Configuring backup and restore PVCs for Data Mover

Configure backup and restore persistent volume claims (PVCs) to optimize Data Mover operations. For storage classes like CephFS, these intermediate PVCs allow the system to create read-only volumes from snapshots, resulting in significantly faster backups.

You create a readonly backup PVC by using the nodeAgent.backupPVC section of the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) and setting the readOnly access mode to true.

You can use the following fields in the nodeAgent.backupPVC section of the DPA to configure the backup PVC.

storageClass: The name of the storage class to use for the backup PVC.
readOnly: Indicates if the backup PVC should be mounted as read-only. Setting this field to true also requires you to set the spcNoRelabeling field to true.
spcNoRelabeling: Disables automatic relabeling of the volume if set to true. You can set this field to true only when readOnly is true. When the readOnly flag is true, SELinux relabeling of the volume is not possible. This causes the Data Mover backup to fail. Therefore, when you are using the readOnly access mode for the CephFS storage class, you must disable relabeling.

Configuring a backup PVC for a Data Mover backup

Configure backup persistent volume claim (PVC) settings in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) to optimize Data Mover backup performance for different storage classes. The feature gives you read-only access modes for faster data movement.

Prerequisites

You have installed the OADP Operator.

Procedure

Configure the nodeAgent.backupPVC section in the DPA as shown in the following example:

Example Data Protection Application
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: ts-dpa
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  backupLocations:
  - velero:
      credential:
        key: cloud
        name: cloud-credentials-gcp
      default: true
      objectStorage:
        bucket: oadp...2jw
        prefix: velero
      provider: gcp
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
      backupPVC:
        storage-class-1:
          readOnly: true
          spcNoRelabeling: true
          storageClass: gp3-csi
        storage-class-2:
          readOnly: false
          spcNoRelabeling: false
          storageClass: gp3-csi
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
      - gcp
      - openshift
      - csi

where:

backupPVC: Specifies the backupPVC section. In this example, the backupPVC section has configurations for two storage classes, storage-class-1 and storage-class-2.
readOnly: Specifies that the backupPVC for storage-class-1 is configured as readOnly.
spcNoRelabeling: Specifies that the spcNoRelabeling field is set to true because the backupPVC for storage-class-1 is readOnly.

Create a Backup custom resource by using the following configuration:

Example Backup
apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: test-backup
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  includedNamespaces:
  - <application_namespace>
  snapshotMoveData: true

snapshotMoveData: Set to true for a Data Mover backup.

Verification

Verify that the backup PVCs are created as read-only (ROX) by running the following command:

Example command
$ oc get pvc -n openshift-adp -w

test-backup1-l..d   Bound   pvc-1298.....22f8   2Gi        ROX            standard-csi   <unset>                 37s
test-backup1-l..d   Bound   pvc-1298....022f8   2Gi        ROX            standard-csi   <unset>                 37s

Configuring a restorePVC for a Data Mover restore

Configure restore persistent volume claim (PVC) settings in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) to optimize Data Mover restore operations and enable parallel volume restores. This improves restore performance by distributing restore pods across nodes.

A restorePVC is an intermediate PVC that is used to write data during the Data Mover restore operation.

You can configure the restorePVC in the DataProtectionApplication (DPA) object by using the ignoreDelayBinding field. Setting the ignoreDelayBinding field to true allows the restore operation to ignore the WaitForFirstConsumer binding mode. The data movement restore operation then creates the restore pod and provisions the associated volume to an arbitrary node.

The ignoreDelayBinding setting is helpful in scenarios where multiple volume restores are happening in parallel. With the ignoreDelayBinding field set to true, the restore pods can be spread evenly to all nodes.

Prerequisites

You have installed the OADP Operator.
You have a created a Data Mover backup of an application.

Procedure

Configure the restorePVC section in the DPA as shown in the following example:

Example Data Protection Application
apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: ts-dpa
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
#  ...
  configuration:
    nodeAgent:
      enable: true
      uploaderType: kopia
    restorePVC:
      ignoreDelayBinding: true

where:

restorePVC: Specifies the restorePVC section.
ignoreDelayBinding: Set the ignoreDelayBinding field to true.

Configuring a backup PVC for a Data Mover backup​

Configuring a restorePVC for a Data Mover restore​

Configuring a backup PVC for a Data Mover backup

Configuring a restorePVC for a Data Mover restore