Preparing to configure cloud-container storage pools for IBM Cloud Object Storage with S3 (on premises)

Before you configure cloud-container storage pools to use IBM Cloud Object Storage on premises with the Simple Storage Service (S3) protocol, you must set up an IBM Cloud Object Storage vault template and an IBM Cloud Object Storage user account. Then, obtain the required configuration information.

1. Create a vault template:
   1. Log in to IBM Cloud Object Storage and click the Configure tab.
   2. In the IBM Cloud Object Storage navigation panel, expand Storage Pools.
   3. Select the IBM Cloud Object Storage storage pool where you want to create the vault template, and click the Storage Pool link in the General section.
   4. In the Vault Templates section, click Create Vault Template.
   5. Select the settings for the default vault template. Ensure that the Name Index option is enabled and that the Retention policy option is disabled.
   6. In the Deployment section, select the access pool or pools that you want to use for the template and click Save.
2. Set the vault template as the default for IBM Cloud Object Storage:
   1. Click the Configure tab.
   2. In the Default Vault Template Configuration section, click Configure.
   3. Select a vault template to use as the default, and click Update.
3. If you are configuring a vault template for the first time, enable the vault provisioning role so that you can create new vaults:
   1. Click the Administration tab.
   2. In the Provisioning API Configuration section, click Configure.
   3. Select Create Only or Create and Delete to enable users to create vaults by using the Provisioning API.
   4. Click Update to save the settings.
4. Use an IBM Cloud Object Storage account with administration authority to create a user account on the IBM Cloud Object Storage instance in your environment. Ensure that the new user account has the Vault Provisioner role.
5. Click the Security tab and select the new user account.
6. Generate an access key for the new user:
   1. In the Access Key Authentication section, click Change Keys.
   2. On the Edit Access Keys page, click Generate New Access Key.
   3. Click Back.
7. In the Access Key Authentication section, locate the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key values. Record the values so that you can use them when you configure storage pools.
8. Locate the URL value:
   1. Click the Configure tab.
   2. In the IBM Cloud Object Storage navigation panel, expand the Devices and Accesser sections.
   3. Select the IBM Cloud Object Storage Accesser. Verify that the Accesser belongs to an access pool to which the default vault template is deployed.
   4. In the Device Configuration section for the Accesser, record the IP Address value so that you can use it when you configure storage pools. Use http:// before the IP address value to prevent certificate security errors.
9. If you configure storage pools by using the Add Storage Pool wizard in the Operations Center, use the following values for the parameters:
   • Cloud type: IBM Cloud Object Storage - S3 API
   • Access key ID: access_key_ID
   • Secret access key: secret_access_key
   • Bucket name: Use the default bucket name generated by the server, or specify a new bucket name.
   • URL: http://Cloud_Object_Storage_Accesser_IP_address
     Important: If you use more than one Accesser, type an Accesser IP address and then press Enter to add more IP addresses. Use multiple Accessers or a load balancer to help optimize performance.
10. If you configure storage pools by using command-line administrative client, use the following parameter values for the DEFINE CONNECTION command:
    • CLOUDTYPE: S3
    • IDENTITY: access_key_ID
    • PASSWORD: secret_access_key
    • CLOUDURL: http://Cloud_Object_Storage_Accesser_IP_address
      Tip: To help optimize performance, use multiple Accessers. To use more than one IBM Cloud Object Storage Accesser, list the Accesser IP addresses separated by a vertical bar (|), with no spaces, enclosed by quotation marks, as in the following example:

      cloudurl="http://accesser_ur1|http://accesser_url2|http://accesser_url3"