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Chapter 9. Layering

Ceph supports the ability to create many copy-on-write (COW) clones of a block device shapshot. Snapshot layering enables Ceph block device clients to create images very quickly. For example, you might create a block device image with a Linux VM written to it; then, snapshot the image, protect the snapshot, and create as many copy-on-write clones as you like. A snapshot is read-only, so cloning a snapshot simplifies semantics—​making it possible to create clones rapidly.

Diagram
Note

The terms parent and child mean a Ceph block device snapshot (parent), and the corresponding image cloned from the snapshot (child). These terms are important for the command line usage below.

Each cloned image (child) stores a reference to its parent image, which enables the cloned image to open the parent snapshot and read it.

A COW clone of a snapshot behaves exactly like any other Ceph block device image. You can read to, write from, clone, and resize cloned images. There are no special restrictions with cloned images. However, the copy-on-write clone of a snapshot refers to the snapshot, so you MUST protect the snapshot before you clone it. The following diagram depicts the process.

Note

Ceph only supports cloning for format 2 images (i.e., created with rbd create --image-format 2), and is not yet supported by the kernel rbd module. So you MUST use QEMU/KVM or librbd directly to access clones in the current release.

9.1. Getting Started with Layering

Ceph block device layering is a simple process. You must have an image. You must create a snapshot of the image. You must protect the snapshot. Once you have performed these steps, you can begin cloning the snapshot.

Diagram

The cloned image has a reference to the parent snapshot, and includes the pool ID, image ID and snapshot ID. The inclusion of the pool ID means that you may clone snapshots from one pool to images in another pool.

  1. Image Template: A common use case for block device layering is to create a a master image and a snapshot that serves as a template for clones. For example, a user may create an image for a RHEL7 distribution and create a snapshot for it. Periodically, the user may update the image and create a new snapshot (e.g.sudo yum update, sudo yum upgrade, followed by rbd snap create). As the image matures, the user can clone any one of the snapshots.
  2. Extended Template: A more advanced use case includes extending a template image that provides more information than a base image. For example, a user may clone an image (e.g., a VM template) and install other software (e.g., a database, a content management system, an analytics system, etc.) and then snapshot the extended image, which itself may be updated just like the base image.
  3. Template Pool: One way to use block device layering is to create a pool that contains master images that act as templates, and snapshots of those templates. You may then extend read-only privileges to users so that they may clone the snapshots without the ability to write or execute within the pool.
  4. Image Migration/Recovery: One way to use block device layering is to migrate or recover data from one pool into another pool.

9.2. Protecting a Snapshot

Clones access the parent snapshots. All clones would break if a user inadvertently deleted the parent snapshot. To prevent data loss, you MUST protect the snapshot before you can clone it. To do so, run the following commands: 

rbd --pool {pool-name} snap protect --image {image-name} --snap {snapshot-name}
rbd snap protect {pool-name}/{image-name}@{snapshot-name}

For example: 

rbd --pool rbd snap protect --image my-image --snap my-snapshot
rbd snap protect rbd/my-image@my-snapshot
Note

You cannot delete a protected snapshot.

9.3. Cloning a Snapshot

To clone a snapshot, you need to specify the parent pool, image and snapshot; and the child pool and image name. You must protect the snapshot before you can clone it. To do so, run the following commands: 

rbd --pool {pool-name} --image {parent-image} --snap {snap-name} --dest-pool {pool-name} --dest {child-image}
rbd clone {pool-name}/{parent-image}@{snap-name} {pool-name}/{child-image-name}

For example: 

rbd clone rbd/my-image@my-snapshot rbd/new-image
Note

You may clone a snapshot from one pool to an image in another pool. For example, you may maintain read-only images and snapshots as templates in one pool, and writeable clones in another pool.

9.4. Unprotecting a Snapshot

Before you can delete a snapshot, you must unprotect it first. Additionally, you may NOT delete snapshots that have references from clones. You must flatten each clone of a snapshot, before you can delete the snapshot. To do so, run the following commands: 

rbd --pool {pool-name} snap unprotect --image {image-name} --snap {snapshot-name}
rbd snap unprotect {pool-name}/{image-name}@{snapshot-name}

For example: 

rbd --pool rbd snap unprotect --image my-image --snap my-snapshot
rbd snap unprotect rbd/my-image@my-snapshot

9.5. Listing Children of a Snapshot

To list the children of a snapshot, execute the following: 

rbd --pool {pool-name} children --image {image-name} --snap {snap-name}
rbd children {pool-name}/{image-name}@{snapshot-name}

For example: 

rbd --pool rbd children --image my-image --snap my-snapshot
rbd children rbd/my-image@my-snapshot

9.6. Flattening a Cloned Image

Cloned images retain a reference to the parent snapshot. When you remove the reference from the child clone to the parent snapshot, you effectively "flatten" the image by copying the information from the snapshot to the clone. The time it takes to flatten a clone increases with the size of the snapshot. To delete a snapshot, you must flatten the child images first: 

rbd --pool {pool-name} flatten --image {image-name}
rbd flatten {pool-name}/{image-name}

For example: 

rbd --pool rbd flatten --image my-image
rbd flatten rbd/my-image
Note

Since a flattened image contains all the information from the snapshot, a flattened image will take up more storage space than a layered clone.