⁠2.4. Configure Storage

By default, Packstack creates loopback devices for both block and object storage on the controller node. However, if you want to avoid loopback devices, storage must be manually configured before installing OpenStack.
Block Storage
Block Storage uses volume groups to identify attached volumes. By default, Packstack creates:
  • An example storage volume for testing. It is placed in /var/lib/cinder and installed as a loopback storage device on the host for the Block Storage service.
  • The cinder-volumes volume group (configured in volume_group in /etc/cinder/cinder.conf).
To avoid the creation of loopback devices, you must initialize your volume manually for the Block Storage service before installing and deploying OpenStack using Packstack.
⁠

Example 2.1. Create volume group

The following commands can be used to initialize the volume manager as a physical volume, and then use it to create the cinder-volumes volume group: 
# pvcreate /dev/sdX
# vgcreate cinder-volumes /dev/sdX
Object Storage
Instead of installing a volume for Object Storage, Packstack adds a device to an Object Storage ringfile. On the Object Storage host, the device is represented by a directory in /srv/. Ideally, the directory for the Object Storage device should be a separate file system.
If you have not created a separate file system, or just want to test Object Storage, then Packstack creates a small loopback storage device in place of a separate partition. Otherwise, you must manually configure your system using Packstack's answer file (see Appendix A, Answer File Configuration Keys).
⁠

Example 2.2. Configure storage device with /dev/sdb1

If the following is specified in the answer file, Packstack installs /dev/sdb1 as a device on the controller host: 
CONFIG_SWIFT_STORAGES=/dev/sdb1