Create Storage Class

F5 recommends creating a Kubernetes Storage Class using Network File System (NFS) with ReadWriteMany (RWX) access mode. This recommendation exists because TMMs and Observer pods, which collect and aggregate metrics across all TMM pods, always run on separate nodes. Due to this distributed architecture, using local storage is not practical.

The F5 Lifecycle Operator (FLO) automatically defines the Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) with RWX access and its associated naming, after which Kubernetes dynamically creates the Persistent Volume (PV) using the available storage classes. These persistent volumes ensure important data such as core dumps, stats, and other essential files are consistently available—even across pod reboots or node restarts.For more information on Storage Class, see Storage Classes.

To create the Storage Class, follow the instructions below:

1. Install CSI Driver for NFS.

   helm repo add csi-driver-nfs https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-csi/csi-driver-nfs/master/charts
   

   helm install csi-driver-nfs csi-driver-nfs/csi-driver-nfs     --namespace kube-system     --set kubeletDir=/var/lib/kubelet
   

   • List the available CSI drivers in your Kubernetes cluster.

     kubectl get pods --selector app.kubernetes.io/name=csi-driver-nfs --namespace kube-system
     

     Sample Output

     NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
     csi-nfs-controller-7dfdf8bb86-h6b2q   5/5     Running   0          32h
     csi-nfs-node-9s784                    3/3     Running   0          32h
     csi-nfs-node-ccld9                    3/3     Running   0          32h
     

   • List the available CSI drivers in your Kubernetes cluster.

     kubectl get csidrivers
     

     Sample Output

     NAME             ATTACHREQUIRED   PODINFOONMOUNT   STORAGECAPACITY   TOKENREQUESTS   REQUIRESREPUBLISH   MODES        AGE
     nfs.csi.k8s.io   false            false            false             <unset>         false               Persistent   32h
     

2. Create a storageclass.yaml file with the example content below.

   allowVolumeExpansion: true
   apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
   kind: StorageClass
   metadata:
     annotations:
       kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: |
         {"allowVolumeExpansion":true,"apiVersion":"storage.k8s.io/v1","kind":"StorageClass","metadata":{"annotations":{},"name":"nfs"},"parameters":{"server":"10.144.73.141","share":"/titan"},"provisioner":"nfs.csi.k8s.io","reclaimPolicy":"Delete","volumeBindingMode":"Immediate"}
       storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class: "true"
     name: nfs
   parameters:
     share: 
     server: 
   provisioner: nfs.csi.k8s.io
   reclaimPolicy: Delete
   volumeBindingMode: Immediate
   mountOptions:
     - hard
     - nfsvers=4.0
   

3. Before you apply the storageclass.yaml, make sure to update the file with actual values for the below parameters.

   • Update parameters.share with path where PVCs are to be created.

   • Update parameters.server with external NFS server.

4. Apply the storageclass.yaml.

   kubectl apply -f storageclass.yaml
   

5. Check the created Storage Class.

   kubectl get storageclass
   

   Sample Output

   NAME            PROVISIONER      RECLAIMPOLICY   VOLUMEBINDINGMODE   ALLOWVOLUMEEXPANSION   AGE
   nfs (default)   nfs.csi.k8s.io   Delete          Immediate           true                   31h
   
   

6. Patch the NFS Storage Class to make it default to ensure that the NFS storage class is used by default for all storage-related operations.

   kubectl patchstorageclass nfs -p '{"metadata": {"annotations":{"storageclass.kubernetes.io/is-default-class":"true"}}}'
   

7. Verify the NFS Storage Class.

   kubectl get storageclass
   

   Sample Output

   NAME            PROVISIONER             RECLAIMPOLICY   VOLUMEBINDINGMODE      ALLOWVOLUMEEXPANSION   AGE
   local-path      rancher.io/local-path   Delete          WaitForFirstConsumer   false                  12d
   nfs (default)   nfs.csi.k8s.io          Delete          Immediate              true                   12d