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Chapter 8. The rbd kernel module

As a storage administrator, you can access Ceph block devices through the rbd kernel module. You can map and unmap a block device, and displaying those mappings. Also, you can get a list of images through the rbd kernel module.

Important

Kernel clients on Linux distributions other than Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) are permitted but not supported. If issues are found in the storage cluster when using these kernel clients, Red Hat will address them, but if the root cause is found to be on the kernel client side, the issue will have to be addressed by the software vendor.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.

8.1. Create a Ceph Block Device and use it from a Linux kernel module client

As a storage administrator, you can create a Ceph Block Device for a Linux kernel module client in the Red Hat Ceph Storage Dashboard. As a system administrator, you can map that block device on a Linux client, and partition, format, and mount it, using the command line. After this, you can read and write files to it.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • A Red Hat Enterprise Linux client.

8.1.1. Creating a Ceph block device for a Linux kernel module client using dashboard

You can create a Ceph block device specifically for a Linux kernel module client using the dashboard web interface by enabling only the features it supports.

Kernel module client supports features like Deep flatten, Layering, Exclusive lock, Object map, and Fast diff.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • A replicated RBD pool created and enabled.

Procedure

  1. From the Block drop-down menu, select Images.
  2. Click Create.

  3. In the Create RBD window, enter a image name, select the RBD enabled pool, select the supported features:

    Create RBD window
  4. Click Create RBD.

Verification

  • You will get a notification that the image is created successfully.

Additional Resources

8.1.2. Map and mount a Ceph Block Device on Linux using the command line

You can map a Ceph Block Device from a Red Hat Enterprise Linux client using the Linux rbd kernel module. After mapping it, you can partition, format, and mount it, so you can write files to it.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • A Ceph block device for a Linux kernel module client using the dashboard is created.
  • A Red Hat Enterprise Linux client.

Procedure

  1. On the Red Hat Enterprise Linux client node, enable the Red Hat Ceph Storage 7 Tools repository: 

    [root@rbd-client ~]# subscription-manager repos --enable=rhceph-7-tools-for-rhel-9-x86_64-rpms

  2. Install the ceph-common RPM package: 

    [root@rbd-client ~]# dnf install ceph-common

  3. Copy the Ceph configuration file from a Monitor node to the Client node:

    Syntax

    scp root@MONITOR_NODE:/etc/ceph/ceph.conf /etc/ceph/ceph.conf

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# scp root@cluster1-node2:/etc/ceph/ceph.conf /etc/ceph/ceph.conf
root@192.168.0.32's password:
ceph.conf                                                            100%  497   724.9KB/s   00:00
[root@client1 ~]#

  4. Copy the key file from a Monitor node to the Client node:

    Syntax

    scp root@MONITOR_NODE:/etc/ceph/ceph.client.admin.keyring /etc/ceph/ceph.client.admin.keyring

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# scp root@cluster1-node2:/etc/ceph/ceph.client.admin.keyring /etc/ceph/ceph.client.admin.keyring
root@192.168.0.32's password:
ceph.client.admin.keyring                                                          100%  151   265.0KB/s   00:00
[root@client1 ~]#

  5. Map the image:

    Syntax

    rbd map --pool POOL_NAME IMAGE_NAME --id admin

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd map --pool block-device-pool image1 --id admin
/dev/rbd0
[root@client1 ~]#

  6. Create a partition table on the block device:

    Syntax

    parted /dev/MAPPED_BLOCK_DEVICE mklabel msdos

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# parted /dev/rbd0 mklabel msdos
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

  7. Create a partition for an XFS file system:

    Syntax

    parted /dev/MAPPED_BLOCK_DEVICE mkpart primary xfs 0% 100%

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# parted /dev/rbd0 mkpart primary xfs 0% 100%
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

  8. Format the partition:

    Syntax

    mkfs.xfs /dev/MAPPED_BLOCK_DEVICE_WITH_PARTITION_NUMBER

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# mkfs.xfs /dev/rbd0p1
meta-data=/dev/rbd0p1            isize=512    agcount=16, agsize=163824 blks
        =                       sectsz=512   attr=2, projid32bit=1
        =                       crc=1        finobt=1, sparse=1, rmapbt=0
        =                       reflink=1
data     =                       bsize=4096   blocks=2621184, imaxpct=25
        =                       sunit=16     swidth=16 blks
naming   =version 2              bsize=4096   ascii-ci=0, ftype=1
log      =internal log           bsize=4096   blocks=2560, version=2
        =                       sectsz=512   sunit=16 blks, lazy-count=1
realtime =none                   extsz=4096   blocks=0, rtextents=0

