skyline-console/doc/source/user/storage.rst

Create and manage volumes (Storage tab)

A volume is a detachable block storage device similar to a USB hard drive. You can attach a volume to a running instance or detach a volume and attach it to another instance at any time. You can also create a snapshot from or delete a volume. Only administrative users can create volume types.

OpenStack Block Storage enables you to add extra block-level storage to your OpenStack Compute instances. For detailed information, refer to the OpenStack Cinder Guide.

Create a volume

1. Log in to the dashboard.

2. Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.

3. On the Console page, open the Storage tab and click Volumes category.

4. Click Create Volume.

5. On the Create Volume page, specify the following values.

   Available Zone: Select a availability zone for the volume.

   Data Source Type: Select one of the following options:

   • Blank Volume: If you choose this option, a new field for Volume Type displays. You can select the volume type from the list. You can create an empty volume. An empty volume does not contain a file system or a partition table.
   • Image: If you choose this option, a new field for Operating System displays. You can select the image from the list.
   • Volume Snapshot: If you choose this option, a new field for Volume Snapshot displays. You can select the snapshot from the list.

   Volume Type: Specify a volume type to choose an appropriate storage back end.

   Capacity (GiB): Specify the size of the volume, in gibibytes (GiB).

   Name: Specify a name to identify the volume.

6. Click Confirm.

   You have successfully created the volume. You can view the volume from the Volumes tab.

Attach a volume to an instance

After you create one or more volumes, you can attach them to instances. You can attach a volume to one instance at a time.

1. Log in to the dashboard.

2. Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.

3. On the Console page, open the Storage tab and click Volumes category.

4. Select the volume to add to an instance.

5. In the Action column, select Instance Related and click Attach.

6. In the Attach dialog box, select an instance.

7. Click OK.

   The dashboard shows the instance to which the volume is now attached and the device name.

You can view the status of a volume in the Volumes tab of the dashboard. The volume is either Available or In-Use.

Now you can log in to the instance and mount, format, and use the disk.

Detach a volume from an instance

1. Log in to the dashboard.

2. Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.

3. On the Console page, open the Storage tab and click Volumes category.

4. In the Action column of the volume, select Instance Related and click Detach.

5. In the Detach dialog box, select an instance.

6. Click OK.

   A message indicates whether the action was successful.

Create a snapshot from a volume

1. Log in to the dashboard.

2. Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.

3. On the Console page, open the Storage tab and click Volumes category.

4. Select a volume from which to create a snapshot.

5. In the Action column, select Data Protection and click Create Snapshot.

6. In the Create Volume Snapshot dialog box, enter a snapshot name.

7. Click OK.

   The dashboard shows the new volume snapshot in Volume Snapshots tab.

Edit a volume

1. Log in to the dashboard.

2. Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.

3. On the Console page, open the Storage tab and click Volumes category.

4. In the Action column of the volume, click Edit.

5. In the Edit dialog box, update the name and description of the volume.

6. Click OK.

   Note

   You can extend a volume by using the Extend Volume option available in the More dropdown list and entering the new value for volume size.

Delete a volume

When you delete an instance, the data in its attached volumes is not deleted.

1. Log in to the dashboard.

2. Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.

3. On the Console page, open the Storage tab and click Volumes category.

4. Select the check boxes for the volumes that you want to delete.

5. Click Delete and confirm your choice.

   Note

   If you select the cascading deletion check box, when the volume has snapshots, the associated snapshot will be automatically deleted first, and then the volume will be deleted, thereby improving the success rate of deleting the volume.

   A message indicates whether the action was successful.