Description of problem (please be detailed as possible and provide log snippests): ODF fails to connect to external cluster unless a monitoring endpoint is enabled. Since external cluster can mean 3rd party provided external cluster, monitored by different team, exposing ceph metrics endpoint shouldn't be ODF requirement. It is NOT listed as a requirement here: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_openshift_data_foundation/4.10/html/deploying_and_managing_openshift_data_foundation_using_red_hat_openstack_platform/deploying_openshift_data_foundation_on_red_hat_openstack_platform_in_external_mode#creating-an-openshift-data-foundation-cluster-service-for-external-storage_external-osp Version of all relevant components (if applicable): Does this issue impact your ability to continue to work with the product (please explain in detail what is the user impact)? Yes, ODF refuses to connect to the cluster unless there's a metrics exporter Is there any workaround available to the best of your knowledge? Create a fake metrics exporter and adjust rook-ceph-external-cluster-details Secrets accordingly Rate from 1 - 5 the complexity of the scenario you performed that caused this bug (1 - very simple, 5 - very complex)? Can this issue reproducible? Yes Can this issue reproduce from the UI? Yes If this is a regression, please provide more details to justify this: Steps to Reproduce: 1. Install ODF 2. Try deploying external cluster connecting to a Ceph which doesn't expose metrics endpoint publicly Actual results: Operator complains that metrics endpoint is unreachable Expected results: Deploys fine without cluster monitoring Additional info: Documentation is worded a bit confusingly giving impression that monitoring may be optional: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_openshift_data_foundation/4.10/html/deploying_openshift_data_foundation_in_external_mode/deploy-openshift-data-foundation-using-red-hat-ceph-storage#creating-an-openshift-data-foundation-cluster-service-for-external-storage_ceph-external Quote: --monitoring-endpoint Is optional. It accepts comma separated list of IP addresses of active and standby mgrs reachable from the OpenShift Container Platform cluster. If not provided, the value is automatically populated. --monitoring-endpoint-port This is optional. It is the port associated with the ceph-mgr Prometheus exporter specified by --monitoring-endpoint. If not provided, the value is automatically populated. Relevant GH Issue: https://github.com/operate-first/apps/pull/2391
This appears to be a bug in the documentation rather than a bug with the product.
That's ultimately your (ODF) choice, for sure. I think you should consider if external mode really requires full access to the Ceph cluster or if it can be externally provided. In such case you should not require monitoring access. I agree that you should either state this requirement in the docs (which limits the usecase and forces users to implement nasty workarounds like this one [1] or you should not require monitoring and make it optional. [1] https://github.com/operate-first/apps/pull/2391
We need monitoring endpoint for ODF dashboards and alerts to work even in external mode. We can make it clearer in the doc if required.