1nbdkit-S3-plugin(1) NBDKIT nbdkit-S3-plugin(1)
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6 nbdkit-S3-plugin - expose data in Amazon S3 or Ceph buckets as block
7 device
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10 nbdkit S3 [access-key=...] [secret-key=...] [session-token=...]
11 [endpoint-url=...]
12 [size=NN object-size=NN]
13 bucket=BUCKET key=STRING
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16 "nbdkit-S3-plugin" is a plugin for nbdkit(1) which lets you open
17 objects stored in Amazon S3 or Ceph as disk images.
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19 This plugin uses the Python Amazon Web Services SDK called Boto3.
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22 nbdkit S3 endpoint-url=https://ceph.example.com \
23 bucket=MY-BUCKET key=disk.img
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25 Provides read only block device holding the data contained in the
26 "disk.img" object.
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28 nbdkit S3 endpoint-url=https://ceph.example.com \
29 size=50G object-size=128k \
30 bucket=MY-BUCKET key=disk
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32 Provides a read-write block device with size 50G, whose contents are
33 stored multiple in objects of size 128k, prefixed with disk/
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36 access-key=ACCESS_KEY
37 secret-key=SECRET_KEY
38 session-token=SESSION_TOKEN
39 The AWS credentials may be specified on the command line using
40 these parameters, but it is more secure to pass them using files
41 (see "CREDENTIALS" below).
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43 endpoint-url=ENDPOINT
44 If accessing Ceph or another compatible S3 service, provide the
45 endpoint URL through this parameter.
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47 bucket=BUCKET
48 The bucket containing the object(s). This parameter is required.
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50 key=STRING
51 The object name (if "size" is not specified) or object prefix (if
52 "size" is specified) to use within the bucket. This parameter is
53 required.
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55 size=SIZE
56 object-size=SIZE
57 These two parameters must always be specified together. If set,
58 data will be split into blocks of "object-size" and stored as
59 separate objects. The block device will report a total size of
60 "size" and be writeable and trim-able.
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62 Object names will have the form key/%16x, where %16x is the
63 16-digit hexadecimal block number. If there are existing objects
64 under such name that do not have the expected size, the plugin will
65 crash.
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68 It is highly recommended that clients do their utmost to issue requests
69 that exactly match the object size: Smaller write requests will incur a
70 performance penalty due to the need for read-modify-write cycles (thus
71 also incurring latency from two network round-trips). Larger read and
72 write requests will incur a performance penalty because of sequential
73 execution.
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75 The nbdkit-blocksize-filter(1) can be used to alleviate the impact of
76 requests larger than the object size, but does not help if the client
77 issues requests smaller than the block size.
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79 The nbdkit-stats-filter(1) can be used to investigate what block sizes
80 and alignments are used by the client.
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82 When connecting through the Linux kernel's NBD module, consider setting
83 "/sys/block/nbd<X>/queue/max_sectors_kb" to match the object size.
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86 Although AWS credentials can be passed to nbdkit on the command line,
87 this is not secure since a user on the same machine could read them
88 using ps(1).
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90 A better way is to pass the credentials through the ~/.aws/credentials
91 file. This takes the form:
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93 [default]
94 aws_access_key_id = XXX
95 aws_secret_access_key = YYY
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97 [profile]
98 aws_access_key_id = XXX
99 aws_secret_access_key = YYY
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101 Different profiles from the file can be selected by setting the
102 "AWS_PROFILE" environment variable.
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104 There is much more information about credentials in the Boto3
105 documentation.
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108 s3fs-fuse (https://github.com/s3fs-fuse/s3fs-fuse) and s3backer
109 (https://github.com/archiecobbs/s3backer) provide similar functionality
110 but are based on FUSE (rather than NBD). They provide a regular file
111 (backed by S3) which can then be loopback-mounted to provide a block
112 device. s3backer also supports to optionally encrypt and compress
113 objects.
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115 In theory, NBD should provide better performance than FUSE, because:
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117 • The kernel no longer serializes write and read requests but issues
118 them concurrently.
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120 • Read and write request size can exceed 128 kB
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122 • The system can still be reliably hibernated (a running FUSE daemon
123 may prevent this)
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125 • Requests pass through the VFS only once, not twice
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127 • Data is present in the page cache only once, not twice
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129 However, for high-bandwith network connections s3backer and s3fs-fuse
130 may be faster because they are written in C rather than Python.
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133 $plugindir/nbdkit-S3-plugin
134 The plugin.
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136 Use "nbdkit --dump-config" to find the location of $plugindir.
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138 $HOME/.aws/credentials
139 AWS credentials can be passed to boto3 using this file.
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142 "AWS_*"
143 Boto3 reads some credential information from "AWS_*" environment
144 variables.
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147 "nbdkit-S3-plugin" first appeared in nbdkit 1.24.
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150 nbdkit(1), nbdkit-plugin(3), nbdkit-python-plugin(3),
151 https://pypi.org/project/boto3/,
152 https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/index.html,
153 https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/guide/credentials.html.
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156 Richard W.M. Jones
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158 Nikolaus Rath
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161 Copyright Red Hat
162
164 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
165 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
166 met:
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168 • Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
169 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
170
171 • Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
172 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
173 documentation and/or other materials provided with the
174 distribution.
175
176 • Neither the name of Red Hat nor the names of its contributors may
177 be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
178 without specific prior written permission.
179
180 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY RED HAT AND CONTRIBUTORS ''AS IS'' AND ANY
181 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
182 IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
183 PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
184 LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
185 CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
186 SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR
187 BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
188 WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
189 OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
190 ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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194nbdkit-1.36.2 2023-11-26 nbdkit-S3-plugin(1)