Ceph Cluster Guide

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Windows 10 Client Setup ​

This guide details how to mount a CephFS subvolume natively on a Windows 10 machine using the official Ceph for Windows port (powered by Dokan).

1. Prerequisites ​

Download and install the necessary components on the Windows 10 client machine:

  1. Dokan (Windows user-mode file system framework):
  2. Ceph for Windows:
    • Download the latest ceph-windows-XXX.msi installer from the Cloudbase Solutions.
    • Run the installer. It will install the Ceph CLI tools and the ceph-dokan.exe mount utility.

2. Configuration & Credentials ​

Just like on Linux, the Windows client requires a configuration file pointing to the monitors and the student's secret key.

  1. Open PowerShell as Administrator.

  2. Create the Ceph configuration directory:

    powershell
    mkdir C:\ProgramData\ceph

  3. Create the ceph.conf file:

    powershell
    notepad C:\ProgramData\ceph\ceph.conf

    Add the following content (replace the IP with your actual Admin/Monitor IP):

    ini
    [global]
    log to stderr = true
    ; Uncomment the following in order to use the Windows Event Log
    ; log to syslog = true

    run dir = C:/ProgramData/ceph/out
    crash dir = C:/ProgramData/ceph/out

    ; Use the following to change the cephfs client log level
    ; debug client = 2
[client]
    keyring = C:/ProgramData/ceph/keyring
    ; log file = C:/ProgramData/ceph/out/$name.$pid.log
    admin socket = C:/ProgramData/ceph/out/$name.$pid.asok

    ; client_permissions = true
    ; client_mount_uid = 1000
    ; client_mount_gid = 1000
[global]
   fsid = c64817cc-2fd6-11f1-a8b1-cd715c58e1df
   mon_host = [v2:192.168.202.221:3300/0,v1:192.168.202.221:6789/0]

  4. Create the secret key file for the student (e.g., NIM 22106050001):

    powershell
    # Replace the string with the actual base64 secret from your CSV
Set-Content -Path C:\ProgramData\ceph\student.secret -Value "AQBGn+BpWNNrFhAAZxuBnCQ7M+q8nQAIwZ0LQg=="

3. Mounting the Drive ​

We will map the student's isolated subvolume to a drive letter (e.g., Z:). Open PowerShell and use the ceph-dokan.exe utility:

powershell
# Format:
# ceph-dokan.exe -c <config> -n client.<username> --secret <secret_file> -l <drive_letter> --root-path <subvolume_path>

ceph-dokan.exe -c C:\ProgramData\ceph\ceph.conf -n client.22106050001 --secret C:\ProgramData\ceph\student.secret -l Z -x /volumes/students/22106050001/UUID-STRING-HERE

IMPORTANT

The -x flag specifies the root path to mount. Replace the path with the actual absolute path from your provisioning CSV.

If successful, a new Z: drive will appear in Windows Explorer. The terminal window running ceph-dokan must stay open in the background to maintain the mount.

4. Unmounting ​

To safely unmount the drive, you can:

  • Press Ctrl+C in the terminal window where ceph-dokan.exe is running.
  • Right-click the drive in Windows Explorer and select Disconnect.