NAS

NAS support is only available in the VMmanager Infrastructure version.

NAS (Network Attached Storage) is a network storage that provides file-level access to data. NAS can be used to store VM images and linked clones.

NAS restrictions

Migration of VMs with disks in a NAS is only available to another NAS or file storage.

How NAS works

To connect a NAS to a cluster node, a cluster file system must be configured on the NAS device. A cluster file system is a system that can be used simultaneously by multiple servers. Such systems include NFS, OCFS2, GlusterFS, CephFS, GFS2, and others.

VMmanager cluster nodes access the NAS through a mounted directory that is specified when the storage is connected.

Configuring the file system

The configuration of NFS on servers with AlmaLinux OS is considered as an example. You can also use a file system based on OCFS2, GlusterFS, CephFS, or GFS2.

1. On the storage server:

   1. Create a directory for mounting. For example, /mnt/nfsshare/: 

      mkdir -p /mnt/nfsshare

      BASH

   2. Grant permissions to access the directory:

      chown nobody:nobody /mnt/nfsshare

      BASH

      chmod 777 /mnt/nfsshare

      BASH

   3. Install the NFS server software: 

      dnf update -y

      BASH

      dnf -y install nfs-utils

      BASH

   4. Run the service and add it to the autostart: 

      systemctl start nfs-server.service

      BASH

      systemctl enable nfs-server.service

      BASH

   5. Add the IP addresses of the cluster nodes to the /etc/exports configuration file. To do this, run the command for each cluster node:

      echo '/mnt/nfsshare <NODE_IP>(rw,async,no_subtree_check,no_root_squash)' >> /etc/exports && exportfs -vra

      BASH
       Comments to the command

      <NODE_IP> — IP address of the cluster node

   6. Allow connections to NFS in the firewall settings: 

      firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=2049/tcp

      BASH

      firewall-cmd --reload

      BASH

2. On the cluster nodes: 

   1. Install the NFS client software: 

      dnf -y install nfs-utils nfs4-acl-tools

      BASH

   2. Run the service and add it to the autostart: 

      systemctl start nfs-client.target

      BASH

      systemctl enable nfs-client.target

      BASH

   3. Create a directory to which the storage will be mounted. For example, /mnt/nas/:

      mkdir -p /mnt/nas

      BASH

   4. Mount the storage: 

      If high availability is disabled in the cluster

      mount.nfs4 <NAS_IP>:/mnt/nfsshare /mnt/nas

      BASH

      If high availability is enabled in the cluster

      mount.nfs4 -o user,noauto,soft,timeo=5,retry=1 <NAS_IP>:/mnt/nfsshare /mnt/nas && chmod -R 777 /mnt/nas

      BASH
       Comments to the commands

      <NAS_IP> — IP address of the storage

   5. Add the mounted partition to the autostart. To do this, add a line to the /etc/fstab file:

      <NAS_IP>:/mnt/nfsshare        /mnt/nas       nfs defaults    0 0

      CODE
       Comments

      <NAS_IP> — IP address of the storage

Useful tips

Related topics:

• Managing cluster storages
• Storage types