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Linux Installation Guide

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NOTE: Linux is a complex ecosystem. Before deploying Pro Data with a Linux system in a production environment please contact iodyne Support for guidance on qualification and setup.

Linux Set-Up

  • Requires Ubuntu 22.04 or later. If you require support for another distro, contact iodyne support.
  • Linux kernel 6.8 (generic) or later
  • Kernel upgrades can cause incompatibilities or performance issues.  Communicate with iodyne about any planned changes to the Linux kernel you are using on your system. 

 

Download and install iodyne software

Download the iodyne software package from the iodyne download page.  The iodyne-linux package has a dependency on the util-linux, systemd and nvme-cli packages which must be installed first.  Install the downloaded iodyne-linux package (dpkg) and reboot.
 
$ wget <download URL here>
$ sudo apt-get install nvme-cli
$ sudo dpkg -i iodyne-linux_1.6.0.1756336750+25bc2eb6b+R-2_amd64.deb
Selecting previously unselected package iodyne-linux.
(Reading database ... 216190 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack iodyne-linux_1.6.0.1756336750+25bc2eb6b+R-2_amd64.deb ...
✅ Ubuntu version 22.04 meets requirement
✅ Kernel version 6.8.0 meets requirement
✅ CONFIG_PCI_P2PDMA is enabled
✅ All required packages are installed
Unpacking iodyne-linux (1.6.0.1756336750+25bc2eb6b+R-2) ...
Setting up iodyne-linux (1.6.0.1756336750+25bc2eb6b+R-2) ...
$ sudo reboot

 

Pro Data Set-Up

Read through the Pro Data Quick Start and Provisioning guides.
 

Connect to Pro Data

Once you’ve verified the correct OS versions and downloaded the host software you may connect a Thunderbolt cable between your PC and your Pro Data.  The following diagram shows proper cabling.  We suggest starting with just one port for basic testing, and then move on to multipath cabling once you’ve confirmed that the iodyne device is properly connected and seen by the OS.
 
multipath_cabling.png
 
The Linux NVMe driver will automatically connect to the Pro Data Thunderbolt ports and create device entries for each port and container.  The iodyne-linux package delivers a CLI for managing Pro Data devices, ports and containers, and software to automatically connect to your Pro Data.   Once Pro Data is connected to your computer, you can use the iodyne command to list each connected Thunderbolt port. 
 
In the example below, there are two ports connected from a Linux computer to a Pro Data device.  The HW Path matches the device created for each NVMe controller in the /dev filesystem.  The two ports are managed by the NVMe driver and Pro Data in a multipath group allowing IO to simultaneously use both ports for high performance read and write.
 
$ sudo iodyne list-ports
Port         State      HW Path or Host
---------------------------------------------------
  2       enabled      nvme0
  1   unconnected      --
  4   unconnected      --
  3       enabled      nvme1
 
Make a note of the HW paths as these names are required in the following example.  Only one controller device is needed to execute administrative commands.  We have selected nvme0 in the examples.
 

Initialization

If your Pro Data is new and not already setup, you will need to perform a few tasks before creating storage containers.  
 

Set the Pro Data Name and Password

The Pro Data device name is a human friendly identifier for your device.  This name is set with the set-name subcommand.  The device password is used to password-protect a collection of containers as well as in the registration services described below.  Pro Data does not store passwords: passwords are hashed and hashes are stored only in the Pro Data Secure Enclave, which is a TPM2-compliant secure chip inside of the Pro Data device, separate from SSDs.  To set the Pro Data device password for the first time, use the set-password subcommand with the desired password.
 
The device password may optionally be stored in the iodyne password vault.  The vault is accessible with super-user privileges and resides on-disk in /var/share/iodyne/vault.  To use the iodyne password vault, you must specify -k with commands that store the password.  Otherwise, the password is not stored and you will be required to remember and supply the password as needed for container attachment.
 
