Part 5 – Configuring Shared Storage (NFS Storage Repositories)

In this fifth part of the series we will learn to configure shared NFS storage repositories. Kindly follow the article https://virtshinobi.blog/part-8-vmware-vsphere-8-nested-home-lab-configuring-the-openfiler-storage-for-nfs/ to attach additional disks and configure NFS shares on the Openfiler storage appliance. I have configured one 40 GB NFS share (iso) which I will use as the NFS ISO Library and one more 200 GB NFS share for creating shared NFS storage repository (nfssr01) for storing virtual machines.

Next we will create the storage network for the XenSever hosts. Open XenCenter and connect to the XenServer pool. Select Networking and then click on Add Network.

Select Bonded Network and click Next.

Select the NICs 2 and 3 assigned to the VMware workstation network iSCSI/NFS Storage, for Bond Mode select Active-passive and click on Finish.

Next we will create the storage network and assign IP address from IP range 10.100.2.0/24 which is allowed access on the Openfiler storage. Click on Networking and then on Configure under IP Address Configuration.

On the Configure IP Addresses window click on Add IP address.

Enter name as Storage 1, select Bond 2+3 for Network and then enter the IP address details as shown below and click on OK. Enter the IP address as 10.100.2.101 for xenhost01 and 10.100.2.102 for xenhost02.

Enter 255.255.255.0 for subnet mask and 10.100.2.11 for gateway.

You can see the two storage networks created as below.

Next we will create the NFS repositories on the XenServer pool. Select the pool, then click on Storage tab and click New SR…

Select NFS ISO and click Next.

Leave the default name as it is and click Next.

Enter 10.100.2.22:/mnt/nfs_iso/nfs_iso/nfs_iso/ as the share name. This is the share name we have configured on the Openfiler storage. Select NFSv3 and click Finish.

You should see that the NFS ISO SR is connected on both the hosts.

Next we will configure the nfs_sr01 storage repository for storing virtual machine files. Select the pool, then click on Storage tab and click New SR…

Select NFS under File based Storage and click Next.

Enter the name for the repository as NFS_SR01 and click Next.

Enter 10.100.2.22:/mnt/nfs_sr01/nfs_sr01/nfs_sr01/ as the share name. This is the share name we have configured on the Openfiler storage. Select NFSv3, Click on Create a new SR and click Finish.

You should see that the nfs_sr01 storage repository is connected on both the hosts.