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Move between backend management options

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Learn about the different ways of managing backends in Astra Trident. With the introduction of TridentBackendConfig, administrators now have two unique ways of managing backends. This poses the following questions:

  • Can backends created using tridentctl be managed with TridentBackendConfig?

  • Can backends created using TridentBackendConfig be managed using tridentctl?

Manage tridentctl backends using TridentBackendConfig

This section covers the steps required to manage backends that were created using tridentctl directly through the Kubernetes interface by creating TridentBackendConfig objects.

This will apply to the following scenarios:

  • Pre-existing backends, that don’t have a TridentBackendConfig because they were created with tridentctl.

  • New backends that were created with tridentctl, while other TridentBackendConfig objects exist.

In both scenarios, backends will continue to be present, with Astra Trident scheduling volumes and operating on them. Administrators have one of two choices here:

  • Continue using tridentctl to manage backends that were created using it.

  • Bind backends created using tridentctl to a new TridentBackendConfig object. Doing so would mean the backends will be managed using kubectl and not tridentctl.

To manage a pre-existing backend using kubectl, you will need to create a TridentBackendConfig that binds to the existing backend. Here is an overview of how that works:

  1. Create a Kubernetes Secret. The secret contains the credentials Astra Trident needs to communicate with the storage cluster/service.

  2. Create a TridentBackendConfig object. This contains specifics about the storage cluster/service and references the secret created in the previous step. Care must be taken to specify identical config parameters (such as spec.backendName, spec.storagePrefix, spec.storageDriverName, and so on). spec.backendName must be set to the name of the existing backend.

Step 0: Identify the backend

To create a TridentBackendConfig that binds to an existing backend, you will need to obtain the backend’s configuration. In this example, let us assume a backend was created using the following JSON definition:

$ tridentctl get backend ontap-nas-backend -n trident
+---------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
|          NAME       | STORAGE DRIVER |                 UUID                 | STATE  | VOLUMES |
+---------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
| ontap-nas-backend   | ontap-nas      | 52f2eb10-e4c6-4160-99fc-96b3be5ab5d7 | online |      25 |
+---------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+

$ cat ontap-nas-backend.json

{
    "version": 1,
    "storageDriverName": "ontap-nas",
    "managementLIF": "10.10.10.1",
    "dataLIF": "10.10.10.2",
    "backendName": "ontap-nas-backend",
    "svm": "trident_svm",
    "username": "cluster-admin",
    "password": "admin-password",

    "defaults": {
        "spaceReserve": "none",
        "encryption": "false"
    },
    "labels":{"store":"nas_store"},
    "region": "us_east_1",
    "storage": [
        {
            "labels":{"app":"msoffice", "cost":"100"},
            "zone":"us_east_1a",
            "defaults": {
                "spaceReserve": "volume",
                "encryption": "true",
                "unixPermissions": "0755"
            }
        },
        {
            "labels":{"app":"mysqldb", "cost":"25"},
            "zone":"us_east_1d",
            "defaults": {
                "spaceReserve": "volume",
                "encryption": "false",
                "unixPermissions": "0775"
            }
        }
    ]
}

Step 1: Create a Kubernetes Secret

Create a Secret that contains the credentials for the backend, as shown in this example:

$ cat tbc-ontap-nas-backend-secret.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: ontap-nas-backend-secret
type: Opaque
stringData:
  username: cluster-admin
  passWord: admin-password

$ kubectl create -f tbc-ontap-nas-backend-secret.yaml -n trident
secret/backend-tbc-ontap-san-secret created

Step 2: Create a TridentBackendConfig CR

The next step is to create a TridentBackendConfig CR that will automatically bind to the pre-existing ontap-nas-backend (as in this example). Ensure the following requirements are met:

  • The same backend name is defined in spec.backendName.

  • Configuration parameters are identical to the original backend.

  • Virtual Storage Pools (if present) must retain the same order as in the original backend.

  • Credentials are provided through a Kubernetes Secret and not in plain text.

In this case, the TridentBackendConfig will look like this:

$ cat backend-tbc-ontap-nas.yaml
apiVersion: trident.netapp.io/v1
kind: TridentBackendConfig
metadata:
  name: tbc-ontap-nas-backend
spec:
  version: 1
  storageDriverName: ontap-nas
  managementLIF: 10.10.10.1
  dataLIF: 10.10.10.2
  backendName: ontap-nas-backend
  svm: trident_svm
  credentials:
    name: mysecret
  defaults:
    spaceReserve: none
    encryption: 'false'
  labels:
    store: nas_store
  region: us_east_1
  storage:
  - labels:
      app: msoffice
      cost: '100'
    zone: us_east_1a
    defaults:
      spaceReserve: volume
      encryption: 'true'
      unixPermissions: '0755'
  - labels:
      app: mysqldb
      cost: '25'
    zone: us_east_1d
    defaults:
      spaceReserve: volume
      encryption: 'false'
      unixPermissions: '0775'

$ kubectl create -f backend-tbc-ontap-nas.yaml -n trident
tridentbackendconfig.trident.netapp.io/tbc-ontap-nas-backend created

Step 3: Verify the status of the TridentBackendConfig CR

After the TridentBackendConfig has been created, its phase must be Bound. It should also reflect the same backend name and UUID as that of the existing backend.

