Attaching RBD Storage Pool to Virt-Manager

Overview

This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to attach an RBD (RADOS Block Device) storage pool to Virt-Manager using Ceph. You’ll learn how to create a secret, define it, and set its value, as well as how to create and start a Ceph pool XML for use with Virt-Manager. Following these steps will enable seamless integration of Ceph storage with your virtualization environment.

Create Secret ¹

1. Generate a secret.
   bash

   cat > secret.xml <<EOF
   <secret ephemeral='no' private='no'>
           <usage type='ceph'>
                   <name>client.admin secret</name>
           </usage>
   </secret>
   EOF
2. Define the secret.
   bash

   sudo virsh secret-define --file secret.xml
   Output

   <uuid of secret is output here>
3. Save the key string to a file.
   bash

   ceph auth get-key client.admin | sudo tee client.admin.key
4. Set the UUID of the secret
   bash

   sudo virsh secret-set-value --secret <uuid of secret is output here> --base64 $(cat client.admin.key) && rm client.admin.key secret.xml

Create Ceph Pool XML ²

1. Navigate to /etc/libvirt/storage
2. Create new pool rbd.xml (nano, vim, etc) ³
   rbd.xml

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

   <pool type="rbd"> <name>rbd</name> <source> <name>rbd</name> <host name='host01.example.com' port='6789'/> <auth username='admin' type='ceph'> <secret uuid='{uuid of secret}'/> </auth> </source> </pool>
3. Create a persistent definition of storage pool.
   bash

   virsh pool-define rbd.xml
4. Start the RBD storage pool.
   bash

   virsh pool-start rbd
5. Verfy RBD pool shows active.
   bash

   virsh pool-list