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Version: 3.1

Scale down nodes

Deprecation notice

Support for Portworx on the following orchestrators will be deprecated:

  • Docker Swarm and Docker Standalone
  • Nomad

For installation instructions on other platforms, refer to the Platform guides section.

Removing offline nodes​

This document describes how to remove an offline node from a cluster. If you are specifically interested in decommissioning nodes with no storage that have been offline for an extended period, see Automatic decommission of storageless nodes.

  1. Identify the cluster that needs to be managed:

    pxctl status
    Status: PX is operational
    Node ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3
        IP: X.X.X.197
        Local Storage Pool: 2 pools
        Pool	IO_Priority	Size	Used	Status	Zone	Region
        0	LOW		200 GiB	1.0 GiB	Online	default	default
        1	LOW		120 GiB	1.0 GiB	Online	default	default
        Local Storage Devices: 2 devices
        Device	Path				Media Type		SizLast-Scan
        0:1	/dev/mapper/volume-27dbb728	STORAGE_MEDIUM_SSD	200 GiB		08 Jan 17 05:39 UTC
        1:1	/dev/mapper/volume-0a31ef46	STORAGE_MEDIUM_SSD	120 GiB		08 Jan 17 05:39 UTC
        total					-			320 GiB
    Cluster Summary
        Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0242ac110002
        Node IP: X.X.X.197 - Capacity: 2.0 GiB/320 GiB Online (This node)
        Node IP: 10.99.117.129 - Capacity: 1.2 GiB/100 GiB Online
        Node IP: 10.99.119.1 - Capacity: 1.2 GiB/100 GiB Online
    Global Storage Pool
        Total Used    	:  4.3 GiB
        Total Capacity	:  520 GiB

  2. List the nodes in the cluster:

    pxctl cluster list
    Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0242ac110002
    Status: OK

    Nodes in the cluster:
    ID					DATA IP		CPU		MEM TOTAL	MEM FREE	CONTAINERS	VERSION		STATUS
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3	X.X.X.197	1.629073	8.4 GB		7.9 GB		N/A		1.1.2-c27cf42	Online
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-dd5084dce208	10.99.117.129	0.125156	8.4 GB		8.0 GB		N/A		1.1.3-b33d4fa	Online
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-d3478c485a61	10.99.119.1	0.25		8.4 GB		8.0 GB		N/A		1.1.3-b33d4fa	Online

  3. List the volumes in the cluster:

    pxctl volume list
    ID			NAME	SIZE	HA	SHARED	ENCRYPTED	PRIORITSTATUS
    845707146523643463	testvol	1 GiB	1	no	no		LOW	up - attached on X.X.X.197

    In this case, there is one volume in the cluster and it is attached to node with IP X.X.X.97

  4. Identify the node that you want to remove from the cluster.

    In the following example, node X.X.X.197 has been marked as offline:

    pxctl cluster list
    Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0242ac110002
    Status: OK

    Nodes in the cluster:
    ID					DATA IP		CPU		MEM TOTAL	MEM FREE	CONTAINERS	VERSION		STATUS
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-dd5084dce208	10.99.117.129	5.506884	8.4 GB	8.0 GB		N/A		1.1.3-b33d4fa	Online
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-d3478c485a61	10.99.119.1	0.25		8.4 GB	8.0 GB		N/A		1.1.3-b33d4fa	Online
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3	X.X.X.197	-		-	N/A		1.1.2-c27cf42	Offline

  5. Attach and detach the volume in one of the surviving nodes:

    pxctl host attach 845707146523643463
    Volume successfully attached at: /dev/pxd/pxd845707146523643463
    pxctl host detach 845707146523643463
    Volume successfully detached

  6. Delete the local volume that belonged to the offline node:

    pxctl volume delete 845707146523643463
    Volume 845707146523643463 successfully deleted.

  7. Delete the node that is offline:

    pxctl cluster delete xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3
    Node xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3e2b01cd0bc3 successfully deleted.