$ kubectl -n trident get tbc tbc-ontap-nas-backend -n trident
NAME                   BACKEND NAME          BACKEND UUID                           PHASE   STATUS
tbc-ontap-nas-backend  ontap-nas-backend     52f2eb10-e4c6-4160-99fc-96b3be5ab5d7   Bound   Success

#confirm that no new backends were created (i.e., TridentBackendConfig did not end up creating a new backend)
$ tridentctl get backend -n trident
+---------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
|          NAME       | STORAGE DRIVER |                 UUID                 | STATE  | VOLUMES |
+---------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
| ontap-nas-backend   | ontap-nas      | 52f2eb10-e4c6-4160-99fc-96b3be5ab5d7 | online |      25 |
+---------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+

The backend will now be completely managed using the tbc-ontap-nas-backend TridentBackendConfig object.

Manage TridentBackendConfig backends using tridentctl

tridentctl can be used to list backends that were created using TridentBackendConfig. In addition, administrators can also choose to completely manage such backends through tridentctl by deleting TridentBackendConfig and making sure spec.deletionPolicy is set to retain.

Step 0: Identify the backend

For example, let us assume the following backend was created using TridentBackendConfig:

$ kubectl get tbc backend-tbc-ontap-san -n trident -o wide
NAME                    BACKEND NAME        BACKEND UUID                           PHASE   STATUS    STORAGE DRIVER   DELETION POLICY
backend-tbc-ontap-san   ontap-san-backend   81abcb27-ea63-49bb-b606-0a5315ac5f82   Bound   Success   ontap-san        delete

$ tridentctl get backend ontap-san-backend -n trident
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
|       NAME        | STORAGE DRIVER |                 UUID                 | STATE  | VOLUMES |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
| ontap-san-backend | ontap-san      | 81abcb27-ea63-49bb-b606-0a5315ac5f82 | online |      33 |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+

From the output, it is seen that TridentBackendConfig was created successfully and is bound to a backend [observe the backend’s UUID].

Step 1: Confirm deletionPolicy is set to retain

Let us take a look at the value of deletionPolicy. This needs to be set to retain. This will ensure that when a TridentBackendConfig CR is deleted, the backend definition will still be present and can be managed with tridentctl.

$ kubectl get tbc backend-tbc-ontap-san -n trident -o wide
NAME                    BACKEND NAME        BACKEND UUID                           PHASE   STATUS    STORAGE DRIVER   DELETION POLICY
backend-tbc-ontap-san   ontap-san-backend   81abcb27-ea63-49bb-b606-0a5315ac5f82   Bound   Success   ontap-san        delete

# Patch value of deletionPolicy to retain
$ kubectl patch tbc backend-tbc-ontap-san --type=merge -p '{"spec":{"deletionPolicy":"retain"}}' -n trident
tridentbackendconfig.trident.netapp.io/backend-tbc-ontap-san patched

#Confirm the value of deletionPolicy
$ kubectl get tbc backend-tbc-ontap-san -n trident -o wide
NAME                    BACKEND NAME        BACKEND UUID                           PHASE   STATUS    STORAGE DRIVER   DELETION POLICY
backend-tbc-ontap-san   ontap-san-backend   81abcb27-ea63-49bb-b606-0a5315ac5f82   Bound   Success   ontap-san        retain
Note Do not proceed to the next step unless deletionPolicy is set to retain.

Step 2: Delete the TridentBackendConfig CR

The final step is to delete the TridentBackendConfig CR. After confirming the deletionPolicy is set to retain, you can go ahead with the deletion:

$ kubectl delete tbc backend-tbc-ontap-san -n trident
tridentbackendconfig.trident.netapp.io "backend-tbc-ontap-san" deleted

$ tridentctl get backend ontap-san-backend -n trident
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
|       NAME        | STORAGE DRIVER |                 UUID                 | STATE  | VOLUMES |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+
| ontap-san-backend | ontap-san      | 81abcb27-ea63-49bb-b606-0a5315ac5f82 | online |      33 |
+-------------------+----------------+--------------------------------------+--------+---------+

Upon the deletion of the TridentBackendConfig object, Astra Trident simply removes it without actually deleting the backend itself.