How to mount an RPN SAN volume on Proxmox

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

• A Dedibox account logged into the console
• A Dedibox dedicated server
• An RPN SAN

Configuration of Proxmox to use the RPN

1. Log in to your server as root using SSH:

   ssh root@sd-XXX.dedibox.fr
   

2. Edit the /etc/network/interfaces file, and replace the lines mentioning eth1 with these:

   auto eth1
   iface eth1 inet dhcp
   

   Tip

   The interface may be named differently depending on your configuration. You can identify the RPN interface by running ifconfig which allows you to check the MAC address of the interface which is available in your Dedibox console.

3. Reboot your Proxmox server to complete the RPN configuration.

Open-iSCSI installation and configuration

Proxmox requires the Open-iSCSI software to support mounting of iSCSI volumes. It may not be installed by default in your system.

1. Log in to your server as root using SSH.

   ssh root@sd-XXX.dedibox.fr
   

2. Install open-iscsi using the APT package manager.

   apt install open-iscsi
   

3. Open the file /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf in a text editor, for example nano.

   vi /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf
   

   • Adjust the following configuration directives:

   node.conn[0].timeo.noop_out_interval = 0
   node.conn[0].timeo.noop_out_timeout = 0
   node.session.timeo.replacement_timeout = 86400
   

   The purpose of this change is to prevent your file system from becoming read-only if the link is interrupted for more than two minutes (by default) between your server and the storage server, which can happen during maintenance periods.

   • Configure the setting for automatic reconnection of targets:

   node.startup = automatic
   

   • Change the following settings to take advantage of the data integrity check, if available:

   node.conn[0].iscsi.HeaderDigest = CRC32C,None
   node.conn[0].iscsi.DataDigest = CRC32C,None
   

   • Then save your configuration and quit the text editor.

4. Reboot your server.

   reboot
   

Discover and connect to targets in Proxmox

1. In the Server View, click Datacenter, then Storage.
2. Click Add and then iSCSI Target. Fill in the form:
   • ID: any identifier used to name this RPN SAN volume.
   • Portal: the server on which your space is available (ex: san-1.rpn.online.net).
   • Target: click on the small arrow, and the list of available targets will be displayed (if it is not the case, no need to go further, as there is a problem).
   • Nodes: the nodes that can access this target.
   • Enable: check the box.
   • Use LUNs directly: do not check if you want to create an LVM Group above (recommended, see next step). Check if you want to use the LUN directly.
   • Shared: Leave the default option.
   • Optionally, add the LVM group. This step only applies if you want to create an LVM Group to store VM images.
3. Click Add and then LVM or LVM-Thin. Fill in the form:
   • ID: any identifier to name this LVM Group.
   • Base storage: click on the small arrow, and select the previously mounted storage space.
   • Base volume: click on the small arrow, and select the line that appears.
   • Volume group: an identifier of your choice to name the volume group in the system.
   • Nodes: the nodes that will be able to access this space.
   • Enable: check the box.

Your RPN SAN is available for use.