In this example, we name the Pro Data device my company-prodata and set the password to MyDeviceSecret.  We are using -k to store the password in the iodyne password vault.
 
sudo iodyne set-name /dev/nvme0 -n mycompany-prodata
sudo iodyne set-password /dev/nvme0 -n MyDeviceSecret1 -k
 

Register Cloud Account

If you do not already have an iodyne Cloud account, you can create one and register your Pro Data using the create-account subcommand.  An iodyne Cloud account is required to upload logs and access new software updates.  Your Pro Data must be registered to your iodyne Cloud account.  This example creates an account for peony@iodyne.com with password Luv4Peonies.  The Pro Data connected through /dev/nvme0 is automatically registered to that account.
 
$ sudo iodyne create-account /dev/nvme0 -u peony@iodyne.com -p Luv4Peonies
I have read and agree to the iodyne Privacy Policy located at https://iodyne.com/privacy: [ yes|no ]
yes
I have read and agree to the iodyne Cloud Services Agreement located at https://iodyne.com/privacy: [ yes|no ]
yes
 

Register a New Pro Data

If you already have an iodyne Cloud account and want to register a new or existing Pro Data device, use the register-device subcommand.
 
$ sudo iodyne register-device /dev/nvme0 -u tucker@iodyne.com -p TuckerJmps2
 

Containers

Create Containers

Once you have your host configured with the above steps, you can create containers using the iodyne CLI.  Each iodyne subcommand accepts -h to output a parameter help message.
 
sudo iodyne create-container -h
Usage: iodyne <command> <port device> [options]


Create an iodyne container with the given parameters.


Options:
 [  --size=<STR>, -s <STR> ]           --- size of container
 [  --raid=<NUM>, -r <NUM> ]           --- RAID level (0 or 6): default=6
 [  --inherit, -i ]                    --- use inherited password from
                                           device
 [  --password=<STR>, -p <STR> ]       --- use custom password for container
 [  --name=<STR>, -n <STR> ]           --- name for container
 [  --fstype=<STR>, -f <STR> ]         --- filesystem type (NTFS, exFAT, or
                                           Raw)
 [  --keystore, -k ]                   --- use default keystore for password
 
In the following example we create a 100 GB container named c1  using RAID level 6 (the default) data protection format.  Pro Data supports RAID-0 and RAID-6 for containers.  We do not currently support the -f option on Linux.  To create a volume, partition, or filesystem on your container, use Linux commands.
 
$ sudo iodyne create-container /dev/nvme0 -n c1 -s 100g -r 6
 
To list all containers on your Pro Data:
 
$ sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       107.37GB    RAID 6      none     c1 nvme0n1
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1

 

The HW path nvme0n1 is the Linux block device that can be used with Linux commands that operate on block devices such as parted(8), mkfs(8), and lsblk(8).  nvme0 and nvme1 are the multipathed ports through which the container is attached.
 

New Container with Custom or Device Password

In the above example, the container data is encrypted but not password protected.  To create a container with a custom password, you must supply the password at creation time.  In this example, we use the -k option to store the password in iodyne password vault. 
 
$ sudo iodyne create-container /dev/nvme0 -n c2 -s 100g -r 6 -p MySecret -k
$ sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       107.37GB    RAID 6      none     c1 nvme0n1
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6    custom     c2 nvme0n2
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1
 
 
To create a new container using (inherited from) the device password from the Pro Data Set-Up steps above, we specify the -i option. 
 
$ sudo iodyne create-container /dev/nvme0 -n c3 -s 100g -r 6 -i
$ sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       107.37GB    RAID 6      none     c1 nvme0n1
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6    custom     c2 nvme0n2
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1
  3       107.37GB    RAID 6   inherit     c3 nvme0n3
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1
 
Note that if the device password was not stored in the password vault, you will have to supply the password with -p during subsequent attach procedures.

 

Container Attach

 
If the Pro Data resets for any reason or the host reboots, containers that are password protected will need to be manually re-attached if you elected not to store them in the password vault.  To identify containers not attached, run the list-containers subcommand
 
$ sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       107.37GB    RAID 6      none     c1 nvme0n1
                                                     nvme0
                                                     nvme1
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6    custom     c2   unattached:tara
  3       107.37GB    RAID 6   inherit     c3   unattached:tara

 
In the example above, c2 and c3 are assigned to the host tara but are not attached and thus, not usable.  To attach the containers to the host use the attach-container subcommand with the Container ID from the listing.  In this example, we are using the -k option to tell the system to store the password for future attachments.
 