  9. Create a directory to mount the new file system on:

    Syntax

    mkdir PATH_TO_DIRECTORY

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# mkdir /mnt/ceph

  10. Mount the file system:

    Syntax

    mount /dev/MAPPED_BLOCK_DEVICE_WITH_PARTITION_NUMBER PATH_TO_DIRECTORY

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# mount /dev/rbd0p1 /mnt/ceph/

  11. Verify that the file system is mounted and showing the correct size:

    Syntax

    df -h PATH_TO_DIRECTORY

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# df -h /mnt/ceph/
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/rbd0p1      10G  105M  9.9G   2% /mnt/ceph

Additional Resources

8.2. Mapping a block device

Use rbd to map an image name to a kernel module. You must specify the image name, the pool name and the user name. rbd will load the RBD kernel module if it is not already loaded.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • Root-level access to the node.

Procedure

  1. Return a list of the images:

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd list

  2. Following are the two options to map the image:

    • Map an image name to a kernel module:

      Syntax

      rbd device map POOL_NAME/IMAGE_NAME --id USER_NAME

      Example

      [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd device map rbd/myimage --id admin

    • Specify a secret when using cephx authentication by either the keyring or a file containing the secret:

      Syntax

      [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd device map POOL_NAME/IMAGE_NAME --id USER_NAME --keyring PATH_TO_KEYRING

      or 

      [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd device map POOL_NAME/IMAGE_NAME --id USER_NAME --keyfile PATH_TO_FILE

8.3. Displaying mapped block devices

You can display which block device images are mapped to the kernel module with the rbd command.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • Root-level access to the node.

Procedure

  1. Display the mapped block devices: 

    [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd device list

8.4. Unmapping a block device

You can unmap a block device image with the rbd command, by using the unmap option and providing the device name.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • Root-level access to the node.
  • An image that is mapped.

Procedure

  1. Get the specification of the device.

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd device list

  2. Unmap the block device image:

    Syntax

    rbd device unmap /dev/rbd/POOL_NAME/IMAGE_NAME

    Example

    [root@rbd-client ~]# rbd device unmap /dev/rbd/pool1/image1

8.5. Segregating images within isolated namespaces within the same pool

When using Ceph Block Devices directly without a higher-level system, such as OpenStack or OpenShift Container Storage, it was not possible to restrict user access to specific block device images. When combined with CephX capabilities, users can be restricted to specific pool namespaces to restrict access to the images.

You can use RADOS namespaces, a new level of identity to identify an object, to provide isolation between rados clients within a pool. For example, a client can only have full permissions on a namespace specific to them. This makes using a different RADOS client for each tenant feasible, which is particularly useful for a block device where many different tenants are accessing their own block device images.

You can segregate block device images within isolated namespaces within the same pool.

Prerequisites

  • A running Red Hat Ceph Storage cluster.
  • Upgrade all the kernels to 4x and to librbd and librados on all clients.
  • Root-level access to the monitor and client nodes.

Procedure

  1. Create an rbd pool:

    Syntax

    ceph osd pool create POOL_NAME PG_NUM

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# ceph osd pool create mypool 100
pool 'mypool' created

  2. Associate the rbd pool with the RBD application:

    Syntax

    ceph osd pool application enable POOL_NAME rbd

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# ceph osd pool application enable mypool rbd
enabled application 'rbd' on pool 'mypool'

  3. Initialize the pool with the RBD application:

    Syntax

    rbd pool init -p POOL_NAME

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd pool init -p mypool

  4. Create two namespaces:

    Syntax

    rbd namespace create --namespace NAMESPACE

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd namespace create --namespace namespace1

[ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd namespace create --namespace namespace2

[ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd namespace ls --format=json
[{"name":"namespace2"},{"name":"namespace1"}]

  5. Provide access to the namespaces for two users:

    Syntax

    ceph auth get-or-create client.USER_NAME mon 'profile rbd' osd 'profile rbd pool=rbd namespace=NAMESPACE' -o /etc/ceph/client.USER_NAME.keyring

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# ceph auth get-or-create client.testuser mon 'profile rbd' osd 'profile rbd pool=rbd namespace=namespace1' -o /etc/ceph/client.testuser.keyring

