Basic Ceph Client Setup
Client machines require some basic configuration to interact with Ceph clusters. This section describes how to configure a client machine so that it can interact with a Ceph cluster.
Note
Most client machines need to install only the ceph-common package and its dependencies. Such a setup supplies the basic ceph and rados commands, as well as other commands including mount.ceph and rbd.
Config File Setup
Client machines usually require smaller configuration files (here sometimes called “config files”) than do full-fledged cluster members. To generate a minimal config file, log into a host that has been configured as a client or that is running a cluster daemon, and then run the following command:
ceph config generate-minimal-conf
This command generates a minimal config file that tells the client how
to reach the Ceph monitors. The contents of this file should usually
be installed in /etc/ceph/ceph.conf.
Keyring Setup
Most Ceph clusters run with authentication enabled. This means that the client needs keys in order to communicate with the machines in the cluster. To generate a keyring file with credentials for client.fs, log into an running cluster member and run the following command:
ceph auth get-or-create client.fs
The resulting output is directed into a keyring file, typically
/etc/ceph/ceph.keyring.
To gain a broader understanding of client keyring distribution and administration, you should read Client keyrings and configs.
To see an example that explains how to distribute ceph.conf configuration files to hosts that are tagged with the bare_config label, you should read the section called “Distributing ceph.conf to hosts tagged with bare_config” in the section called /etc/ceph/ceph.conf.