Configuring an OpenStack Swift external storage manager

Content Manager OnDemand supports data storage in an OpenStack Swift repository. OpenStack Swift is a highly available, distributed, eventually consistent object/blob store. You can use OpenStack Swift to store lots of data efficiently, safely, and inexpensively. More information on OpenStack Swift can be found at: http://docs.openstack.org/developer/swift/

Updating the ARS.CFG file

Perform these steps to configure OpenStack Swift on a z/OS server.

Two new entries must be added to the ARS.CFG file.
```
ARS_SWIFT_CONFIG_FILE=/usr/lpp/ars/V10R5M0/config/ars.swift
    ARS_SWIFT_CONFIG_DIR=/usr/lpp/ars/V10R5M0/config
```
The ARS_SWIFT_CONFIG_FILE entry specifies an existing Swift configuration file which the server uses by default.

The ARS_SWIFT_CONFIG_DIR entry specifies the directory in which any alternate configuration files are kept. This directory is used if additional Swift configuration files are defined. The names of these additional configuration files can be specified when defining storage nodes in Content Manager OnDemand. If no configuration file is specified in the storage node, the default configuration file is used.

The configuration file name and directory path shown in the examples are the recommended values for these entries.
The ARS_STORAGE_MANAGER entry in the ARS.CFG file might also need to be changed. If you specify ARS_STORAGE_MANAGER=CACHE_ONLY, this disables all storage managers supported by Content Manager OnDemand.

To configure the Content Manager OnDemand server to use Swift as a storage manager, the value must be set to the following:

ARS_STORAGE_MANAGER=NO_TSM

This setting will enable all external storage managers supported by Content Manager OnDemand except Tivoli® Storage Manager, which is not supported on z/OS. This setting is used when the additional software to support Tivoli Storage Manager is not installed and Tivoli Storage Manager is not required as an external storage manager.

Creating an OpenStack Swift configuration file

An OpenStack Swift configuration file for Content Manager OnDemand contains entries specific to your Swift implementation. You specify the location and name of the default configuration file in the ARS.CFG entry. Required entries must be specified. Optional entries are not required in the configuration file unless those values need to be changed.

The following list describes the entries that can be specified in a Swift configuration file.

ARS_SWIFT_SERVER

Specifies the OpenStack Swift server name. Do not include http:// or https:// in the name. This entry is required.

ARS_SWIFT_PORT

Specifies the OpenStack Swift server port number. This entry is optional if using a standard port. Content Manager OnDemand assumes port 80 for HTTP or port 443 for HTTPS communications.

ARS_SWIFT_TLD

Specifies the OpenStack Swift top-level directory name. This contains any additional path information after the server name and port in the URL. This entry is optional but usually necessary.

ARS_SWIFT_USE_SSL

Indicates whether or not to use SSL in server communications. The possible values are:

0 - SSL will not be used
1 - SSL will be used

The default value is 0. This entry is optional.

ARS_SWIFT_CONNECT_ TIMEOUT

Specifies the maximum number of seconds that Content Manager OnDemand waits for a response from the storage manager. The default is 60. This entry is optional. Warning: Setting this value too low might cause connection failures.

ARS_SWIFT_HLD

Specifies a high-level directory name. This attribute is available to group sets of Content Manager OnDemand data together which might be needed if sharing external storage among multiple Content Manager OnDemand servers. Warning: Once this value is set, it must not be changed. If it is changed, any data that is already stored will not be retrievable. There is no default value. This entry is optional.

As an example, for a URL such as https://swift.example.com:8088/v1/account/, the Swift configuration file contains:

ARS_SWIFT_SERVER=swift.example.com
ARS_SWIFT_PORT=8088
ARS_SWIFT_TLD=/v1/account
ARS_SWIFT_USE_SSL=1

Defining an OpenStack Swift storage node with the Administrator client

You can define the settings for using the OpenStack Swift access method on the Add a Primary Node dialog of the OnDemand Administrator client.

The Storage Node field becomes Container Name when the Access Method is set to OpenStack Swift. The Container Name field is used with the OpenStack Swift server and determines the storage hierarchy for objects stored to this node. Containers are created if they do not already exist.

The Logon field is the OpenStack Swift user name which is used to store and retrieve data from the OpenStack Swift system. The password is also required.

The Access Method radio button is set to OpenStack Swift. The Configuration File Name defaults to the value specified by the ARS_SWIFT_CONFIG_FILE parameter in the ARS.CFG file if no value is entered. Otherwise, Content Manager OnDemand looks for the configuration file in the directory defined by the ARS_SWIFT_CONFIG_DIR parameter specified in the ARS.CFG file.