Store high-performance apps with FSx for Lustre

The FSx for Lustre Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver provides a CSI interface that allows Amazon EKS clusters to manage the lifecycle of FSx for Lustre file systems. For more information, see the FSx for Lustre User Guide.

This topic shows you how to deploy the FSx for Lustre CSI driver to your Amazon EKS cluster and verify that it works. We recommend using the latest version of the driver. For available versions, see CSI Specification Compatibility Matrix on GitHub.

Note

The driver isn't supported on Fargate.

For detailed descriptions of the available parameters and complete examples that demonstrate the driver's features, see the FSx for Lustre Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver project on GitHub.

Prerequisites

You must have:

Version 2.12.3 or later or version 1.27.160 or later of the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) installed and configured on your device or AWS CloudShell. To check your current version, use aws --version | cut -d / -f2 | cut -d ' ' -f1. Package managers such yum, apt-get, or Homebrew for macOS are often several versions behind the latest version of the AWS CLI. To install the latest version, see Installing, updating, and uninstalling the AWS CLI and Quick configuration with aws configure in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide. The AWS CLI version that is installed in AWS CloudShell might also be several versions behind the latest version. To update it, see Installing AWS CLI to your home directory in the AWS CloudShell User Guide.
Version 0.191.0 or later of the eksctl command line tool installed on your device or AWS CloudShell. To install or update eksctl, see Installation in the eksctl documentation.
The kubectl command line tool is installed on your device or AWS CloudShell. The version can be the same as or up to one minor version earlier or later than the Kubernetes version of your cluster. For example, if your cluster version is 1.30, you can use kubectl version 1.29, 1.30, or 1.31 with it. To install or upgrade kubectl, see Set up kubectl and eksctl.

The following procedures help you create a simple test cluster with the FSx for Lustre CSI driver so that you can see how it works. We don't recommend using the testing cluster for production workloads. For this tutorial, we recommend using the example values, except where it's noted to replace them. You can replace any example value when completing the steps for your production cluster. We recommend completing all steps in the same terminal because variables are set and used throughout the steps and won't exist in different terminals.

To deploy the FSx for Lustre CSI driver

Set a few variables to use in the remaining steps. Replace my-csi-fsx-cluster with the name of the test cluster you want to create and region-code with the AWS Region that you want to create your test cluster in.
```
export cluster_name=my-csi-fsx-cluster
export region_code=region-code
```
Create a test cluster.
```
eksctl create cluster \
  --name $cluster_name \
  --region $region_code \
  --with-oidc \
  --ssh-access \
  --ssh-public-key my-key
```
Cluster provisioning takes several minutes. During cluster creation, you'll see several lines of output. The last line of output is similar to the following example line.
```
[✓]  EKS cluster "my-csi-fsx-cluster" in "region-code" region is ready
```

Create a Kubernetes service account for the driver and attach the AmazonFSxFullAccess AWS-managed policy to the service account with the following command. If your cluster is in the AWS GovCloud (US-East) or AWS GovCloud (US-West) AWS Regions, then replace arn:aws: with arn:aws-us-gov:.


eksctl create iamserviceaccount \
  --name fsx-csi-controller-sa \
  --namespace kube-system \
  --cluster $cluster_name \
  --attach-policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonFSxFullAccess \
  --approve \
  --role-name AmazonEKSFSxLustreCSIDriverFullAccess \
  --region $region_code

You'll see several lines of output as the service account is created. The last lines of output are similar to the following.