  8. List the nodes in the cluster to make sure that the node is removed:

    pxctl cluster list
    Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0242ac110002
    Status: OK

    Nodes in the cluster:
    ID					DATA IP		CPU		MEM TOTAL	MEM FREE	CONTAINERS	VERSION		STATUS
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-dd5084dce208	10.99.117.129	4.511278	8.4 GB	8.0 GB		N/A		1.1.3-b33d4fa	Online
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-d3478c485a61	10.99.119.1	0.500626	8.4 GB	8.0 GB		N/A		1.1.3-b33d4fa	Online

  9. Show the cluster status:

    pxctl status
    Status: PX is operational
    Node ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-dd5084dce208
        IP: X.X.X.199
        Local Storage Pool: 1 pool
        Pool	IO_Priority	Size	Used	Status	Zone	Region
        0	LOW		100 GiB	1.2 GiB	Online	default	default
        Local Storage Devices: 1 device
        Device	Path				Media Type		Size	Last-Scan
        0:1	/dev/mapper/volume-9f6be49c	STORAGE_MEDIUM_SSD	100 GiB08 Jan 17 06:34 UTC
        total					-			100 GiB
    Cluster Summary
        Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0242ac110002
        Node IP: 10.99.117.129 - Capacity: 1.2 GiB/100 GiB Online (This node)
        Node IP: 10.99.119.1 - Capacity: 1.2 GiB/100 GiB Online
    Global Storage Pool
        Total Used    	:  2.3 GiB
        Total Capacity	:  200 GiB

Removing a functional node from a cluster​

A functional Portworx node may need to be removed from the cluster. In this section, we'll demonstrate the removal of a node by running commands on the node itself as well as the removal of a node from another node.

The following output shows the state of the cluster and the different node IPs and node IDs:

pxctl status
Status: PX is operational
Node ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0027f6bbcbd1
        IP: X.X.X.0
        Local Storage Pool: 1 pool
        POOL    IO_PRIORITY     SIZE    USED    STATUS  ZONE    REGION
        0       LOW             64 GiB  11 GiB  Online  c       us-east-1
        Local Storage Devices: 1 device
        Device  Path            Media Type              Size            Last-Scan
        0:1     /dev/xvdf       STORAGE_MEDIUM_SSD      64 GiB          25 Feb 17 21:13 UTC
        total                   -                       64 GiB
Cluster Summary
        Cluster ID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-d4a612b74cc3
        IP              ID                                      Used    Capacity        Status
        172.31.40.38    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-2bc112f5f131    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.37.211   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-a85e0514ae8b    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.35.130   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-893373631483    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.45.106   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-2eeddcd64d51    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.45.56    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-ec8e1420e645    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.46.119   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-0027f6bbcbd1    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online (This node)
        172.31.39.201   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-936b1b58aa24    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.33.151   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-41e70a72eafd    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
        172.31.33.252   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-428e727eb6b8    11 GiB  64 GiB          Online
Global Storage Pool
        Total Used      :  99 GiB
        Total Capacity  :  576 GiB

Suspend active cloudsnap operations​

  1. Identify any active cloudsnap operations being run on the node that you intend to decommission:

    pxctl cloudsnap status

    The STATE of active operations shows as Backup-Active:

    NAME                                    SOURCEVOLUME        STATE           NODE            TIME-ELAPSED        COMPLETED   
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-278535e49860    885345022234521857  Backup-Done     10.13.90.125    39.746191264s       Tue, 22 Mar 2022 22:53:37 UTC
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-3c3ccf47f276    186701534582547510  Backup-Done     10.13.90.122    1.677455484s        Tue, 22 Mar 2022 23:59:49 UTC
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-73176c2d03e2    885345022234521857  Backup-Done     10.13.90.125    27.550329395s       Wed, 23 Mar 2022 00:00:15 UTC
    xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-2307865c1b93    649554470078043771  Backup-Active   10.13.90.125    5m12.61653365s

    From this output, identify the volumes with active backups. For example, if node 10.13.90.125 is being decommissioned, then the volume with active backup is 649554470078043771.

