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Version: 3.6

Prepare your Environment for Portworx Installation with FlashArray

This page includes detailed system requirements that are specific to FlashArray to ensure a seamless deployment and optimal performance of Portworx Enterprise in your Kubernetes environment.

Before you begin preparing your environment, ensure that all system requirements for installing Portworx are met.

The following collection of tasks describe how to prepare your environment for Portworx installation.

Complete all the tasks to prepare your environment for installation.

Supported FlashArray models​

Portworx supports Pure FlashArray//C and FlashArray//X. For information about minimum and maximum supported versions, see Supported Pure Storage FlashArray and FlashBlade Models and Versions.

Software requirements​

Install the following system packages on all nodes, including the control plane node, to support storage provisioning and data path operations when using FlashArray.

CategoryRequirement
PackagesEnsure that the latest versions of the following packages are installed on nodes where you plan to run Portworx Enterprise:Note: For NVMe-oF/TCP protocol, you need multipath version 0.8.7 or later.
Red Hat SystemsEnsure that the second action, CAPACITY_DATA_HAS_CHANGED, is uncommented in the 90-scsi-ua.rules file, and restart the udev service.
CSI Snapshot FeatureTo use the CSI snapshot feature, install the Snapshot controller and deploy the CRDs available here in your Kubernetes cluster.
FC Protocol (Optional)If you are using the FC protocol, ensure that the latest FC initiator software is installed.
NVMe CLI (Optional)If you are using the NVMe protocol, ensure that the following NVMe CLI version is installed:
  • RHEL version earlier than 9.4/Ubuntu version earlier than 22.04: NVMe CLI version 1.16
  • RHEL version 9.4 or later/Ubuntu version 22.04 or later: NVMe CLI version 2.6

Physical network requirements​

This section outlines the physical network prerequisites for Portworx to communicate with FlashArray.

Ensure proper connectivity and protocol configuration for optimal performance and compatibility

  • Ensure the FlashArray management IP address is accessible by all nodes.
  • Verify that your cluster has an operational FlashArray with a configured dataplane connectivity layout.
  • Use one of the following storage networking protocols supported by Portworx Enterprise:
    • iSCSI: For block storage over IP networks.
    • NVMe-oF RoCE or NVMe-oF TCP: For high-performance and low-latency storage access.
    • Fibre Channel (FC): For dedicated storage area networks.
  • If using iSCSI:
    • Ensure that the storage node iSCSI initiators are on the same VLAN as the FlashArray iSCSI target ports.
    • If using multiple NICs to connect to an iSCSI host, ensure all NICs are accessible from the FlashArray management IP address.
  • If using Fibre Channel:
    • Verify that the storage node Fibre Channel WWNs are correctly zoned to the FlashArray Fibre Channel WWN ports.

Multipath configuration​

  • FlashArray and Portworx Enterprise do not support user-friendly names. Set user_friendly_names to no before installing Portworx Enterprise on your cluster. This ensures consistent device naming conventions between Portworx and FlashArray.
  • Add polling_interval 10 as recommended by RHEL Linux settings. This defines how often the system checks for path status updates.
  • To avoid interference from the multipathd service during Portworx volume operations, set the pxd device denylist rule.

Your /etc/multipath.conf file should follow this structure:

defaults {
    user_friendly_names no
    enable_foreign "^$"
    polling_interval    10
    find_multipaths yes
}

devices {
    device {
        vendor                      "NVME"
        product                     "Everpure FlashArray"
        path_selector               "queue-length 0"
        path_grouping_policy        group_by_prio
        prio                        ana
        failback                    immediate
        fast_io_fail_tmo            10
        user_friendly_names         no
        no_path_retry               0
        features                    0
        dev_loss_tmo                60
    }
    device {
        vendor                   "PURE"
        product                  "FlashArray"
        path_selector            "service-time 0"
        hardware_handler         "1 alua"
        path_grouping_policy     group_by_prio
        prio                     alua
        failback                 immediate
        path_checker             tur
        fast_io_fail_tmo         10
        user_friendly_names      no
        no_path_retry            0
        features                 0
        dev_loss_tmo             600
    }
}

blacklist_exceptions {
        property "(SCSI_IDENT_|ID_WWN)"
}

blacklist {
      devnode "^pxd[0-9]*"
      devnode "^pxd*"
      device {
        vendor "VMware"
        product "Virtual disk"
      }
}

Configure Udev rules​

Configure queue settings with Udev rules on all nodes. For recommended settings for FlashArray, refer to Applying Queue Settings with Udev.

Apply Multipath and Udev configurations​

Apply the Multipath and Udev configurations created in the previous sections for the changes to take effect.

Use a MachineConfig in OpenShift to apply multipath and Udev configuration files consistently across all nodes.

  1. Encode the configuration files in base64 format and add them to the MachineConfig, as shown in the following example:

    apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
    kind: MachineConfig
    metadata:
      creationTimestamp:
      labels:
        machineconfiguration.openshift.io/role: worker
      name: <your-machine-config-name>
    spec:
      config:
        ignition:
          version: 3.2.0
        storage:
          files:
          - contents:
              source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,<base64-encoded-multipath-conf>
            filesystem: root
            mode: 0644
            overwrite: true
            path: /etc/multipath.conf
          - contents:
              source: data:text/plain;charset=utf-8;base64,<base64-encoded-udev_conf>
            filesystem: root
            mode: 0644
            overwrite: true
            path: /etc/udev/rules.d/99-pure-storage.rules
        systemd:
          units:
          - enabled: true
            name: iscsid.service
          - enabled: true
            name: multipathd.service

  2. Apply the MachineConfig to your cluster:

    oc apply -f <your-machine-config-name>.yaml

Set up user access in FlashArray​

To establish secure communication between Portworx and FlashArray, you should create a user account and generate an API token. This token acts as an authentication key, allowing Portworx to interact with FlashArray and perform storage operations on behalf of the authorized user. This section provides the steps to generate an API token, which serves as your authorization within the FlashArray environment.

