Setting Up GlusterFS Distributed File System on Raspberry Pi Cluster

Introduction:
GlusterFS is a distributed file system designed to work across multiple nodes, providing high availability and scalability. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up GlusterFS on a Raspberry Pi cluster to create a shared storage pool.

Note: Ensure you have configured the hosts file on the server and worker nodes, as mentioned in the instructions.

Step 1: Install GlusterFS
On the server and worker nodes, install GlusterFS with the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y glusterfs-server
sudo systemctl enable --now glusterd

Step 2: Peer All Nodes
From the master node (RPISWARM), peer all the nodes to the GlusterFS pool:

gluster peer probe RPIWORK1
gluster peer probe RPIWORK2
gluster peer probe RPIWORK3

Step 3: Create Gluster Volume
On the master node (RPISWARM), create the Gluster volume across the GlusterFS pool:

sudo mkdir -p /gluster/volumes
sudo gluster volume create staging-gfs replica 4 RPISWARM:/gluster/volumes RPIWORK1:/gluster/volumes RPIWORK2:/gluster/volumes RPIWORK3:/gluster/volumes force

Step 4: Start the Gluster Volume
On the master node (RPISWARM), start the Gluster volume:

sudo gluster volume start staging-gfs

Step 5: Auto Start GlusterFS Mount on Reboot
On the master node (RPISWARM), add an entry to the /etc/fstab file to auto-mount the GlusterFS volume:

sudo su
echo 'localhost:/staging-gfs /mnt glusterfs defaults,_netdev,backupvolfile-server=localhost 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
mount.glusterfs localhost:/staging-gfs /mnt
chown -R root:docker /mnt
exit

Step 6: Verify GlusterFS Mount
Verify that the GlusterFS volume is mounted with:

df -h
sudo mount.glusterfs localhost:/staging-gfs /mnt

Conclusion:
You’ve successfully set up GlusterFS on your Raspberry Pi cluster, creating a distributed file system that provides shared storage across multiple nodes. GlusterFS enables you to distribute data across the nodes, improving data availability and performance. With this configuration, you can leverage the power of GlusterFS to build resilient and scalable storage solutions for your Raspberry Pi cluster.

Happy distributed file system management!