kubespray/docs/vsphere-csi.md

# vSphere CSI Driver

vSphere CSI driver allows you to provision volumes over a vSphere deployment. The Kubernetes historic in-tree cloud provider is deprecated and will be removed in future versions.

To enable vSphere CSI driver, uncomment the `vsphere_csi_enabled` option in `group_vars/all/vsphere.yml` and set it to `true`.

To set the number of replicas for the vSphere CSI controller, you can change `vsphere_csi_controller_replicas` option in `group_vars/all/vsphere.yml`.

You need to source the vSphere credentials you use to deploy your machines that will host Kubernetes.

| Variable                                    | Required | Type    | Choices                    | Default                   | Comment                                                        |
|---------------------------------------------|----------|---------|----------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| external_vsphere_vcenter_ip                 | TRUE     | string  |                            |                           | IP/URL of the vCenter                                          |
| external_vsphere_vcenter_port               | TRUE     | string  |                            | "443"                     | Port of the vCenter API                                        |
| external_vsphere_insecure                   | TRUE     | string  | "true", "false"            | "true"                    | set to "true" if the host above uses a self-signed cert        |
| external_vsphere_user                       | TRUE     | string  |                            |                           | User name for vCenter with required privileges                 |
| external_vsphere_password                   | TRUE     | string  |                            |                           | Password for vCenter                                           |
| external_vsphere_datacenter                 | TRUE     | string  |                            |                           | Datacenter name to use                                         |
| external_vsphere_kubernetes_cluster_id      | TRUE     | string  |                            | "kubernetes-cluster-id"   | Kubernetes cluster ID to use                                   |
| vsphere_cloud_controller_image_tag          | TRUE     | string  |                            | "latest"                  | Kubernetes cluster ID to use                                   |
| vsphere_syncer_image_tag                    | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.0.2"                  | Syncer image tag to use                                        |
| vsphere_csi_attacher_image_tag              | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.1.1"                  | CSI attacher image tag to use                                  |
| vsphere_csi_controller                      | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.0.2"                  | CSI controller image tag to use                                |
| vsphere_csi_controller_replicas             | TRUE     | integer |                            | 1                         | Number of pods Kubernetes should deploy for the CSI controller |
| vsphere_csi_liveness_probe_image_tag        | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.1.0"                  | CSI liveness probe image tag to use                            |
| vsphere_csi_provisioner_image_tag           | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.2.2"                  | CSI provisioner image tag to use                               |
| vsphere_csi_node_driver_registrar_image_tag | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.1.0"                  | CSI node driver registrat image tag to use                     |
| vsphere_csi_driver_image_tag                | TRUE     | string  |                            | "v1.0.2"                  | CSI driver image tag to use                                    |

## Usage example

To test the dynamic provisioning using vSphere CSI driver, make sure to create a [storage policy](https://github.com/kubernetes/cloud-provider-vsphere/blob/master/docs/book/tutorials/kubernetes-on-vsphere-with-kubeadm.md#create-a-storage-policy) and [storage class](https://github.com/kubernetes/cloud-provider-vsphere/blob/master/docs/book/tutorials/kubernetes-on-vsphere-with-kubeadm.md#create-a-storageclass), then apply the following manifest:

```yml
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: csi-pvc-vsphere
spec:
  accessModes:
  - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi
  storageClassName: Space-Efficient

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: nginx
spec:
  containers:
  - image: nginx
    imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
    name: nginx
    ports:
    - containerPort: 80
      protocol: TCP
    volumeMounts:
      - mountPath: /var/lib/www/html
        name: csi-data-vsphere
  volumes:
  - name: csi-data-vsphere
    persistentVolumeClaim:
      claimName: csi-pvc-vsphere
      readOnly: false
```

Apply this conf to your cluster: ```kubectl apply -f nginx.yml```

You should see the PVC provisioned and bound:

```ShellSession
$ kubectl get pvc
NAME              STATUS   VOLUME                                     CAPACITY   ACCESS MODES   STORAGECLASS      AGE
csi-pvc-vsphere   Bound    pvc-dc7b1d21-ee41-45e1-98d9-e877cc1533ac   1Gi        RWO            Space-Efficient   10s
```

And the volume mounted to the Nginx Pod (wait until the Pod is Running):

```ShellSession
kubectl exec -it nginx -- df -h | grep /var/lib/www/html
/dev/sdb         976M  2.6M  907M   1% /var/lib/www/html
```

## More info

For further information about the vSphere CSI Driver, you can refer to the official [vSphere Cloud Provider documentation](https://cloud-provider-vsphere.sigs.k8s.io/container_storage_interface.html).