There are three processes that make up the Manila service:
manila-api is a WSGI application that accepts and validates REST
(JSON) requests from clients and routes them to other Manila
processes as appropriate over AMQP.
manila-scheduler determines which backend should serve as the
destination for a share creation request. It maintains non-persistent
state for pools and backends (e.g. available capacity, capabilities,
and supported extra specs) that can be leveraged when making
placement decisions. The algorithm utilized by the scheduler can be
changed through Manila configuration.
manila-share accepts requests from other Manila processes and
serves as the operational container for Manila drivers. This process
is multi-threaded and typically has one thread of execution per
Manila backend as defined in the Manila configuration file.
The following section walks through the steps that occur when a user
requests the creation of a new share from Manila, and a backend is
selected that uses share servers.
Client issues request to create share through invoking REST API
(client may use python-manilaclient CLI utility).
The manila-api and manila-scheduler processes perform the
following tasks:
manila-api process validates request, user credentials; once
validated, puts message onto AMQP queue for processing.
manila-share process takes message off of queue, sends message
to manila-scheduler to determine which pool and backend to
provision share into.
manila-scheduler process takes message off of queue, generates
candidate list of resource pools based on current state and
requested share criteria (size, availability zone, share type
(including extra specs)).
manila-share process reads response message from
manila-scheduler from queue; iterates through candidate list
by invoking backend driver methods for corresponding pools until
successful.
The share manager associated with the backend selected by the
manila-scheduler calls out to the network service associated with
the backend (either the standalone plugin, Neutron, or Nova Network;
defined through the appropriate stanza in manila.conf) to get the
required information (including share IP address, network
segmentation ID, etc.).
If selected by the scheduler, NetApp’s Manila driver creates
requested share (and, if necessary, a share server) through
interactions with storage subsystem (dependent on configuration and
protocol).
manila-share process creates share metadata and posts response
message to AMQP queue.
manila-api process reads response message from queue and responds
to client with share ID information.
After a share is created and exported by the backend, client uses ID
information to request updated share details and uses export
information from response to mount share (using protocol-specific
commands).
The following section walks through the steps that occur when a user
requests the creation of a new share from Manila and a backend is
selected that does not use share servers.
Client issues request to create share through invoking REST API
(client may use python-manilaclient CLI utility).
The manila-api and manila-scheduler processes perform the
following tasks:
manila-api process validates request, user credentials; once
validated, puts message onto AMQP queue for processing.
manila-share process takes message off of queue, sends message
to manila-scheduler to determine which pool and backend to
provision share into.
manila-scheduler process takes message off of queue, generates
candidate list of resource pools based on current state and
requested share criteria (size, availability zone, share type
(including extra specs)).
manila-share process reads response message from
manila-scheduler from queue; iterates through candidate list
by invoking backend driver methods for corresponding pools until
successful.
If selected by the scheduler, NetApp’s Manila driver creates
requested share through interactions with storage subsystem
(dependent on configuration and protocol).
Without the existence of a share server, NetApp’s Manila driver will
export shares through the data LIFs that exist within the SVM that is
scoped to the Manila backend.
manila-share process creates share metadata and posts response
message to AMQP queue.
manila-api process reads response message from queue and responds
to client with share ID information.
After a share is created and exported by the backend, client uses ID
information to request updated share details and uses export
information from response to mount share (using protocol-specific
commands).
The following section walks through the steps that are required in order
for any client to access a shared filesystem.
Client issues request to enable access to a share through invoking
Manila REST API (client may use python-manilaclient CLI utility),
specifying the type of access (either IP or user) and the
value (either IP address or IP network address in CIDR notation or
user name in standard Windows notation).
manila-api process validates request, user credentials; once
validated, posts message to share manager over AMQP.
manila-share reads message from queue, invokes Manila driver
corresponding to share to be attached.
NetApp Manila driver creates appropriate export policies for the
share and access type provided.
manila-share process posts response information to manila-api
process via AMQP queue.
manila-api process reads response message from manila-share
from queue; passes connection information in RESTful response to
caller.