[ceph: root@host01 /]# ceph auth get-or-create client.newuser mon 'profile rbd' osd 'profile rbd pool=rbd namespace=namespace2' -o /etc/ceph/client.newuser.keyring

  6. Get the key of the clients:

    Syntax

    ceph auth get client.USER_NAME

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# ceph auth get client.testuser

[client.testuser]
	key = AQDMp61hBf5UKRAAgjQ2In0Z3uwAase7mrlKnQ==
	caps mon = "profile rbd"
	caps osd = "profile rbd pool=rbd namespace=namespace1"
exported keyring for client.testuser

[ceph: root@host01 /]# ceph auth get client.newuser

[client.newuser]
	key = AQDfp61hVfLFHRAA7D80ogmZl80ROY+AUG4A+Q==
	caps mon = "profile rbd"
	caps osd = "profile rbd pool=rbd namespace=namespace2"
exported keyring for client.newuser

  7. Create the block device images and use the pre-defined namespace within a pool:

    Syntax

    rbd create --namespace NAMESPACE IMAGE_NAME --size SIZE_IN_GB

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd create --namespace namespace1 image01 --size 1G

[ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd create --namespace namespace2 image02 --size 1G

  8. Optional: Get the details of the namespace and the associated image:

    Syntax

    rbd --namespace NAMESPACE ls --long

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]#  rbd --namespace namespace1 ls --long
NAME    SIZE  PARENT FMT PROT LOCK
image01 1 GiB          2

[ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd --namespace namespace2 ls --long
NAME    SIZE  PARENT FMT PROT LOCK
image02 1 GiB          2

  9. Copy the Ceph configuration file from the Ceph Monitor node to the client node: 

    scp /etc/ceph/ceph.conf root@CLIENT_NODE:/etc/ceph/

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# scp /etc/ceph/ceph.conf root@host02:/etc/ceph/

root@host02's password:
ceph.conf                                                                          100%  497   724.9KB/s   00:00

  10. Copy the admin keyring from the Ceph Monitor node to the client node:

    Syntax

    scp /etc/ceph/ceph.client.admin.keyring root@CLIENT_NODE:/etc/ceph

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# scp /etc/ceph/ceph.client.admin.keyring root@host02:/etc/ceph/

root@host02's password:
ceph.client.admin.keyring                                                          100%  151   265.0KB/s   00:00

  11. Copy the keyrings of the users from the Ceph Monitor node to the client node:

    Syntax

    scp /etc/ceph/ceph.client.USER_NAME.keyring root@CLIENT_NODE:/etc/ceph/

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# scp /etc/ceph/client.newuser.keyring root@host02:/etc/ceph/

[ceph: root@host01 /]# scp /etc/ceph/client.testuser.keyring root@host02:/etc/ceph/

  12. Map the block device image:

    Syntax

    rbd map --name NAMESPACE IMAGE_NAME -n client.USER_NAME --keyring /etc/ceph/client.USER_NAME.keyring

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd map --namespace namespace1 image01  -n  client.testuser --keyring=/etc/ceph/client.testuser.keyring

/dev/rbd0

[ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd map --namespace namespace2 image02 -n client.newuser --keyring=/etc/ceph/client.newuser.keyring

/dev/rbd1

    This does not allow access to users in the other namespaces in the same pool.

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd map --namespace namespace2 image02  -n  client.testuser --keyring=/etc/ceph/client.testuser.keyring

rbd: warning: image already mapped as /dev/rbd1
rbd: sysfs write failed
rbd: error asserting namespace: (1) Operation not permitted
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try "dmesg | tail".
2021-12-06 02:49:08.106 7f8d4fde2500 -1 librbd::api::Namespace: exists: error asserting namespace: (1) Operation not permitted
rbd: map failed: (1) Operation not permitted

[ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd map --namespace namespace1 image01 -n client.newuser --keyring=/etc/ceph/client.newuser.keyring

rbd: warning: image already mapped as /dev/rbd0
rbd: sysfs write failed
rbd: error asserting namespace: (1) Operation not permitted
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try "dmesg | tail".
2021-12-03 12:16:24.011 7fcad776a040 -1 librbd::api::Namespace: exists: error asserting namespace: (1) Operation not permitted
rbd: map failed: (1) Operation not permitted

  13. Verify the device:

    Example

    [ceph: root@host01 /]# rbd showmapped

id pool namespace      image   snap device
0  rbd  namespace1  image01 -  /dev/rbd0
1  rbd  namespace2   image02 -  /dev/rbd1

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