Chapter 2. Managing local storage by using RHEL system roles To manage LVM and local file systems (FS) by using Ansible, you can use the storage role, which is one of the RHEL system roles available in RHEL 8. Using the storage role enables you to automate administration of file systems on disks and logical volumes on multiple machines and across all versions of RHEL starting with RHEL 7.7. For more information about RHEL system roles and how to apply them, see Introduction to RHEL system roles . 2.1. Creating an XFS file system on a block device by using the storage RHEL system role The example Ansible playbook applies the storage role to create an XFS file system on a block device using the default parameters. Note The storage role can create a file system only on an unpartitioned, whole disk or a logical volume (LV). It cannot create the file system on a partition. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs The volume name ( barefs in the example) is currently arbitrary. The storage role identifies the volume by the disk device listed under the disks: attribute. You can omit the fs_type: xfs line because XFS is the default file system in RHEL 8. To create the file system on an LV, provide the LVM setup under the disks: attribute, including the enclosing volume group. For details, see Creating or resizing a logical volume by using the storage RHEL system role . Do not provide the path to the LV device. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.2. Persistently mounting a file system by using the storage RHEL system role The example Ansible applies the storage role to immediately and persistently mount an XFS file system. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs mount_point: /mnt/data mount_user: somebody mount_group: somegroup mount_mode: 0755 This playbook adds the file system to the /etc/fstab file, and mounts the file system immediately. If the file system on the /dev/sdb device or the mount point directory do not exist, the playbook creates them. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.3. Creating or resizing a logical volume by using the storage RHEL system role Use the storage role to perform the following tasks: To create an LVM logical volume in a volume group consisting of many disks To resize an existing file system on LVM To express an LVM volume size in percentage of the pool's total size If the volume group does not exist, the role creates it. If a logical volume exists in the volume group, it is resized if the size does not match what is specified in the playbook. If you are reducing a logical volume, to prevent data loss you must ensure that the file system on that logical volume is not using the space in the logical volume that is being reduced. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Create logical volume ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_pools: - name: myvg disks: - sda - sdb - sdc volumes: - name: mylv size: 2G fs_type: ext4 mount_point: /mnt/data The settings specified in the example playbook include the following: size: <size> You must specify the size by using units (for example, GiB) or percentage (for example, 60%). For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification Verify that specified volume has been created or resized to the requested size: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.4. Enabling online block discard by using the storage RHEL system role You can mount an XFS file system with the online block discard option to automatically discard unused blocks. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Enable online block discard ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs mount_point: /mnt/data mount_options: discard For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification Verify that online block discard option is enabled: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.5. Creating and mounting an Ext4 file system by using the storage RHEL system role The example Ansible playbook applies the storage role to create and mount an Ext4 file system. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: ext4 fs_label: label-name mount_point: /mnt/data The playbook creates the file system on the /dev/sdb disk. The playbook persistently mounts the file system at the /mnt/data directory. The label of the file system is label-name . Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.6. Creating and mounting an Ext3 file system by using the storage RHEL system role The example Ansible playbook applies the storage role to create and mount an Ext3 file system. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - hosts: all roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: ext3 fs_label: label-name mount_point: /mnt/data mount_user: somebody mount_group: somegroup mount_mode: 0755 The playbook creates the file system on the /dev/sdb disk. The playbook persistently mounts the file system at the /mnt/data directory. The label of the file system is label-name . Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.7. Creating a swap volume by using the storage RHEL system role This section provides an example Ansible playbook. This playbook applies the storage role to create a swap volume, if it does not exist, or to modify the swap volume, if it already exist, on a block device by using the default parameters. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Create a disk device with swap hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: swap_fs type: disk disks: - /dev/sdb size: 15 GiB fs_type: swap The volume name ( swap_fs in the example) is currently arbitrary. The storage role identifies the volume by the disk device listed under the disks: attribute. