Configuring with IBM Storage Scale

Configure IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) to integrate fast, scalable, and reliable file storage with Fusion Data Foundation, ensuring high performance and reliability for enterprise workloads.

Before you begin

Ensure that the following prerequisites are met before configuring IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) in the Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform web console:

Fusion Data Foundation is installed with the device type set to External.

For instructions, see Installing Fusion Data Foundation.

The MachineConfig Operator (MCO) required for IBM Storage Scale is applied.

Command example:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/ibm-spectrum-scale-container-native/v6.0.0.x/generated/scale/mco/mco.yaml

If you are running OpenShift on s390x, apply the following MachineConfig instead:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/IBM/ibm-spectrum-scale-container-native/v6.0.0.x/generated/scale/mco/mco_s390x.yaml

Wait 15–20 minutes for the MachineConfig changes to take effect.

Verify that all machine config pools are updated:

Command example:
```
oc get mcp
```
Ensure that the UPDATED column shows True for all entries.
An IBM entitlement key is available.

For instructions on obtaining the entitlement key, see Obtaining your entitlement key in IBM Cloud Paks documentation.

An ibm‑entitlement‑key secret is created in the ibm-spectrum-scale namespace using the entitlement key.

Command example:

NS=ibm-spectrum-scale
# 1) Extract the entitlement key (token string)
ENT_KEY=YOUR_KEY
echo "$ENT_KEY"   
# 2) Build a valid docker config JSON using that token
AUTH_B64=$(printf 'cp:%s' "$ENT_KEY" | base64 | tr -d '\n')
cat > /tmp/ibm-dockerconfig.json <<EOF
{
  "auths": {
    "cp.icr.io": {
      "username": "cp",
      "password": "$ENT_KEY",
      "auth": "$AUTH_B64"
    }
  }
}
EOF
# 3) Create/update ibm-entitlement-key as dockerconfigjson
oc create secret generic ibm-entitlement-key \
  -n "$NS" \
  --from-file=.dockerconfigjson=/tmp/ibm-dockerconfig.json \
  --type=kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson \
  --dry-run=client -o yaml | oc apply -f -

Important: Replace YOUR_KEY with your IBM entitlement key.

Host aliases for all virtual machines are added to the ibm-spectrum-scale cluster custom resource under spec.daemon.

Command example:
```
oc -n ibm-spectrum-scale edit cluster.scale.spectrum.ibm.com/ibm-spectrum-scale
```
The following resources are added to the ibm-spectrum-scale cluster custom resource:
- CPU: 2
- Memory: 6Gi
YAML example of ibm-spectrum-scale cluster custom resource:
```
      bypassDiscovery: true
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: '2'
        memory: 6Gi
    roles: []
```

Procedure

Log in to the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform web console as an administrator, and navigate to Storage > External systems.
Click Connect external systems.
Select IBM Scale and click Next.

The Connect IBM Scale (CNSA) page appears.
In the Name field, enter a name for the cluster.
Remember: The name must meet the following requirements:
- It is 3–63 characters long.
- It starts and ends with a lowercase letter or number.
- It includes only lowercase letters, numbers, nonconsecutive periods, or hyphens.
- It is unique.
Select local cluster nodes.

You can choose one of the following options:

All nodes

If you choose this option, all non control plane nodes in this infrastructure are automatically selected to handle requests to IBM Storage Scale.

Select nodes

If you choose this option, you must select a minimum of three nodes to handle requests to IBM Storage Scale.

Note: The All nodes option is selected by default.

If you choose the Select nodes option, select at least three nodes from the node list.
Tip: You can search for nodes by name.
Add the following connection details:
1. In the Management endpoints field, enter the GUI hostname or IP address of the IBM Storage Scale management endpoint.
2. In the Port field, enter the port number used by the management endpoint.
3. Optional: To configure additional endpoints for high availability:
  - Enter the hostname or IP address in Optional endpoint 1 and specify the corresponding port number in the Optional port 1 field.
  - Enter the hostname or IP address in Optional endpoint 2 and specify the corresponding port number in the Optional port 2 field.
4. In the User name field, enter a user name that is 1–63 characters long.
5. In the Password field, enter a password.
6. Optional: In the CA certificate field, browse and upload a certificate to secure the configuration.
Add the following file system configuration details:
1. In the File system name field, enter a name for the remote file system to access on this cluster.
  Remember: The name must meet the following requirements:
  - It is 3–63 characters long.
  - It starts and ends with a lowercase letter or number.
  - It includes only lowercase letters, numbers, nonconsecutive periods, or hyphens.
  - It is unique.
2. Optional: Select the Enable data encryption checkbox to ensure that all filesystem data is securely stored and protected.
  If you select the Enable data encryption checkbox, enter the following mandatory details:
  - Username
  - Port
  - Client
  - Remote RKM
  - Encryption CA certificate
  - Server information
  - Tenant ID
Click Connect.

Note: The Scale cluster might take a few minutes to initialize.

The Scale cluster appears in the External systems page.
Verify the Scale cluster configuration:
1. Click the Scale cluster name to open the Scale Dashboard.
2. In the Scale Dashboard, check the status of the Scale cluster.
Note: If you entered incorrect data during first time IBM Storage Scale configuration and need to delete the invalid Scale cluster, see Unable to delete incorrect IBM Scale (CNSA) cluster after first-time configuration.

Results

IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) cluster is integrated with Fusion Data Foundation.

What to do next

After configuring the IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) cluster, you can add more file systems for use in the cluster. For instructions, see Adding file systems to an IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) cluster.

To remove a remote IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) cluster, see Removing a remote IBM Storage Scale (CNSA) cluster.