1. Install StorageOS Operator

   kubectl create -f https://github.com/storageos/cluster-operator/releases/download/v2.1.0/storageos-operator.yaml

   Wait until the Pod is ready kubectl -n storageos-operator get pod -w

   The READY 1/1 indicates that storageoscluster resources can be created. Press Ctrl+C to continue once the pod is up.

2. Create a Secret defining the StorageOS credentials

   kubectl create -f- <<END
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Secret
   metadata:
     name: "storageos-api"
     namespace: "storageos-operator"
     labels:
       app: "storageos"
   type: "kubernetes.io/storageos"
   data:
     # echo -n '<secret>' | base64
     apiUsername: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     apiPassword: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     # CSI Credentials
     csiProvisionUsername: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiProvisionPassword: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiControllerPublishUsername: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiControllerPublishPassword: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiNodePublishUsername: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiNodePublishPassword: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiControllerExpandUsername: c3RvcmFnZW9z
     csiControllerExpandPassword: c3RvcmFnZW9z
   END
   

3. Create StorageOSCluster definition

   kubectl create -f- <<END
   apiVersion: "storageos.com/v1"
   kind: StorageOSCluster
   metadata:
     name: "my-storageos-cluster"
     namespace: "storageos-operator"
   spec:
     secretRefName: "storageos-api" # Reference from the Secret created in the previous step
     secretRefNamespace: "storageos-operator"  # Namespace of the Secret
     namespace: "kube-system"
     k8sDistro: "upstream"
     images:
       nodeContainer: "storageos/node:v2.1.0" # StorageOS version
     kvBackend:
       address: '${ETCD_HOST}:2379' # Example address, change for your etcd endpoint
     # address: '10.42.15.23:2379,10.42.12.22:2379,10.42.13.16:2379' # You can set ETCD server ips
     csi:
       enable: true
       deploymentStrategy: deployment
       enableControllerPublishCreds: true
       enableNodePublishCreds: true
       enableProvisionCreds: true
       enableControllerExpandCreds: true
   END
   

   For additional information on the configuration options exposed by the StorageOSCluster resource, see: https://docs.storageos.com/docs/reference/cluster-operator/configuration/

Verify installation

kubectl -n kube-system get pods -lapp=storageos -w

Wait until StorageOS Pods are ready. Note that pods typically take approximately 40 seconds to enter the Running Phase. Press Ctrl+C to continue once the pods are up.

Once the pods are all in the Running state the installation is complete! You have created a StorageOS cluster.

The last step is to license the cluster. You will license this cluster in following steps using the StorageOS GUI.

StorageOS has a CLI and GUI. We are using the CLI to verify the installation.

We can use a pod to access the CLI using kubectl exec:

kubectl -n kube-system run \ --image storageos/cli:v2.1.0 \ --restart=Never \ --env STORAGEOS_ENDPOINTS=[[HOST2_IP]]:5705 \ --env STORAGEOS_USERNAME=storageos \ --env STORAGEOS_PASSWORD=storageos \ --command cli \ -- /bin/sh -c "while true; do sleep 999999; done"

Wait for the CLI pod to enter the Running state and press Ctrl+C to continue once the pod is running.

kubectl -n kube-system get pods -l run=cli -w

Run the following commands to check the nodes and make sure the CLI is working:

kubectl exec -ti cli -n kube-system -- storageos get nodes

The above command will display the three nodes that are in the StorageOS cluster. Note that these three nodes are identical to the nodes in the Kubernetes cluster.

You can verify this by getting the Kubernetes nodes.

kubectl get nodes

Lets check how to dynamically provision storage using StorageOS.

During cluster bootstrap StorageOS creates a StorageClass called fast. A StorageClass is a Kubernetes construct that describes different "classes" of Storage and their providers.

In order to demonstrate this we will deploy an example Debian pod on Kubernetes with a StorageOS persistent volume.

1. Create PersistentVolumeClaim

   kubectl create -f- <<END
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
   metadata:
     name: pvc-1
   spec:
     storageClassName: fast # <--- StoarageOS SC
     accessModes:
       - ReadWriteOnce
     resources:
       requests:
         storage: 1Gi
   END
   

2. Check the PVC and PV

   kubectl get pvc and kubectl get pv

   StorageOS dynamically provisions a PV (Persistent Volume) that matches the PVC (Persistent Volume Claim).

3. Check the Volume using the StorageOS CLI

   kubectl exec -ti cli -n kube-system -- storageos get volumes

4. Create Pod

   kubectl create -f- <<END
   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Pod
   metadata:
     name: d1
     labels:
       app: debian
   spec:
     containers:
       - name: debian
         image: debian:9-slim
         command: ["/bin/sleep"]
         args: [ "3600" ]
         volumeMounts:
           - mountPath: /mnt
             name: v1
     volumes:
       - name: v1
         persistentVolumeClaim:
           claimName: pvc-1
   
   END
   

   Wait for the pod to finish spinning up:

   kubectl get pod -w

Congratulations, you have successfully installed StorageOS on Kubernetes, created a volume, and bound that volume to an application!

StorageOS serves the GUI on the port 5705 of each DaemonSet Pod.

Access the GUI by clicking on the Dashboard tab of the terminal. Log in with the same credentials as set in the Secret.

Username: storageos Password: storageos

We would recommend to check the Volumes, Nodes, Cluster and License sections to experiment with the GUI.

If you see any issues, you should disable ad-block and privacy checkers on the new window.

StorageOS clusters need a licence to operate after 24 hours. However, creating a developer licence is easy to do and completely free!

To create a licence click on the StorageOS UI Licence tab of the terminal and click on the Sign Up button under the Developer Licence box. Don't forget to activate the account in your email after account creation. Follow the instruction and congratulations, you now have a working and fully licensed StorageOS cluster!

For more information about our licences, check https://docs.storageos.com/docs/reference/licence/. Also, feel free to join our public slack channel https://slack.storageos.com/ where we provide support, guidance and are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for completing this tutorial!