Install OpenEBS for Kubernetes Storage

How to Install OpenEBS for Reliable Storage

Introduction

As organizations increasingly turn to cloud environments, the need for efficient, cloud-native storage solutions is more crucial than ever. OpenEBS is an open-source, container-attached storage solution specifically designed for Kubernetes environments. This tutorial will guide you through the installation of OpenEBS, helping you ensure a reliable and robust storage backend for your applications.

Prerequisites

A Kubernetes cluster up and running (Learn how to set up a Kubernetes Dashboard).
Kubectl configured to interact with your Kubernetes cluster.
Basic knowledge of Kubernetes concepts such as nodes, pods, and persistent volumes.

Step 1: Set Up OpenEBS Namespace

Firstly, create a dedicated namespace for OpenEBS to ensure isolation from your other resources.

kubectl create namespace openebs

This command initializes a separate environment within your cluster, specifically for OpenEBS resources.

Step 2: Install OpenEBS Using Helm

Helm can simplify the deployment of applications on Kubernetes. Use the following commands to install OpenEBS:

helm repo add openebs https://openebs.github.io/charts
helm repo update
helm install openebs --namespace openebs openebs/openebs

This installation will deploy the OpenEBS control plane into the cluster, which manages storage operations.

Step 3: Verify Installation

Ensure that the installation was successful by checking the status of the pods within the OpenEBS namespace:

kubectl get pods -n openebs

All pods should be in the Running state to confirm a successful setup.

Step 4: Configure OpenEBS Storage Classes

OpenEBS provides default storage classes such as sc-cstor and sc-jiva. You can customize or create new storage classes based on your requirements:

kubectl apply -f https://openebs.github.io/charts/sc-cstor.yaml

This command sets up a storage class leveraging cStor (Official site) for data replication and resilience.

Step 5: Provision a Persistent Volume Claim (PVC)

To ensure your applications can use the newly deployed storage infrastructure, create a PVC:

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: demo-pvc
  namespace: default
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 5Gi
  storageClassName: sc-cstor

Apply the configuration using: