Managing SMB clusters

The IBM Storage Ceph dashboard provides an interface for managing SMB clusters. You can create, edit, and delete the SMB clusters by using the Ceph dashboard.

About this task

You can opt to create the SMB cluster with 2 different authentication modes:
Standalone
This mode allows you to manually define and manage user accounts and groups within Ceph. It is suitable for setups where external authentication services are not required. To create an SMB cluster with Standlone as the authentication mode, see Creating users and groups access resources.
Active Directory (AD)
This mode integrates with an existing Active Directory domain, enabling centralized authentication and access control. Users and groups are managed in AD, providing seamless integration with enterprise environments. To create an SMB cluster with AD as the authentication mode, see Creating Active Directory access resources.
Follow the section to create, edit, list, and delete the SMB clusters:

Creating SMB cluster

Learn to create SMB clusters by using the Ceph dashboard.

Before you begin

Before you begin, make sure that you have the following prerequisites in place:
  • A running IBM Storage Ceph cluster.
  • Active Directory resources or stand-alone resources according to your requirement.

Procedure

  1. From the Dashboard navigation, go to File > SMB.
  2. Go to the Clusters tab, and click Create.
    The Create Cluster form displays.
  3. Complete the Create Cluster form, per your requirements.
    1. Add the Cluster name.
    2. Authentication mode: Select either Standalone or Active Directory, per your requirement.
      • If you select Standalone,
        1. Click Add user group if you have already created a user group.
        2. Click Create user group if you do not have a user group created.

        You can view the user groups in the Standalone tab in the SMB page.

      • If you select Active Directory, click the Edit button and add the following information to the Update Domain Setting form,
        1. Realm name.
        2. Select the Active Directory access resource from the list.
        3. Click Add Join Source. You can add or delete multiple active directory access resources.
        4. Click Add custom DNS to add the DNS address.
        5. Click Update Domain Settings to save the settings.

        You can view the active directories in the Active Directory tab on the SMB page.

    3. Expand the Service Specifications drop down.
      1. Add the Placement information.
      2. Add the Hosts.
      3. Add the Count.
      4. Select the Clustering type from either Default, Always or Never.
        Note: The Add public dddress button is displayed only when the Clustering type is set to Always, or when it is set to Default and the Count value is greater than 1. This ensures public addresses are configured only for clustered deployments.
  4. Click Create Cluster.
    A notification is displayed that the cluster is created successfully.

Editing SMB cluster

Learn to edit SMB clusters by using the Ceph dashboard.

Procedure

  1. From the Dashboard navigation, go to File > SMB.
  2. Go to the Clusters tab.
    A list of all the available SMB clusters is displayed.
  3. Click the action button next to the share that you want to edit.
  4. Click Edit.
    The Edit Cluster form displays.
  5. In the Edit Cluster form, edit the required information and click Edit Cluster.
    A notification is displayed that the share is edited successfully.
    Note: The Cluster name, Authentication mode, Clustering, and Count fields are fixed at the time of SMB cluster creation to ensure system stability and configuration integrity. These settings define core aspects of the cluster’s identity, security, and architecture, and cannot be edited.

Deleting SMB cluster

Learn to delete SMB clusters by using the Ceph dashboard.

Procedure

  1. From the Dashboard navigation, go to File > SMB.
  2. Go to the Clusters tab.
    A list of all the available SMB clusters is displayed.
  3. Click the action button next to the share that you want to delete.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. Confirm that you want to delete the SMB cluster.
    A notification is displayed that the share is deleted successfully.

Listing SMB clusters

Learn to list the SMB cluster by using the Ceph dashboard.

Procedure

  1. From the Dashboard navigation, go to File > SMB.
  2. Click the Clusters tab.
    A list of the clusters that are created for SMB service is displayed. It also shows the authentication mode of the SMB cluster.