[ℹ]  1 task: { 
    2 sequential sub-tasks: { 
        create IAM role for serviceaccount "kube-system/fsx-csi-controller-sa",
        create serviceaccount "kube-system/fsx-csi-controller-sa",
    } }
[ℹ]  building iamserviceaccount stack "eksctl-my-csi-fsx-cluster-addon-iamserviceaccount-kube-system-fsx-csi-controller-sa"
[ℹ]  deploying stack "eksctl-my-csi-fsx-cluster-addon-iamserviceaccount-kube-system-fsx-csi-controller-sa"
[ℹ]  waiting for CloudFormation stack "eksctl-my-csi-fsx-cluster-addon-iamserviceaccount-kube-system-fsx-csi-controller-sa"
[ℹ]  created serviceaccount "kube-system/fsx-csi-controller-sa"

Note the name of the AWS CloudFormation stack that was deployed. In the previous example output, the stack is named eksctl-my-csi-fsx-cluster-addon-iamserviceaccount-kube-system-fsx-csi-controller-sa.

Deploy the driver with the following command. Replace release-X.XX with your desired branch. The master branch isn't supported because it may contain upcoming features incompatible with the currently released stable version of the driver. We recommend using the latest released version. For a list of branches, see aws-fsx-csi-driver Branches on GitHub.

Note

You can view the content being applied in aws-fsx-csi-driver/deploy/kubernetes/overlays/stable on GitHub.


kubectl apply -k "github.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-fsx-csi-driver/deploy/kubernetes/overlays/stable/?ref=release-X.XX"

An example output is as follows.


serviceaccount/fsx-csi-controller-sa created
serviceaccount/fsx-csi-node-sa created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/fsx-csi-external-provisioner-role created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/fsx-external-resizer-role created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/fsx-csi-external-provisioner-binding created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/fsx-csi-resizer-binding created
deployment.apps/fsx-csi-controller created
daemonset.apps/fsx-csi-node created
csidriver.storage.k8s.io/fsx.csi.aws.com created

Note the ARN for the role that was created. If you didn't note it earlier and don't have it available anymore in the AWS CLI output, you can do the following to see it in the AWS Management Console.
1. Open the AWS CloudFormation console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudformation.
2. Ensure that the console is set to the AWS Region that you created your IAM role in and then select Stacks.
3. Select the stack named eksctl-my-csi-fsx-cluster-addon-iamserviceaccount-kube-system-fsx-csi-controller-sa.
4. Select the Outputs tab. The Role1 ARN is listed on the Outputs (1) page.
Patch the driver deployment to add the service account that you created earlier with the following command. Replace the ARN with the ARN that you noted. Replace 111122223333 with your account ID. If your cluster is in the AWS GovCloud (US-East) or AWS GovCloud (US-West) AWS Regions, then replace arn:aws: with arn:aws-us-gov:.
```
kubectl annotate serviceaccount -n kube-system fsx-csi-controller-sa \
  eks.amazonaws.com/role-arn=arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/AmazonEKSFSxLustreCSIDriverFullAccess --overwrite=true
```
An example output is as follows.
```
serviceaccount/fsx-csi-controller-sa annotated
```

To deploy a storage class, persistent volume claim, and sample app

This procedure uses the FSx for Lustre Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver GitHub repository to consume a dynamically-provisioned FSx for Lustre volume.

Note the security group for your cluster. You can see it in the AWS Management Console under the Networking section or by using the following AWS CLI command.
```
aws eks describe-cluster --name $cluster_name --query cluster.resourcesVpcConfig.clusterSecurityGroupId
```
Create a security group for your Amazon FSx file system according to the criteria shown in Amazon VPC Security Groups in the Amazon FSx for Lustre User Guide. For the VPC, select the VPC of your cluster as shown under the Networking section. For "the security groups associated with your Lustre clients", use your cluster security group. You can leave the outbound rules alone to allow All traffic.

