GlusterFS (cluster)

Deploy GlusterFS, an open source, distributed network filesystem designed to scale out and handle large amounts of data across compute instances. It replicates data across multiple servers into a single application mount point, allowing seamless access to files from client instances, and provides high availability and fault tolerance.

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Cluster deployment

This app deploys three Linode instances to create a distributed GlusterFS cluster, each with the plan type and size you select.

Each of these Linode instances will appear on your invoice as separate items.

1. Deploy GlusterFS cluster

 Estimated deployment time: 5–10 minutes

Software included

Software installed on your Linode when deploying the app.

Base distribution and plan

• Supported distribution: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• Recommended plan: All plan types and sizes can be used depending on your storage needs.

Configuration options

StackScript ID: 1350783

Note: After the app deployment completes, the password for your limited sudo user is generated and stored in the .credentials file in the home directory, along with application-specific passwords. Log in to your instance as root through the Lish console or SSH, then run cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials to view its contents.

Use API, CLI, or Terraform

curl --location 'https://api.linode.com/v4/linode/instances' \
    --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --header 'Accept: application/json' \
    --header 'Authorization: Bearer abc123def456hij789klm' \
    --data-raw '{
        "region": "us-east",
        "type": "g6-standard-2",
        "image": "linode/ubuntu24.04",
        "label": "my-glusterfs-cluster-one-click-app",
        "root_pass": "@C0mpl3x#P@ssw0rd",
        "stackscript_id": 1350783,
        "stackscript_data": {
            "token_password": "abc123def456hij789klm",
            "user_name": "jsmith"
        }
    }'

linode-cli linodes create \
    --region us-east \
    --type g6-standard-2 \
    --label my-glusterfs-cluster-one-click-app \
    --image linode/ubuntu24.04 \
    --root_pass @C0mpl3x#P@ssw0rd \
    --stackscript_id 1350783 \
    --stackscript_data '{"token_password":"abc123def456hij789klm", "user_name":"jsmith"}'

resource "linode_instance" "my-linode" {
    region         = "us-east"
    type           = "g6-standard-2"
    label          = "my-glusterfs-cluster-one-click-app"
    image          = "linode/ubuntu24.04"
    root_pass      = "@C0mpl3x#P@ssw0rd"
    stackscript_id = 1350783
    stackscript_data = {
        "token_password" = "abc123def456hij789klm"
        "user_name"      = "jsmith"
    }
}

2. Use GlusterFS

Install the client

Before you can use your new GlusterFS cluster, your clients need to install a single dependency to mount GlusterFS as a filesystem. On every client node, install the GlusterFS client.

sudo apt install glusterfs-client

Configure secure access

Ensure that the GlusterFS client knows you're using SSL certificates. On every client node, create the secure-access file.

mkdir /var/lib/glusterd
touch /var/lib/glusterd/secure-access

Copy client certificates

If you provided client IPs during cluster creation, SSL certificates are on the first GlusterFS server in /usr/lib/ssl.

(env) root@gluster1:/usr/lib/ssl# ls -l
total 68
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    14 Mar 16  2022 certs -> /etc/ssl/certs
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1630 Mar 28 14:40 client1.csr
-rw------- 1 root root  3243 Mar 28 14:40 client1.key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1761 Mar 28 14:40 client1.pem
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1630 Mar 28 14:40 client2.csr
-rw------- 1 root root  3243 Mar 28 14:40 client2.key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1761 Mar 28 14:40 client2.pem
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1630 Mar 28 14:40 client3.csr
-rw------- 1 root root  3243 Mar 28 14:40 client3.key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1761 Mar 28 14:40 client3.pem
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   769 Mar 28 14:40 dhparams.pem
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10584 Mar 28 14:40 glusterfs.ca
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1635 Mar 28 14:40 glusterfs.csr
-rw------- 1 root root  3243 Mar 28 14:40 glusterfs.key
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  1765 Mar 28 14:40 glusterfs.pem
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Mar 28 14:16 misc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    20 Feb 16 08:51 openssl.cnf -> /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    16 Mar 16  2022 private -> /etc/ssl/private

The output assumes you created three client certificates. For each client, copy the following from the first server to the client's /usr/lib/ssl directory.

• client[N].pem → /usr/lib/ssl/glusterfs.pem
• client[N].key → /usr/lib/ssl/glusterfs.key
• glusterfs.ca → /usr/lib/ssl/glusterfs.ca

Mount the filesystem

1. Mount GlusterFS from a client node, replacing gluster1 with the private IP address of the first GlusterFS instance.

   Bash

   mount -t glusterfs gluster1:/data-volume /mnt

2. Update the client's /etc/hosts file with your GlusterFS IP addresses.

   Bash

   192.168.139.160 gluster1
   192.168.201.13 gluster2
   192.168.230.83 gluster3

3. To mount the GlusterFS filesystem automatically on boot, add the following to /etc/fstab, replacing MYMOUNT with your mount location.

   Bash

   gluster1:/data-volume  /MYMOUNT  glusterfs defaults,_netdev,backup-volfile-servers=gluster2:gluster3 0 0

Repeat the steps for each additional client that needs to be configured.

Additional resources

For more information about the installed packages, see their official documentation.

• GlusterFS Documentation