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How to Copy and Restore OpenStack Service Configuration

Introduction​

Your OpenMetal private cloud is comprised of OpenStack services, which like the applications and services you might deploy inside of it, should be backed up on a regular interval so you can recover from catastrophic events. In this guide, we explain how to copy your cloud's configuration files and OpenStack service databases as well as how to restore these items.

Before Proceeding with this Guide​

This guide introduces potentially harmful commands and actions that could cause the cloud to become inoperable or be in an unexpected state. Read commands carefully before executing them.

Kolla Ansible and Ceph Ansible​

Kolla Ansible is responsible for deploying a Private Cloud's OpenStack services. Ceph Ansible then handles deployment of the cloud's Ceph cluster. These two systems deploy all OpenStack and Ceph services required for a Private Cloud, including their configurations.

Prepare Kolla Ansible and Ceph Ansible Environment​

Before working with either Kolla Ansible or Ceph Ansible, you must prepare an environment in your shell:

Where are my Private Cloud's Configuration Files?​

New Clouds

On clouds provisioned after Dec 2022 you will need to open a support ticket to have the configuration saved to your nodes.

When a cloud finishes deploying, the Ansible configurations used to deploy the cloud are exported into each of the control plane nodes within the folders /etc/fm-deploy and /etc/kolla. This section explains where configuration files are located and their purpose.

Kolla Ansible Configuration Files​

The information in these files was used to deploy your Private Cloud's core OpenStack services into Docker containers:

  • Kolla Ansible Inventory: /etc/fm-deploy/kolla-ansible-inventory
  • Kolla Ansible Main Configuration: /etc/kolla/globals.yml

Ceph Ansible Configuration Files​

The information in these files was used to deploy your Private Cloud's Ceph cluster:

  • Ceph Ansible Inventory: /etc/fm-deploy/ceph-inventory.yml
  • Ceph Ansible Main Configuration: /etc/fm-deploy/ceph-vars.yml

FM-Deploy Configuration File​

FM-Deploy is a part of the system used to deploy your Private Cloud. Information about this deployment system is provided for the sake of completely explaining the configuration files found within /etc/fm-deploy.

  • FM-Deploy Main Configuration: /etc/fm-deploy/config.yml

Network Ansible Configuration File​

The following defines the initial networking configuration for your Private Cloud. This file was used upon initial cloud deployment.

  • Inventory: /etc/fm-deploy/network-inventory.yml

Keep a Backup Copy a Private Cloud's Configuration Files​

In case something unexpected happens to these files, you should keep copies of them off site. To preserve the configuration of OpenStack services and Ceph, copy the directories /etc/fm-deploy, /etc/kolla and /etc/ceph somewhere outside of the cloud, in a secure, private location. These folders contain sensitive information about your cloud so the information within should only be accessible to those you trust or yourself.

How to Restore a Private Cloud's Configuration Files​

There are two primary ways a Private Cloud's configuration file can be restored: Copy a known good configuration file from an off site location or use Ansible. This section explains how you can use Kolla Ansible and Ceph Ansible to recover a Private Cloud's configuration files.

Example: Recover Neutron's Configuration File using Kolla Ansible​

For example, consider an event where one of your control plane nodes loses its Neutron server configuration file. This section explains how to recover this configuration by using Kolla Ansible.

Prerequisite: Prepare a Kolla Ansible Environment​

Before proceeding, a Kolla Ansible environment needs to be prepared. For information about preparing a Kolla Ansible environment, see How to Prepare and Use Kolla Ansible Once the environment is prepared, navigate back to this section.

Regenerate an OpenStack Service's Configuration File using Kolla Ansible​

In this example, we outline restoring the Neutron server configuration file for the control plane node relaxed-flamingo.

In the Kolla Ansible inventory file, /etc/fm-deploy/kolla-ansible-inventory, the following hosts are defined as control plane nodes under the heading [control]:

[control]
relaxed-flamingo ansible_host=10.204.28.7
focused-capybara ansible_host=10.204.30.158
lovely-ladybug ansible_host=10.204.25.253

To restore the Neutron server configuration file for relaxed-flamingo, first ensure you have prepared a Kolla Ansible environment

Next, use Kolla Ansible's reconfigure function, targeting only the Neutron service by using the flag --tags neutron and limit the run to the host relaxed-flamingo by specifying the flag --limit control[0].

For example:

kolla-ansible \
    -i /etc/fm-deploy/kolla-ansible-inventory \
    reconfigure \
    --tags neutron \
    --limit control[0]