Re: KVM iSCSI overlay for in-tree Primera / Alletra Storage MP (4.22.1.1)

[Daham Perera via users <us...@cloudstack.apache.org>]

Hi Team,

Follow-up to the Primera/Alletra iSCSI overlay we posted for 4.22.1.1. Same cluster: KVM, HPE storage on the in-tree Primera WSAPI (Alletra Storage MP / Primera / 3PAR / Alletra 9000. Not Nimble OS). Disks are one array VV per CloudStack volume, path type=FIBERWWN.

NAS backup of those raw LUNs is a full allocated dump (libvirt backup-begin), so we replaced the zone BackupProvider with on-array Virtual Copy.

Published a sidecar for 4.22.1.1 (Apache 2.0):

https://github.com/dahampere/cloudstack-primera_alletraMP-backup
Release: https://github.com/dahampere/cloudstack-primera_alletraMP-backup/releases/tag/v4.22.1.1-1

Requires the iSCSI overlay already on the hosts:
https://github.com/dahampere/cloudstack-primera_alletraMP-iscsi

  *
Management sidecar JAR: BackupProvider alletramp. One non-exported VV-set per VM; take is a consistency-group snapshot of the VM's Ready ROOT + DATADISK VVs. Restore is on-array (promote onto the same VVs while Stopped, or clone to new VVs). ACS native schedule/retention deletes those generations on the array.
  *
Two jar uf overlays (required): add alletramp to the backup.framework.provider.plugin allow-list, and VOLUME_INFO_GSON so FiberChannel "=" in backed_volumes does not blank the Backups tab. Do not rewrite cloudstack-.jar with zipfile.

This is a solid backup method. The copy still lives on the same array (same controllers, same snap CPG, same site). Array snapshot lock is not a second site. Off-array/cold-tier copy is not in this release.

Proven here: take/list/delete, multi-disk CG snap, schedule/retention, in-place restore (Stopped), clone restore to a new VV. Mixed NFS+Alletra VMs fail the take (intentional). qemu-ga quiesce is NAS-only; these snaps are crash-consistent.

If other KVM + Primera-family sites want native array snapshots in the backup framework, we can turn the provider + allow-list + Gson change into an upstream PR. Feedback welcome.



[cid:0e1bbeca-4f5e-4328-b360-d74ad5627047]

DAHAM PERERA
Onel Consulting | Senior Consulting Engineer
daham@onel.com.au<ma...@onel.com.au>
0476 797 120 | 03 9653 6400
L27, 101 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
https://onel.com.au<https://onel.com.au/>

[cid:c617ab41-a187-48c3-93df-6e014ddab09e]


________________________________
From: Daham Perera <da...@onel.com.au>
Sent: Saturday, 29 August 2026 9:53 PM
To: users@cloudstack.apache.org <us...@cloudstack.apache.org>
Cc: Binal Hendawitharana <bi...@onel.com.au>; Kavidu Hettiarachchi <ka...@onel.com.au>
Subject: KVM iSCSI overlay for in-tree Primera / Alletra Storage MP (4.22.1.1)

Hi Team,

We run Apache CloudStack 4.22.1.1 on KVM with HPE storage that speaks the in-tree Primera WSAPI (Alletra Storage MP / Primera / 3PAR / Alletra 9000. Not Nimble OS). The array is presented over iSCSI, not Fibre Channel.

Pool create, VV lifecycle, and volume snapshots work with Provider = Primera. Attach on the hypervisor does not: stock scripts/storage/multipath/connectVolume.sh waits on /sys/class/fc_host, which is empty on an iSCSI-only host, so the LUN never shows up. The shared target IQN also must not be logged out when one volume detaches (many VLUNs on one session).

We published a small overlay for 4.22.1.1 (Apache 2.0, derived from the in-tree scripts and Primera adapter):

https://github.com/dahampere/cloudstack-primera_alletraMP-iscsi
Release: https://github.com/dahampere/cloudstack-primera_alletraMP-iscsi/releases/tag/v4.22.1.1-1

- KVM deb: iSCSI session rescan + no logout on detach (this is the actual fix).
- Optional management sidecar JAR: same adapter registered as AlletraMP, so you can add a pool under that name without renaming an existing provider=Primera pool. Not a second API. Not ACS Protocol = iSCSI (shared LUN).

Proven here: deploy, attach/detach, live migrate, volume snapshot. Volume resize/copy on this path is unproven. Instance snapshots still need qemu-guest-agent.

If this matches other KVM + Primera-family iSCSI sites, we are happy to turn the connect/disconnect change into an upstream PR against scripts/storage/multipath. Feedback welcome.


[cid:e307bee6-9e7b-478a-a13e-36c955586e6f]

DAHAM PERERA
Onel Consulting | Senior Consulting Engineer
daham@onel.com.au<ma...@onel.com.au>
0476 797 120 | 03 9653 6400
L27, 101 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
https://onel.com.au<https://onel.com.au/>

[cid:925ef8e0-b22c-49bd-ba8c-3db7d2705ce5]