OCI Storage Gateway – For RMAN Backups

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oci

Acronym Definition

  • SG – Storage Gateway
  • OSS – Object Storage Service

Introduction

Syncing data from on-prem to the cloud is always challenging. Oracle introduced a storage gateway to address the primary use case of Object Storage Service (OSS) Storage Gateway to Data Transfer between On-premises applications and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). 

Apart from this, OSS Storage Gateway is a highly usable solution for Backups, Archival, and Disaster Recovery. Storage Gateway is the evolution of the Storage Software Appliance which was available with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic (OCI-C) and on OCI it’s enhanced with file-to-object transparency and improved scale and performance.

In this article,  I will cover the steps to configure the storage gateway.

Shared the Oracle documentation which covers all the pre-requisite steps for SG.

https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/StorageGateway/Tasks/installingstoragegateway.htm

Pre-requisites for Storage Gateway 

  • Two dual-core CPUs or better. Oracle recommends 4-core CPUs
  • Minimum memory requirements:

                 – 16 GB is required for any Storage Gateway file system

                 – 32 GB for File Systems with up to 50 Million Files
                 – 64 GB for File Systems with up to 100 Million Files

  • The recommended local storage disk size is 600 GB, which includes 

               – 500 GB for the File System Cache 

               – 80 GB for Metadata Storage 

               – 20 GB for Log Storage

Note: Oracle Linux 8 is not supported. The Storage Gateway installation software automatically installs Docker and the NFS protocol.

 

Setup the VM for Installation

As per the above-mentioned requirements set up the VM. 

Figure 1: Elaborates the file system of the VM

[opc@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ~]$ df -h
Filesystem                                 Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs                                    16G     0   16G   0% /dev
tmpfs                                       16G     0   16G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                                       16G  8.8M   16G   1% /run
tmpfs                                       16G     0   16G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda3                                   39G   11G   28G  28% /
/dev/sda1                                  200M  7.4M  193M   4% /boot/efi
/dev/mapper/sgw--cache--vg-sgw--cache--lv  100G   33M  100G   1% /ocisg/metadata
/dev/mapper/sgw--vg--data-sgw--data--lv    512G   33M  512G   1% /ocisg/cache
/dev/mapper/sgw--log--vg-sgw--log--lv       50G   33M   50G   1% /ocisg/log
tmpfs                                      3.2G     0  3.2G   0% /run/user/0
tmpfs                                      3.2G     0  3.2G   0% /run/user/994
tmpfs                                      3.2G     0  3.2G   0% /run/user/1000
[opc@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ~]$

SG software can be downloaded from the below-mentioned link: https://www.oracle.com/downloads/cloud/oci-storage-gateway-downloads.html

Copy the downloaded file to the newly created server and extract the installation and execute the ocisg-install.sh to start the installation. This will create a docker container and provide you URL for storage gateway configuration and display nfs port for mounting.  

 

Sample Installation Log

[opc@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ocisg-1.4]$ ./ocisg-install.sh
*************************************
Install must be run with sudo or as root user
*************************************
[opc@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ocisg-1.4]$ sudo ./ocisg-install.sh

*************************************
Imported temporary env vars from opc to this install session
*************************************
Checking that docker is installed and using the correct version
Found docker version Docker version 19.03.11-ol, build 9bb540d
WARNING: the devicemapper storage-driver is deprecated, and will be removed in a future release.
WARNING: devicemapper: usage of loopback devices is strongly discouraged for production use.
         Use `--storage-opt dm.thinpooldev` to specify a custom block storage device.
WARNING: the devicemapper storage-driver is deprecated, and will be removed in a future release.
WARNING: devicemapper: usage of loopback devices is strongly discouraged for production use.
         Use `--storage-opt dm.thinpooldev` to specify a custom block storage device.

