OpenStack Introduction¶
StarlingX OpenStack is an optional, fully integrated OpenStack cloud application that runs on top of the StarlingX Edge Cloud Platform. It brings the OpenStack control plane to StarlingX, allowing you to create and manage virtual machines, virtual networks, and block storage alongside the container workloads that StarlingX already supports.
StarlingX OpenStack is delivered as a containerized application (stx-openstack) that is uploaded and applied on the underlying StarlingX Kubernetes platform. The OpenStack services run as containers orchestrated by Kubernetes, which lets the platform manage OpenStack using the same lifecycle, high-availability, and software-update mechanisms used for the rest of the StarlingX stack.
OpenStack Services¶
StarlingX OpenStack packages a curated set of core OpenStack services that are validated and configured to run on the StarlingX platform:
- Keystone
Identity management, providing authentication and authorization for users and services.
- Nova
Compute management, responsible for provisioning and managing virtual machine instances.
- Neutron
Network management, providing virtual networking for tenant and provider networks.
- Glance
Image management, storing and serving the images used to boot virtual machine instances.
- Cinder
Block storage, providing persistent volumes for virtual machine instances.
- Horizon
The OpenStack dashboard, a web-based interface for managing OpenStack resources.
- Heat
Orchestration, enabling template-driven deployment of OpenStack resources.
Deployment Model¶
StarlingX OpenStack is installed as a system application after the underlying StarlingX Kubernetes platform has been deployed and configured. Before the application is applied, the platform must be prepared with the OpenStack-specific configuration it requires, including:
Labeling nodes for their OpenStack role or roles (for example, controller and compute).
Selecting and configuring the vSwitch type.
Configuring the nova-local volume group on hosts that run the compute function.
The stx-openstack application is then uploaded and applied. Applying the application loads its manifest and Helm charts, generates system-level Helm overrides based on the current state of the platform, and deploys the OpenStack service containers into the openstack Kubernetes namespace. Because the services run as containers, StarlingX provides high availability, fault management, and in-service updates for OpenStack using the same tooling as the platform.
Storage Backends¶
StarlingX OpenStack services can be backed by different storage options depending on the deployment:
An internal Ceph storage backend (host-based or Rook-Ceph).
An external NetApp storage backend for Cinder, Glance, and Nova, enabling deployments that do not rely on internal Ceph.
Concurrent use of both Ceph and NetApp backends.
Results
Once StarlingX OpenStack is applied, you can manage cloud resources through the OpenStack Horizon dashboard, the OpenStack command-line clients, or the OpenStack APIs. For installation instructions, see the StarlingX OpenStack installation documentation.