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.8. Configuring a RAID volume by using the storage RHEL system role With the storage system role, you can configure a RAID volume on RHEL by using Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Ansible-Core. Create an Ansible playbook with the parameters to configure a RAID volume to suit your requirements. Warning Device names might change in certain circumstances, for example, when you add a new disk to a system. Therefore, to prevent data loss, use persistent naming attributes in the playbook. For more information about persistent naming attributes, see Overview of persistent naming attributes . Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Create a RAID on sdd, sde, sdf, and sdg ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_safe_mode: false storage_volumes: - name: data type: raid disks: [sdd, sde, sdf, sdg] raid_level: raid0 raid_chunk_size: 32 KiB mount_point: /mnt/data state: present For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification Verify that the array was correctly created: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory Managing RAID 2.9. Configuring an LVM pool with RAID by using the storage RHEL system role With the storage system role, you can configure an LVM pool with RAID on RHEL by using Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. You can set up an Ansible playbook with the available parameters to configure an LVM pool with RAID. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Configure LVM pool with RAID ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_safe_mode: false storage_pools: - name: my_pool type: lvm disks: [sdh, sdi] raid_level: raid1 volumes: - name: my_volume size: "1 GiB" mount_point: "/mnt/app/shared" fs_type: xfs state: present For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification Verify that your pool is on RAID: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory Managing RAID 2.10. Configuring a stripe size for RAID LVM volumes by using the storage RHEL system role With the storage system role, you can configure a stripe size for RAID LVM volumes on RHEL by using Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. You can set up an Ansible playbook with the available parameters to configure an LVM pool with RAID. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Configure stripe size for RAID LVM volumes ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_safe_mode: false storage_pools: - name: my_pool type: lvm disks: [sdh, sdi] volumes: - name: my_volume size: "1 GiB" mount_point: "/mnt/app/shared" fs_type: xfs raid_level: raid0 raid_stripe_size: "256 KiB" state: present For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification Verify that stripe size is set to the required size: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory Managing RAID 2.11. Configuring an LVM-VDO volume by using the storage RHEL system role You can use the storage RHEL system role to create a VDO volume on LVM (LVM-VDO) with enabled compression and deduplication. Note Because of the storage system role use of LVM-VDO, only one volume can be created per pool. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Create LVM-VDO volume under volume group 'myvg' ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_pools: - name: myvg disks: - /dev/sdb volumes: - name: mylv1 compression: true deduplication: true vdo_pool_size: 10 GiB size: 30 GiB mount_point: /mnt/app/shared The settings specified in the example playbook include the following: vdo_pool_size: <size> The actual size that the volume takes on the device. You can specify the size in human-readable format, such as 10 GiB. If you do not specify a unit, it defaults to bytes. size: <size> The virtual size of VDO volume. For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification View the current status of compression and deduplication: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory 2.12. Creating a LUKS2 encrypted volume by using the storage RHEL system role You can use the storage role to create and configure a volume encrypted with LUKS by running an Ansible playbook. Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. Procedure Store your sensitive variables in an encrypted file: Create the vault: After the ansible-vault create command opens an editor, enter the sensitive data in the <key> : <value> format: luks_password: <password> Save the changes, and close the editor. Ansible encrypts the data in the vault. Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com vars_files: - vault.yml tasks: - name: Create and configure a volume encrypted with LUKS ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs fs_label: <label> mount_point: /mnt/data encryption: true encryption_password: "{{ luks_password }}" For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Verification Find the luksUUID value of the LUKS encrypted volume: View the encryption status of the volume: Verify the created LUKS encrypted volume: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory Encrypting block devices by using LUKS Ansible vault 2.13. Creating shared LVM devices using the storage RHEL system role You can use the storage RHEL system role to create shared LVM devices if you want your multiple systems to access the same storage at the same time. This can bring the following notable benefits: Resource sharing Flexibility in managing storage resources Simplification of storage management tasks Prerequisites You have prepared the control node and the managed nodes You are logged in to the control node as a user who can run playbooks on the managed nodes. The account you use to connect to the managed nodes has sudo permissions on them. lvmlockd is configured on the managed node. For more information, see Configuring LVM to share SAN disks among multiple machines . Procedure Create a playbook file, for example ~/playbook.yml , with the following content: --- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com become: true tasks: - name: Create shared LVM device ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_pools: - name: vg1 disks: /dev/vdb type: lvm shared: true state: present volumes: - name: lv1 size: 4g mount_point: /opt/test1 storage_safe_mode: false storage_use_partitions: true For details about all variables used in the playbook, see the /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file on the control node. Validate the playbook syntax: Note that this command only validates the syntax and does not protect against a wrong but valid configuration. Run the playbook: Additional resources /usr/share/ansible/roles/rhel-system-roles.storage/README.md file /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/storage/ directory

