8.2. Initial Ceph Installation & Configuration

screenshot/gui-node-ceph-install.png

With Proxmox VE you have the benefit of an easy to use installation wizard for Ceph. Click on one of your cluster nodes and navigate to the Ceph section in the menu tree. If Ceph is not already installed, you will see a prompt offering to do so.

The wizard is divided into multiple sections, where each needs to finish successfully, in order to use Ceph.

First you need to chose which Ceph version you want to install. Prefer the one from your other nodes, or the newest if this is the first node you install Ceph.

After starting the installation, the wizard will download and install all the required packages from Proxmox VE’s Ceph repository.

screenshot/gui-node-ceph-install-wizard-step0.png

After finishing the installation step, you will need to create a configuration. This step is only needed once per cluster, as this configuration is distributed automatically to all remaining cluster members through Proxmox VE’s clustered configuration file system (pmxcfs) Chapter 6, Proxmox Cluster File System (pmxcfs).

The configuration step includes the following settings:

  • Public Network: You can set up a dedicated network for Ceph. This setting is required. Separating your Ceph traffic is highly recommended. Otherwise, it could cause trouble with other latency dependent services, for example, cluster communication may decrease Ceph’s performance.
  • Cluster Network: As an optional step, you can go even further and separate the OSD Section 8.5, “Ceph OSDs” replication & heartbeat traffic as well. This will relieve the public network and could lead to significant performance improvements, especially in large clusters.
screenshot/gui-node-ceph-install-wizard-step2.png

You have two more options which are considered advanced and therefore should only changed if you know what you are doing.

  • Number of replicas: Defines how often an object is replicated
  • Minimum replicas: Defines the minimum number of required replicas for I/O to be marked as complete.

Additionally, you need to choose your first monitor node. This step is required.

That’s it. You should now see a success page as the last step, with further instructions on how to proceed. Your system is now ready to start using Ceph. To get started, you will need to create some additional monitors Section 8.3, “Ceph Monitor”, OSDs Section 8.5, “Ceph OSDs” and at least one pool Section 8.6, “Ceph Pools”.

The rest of this chapter will guide you through getting the most out of your Proxmox VE based Ceph setup. This includes the aforementioned tips and more, such as CephFS Section 8.9, “CephFS”, which is a helpful addition to your new Ceph cluster.

Alternatively to the the recommended Proxmox VE Ceph installation wizard available in the web-interface, you can use the following CLI command on each node:

pveceph install

This sets up an apt package repository in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ceph.list and installs the required software.

Use the Proxmox VE Ceph installation wizard (recommended) or run the following command on one node:

pveceph init --network 10.10.10.0/24

This creates an initial configuration at /etc/pve/ceph.conf with a dedicated network for Ceph. This file is automatically distributed to all Proxmox VE nodes, using pmxcfs Chapter 6, Proxmox Cluster File System (pmxcfs). The command also creates a symbolic link at /etc/ceph/ceph.conf, which points to that file. Thus, you can simply run Ceph commands without the need to specify a configuration file.