Secure multi-tenancy

If multiple users share a single FlashArray, you can enable secure multi-tenancy using FlashArray realms and pods. A realm isolates tenant-specific storage, and a pod groups volumes within that realm.

important

FlashArray host sharing with realms is not supported when using Secure Multi-Tenancy (SMT). You cannot mix hosts within a realm with hosts outside a realm on the same node. For example, using Boot from SAN with a host outside the realm is not supported.

To enable this feature:

  1. Create a realm and pod on the FlashArray.
  2. Add the realm to the pure.json file.
  3. Reference the pod name in the StorageCluster specification.

Note that a FlashArray pod is a logical grouping on the storage array and is not related to Kubernetes pods.

This configuration ensures that each tenant can access only their assigned storage volumes.

  1. Create a user:

    1. In your FlashArray dashboard, select Settings in the left pane.
    2. On the Settings page, select Users and Policies.
    3. In the Users section, click the vertical ellipsis in the top-right corner and select Create User: FlashArray create user
    4. In the Create User window, enter your details and set the role to Storage Admin.
    5. Select Create to add the new user.

  2. Generate an API token:

    1. To create a token for the user you created, select the user from the Users list, click the vertical ellipsis in the right-hand corner of the username, and select Create API Token:
    2. In the API Token window, leave the Expires in field blank if you want to create a token that never expires, and click Create.
    3. Save this information to avoid the need to recreate the token.

Create pure.json file​

To integrate Portworx Enterprise with FlashArray, create a JSON configuration file (named pure.json) containing essential information about the FlashArray environment. This file should include the management endpoints and the API token you generated.

note

You can provision Portworx Enterprise to automatically create and maintain the pure.json configuration file by enabling Portworx Fusion Controller in your Portworx cluster. After you enable Portworx Fusion Controller, you do not need to manually generate or manage individual FlashArray or FlashBlade tokens or update the configuration file when arrays are added or removed from the fleet. Portworx Fusion Controller handles discovery and token management through Fusion Coordinator, reducing operational overhead and simplifying integration with Portworx Enterprise.
For more information on how to enable Portworx Fusion Controller, see Enable Portworx Fusion Controller.

  • Management endpoints: These are URLs or IP addresses that Portworx uses to communicate with FlashArray through API calls. To locate these, go to Settings > Connectors in your FlashArray dashboard. Note the IP addresses or hostnames of your management interfaces, prefixed with vir, indicating virtual interfaces.
    important
    • For an IPv6 address, ensure that the IP address is enclosed in square brackets. For example: "MgmtEndPoint": "[XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX]".
  • API token: Generated in the previous section.
  • Realm (secure multi-tenancy only): Realms define tenant boundaries within a secure multi-tenancy setup. When multiple FlashArrays are attached to a cluster, the admin can specify a realm to ensure that storage volumes are isolated for each tenant. FlashArray volumes created through Portworx will be placed within the specified realm.
    note

    Each cluster can only support one realm per array, meaning a single Portworx deployment cannot use multiple realms on the same FlashArray.

Use the information above to create a JSON file. Below is a template for the configuration content, which you should populate with your specific information:

note

  • If you are configuring both FlashArray and FlashBlade, you can add FlashBlade configuration information in the same file. Refer to the JSON file for more information.

  • Portworx Enterprise refreshes your Everpure credentials every 5 minutes. During each cycle, Portworx Enterprise reads the pure.json configuration from the secret store (Kubernetes or Vault) and updates the internal device registry. If you add new FlashArray or FlashBlade entries to pure.json, Portworx Enterprise automatically discovers and registers them within approximately 5 minutes. No restart or manual intervention is required.

{
  "FlashArrays": [
    {
      "MgmtEndPoint": "<fa-management-endpoint>",
      "APIToken": "<fa-api-token>"
    }
  ]
}

Add FlashArray configuration to a secret store provider​

To enable Portworx Enterprise to access the FlashArray configuration, add the pure.json file to a Kubernetes secret by running the following command to create a secret named px-pure-secret:

kubectl create secret generic px-pure-secret --namespace <stc-namespace> --from-file=pure.json=<file path>
secret/px-pure-secret created
important
  • The specific name px-pure-secret is required so that Portworx Enterprise can correctly identify and access the Kubernetes secret upon startup. This secret securely stores the FlashArray configuration details and allows Portworx Enterprise to access this information within the Kubernetes environment.
  • Ensure that the px-pure-secret is in the same namespace where you plan to install Portworx Enterprise.

Configure FlashArray connectivity​

If you are using the iSCSI protocol, follow the instructions below to verify the iSCSI setup:

  1. Run the following command from the node to discover your iSCSI targets:

    iscsiadm -m discovery -t st -p <flash-array-interface-endpoint>
    10.13.xx.xx0:3260,207 iqn.2010-06.com.purestorage:flasharray.xxxxxxx
    10.13.xx.xx1:3260,207 iqn.2010-06.com.purestorage:flasharray.xxxxxxx

  2. Run the following command on each node to verify if each node has a unique initiator:

    cat /etc/iscsi/initiatorname.iscsi
    InitiatorName=iqn.1994-05.com.redhat:xxxxx

  3. If the initiator names are not unique, assign a new unique initiator name using the following command:

    echo "InitiatorName=`/sbin/iscsi-iname`" > /etc/iscsi/initiatorname.iscsi
    important

    Replace the initiator names on any nodes that have duplicates with the newly generated unique names.

  4. After making changes to the initiator names, restart the iSCSI service to apply the changes:

    systemctl restart iscsid
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