Set the Ops Manager VM root disk volume type to 'gp3' in AWS environment

Products

• VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition

Issue/Introduction

In AWS, the Ops Manager AMI is using the 'gp2' volume type by default.  Some customer environments require 'gp3' volume type to be used, because of its benefits over the other.

Currently, the Platform Automation Toolkit doesn't have any configuration setting to set the volume type.  

The resolution in this article suggests a particular CLI command that can be used in automation scripts to modify the volume type.

Environment

VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated

Resolution

Use the 'aws modify-volume' command in the automation pipeline to change the volume type to 'gp3'. 

In an upgrade scenario, this command can be ran after the new Ops Manager VM has been created and before the installation settings file is imported.  Make sure to keep the installation settings file in a safe place as that serves as the backup.

In a new deployment scenario, this command can be ran after the new Ops Manager VM has been created and before the authentication is set up.

It would be good to run checks and make sure that the volume has been changed successfully before running the further tasks in the pipeline.   

Additional Information

See this AWS doc on how to use the command:

https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/ec2/modify-volume.html

Note that as per the AWS doc, there is no need to detach the volume or restart the instance, and that there should be no interruptions to the application.  However, it also states that there is a cooldown period between modifications of the volume.  There is also a requirement on the instance type so make sure that you are using a supported instance type by reviewing the following doc:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/modify-volume-requirements.html