SCS’s CLI (command-line interface) is installed by default on the SCS server and supports common administrative tasks.

Getting Help

Every command within the CLI offers help. Some examples:

• scsctl help

• scsctl init dhcp help

• scsctl repo component add help

Listing Components

List the components registered with SCS:

The result list displays active components (including the version that has been marked as active) as well as inactive components (in which no version has been marked as active).

Listing Groups

List the groups for a component:

Instance Management

Listing Instances

List the instances within the default group of a component (most common usage):

List the instances within a specific group of a component:

List the nodes in the Swarm Storage cluster (-d is used to refer to the default group rather than referring to it by name):

Assuming an Old Instance Identity

Whenever the identity of an instance changes (typically when a storage node has a change to its networking cards), SCS will recognize it as an entirely new instance, even if the change is not substantial. The former identity still exists in SCS, but will never be used including any instance-specific setting or template overrides. However, there is a method to instruct SCS to associate the former identity with the new instance ID, which will also clear out the old identity.

Removing an Instance

If SCS ever needs to “forget” an instance, use the following command to fully remove it from SCS. The example below uses the default group, but you can use the -g {group name} form of the command as needed.

Defining the Storage Cluster

The storage component within SCS only allows a single group/cluster to be defined for that site. The name of that cluster is governed by the name assigned to its group within SCS.

Create the Cluster

To create a group for Swarm Storage:

Assigning a Storage Node to a Subcluster

Each node forms a de-facto subcluster if no explicit subcluster assignments are made in the Swarm Storage configuration. The Swarm Storage component (storage) provides the node.subcluster setting as a free-form name that can be assigned to one or more nodes.

The storage process groups nodes based on their assigned names, which are then used to manage object replica distribution and protection. Nodes that are grouped using subclusters can be configured in any way necessary to achieve the desired replica/fail-over strategy.

Update the subcluster for a storage node:

Updating a Cluster Setting

Update a cluster setting for Swarm Storage:

Some specific examples:

Updating a Storage Node Setting

Update a cluster setting for Swarm Storage:

Some specific examples:

Resetting a Setting

Removing a setting override means that the value for the setting is inherited from a higher scope. Removing an instance-level override means that the value for the setting is obtained from either the group (if a group-level override exists) or the component level. Removing a group-level override does not affect any existing instance-level overrides within that group.

Instance Level

Reset an instance-level override. Either the default-group or specific-group form of the command may be used:

or

Group Level

Reset a group-level override. Either the default-group or specific-group form of the command may be used:

or

Updating Network Settings

Shared network settings, such as DNS information and NTP time sources, can be updated as per requirement.

DNS Servers

Update the list of DNS servers (specified as comma- or space-delimited list).

The example output is:

This also requires updating the DHCP server so the setting can be made available to booting Storage nodes. See Configure DHCP.

It is recommended to check the bash history on the SCS to view the prior command and its settings. Run the below command on the SCS to view the last DHCP setting command used.

DNS Domain

Update the DNS domain (specified as comma- or space-delimited list):

The example output is:

This also requires updating the DHCP server so the setting can be made available to booting Storage nodes. See Configure DHCP.

It is recommended to check the bash history on the SCS to view the prior command and its settings. Run the below command on the SCS to view the last DHCP setting command used.

NTP Servers

Update the list of NTP servers (specified as comma- or space-delimited list):

This also requires updating the DHCP server so the setting can be made available to booting Storage nodes. See Configure DHCP.

It is recommended to check the bash history on the SCS to view the prior command and its settings. Run the below command on the SCS to view the last DHCP setting command used.

Swarm (Internal) Network MTU

Network MTU for the entire Swarm storage cluster is governed by the MTU set on the internal network interface of SCS. This value is put into DHCP configuration during the init dhcp process, and served to all storage nodes on boot.

1. Update the MTU on the internal network interface.

2. List the interface details on the SCS to ensure that the change is correct.

3. Re-initialize DHCP to apply to changes to any future booting storage nodes:

Swarm (Internal) Network Gateway

The network gateway for the entire Swarm storage cluster is governed by a setting available in SCS as of version 1.5. The setting is provided by the network_boot component, and is called network.gateway. By default, this setting points to the IP address of the internal network interface of SCS, but may be overridden by normal means using the CLI. This value is put into DHCP configuration during the init dhcp process and served to all storage nodes on boot.