  2. Identify the namespace of the volume the cloudsnap operation is occuring on. The namespace is displayed under the Labels section in the output from the following command. Replace <source_volume> with the SOURCEVOLUME value for the volume that is in a Backup-Active state from the previous output:

    pxctl volume inspect <source_volume>
    Volume               :  649554470078043771
    Name                 :  pvc-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-d4827680f6de
    Size                 :  500 GiB
    Format               :  ext4
    HA                   :  3
    IO Priority          :  LOW
    Creation time        :  Mar 22 20:37:52 UTC 2022
    Shared               :  v4 (service)
    Status               :  up
    State                :  Attached: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-10f4e076cac8 (10.13.90.119)
    Last Attached        :  Mar 22 20:37:58 UTC 2022
    Device Path          :  /dev/pxd/pxd649554470078043771
    Labels               :  mount_options=nodiscard=true,namespace=vdbench,nodiscard=true,pvc=vdbench-pvc-sharedv4,repl=3,sharedv4=true,sharedv4_svc_type=ClusterIP
    ...

  3. Suspend backup operations for the volume and wait for current backup to complete:

    storkctl suspend volumesnapshotschedule vdbench-pvc-sharedv4-schedule  -n vdbench

  4. Verify the suspension. The SUSPEND field will show as true:

    storkctl get volumesnapshotschedule -n vdbench 
    NAME                            PVC                    POLICYNAME   PRE-EXEC-RULE   POST-EXEC-RULE   RECLAIM-POLICY   SUSPEND   LAST-SUCCESS-TIME
    vdbench-pvc-sharedv4-schedule   vdbench-pvc-sharedv4   testpolicy                                    Delete           true      22 Mar 22 17:10 PDT

Repeat these steps until all active snaps complete and all backup operations are suspended on the node that you want to decommission.

Prevention of data loss​

If any node hosts a volume with replication factor of 1, then Portworx disallows decommissioning of such nodes because there is data loss.

One possible workaround to decommission such a node is to increase the replication of single replica volumes by running volume ha-update.

  1. List all the volumes hosts on the decommisioning node:

    pxctl volume  list --node xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-2eeddcd64d51
    ID                      NAME                                            SIZE    HA      SHARED  ENCRYPTED  PROXY-VOLUME     IO_PRIORITY     STATUS                          SNAP-ENABLED
    633738568577538909      pvc-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-d4827680f6de        2 GiB   3       no      no         no               LOW             up - attached on 172.31.45.106    no
    161898313715947409      pvc-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-68f0d970e10c        2 GiB   1       no      no         no               LOW             up - attached on 172.31.45.106    no

  2. Increase the replication factor:

    pxctl volume ha-update --repl 2 161898313715947409

Once the volume is completely replicated onto another node, continue with the node decommissioning. This time, the volume already has another replica on another node, so decommissioning the node will reduce the replication factor of the volume and remove the node.

Placing the node in maintenance mode​

After identifying the node to be removed (see "Identify the node that you want to remove from the cluster" above), place the node in maintenance mode.

Log in to the node to be decommissioned:

pxctl service maintenance --enter
This is a disruptive operation, PX will restart in maintenance mode.
Are you sure you want to proceed ? (Y/N): y
Entered maintenance mode.

Run the cluster delete command​

Example 1: Running the cluster delete command from a different node

ssh to 172.31.46.119 and run the following command:

pxctl cluster delete xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-2eeddcd64d51
Node xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-2eeddcd64d51 successfully deleted.

Example 2: Running the cluster delete command from the same node

ssh to 172.31.33.252 and type:

pxctl cluster delete xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-428e727eb6b8
Node xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-428e727eb6b8 successfully deleted.

Clean up Portworx metadata on the node​

To learn how to remove or clean up Portworx metadata on the decommmisioned node, see clean up Portworx metadata on the node.

Automatic decommission of storageless nodes​

Storageless nodes that are initialized and added to the cluster may not be needed once they complete their tasks (such as in a scheduler workflow). If they are taken offline or destroyed, the cluster will still retain the nodes and mark them as offline.

If eventually a majority of such nodes exist, the cluster won't have a quorum of nodes that are online. The solution is to run cluster delete commands and remove such nodes. This gets more laborious with more such nodes or an increased frequency of such nodes added and taken down.

To help with this, Portworx waits until a grace period of 48 hours has passed. After this period, offline nodes with no storage will be removed from the cluster. There is no CLI command needed to turn on or trigger this feature.

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