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OpenStack Integration

Info

This driver is still not part of the official OpenStack support matrix.

We are working on getting it there.

Scope and Support Status

This guide describes how to integrate simplyblock as a Cinder backend in OpenStack environments managed via Kolla-Ansible style configuration.

Because this integration is not yet in the official support matrix, validate all changes in a staging environment before production rollout.

Features Supported

The following list of features is supported:

  • Thin provisioning
  • Creating a volume
  • Resizing (extend) a volume
  • Deleting a volume
  • Snapshotting a volume
  • Reverting to snapshot
  • Cloning a volume (copy-on-write)
  • Extending an attached volume
  • Multi-attaching a volume
  • Volume migration (driver-supported)
  • QoS (Quality of Service)
  • Active/active HA support

Architecture Overview

At a high level:

  • OpenStack Cinder uses the simplyblock backend driver.
  • Cinder backend configuration points to a simplyblock API endpoint and target cluster/pool.
  • Compute/controller hosts must have the required NVMe transport kernel modules loaded (nvme_tcp and optionally nvme_rdma).

Prerequisites

Before deployment:

  • OpenStack control plane is healthy and Cinder is operational.
  • A reachable simplyblock endpoint is available.
  • Valid simplyblock backend values are prepared:
  • simplyblock_endpoint
  • simplyblock_cluster_uuid
  • simplyblock_cluster_secret
  • simplyblock_pool_name
  • Network and firewall rules allow control and data-path communication.

Prepare Hosts

Depending on the fabric, it is necessary to load the Linux kernel modules on compute nodes and controller:

Load NVMe/TCP on RHEL, Rocky or Alma
sudo modprobe nvme_tcp
Load NVMe/TCP on Ubuntu or Debian
sudo apt-get install -y linux-modules-extra-$(uname -r)
sudo modprobe nvme_tcp

In case you need the RoCE/RDMA fabric or both fabrics, (also) run:

Load NVMe/RoCE on RHEL, Rocky or Alma
sudo modprobe nvme_rdma
Load NVMe/RoCE on Ubuntu or Debian
sudo apt-get install -y linux-modules-extra-$(uname -r)
sudo modprobe nvme_rdma
    ```

## Configure OpenStack (Kolla-Ansible)

```bash title="Update globals.yaml"
enable_cinder: "yes"
...
#This is a fork of the cinder-volume driver container including Simplyblock:
cinder_volume_image: "docker.io/simplyblock/cinder-volume"
#If Simplyblock is the only Cinder Storage Backend:
skip_cinder_backend_check: "yes"
Update Cinder Override for Simplyblock Backend Located in /etc/kolla/config/cinder.conf
[DEFAULT]
debug = True
# Add Simplyblock to enabled_backends list
enabled_backends = simplyblock

[simplyblock]
volume_driver = cinder.volume.drivers.simplyblock.driver.SimplyblockDriver
volume_backend_name = simplyblock
simplyblock_endpoint = <simplyblock_endpoint>
simplyblock_cluster_uuid = <simplyblock_cluster_uuid>
simplyblock_cluster_secret = <simplyblock_cluster_secret>
simplyblock_pool_name = <simplyblock_pool_name>

Deploy and Reload Cinder

Rerun Kolla-Ansible Deploy Command for Cinder
kolla-ansible deploy -i <INVENTORY_FILE> --tags cinder

Validation

After deployment:

  1. Confirm Cinder services are healthy.
  2. Create a test volume on the simplyblock backend.
  3. Attach the volume to a test instance and verify device visibility in the guest OS.
  4. Perform a basic read/write smoke test.
  5. Detach and delete the test volume.

Troubleshooting

Common issues to check first:

  • Required kernel modules are not loaded on relevant hosts.
  • Cinder backend configuration values are incorrect or incomplete.
  • Endpoint, cluster UUID, secret, or pool name mismatch.
  • Cinder service restart/deploy did not apply updated config.
  • Network path issues between OpenStack services and simplyblock control/data paths.

Operational Notes

  • For RDMA/RoCE deployments, ensure NIC and fabric prerequisites are satisfied consistently across all relevant hosts.
  • Re-validate this integration after OpenStack, Kolla, or simplyblock version upgrades.