Dell ObjectScale Software Bundle 1.3.x Installation Guide

In order to install ObjectScale, you must ensure that the necessary pre-requisites are met.

Before you begin, ensure that you have an active account on https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/objectscale/ .

Run the ObjectScale Qualification Tool

Dell created the ObjectScale Qualification Tool to evaluate a cluster for possible ObjectScale installations. The ObjectScale Qualification Tool ensures that the target cluster meets the requirements.

You must run the ObjectScale Qualification Tool before installing the ObjectScale Software Bundle to verify that the target cluster meets all the requirements. See https://hub.docker.com/layers/objectscale/qualification-tool/1.3.0-106.0a70ac9/images/sha256-bebf90b1c69032ec57758d5af57a16c17476b3cb24369d2fff12b9137d599c54 for the latest version of the ObjectScale Qualification Tool.

Linux Orchestration Host requirements

This host can be a physical node external to the cluster targeted for this installation, a virtual machine, or an external laptop. The host must have connectivity to the target cluster and at least 150 GB free space available. You use this host to download and extract the ObjectScale Software Bundle packages and other resources that are required for installing the ObjectScale Software Bundle.

Also, it must have these software versions installed:

• Helm v3.38 or greater (https://helm.sh/docs/intro/install/)
• Kubectl v1.25 and 1.26 (https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/#kubectl)
• Podman v4.3.1 or greater
• Curl

Hardware requirements for the cluster

• Dell requires a minimum of four nodes with 192 GiB RAM each to support the High Availability (HA) features and for the best overall performance. ObjectScale and the initial object store require At least 400 GiB RAM in total. Each additional object store requires another 350GiB RAM.
• Each production node requires a minimum of:
  • Twenty physical cores are recommended.
  • 1 x 500 GB (~465 GiB) unused SSD
  • 128 GiB RAM for ObjectScale to run one object store
  • At least five unused disks of the same size per node of an identical storage class (minimum for a single object store).
• A minimum of five disks are required per node for a four-node cluster with the 12+4 EC scheme. This configuration allows for a maximum of four disks failure from a single node or a single node failure. In a four-node cluster, three of the nodes must have the controlplane role.
• A minimum of five disks are required per node for a 10-node cluster with the 12+4 EC scheme. This configuration allows for two node failures, a disk failure from two different nodes, or a single disk failure and a single node failure. In a 10-node or larger cluster, at least five of the nodes must have the controlplane role.
• A minimum of 2 NICs with the speed of at least 10 GB each (recommended at least 25 GB), bonded for fault-tolerance with MTU=1500 and used as the default route.
• Network throughput requirement:
  • min_speed = 9200 Mb/s
  • recommended_min_speed = 22000 Mb/s

Operating system requirements for the cluster

• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) version 15 SP4 with the latest packages and CVE security fixes installed, configured, running on all the cluster nodes.
• ObjectScale Software Bundle requires these software packages, as well:
  • apparmor-parser
  • Sudo
  • HAProxy
  • Keepalived
  • lvm2
  • Firewalld
  • iptables
  • jq
  • skopeo
• System Disk Size Requirements
  • A single physical volume in a single logical volume group (LVM), of which:
    • /opt requires at least 250 GB.
    • /tmp requires at least 60 GB.
    • /var requires at least 200 GB.
    • Bare-metal CSI storageclass PVCs require at least 450 GB. Bare-metal CSI syslvg storageclass creates logical volumes in the system LVG as PVCs. Therefore, it expects unallocated space in the system LVG in order to do so.
      NOTE:This requirement is not mandatory as it can be accommodated in the 500 GB SSD as well.
• Other Operating System Settings
  • Swap must be disabled for all current versions of the ObjectScale Software Bundle.

Other installation considerations

Ensure that the deployment node is networked and accessible to all the targeted nodes.

Ensure that you have a clear understanding of the network configuration for the nodes. This release of the ObjectScale Software Bundle supports these networking types:

• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) - Border Gateway Protocol is a standardized exterior gateway protocol that is designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems on the Internet. BGP is classified as a path-vector routing protocol, and it makes routing decisions based on paths, network policies, or rule-sets configured by a network administrator.
• Layer 2 - The Data Link Layer, or Layer 2, is the second layer of the Open Systems Interconnection model of computer networking. This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between nodes on a network segment across the physical layer.

Dell requires that the same user credentials be used for all the nodes targeted for installation.

ObjectScale license file required

A valid ObjectScale license is required. The license is one of the following types:

• A Permanent or Subscription, with or without encryption, purchased from Dell.
• An Evaluation license, provided by your Dell representative.
• The Community Edition capacity-limited license file that is downloaded from https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/objectscale/drivers.

Activate the purchased ObjectScale license before deployment

After purchasing an ObjectScale license, Dell sends a License Activation Code (LAC) letter to the customer-provided email address associated with the Dell Support account. This email contains the necessary information and steps to follow to activate the ObjectScale license.

Follow the online process to generate license files or keys from their entitlements. License activation occurs after Customers or Partners receive a LAC letter and the LAC number that is listed on their LAC letter is redeemed.

• When Dell issues new license entitlements to a customer based on a purchase, evaluation, or other event, the entitlements are associated to a unique LAC.
• A LAC can have one or more entitlements that are associated to it. A LAC is the primary identifier of one or more entitlements, used by the customer or partner to locate and activate licenses.
• At the time an LAC is generated, it is emailed to the customer, but this is not always the case for evaluation licenses or for purchases of certain products.

When your software order is fulfilled, you receive an email or letter that includes the LAC for your order and instructions for activating entitlements online.

If you have any questions about your Dell order, contact your Dell Sales Account Representative or your Authorized Reseller.

If you have any questions about Dell software licensing, contact our Licensing Support team.

After activating the license, Dell Licensing sends the software license activation notification email to notify you that software licenses associated with your Dell account have been activated.

Review the details within the email and contact Dell if you think this license activation is erroneous or unintended.

The activated ObjectScale license .xml file is attached to this email notification. Use this license .xml file within the ObjectScale UI to activate the product. For more information, see the "Apply an ObjectScale License" section.