in any of the following situations:
  • When the VM appliance restarts.
  • When the VM appliance gets registered within a vCenter.
  • When adding an IBM storage system from within the plug-in dashboard.
  • When initiating a manual refresh of an IBM storage system within the plug-in dashboard.
The population process can take a few minutes. During the process, notice inconsistencies or inaccuracies can occur with the information that is displayed in the IBM Storage Ceph summary panes and dashboard.