1. Update the network.gateway setting.

2. Re-initialize DHCP to apply changes to any future booting storage nodes. See Configure DHCP.

   It is recommended to check the bash history on the SCS to view the prior command and its settings. Run the below command on the SCS to view the last DHCP setting command used.

Updating Network Bonding in Swarm Storage

Swarm Storage supports customizing network bonding for NICs and bonding mode. Additionally, a sysctl file may be specified for storage nodes. Refer to the following sections for bonding NICs and/or mode. In either case, the setting(s) must be applied to the PXE boot system before the new values are available to booting storage nodes.

Relevant bonding information can be found at Network Devices and Priority.

Bonding NICs

Update the bonding NICs setting in SCS:

The list of NICs should look like: eth0,eth1, with whatever values are appropriate.

Confirm the new setting value:

Bonding Mode

Update the bonding mode setting in SCS:

Confirm the new setting value:

Apply the Setting to the PXE Boot System

Restart the SCS services to apply this setting:

Once all services have fully come back online (may take 2-3 minutes), storage nodes will receive the new bonding mode the next time they boot up.

Support for kernel.sysctlFileUrl

When a blob/static_file named SYSCTL is present for a node, a URL will be injected into node.cfg for kernel.sysctlFileUrl.

If a different URL is used, then this blob must NOT be present. A different URL provided for the kernel.sysctlFileUrl is allowed in the storage component.

Updating Trusted Root Certificates

When communicating with remote servers that use TLS, custom trusted root (CA) certificates may be specified. These certificates must be PEM-formatted, with all newlines replaced with a literal \n. For example:

…would become:

Once the certificate string is properly formatted (denoted as CERT_STRING in the example below), apply it to SCS:

Updating Client-Facing IP Address

Best practice for SCS is to use a static IP address for the interface that will be receiving client requests. If that IP address changes, SCS may have issues starting up under certain circumstances. To resolve this, run the following commands on the SCS server:

scsctl init config_update --external-interface {interface name} (to obtain a list of interfaces, use ip addr show)

scsctl init wizard --build-platform-pod

scsctl init config_update --finalize

Administrative Credentials

The SCS server maintains an administrator user, “admin”, that has full rights within the Swarm site. This user also serves as the administrative user within the Swarm Storage management API. Credentials may be updated at any time, and updates are pushed to the Storage cluster to guarantee the two use the same credentials.

Setting the Administrative Password

Update the administrative password:

Updating CLI Credentials

The CLI requires knowing the administrative credentials to perform operations against the SCS server. To set these credentials:

The CLI then securely prompts for the administrative password and proceeds with authentication.

Upgrading Swarm Storage

Obtain the component bundle for the latest version from DataCore Downloads to upgrade the Swarm Storage software of a running cluster. Transfer the bundle to the SCS server and run the following commands to register it with SCS:

1. Use the command below to get the list of Storage software versions that have been registered with SCS.

2. Unpack the downloaded Swarm Storage software bundle

3. Navigate to the Storage directory within that bundle and run the following command to register the Swarm storage software with SCS (please insert the correct version string where needed).

4. Verify the desired version is present in the list of available versions.

5. Activate this desired version to complete the upgrade.

   Choose the desired version in the menu. The activated version will be used the next time that storage nodes reboot.

Removing an Installed Version of Swarm Storage

The following version texts are examples only. Verify the list of installed versions, and note which version is currently marked as active.

To mark another version as active:

Verify activation if desired:

Remove the desired version, using the entire version string:

Verify removal if desired:

Backing Up SCS

SCS allows a full backup of all components, configurations, settings overrides, and binaries for support and maintenance purposes. The CLI must be logged in since this backup includes values for settings marked as “secure”.

This backup allows for SCS settings to be restored in the event that the SCS needs to be rebuilt. A full backup allows for this kind of restoration; a lightweight backup is useful for support purposes only.

Full Backup

Obtain a full backup of all data:

Lightweight Backup

Obtain a “lightweight” backup that excludes repo data (binaries, etc.):

Backup Restore

Perform backup restore of all data: