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Overview

OpenShift Container Platform is capable of provisioning persistent volumes (PVs) using the Container Storage Interface (CSI) driver for AWS Elastic Block Store (EBS).

Familiarity with persistent storage and configuring CSI volumes is recommended when working with a Container Storage Interface (CSI) Operator and driver.

To create CSI-provisioned PVs that mount to AWS EBS storage assets, OpenShift Container Platform installs the AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator and the AWS EBS CSI driver by default in the openshift-cluster-csi-drivers namespace.

  • The AWS EBS CSI Driver Operator provides a StorageClass by default that you can use to create PVCs. You also have the option to create the AWS EBS StorageClass as described in Persistent storage using AWS Elastic Block Store.

  • The AWS EBS CSI driver enables you to create and mount AWS EBS PVs.

If you installed the AWS EBS CSI Operator and driver on an OpenShift Container Platform 4.5 cluster, you must uninstall the 4.5 Operator and driver before you update to OpenShift Container Platform 4.9.

About CSI

Storage vendors have traditionally provided storage drivers as part of Kubernetes. With the implementation of the Container Storage Interface (CSI), third-party providers can instead deliver storage plugins using a standard interface without ever having to change the core Kubernetes code.

CSI Operators give OpenShift Container Platform users storage options, such as volume snapshots, that are not possible with in-tree volume plugins.

OpenShift Container Platform defaults to using an in-tree (non-CSI) plugin to provision AWS EBS storage.

In future OpenShift Container Platform versions, volumes provisioned using existing in-tree plugins are planned for migration to their equivalent CSI driver. CSI automatic migration should be seamless. Migration does not change how you use all existing API objects, such as persistent volumes, persistent volume claims, and storage classes. For more information about migration, see CSI automatic migration.

After full migration, in-tree plugins will eventually be removed in future versions of OpenShift Container Platform.

For information about dynamically provisioning AWS EBS persistent volumes in OpenShift Container Platform, see Persistent storage using AWS Elastic Block Store.