5.2. Specify Advanced Installer Variables

The cluster installation, https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/openshift_container_platform/3.10/html-single/installing_clusters/#install-planning, process can be used to install one or both of two GlusterFS node groups:

  • glusterfs: A general storage cluster for use by user applications.

  • glusterfs-registry: A dedicated storage cluster for use by infrastructure applications such as an integrated OpenShift Container Registry.

It is recommended to deploy both groups to avoid potential impacts on performance in I/O and volume creation. Both of these are defined in the inventory hosts file.

The definition of the clusters is done by including the relevant names in the [OSEv3:children] group, creating similarly named groups, and then populating the groups with the node information. The clusters can then be configured through a variety of variables in the [OSEv3:vars] group. glusterfs variables begin with openshift_storage_glusterfs_ and glusterfs-registry variables begin with openshift_storage_glusterfs_registry_. A few other variables, such as openshift_hosted_registry_storage_kind, interact with the GlusterFS clusters.

It is recommended to specify version tags for all containerized components. This is primarily to prevent components, particularly the Red Hat Gluster Storage pods, from upgrading after an outage which may lead to a cluster of widely disparate software versions. The relevant variables are:

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_version

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_block_version

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_heketi_version

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_registry_version

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_registry_block_version

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_registry_heketi_version

Note

The image variables for gluster-block is only necessary if the corresponding deployment variables (the variables ending in `_block_deploy`) is true.
The following are the recommended values for this release of Red Hat Openshift Container Storage

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_image=registry.access.redhat.com/rhgs3/rhgs-server-rhel7:v3.10

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_block_image=registry.access.redhat.com/rhgs3/rhgs-gluster-block-prov-rhel7:v3.10

  • openshift_storage_glusterfs_heketi_image=registry.access.redhat.com/rhgs3/rhgs-volmanager-rhel7:v3.10

For a complete list of variables, see the GlusterFS role README, https://github.com/openshift/openshift-ansible/tree/master/roles/openshift_storage_glusterfs, on GitHub.

Once the variables are configured, there are several playbooks available depending on the circumstances of the installation:

  • The main playbook for cluster installations can be used to deploy the GlusterFS clusters in tandem with an initial installation of OpenShift Container Platform.

    • This includes deploying an integrated OpenShift Container Registry that uses GlusterFS storage.

  • /usr/share/ansible/openshift-ansible/playbooks/openshift-glusterfs/config.yml can be used to deploy the clusters onto an existing OpenShift Container Platform installation.

  • /usr/share/ansible/openshift-ansible/playbooks/openshift-glusterfs/registry.yml can be used to deploy the clusters onto an existing OpenShift Container Platform installation. In addition, this will deploy an integrated OpenShift Container Registry which uses GlusterFS storage.

    Important

    There must not be a pre-existing registry in the OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

  • playbooks/openshift-glusterfs/uninstall.yml can be used to remove existing clusters matching the configuration in the inventory hosts file. This is useful for cleaning up the Red Hat OpenShift Container Storage environment in the case of a failed deployment due to configuration errors.

    Note

    The GlusterFS playbooks are not guaranteed to be idempotent. Running the playbooks more than once for a given installation is not supported without deleting the entire GlusterFS installation (including disk data) and starting over.