*************************************
Checking host prerequisites
*************************************

Detected linux operating system
Checking kernel version
Found kernel version 5.4.17-2136.314.6.2.el7uek.x86_64
Checking NFS version
Found NFS version 4

*************************************
All prerequisites have been met
*************************************


*************************************
Begin installation
*************************************

Installing to destination /opt/ocisg/
Previous install detected, checking version
OCISG version 1.4 is already installed.
Are you sure you want reinstall?  WARNING: This will remove all previously mapped data volumes. (y/N) y
Stopping OCISG
Cleaning up
Installing to destination /opt/ocisg/
Copied install scripts
Copied OCISG image
Starting configuration script

Enter the path for OCISG file system cache : /ocisg/cache

Enter the path for OCISG metadata storage : /ocisg/metadata

Enter the path for OCISG log storage : /ocisg/log
Writing configuration
Importing image
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Loaded image: ocisg:1.4
Loaded image: oraclelinux:7.3
Creating OCISG Volume with args -v /cloudsync/:/cloudsync/:shared -v /ocisg/cache:/usr/share/oracle/ -v /ocisg/metadata:/usr/share/oracle/system/ -v /ocisg/log:/var/log/gateway
Applying configuration file to container
Starting OCISG [ocisg:1.4]
Setting up config file port with nfs
Setting up config file port with admin
Setting up config file port with rest
Management Console: https://sw-gatewat-poc-01:32770
If you have already configured an OCISG FileSystem via the Management Console,
you can access the NFS share using the following port.

NFS Port: 32771

Example: mount -t nfs -o vers=4,port=32771 sw-gatewat-poc-01:/OCISG FileSystem name /local_mount_point
[opc@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ocisg-1.4]$

 

Login

Use this URL to configure object storage: https://sw-gatewat-poc-01:32770

oci2

Figure 1: Storage Gateway Configuration Page

 

To configure this you need to feed under mentioned detail

  • Compartment OCID
  • Tenant OCID
  • User OCID
  • Public Key’s Fingerprint
  • Private Key
  • Private Key Passphrase               

This information can be gathered from login to your profile. Now select a resource (API Key) and generate an API key. 

Download the generated private key and public key, or else you can copy your own key.

oci3

Figure 2: Add API Key

Now view the key details, this will help you to gather all other above-mentioned details such as Compartment OCID, Tenant OCID and etc.           

oci4

Figure 3: API Key Details 

Then select “Create a file System” on the storage gateway URL, which will navigate you to Figure 4. 

Feed all the required detail which we gather using API details.

oci5

Figure 4: Create a File System Page

This will show it looks once you add and create the file system.  It should be green in color to access the file system.

oci6

Figure 5: Storage Gateway File System Configuration

Now the major configuration is complete, the next step is to add an ingress rule to access the storage nfs port and execute the below-mentioned commands to mount the NFS share.

oci7

Figure 6: Ingress Firewall Rule.

First, I tested this mount on the storage gateway server.

[root@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ~]# sudo mount -t nfs -o vers=4,port=32770 10.0.0.212:/OBJ-POC /obj_bucket_content

Expected output

[root@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ~]# df -h
Filesystem                                 Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs                                    16G     0   16G   0% /dev
tmpfs                                       16G     0   16G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs                                       16G  457M   16G   3% /run
tmpfs                                       16G     0   16G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda3                                   39G   12G   28G  30% /
/dev/sda1                                  200M  7.4M  193M   4% /boot/efi
tmpfs                                      3.2G     0  3.2G   0% /run/user/0
/dev/mapper/sgw--vg--data-sgw--data--lv    512G  1.1G  511G   1% /ocisg/cache
/dev/mapper/sgw--cache--vg-sgw--cache--lv  100G   33M  100G   1% /ocisg/metadata
/dev/mapper/sgw--log--vg-sgw--log--lv       50G   33M   50G   1% /ocisg/log
/dev/dm-4                                   10G  2.0G  8.1G  20% /var/lib/docker/devicemapper/mnt/5110d06d9a28da86d250bb89769453f7bcdc0a70cffe2888492f7a8686b4c1cc
tmpfs                                      3.2G     0  3.2G   0% /run/user/994
tmpfs                                      3.2G     0  3.2G   0% /run/user/1000
10.0.0.212:/OBJ-POC                        8.0E     0  8.0E   0% /obj_bucket_content
[root@sw-gatewat-poc-01 ~]#

Now test this mount option on the database server.