Commands:
--- - hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
--- - hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs mount_point: /mnt/data mount_user: somebody mount_group: somegroup mount_mode: 0755
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Create logical volume ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_pools: - name: myvg disks: - sda - sdb - sdc volumes: - name: mylv size: 2G fs_type: ext4 mount_point: /mnt/data
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'lvs myvg'
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Enable online block discard ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs mount_point: /mnt/data mount_options: discard
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'findmnt /mnt/data'
--- - hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: ext4 fs_label: label-name mount_point: /mnt/data
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
--- - hosts: all roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: ext3 fs_label: label-name mount_point: /mnt/data mount_user: somebody mount_group: somegroup mount_mode: 0755
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
--- - name: Create a disk device with swap hosts: managed-node-01.example.com roles: - rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: swap_fs type: disk disks: - /dev/sdb size: 15 GiB fs_type: swap
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Create a RAID on sdd, sde, sdf, and sdg ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_safe_mode: false storage_volumes: - name: data type: raid disks: [sdd, sde, sdf, sdg] raid_level: raid0 raid_chunk_size: 32 KiB mount_point: /mnt/data state: present
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'mdadm --detail /dev/md/data'
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Configure LVM pool with RAID ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_safe_mode: false storage_pools: - name: my_pool type: lvm disks: [sdh, sdi] raid_level: raid1 volumes: - name: my_volume size: "1 GiB" mount_point: "/mnt/app/shared" fs_type: xfs state: present
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'lsblk'
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Configure stripe size for RAID LVM volumes ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_safe_mode: false storage_pools: - name: my_pool type: lvm disks: [sdh, sdi] volumes: - name: my_volume size: "1 GiB" mount_point: "/mnt/app/shared" fs_type: xfs raid_level: raid0 raid_stripe_size: "256 KiB" state: present
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'lvs -o+stripesize /dev/my_pool/my_volume'
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com tasks: - name: Create LVM-VDO volume under volume group 'myvg' ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_pools: - name: myvg disks: - /dev/sdb volumes: - name: mylv1 compression: true deduplication: true vdo_pool_size: 10 GiB size: 30 GiB mount_point: /mnt/app/shared
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'lvs -o+vdo_compression,vdo_compression_state,vdo_deduplication,vdo_index_state' LV VG Attr LSize Pool Origin Data% Meta% Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert VDOCompression VDOCompressionState VDODeduplication VDOIndexState mylv1 myvg vwi-a-v--- 3.00t vpool0 enabled online enabled online
ansible-vault create vault.yml New Vault password: <vault_password> Confirm New Vault password: <vault_password>
luks_password: <password>
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com vars_files: - vault.yml tasks: - name: Create and configure a volume encrypted with LUKS ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_volumes: - name: barefs type: disk disks: - sdb fs_type: xfs fs_label: <label> mount_point: /mnt/data encryption: true encryption_password: "{{ luks_password }}"
ansible-playbook --ask-vault-pass --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook --ask-vault-pass ~/playbook.yml
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'cryptsetup luksUUID /dev/sdb' 4e4e7970-1822-470e-b55a-e91efe5d0f5c
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'cryptsetup status luks-4e4e7970-1822-470e-b55a-e91efe5d0f5c' /dev/mapper/luks-4e4e7970-1822-470e-b55a-e91efe5d0f5c is active and is in use. type: LUKS2 cipher: aes-xts-plain64 keysize: 512 bits key location: keyring device: /dev/sdb
ansible managed-node-01.example.com -m command -a 'cryptsetup luksDump /dev/sdb' LUKS header information Version: 2 Epoch: 3 Metadata area: 16384 [bytes] Keyslots area: 16744448 [bytes] UUID: 4e4e7970-1822-470e-b55a-e91efe5d0f5c Label: (no label) Subsystem: (no subsystem) Flags: (no flags) Data segments: 0: crypt offset: 16777216 [bytes] length: (whole device) cipher: aes-xts-plain64 sector: 512 [bytes]
--- - name: Manage local storage hosts: managed-node-01.example.com become: true tasks: - name: Create shared LVM device ansible.builtin.include_role: name: rhel-system-roles.storage vars: storage_pools: - name: vg1 disks: /dev/vdb type: lvm shared: true state: present volumes: - name: lv1 size: 4g mount_point: /opt/test1 storage_safe_mode: false storage_use_partitions: true
ansible-playbook --syntax-check ~/playbook.yml
ansible-playbook ~/playbook.yml