AWS Elastic Block Store CSI Driver Operator

Overview

OKD is capable of provisioning persistent volumes (PVs) using the Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver for AWS Elastic Block Store (EBS).

AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator is a Technology Preview feature only. Technology Preview features are not supported with Red Hat production service level agreements (SLAs) and might not be functionally complete. Red Hat does not recommend using them in production. These features provide early access to upcoming product features, enabling customers to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process.

For more information about the support scope of Red Hat Technology Preview features, see https://access.redhat.com/support/offerings/techpreview/.

Familiarity with persistent storage and configuring CSI volumes is recommended when working with a Container Storage Interface (CSI) Operator and driver.

To create CSI-provisioned PVs that mount to AWS EBS storage assets, OKD installs the AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator and the AWS EBS CSI driver by default in the openshift-cluster-csi-drivers namespace.

  • The AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator provides a StorageClass by default that you can use to create PVCs. You also have the option to create the AWS EBS StorageClass as described in Persistent storage using AWS Elastic Block Store.

  • The AWS EBS CSI driver enables you to create and mount AWS EBS PVs.

If you installed the AWS EBS CSI Operator and driver on a OKD 4.5 cluster, you must uninstall the 4.5 Operator and driver before you update to OKD 4.6.

About CSI

Storage vendors have traditionally provided storage drivers as part of Kubernetes. With the implementation of the Container Storage Interface (CSI), third-party providers can instead deliver storage plug-ins using a standard interface without ever having to change the core Kubernetes code.

CSI Operators give OKD users storage options, such as volume snapshots, that are not possible with in-tree volume plug-ins.

OKD defaults to using an in-tree, or non-CSI, driver to provision AWS EBS storage. This in-tree driver will be removed in a subsequent update of OKD. Volumes provisioned using the existing in-tree driver are planned for migration to the CSI driver at that time.

For information about dynamically provisioning AWS EBS persistent volumes in OKD, see Persistent storage using AWS Elastic Block Store.

Additional resources