Download the storage class manifest with the following command.


curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-fsx-csi-driver/master/examples/kubernetes/dynamic_provisioning/specs/storageclass.yaml

Edit the parameters section of the storageclass.yaml file. Replace every example value with your own values.
```
parameters:
  subnetId: subnet-0eabfaa81fb22bcaf
  securityGroupIds: sg-068000ccf82dfba88
  deploymentType: PERSISTENT_1
  automaticBackupRetentionDays: "1"
  dailyAutomaticBackupStartTime: "00:00"
  copyTagsToBackups: "true"
  perUnitStorageThroughput: "200"
  dataCompressionType: "NONE"
  weeklyMaintenanceStartTime: "7:09:00"
  fileSystemTypeVersion: "2.12"
```
- subnetId – The subnet ID that the Amazon FSx for Lustre file system should be created in. Amazon FSx for Lustre isn't supported in all Availability Zones. Open the Amazon FSx for Lustre console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/fsx/ to confirm that the subnet that you want to use is in a supported Availability Zone. The subnet can include your nodes, or can be a different subnet or VPC:
  - You can check for the node subnets in the AWS Management Console by selecting the node group under the Compute section.
  - If the subnet that you specify isn't the same subnet that you have nodes in, then your VPCs must be connected, and you must ensure that you have the necessary ports open in your security groups.
- securityGroupIds – The ID of the security group you created for the file system.
- deploymentType (optional) – The file system deployment type. Valid values are SCRATCH_1, SCRATCH_2, PERSISTENT_1, and PERSISTENT_2. For more information about deployment types, see Create your Amazon FSx for Lustre file system.
- other parameters (optional) – For information about the other parameters, see Edit StorageClass on GitHub.

Create the storage class manifest.


kubectl apply -f storageclass.yaml

An example output is as follows.


storageclass.storage.k8s.io/fsx-sc created

Download the persistent volume claim manifest.


curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-fsx-csi-driver/master/examples/kubernetes/dynamic_provisioning/specs/claim.yaml

(Optional) Edit the claim.yaml file. Change 1200Gi to one of the following increment values, based on your storage requirements and the deploymentType that you selected in a previous step.
```
storage: 1200Gi
```
- SCRATCH_2 and PERSISTENT – 1.2 TiB, 2.4 TiB, or increments of 2.4 TiB over 2.4 TiB.
- SCRATCH_1 – 1.2 TiB, 2.4 TiB, 3.6 TiB, or increments of 3.6 TiB over 3.6 TiB.

Create the persistent volume claim.


kubectl apply -f claim.yaml

An example output is as follows.


persistentvolumeclaim/fsx-claim created

Confirm that the file system is provisioned.
```
kubectl describe pvc
```
An example output is as follows.
```
Name:          fsx-claim
Namespace:     default
StorageClass:  fsx-sc
Status:        Bound
[...]
```
Note
The Status may show as Pending for 5-10 minutes, before changing to Bound. Don't continue with the next step until the Status is Bound. If the Status shows Pending for more than 10 minutes, use warning messages in the Events as reference for addressing any problems.

Deploy the sample application.


kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes-sigs/aws-fsx-csi-driver/master/examples/kubernetes/dynamic_provisioning/specs/pod.yaml

Verify that the sample application is running.


kubectl get pods

An example output is as follows.


NAME      READY   STATUS              RESTARTS   AGE
fsx-app   1/1     Running             0          8s

Verify that the file system is mounted correctly by the application.


kubectl exec -ti fsx-app -- df -h

An example output is as follows.


Filesystem                   Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
overlay                       80G  4.0G   77G   5% /
tmpfs                         64M     0   64M   0% /dev
tmpfs                        3.8G     0  3.8G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
192.0.2.0@tcp:/abcdef01      1.1T  7.8M  1.1T   1% /data
/dev/nvme0n1p1                80G  4.0G   77G   5% /etc/hosts
shm                           64M     0   64M   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                        6.9G   12K  6.9G   1% /run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount
tmpfs                        3.8G     0  3.8G   0% /proc/acpi
tmpfs                        3.8G     0  3.8G   0% /sys/firmware

Verify that data was written to the FSx for Lustre file system by the sample app.
```
kubectl exec -it fsx-app -- ls /data
```
An example output is as follows.
```
out.txt
```
This example output shows that the sample app successfully wrote the out.txt file to the file system.

Note

Before deleting the cluster, make sure to delete the FSx for Lustre file system. For more information, see Clean up resources in the FSx for Lustre User Guide.

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Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP