# Using HPE 3PAR when deploying NFS provisioner for Kubernetes

# Prerequisites

• Configure the variables described in the section Kubernetes Persistent Volume configuration
• Install the kubectl binary on your Ansible box
• Install the UCP Client bundle for the admin user
• Confirm that you can connect to the cluster by running a test command, for example, kubectl get nodes

# Setting up HPE 3PAR

The following section outlines the steps you need to follow in order to configure a Virtual File Server and a share for use by the Kubernetes NFS provisioner.

Log in to the HPE 3PAR StoreServ Management console and perform the following tasks.

Create a virtual file server (VFS):

1. In the General section, specify a name, in this instance hpe_vfs3par

   

   Figure. Create Virtual File Server - General

2. In the Storage Allocation Settings section, set the Provisioning to Thin Provisioned, select an appropriate CPG, in this instance FC_r1, and set the size, for example, 1 terabyte.

   

   Figure. Create Virtual File Server - Storage Allocation Settings

3. Add a virtual IP address

   

   Figure. Create Virtual File Server - Add Virtual IP Address

These steps result in a Virtual File Server:

Figure. Virtual File Server

Create a File Store:

1. In the General section, specify a name, in this instance HPE_filestore3par, and select the Virtual File Server that you just created.

   

   Figure. Create File Store - General

2. Use the default Security settings:

   Figure. Create File Store - Security

These steps result in the File Store shown below:

Figure. File Store

Create a File Share:

1. In the General section of the Create File Share dialog, set the share type to NFS Share and set a share name, for example, hpe_fileshare3par.

   

   Figure. Create File Share - General

2. In the Share Path section, select the virtual file server and file store that you created earlier and set the sub-directory to k8s.

   

   Figure. Create File Share - Share Path

3. In the Additional Settings section, set the Permission to Read/Write allowed and the Privilege to root squashing is off (no root squash):

   

   Figure. Create File Share - Additional Settings

The overview for the created File Share is shown below and contains the information you need to specify the configuration variables.

Figure. File Share

# Configurating NFS on HPE 3PAR for post-deployment verification

In this example, it is assumed that the relevant variables are configured as follows:

# Running the playbook

Once the appropriate configuration has been establised, run the playbook:

# cd ~/Docker-Synergy
# ansible-playbook -i hosts playbooks/nfs-provisioner.yml --vault-password-file .vault_pass

Running the command kubectl get sc will show the storage class named nfs-3par:

# kubectl get sc

NAME       PROVISIONER        AGE
nfs-3par   hpe.com/nfs-3par   5m

The playbook has a built-in test to validate the provisioining. A pod is deployed to write some test content:

templates/nfs-provisioner/nfs-provisioner-writer-pod.yml.j2

kind: Pod
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: writer-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: writer-pod
    image: gcr.io/google_containers/busybox:1.24
    command:
      - "/bin/sh"
    args:
      - "-c"
      - "echo '{{ TestMessage }}' >/mnt/bar.txt && while [ 1 ] ; do sleep 2 ; done "
    volumeMounts:
      - name: nfs-pvc
        mountPath: "/mnt"
  restartPolicy: "Never"
  volumes:
    - name: nfs-pvc
      persistentVolumeClaim:
        claimName: test-claim

This pod is then deleted, and a new pod is deployed to check that the test content has been persisted after the writer pod went away.

templates/nfs-provisioner/nfs-provisioner-reader-pod.yml.j2

kind: Pod
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
  name: reader-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: reader-pod
    image: gcr.io/google_containers/busybox:1.24
    command:
      - "/bin/sh"
    args:
      - "-c"
      - "cat /mnt/bar.txt  && while [ 1 ] ; do sleep 1 ; done "
    volumeMounts:
      - name: nfs-pvc
        mountPath: "/mnt"
  restartPolicy: "Never"
  volumes:
    - name: nfs-pvc
      persistentVolumeClaim:
        claimName: test-claim

You should see the following output if the provisioning succeeds:

ok: [localhost] => {
    "msg": "Successfully tested NFS persistent storage"
}