$ sudo iodyne attach-container /dev/nvme0 -c 2 -p MySecret -k
$ sudo iodyne attach-container /dev/nvme0 -c 3 -p MyDeviceSecret -k
$ sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       107.37GB    RAID 6      none     c1 nvme0n1
                                                    nvme0
                                                    nvme1
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6    custom     c2 nvme0n2
                                                    nvme0
                                                    nvme1
  3       107.37GB    RAID 6   inherit     c3 iodyne-nvme0n3
                                                           nvme0
                                                           nvme1
 

If the containers do not have password-protection (none) or if the associated device (inherit) or custom password is in the password vault, containers will automatically attach and there is nothing for you to do.

Container Migration

If a container was created and attached to another host but you want to disconnect it and attach it to your Linux host, you will first need to release ownership from the first host.  In this example, the container is attached to a Windows host and we want to attach it to Linux. Use the "Release Ownership" button from the container control dropdown.  This will safely eject the filesystem and release ownership of the container from the Windows host.
 
release_owner-2.png
On your Linux system, you can take ownership of the container using the take-container subcommand.  First list the containers to locate the container number.

sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       100.00GB    RAID 6   inherit  test1   unattached
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6      none  test2   unattached

Then, take the container.


sudo iodyne take-container /dev/nvme0 -c 1


sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       100.00GB    RAID 6   inherit  test1   nvme0n1
                                                      nvme0
                                                      nvme2
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6      none  test2   unattached

 

Note that if this is the first time the container has been used on your Linux system, you will need to use the attach-container subcommand to supply -p and store -k the container password.

To detach containers from Linux and attach on Windows, first:

sudo iodyne detach-container /dev/nvme0 -c 1

sudo iodyne list-containers
Container      Size    Format  Password   Name   HW Paths or Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  1       100.00GB    RAID 6   inherit  test1   unattached
  2       107.37GB    RAID 6      none  test2   unattached

 

This will safely eject the filesystem and detach the container from your Linux system.  On the Windows system, use the "Take Container" button from the container dropdown control.  The container will be attached and ready to use as a storage volume on Windows.  If the container is password-protected and Windows does not yet have the password stored in the Credential Manager, you will be prompted for it.

Note: in a future release of the iodyne Windows and Linux software, the "Handoff" feature will make these operations more seamless.

Creating Partitions and Filesystem

Your containers will appear as a block device in Linux.  You can list and operate on those devices using standard Linux commands.  As with the create-container subcommand -k will store the password in the password vault for future attaches.  You will use these device paths to format a Linux filesystem and then you can begin using your Pro Data containers for storing files.
 
cindi@tara:~$ lsblk
NAME               MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
nvme0n1     259:3    0   100G  0 disk
nvme0n2     259:10   0   100G  0 disk
nvme0n3     259:12   0   100G  0 disk
 

Troubleshooting

Send Logs

Most troubleshooting and debug analysis will involve uploading host and Pro Data logs to iodyne support.  To send logs directly to iodyne using your Cloud account, use the send-logs subcommand and supply your cloud user name and password.  This process could take a few minutes to complete.
 
$ sudo iodyne send-logs /dev/nvme0 -u tucker@iodyne.com -p TuckerJmps2
Log ID: 2E690307C104AC0C-BC7F54-B514040000_1735681272
 
Make a note of the Log ID and open a support ticket at support.iodyne.com with that ID. Please note that you are using the Pro Data with Linux in the support ticker.

 

Download Logs

If you are in an unconnected environment, you may download the logs to your local host and send them at a later time.  -l is the path to the log location.  To submit the logs to iodyne support, create a compressed tarball of that location and attach it to your support ticket.
 
mkdir /tmp/iodyne
sudo iodyne send-logs /dev/nvme0 -l /tmp/iodyne
Log ID: 2E690307C104AC0C-BC7F54-B514040000_1755892186

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