[root@dbsdpl21 /]# mkdir BACKUP
[root@dbsdpl21 /]# mount -t nfs -o vers=4,port=32770 10.0.0.212:/OBJ-POC /BACKUP/
[root@dbsdpl21 /]# df -h
Filesystem                           Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs                              30G     0   30G   0% /dev
tmpfs                                 30G  1.4G   29G   5% /dev/shm
tmpfs                                 30G  593M   29G   2% /run
tmpfs                                 30G     0   30G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mapper/VolGroupSys0-LogVolRoot   45G  8.7G   34G  21% /
/dev/sda2                            1.4G   99M  1.2G   8% /boot
/dev/sda1                            486M  7.5M  478M   2% /boot/efi
/dev/sdi                             197G   33G  155G  18% /u01
tmpfs                                5.9G     0  5.9G   0% /run/user/102
/dev/asm/commonstore-484             5.0G  656M  4.4G  13% /opt/oracle/dcs/commonstore
tmpfs                                5.9G     0  5.9G   0% /run/user/54322
tmpfs                                5.9G     0  5.9G   0% /run/user/101
tmpfs                                5.9G     0  5.9G   0% /run/user/0
10.0.0.212:/OBJ-POC                  8.0E     0  8.0E   0% /BACKUP           -- Mounted storage 
[root@dbsdpl21 /]#

 

Config NFS Mount Point for RMAN Backup

As the object storage is a mount point via nfs protocol, you can configure this mount point as the default disk location. The backup will store on OCI object storage.

RMAN> CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';

using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
new RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';
new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored

 

Backup Database

Now you can allocate a channel to nfs share and back up the database.

RMAN> run
2> {
3> ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';
4> ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH2 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';
5> ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH3 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';
6> ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH4 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';
7> ALLOCATE CHANNEL CH5 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/BACKUP/PWHSE01/%U';
8> BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;
9> RELEASE channel c1;
10> RELEASE channel c2;
11> RELEASE channel c3;
12> RELEASE channel c4;
13> RELEASE channel c5;
14> }
15>
using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
allocated channel: CH1
channel CH1: SID=328 instance=PWSH011 device type=DISK

allocated channel: CH2
channel CH2: SID=629 instance=PWSH011 device type=DISK

allocated channel: CH3
channel CH3: SID=628 instance=PWSH011 device type=DISK

allocated channel: CH4
channel CH4: SID=1089 instance=PWSH011 device type=DISK

allocated channel: CH5
channel CH5: SID=17 instance=PWSH011 device type=DISK


Starting backup at 13-APR-23
current log archived
channel CH1: starting archived log backup set
channel CH1: specifying archived log(s) in backup set
input archived log thread=2 sequence=163 RECID=321 STAMP=1086026489
input archived log thread=1 sequence=159 RECID=323 STAMP=1086030087
input archived log thread=2 sequence=164 RECID=322 STAMP=1086030086
input archived log thread=2 sequence=165 RECID=325 STAMP=1086033686
input archived log thread=1 sequence=160 RECID=324 STAMP=1086033686
input archived log thread=1 sequence=161 RECID=326 STAMP=1086036200
input archived log thread=2 sequence=166 RECID=327 STAMP=1086036200
input archived log thread=1 sequence=162 RECID=328 STAMP=1086036323
input archived log thread=2 sequence=167 RECID=329 STAMP=1086036323

List database backup to validate

List of Backups
===============
Key     TY LV S Device Type Completion Time #Pieces #Copies Compressed Tag
------- -- -- - ----------- --------------- ------- ------- ---------- ---
3425    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3426    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3427    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3428    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3429    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3430    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3431    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T163159
3432    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3433    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3434    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3435    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3436    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3437    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3438    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3439    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3440    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3441    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3442    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T171752
3443    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T174938
3444    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T174938
3445    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T174938
3446    B  A  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T174938
3447    B  F  A DISK        13-APR-23       1       1       NO         TAG20230413T180124

 

Verification

To validate that backups are stored in object storage, navigate to the object storage bucket folder from OCI URL.

oci8

Figure 6: Validate backups are in object storage 

 

Conclusion

A storage gateway is a great way to extend to capabilities of object storage. This easy the mounting of object storage to any VM, because all system engineers and database engines are comfortable with it NFS.

Even this can be used to copy database backup to the different regions without making any major configuration. As a disaster recovery method, we can replicate object storage content. 

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