SeaweedFS Multi-DC Configuration

This guide explains how to deploy SeaweedFS over several data centers (“multi-DC”). Multi-zone configuration for SeaweedFS is available since Cozystack v0.34.0.

SeaweedFS Multi-DC Configuration

To span SeaweedFS over several DCs, create a new cluster in multi-DC mode.

By default, SeaweedFS runs in a single data centre (DC), and a running single-DC deployment cannot be switched to multi-DC mode. If you need to change the topology, delete the current SeaweedFS instance and create a new one with the desired mode.

A convenient workflow is:

1. Deploy a tenant with seaweedfs: false.
2. Create a new SeaweedFS instance in the tenant’s namespace, using the required topology.
3. Patch the tenant with seaweedfs: true.

1. Create a Tenant without SeaweedFS

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: Tenant
metadata:
  name: dev
  namespace: tenant-root
spec:
  etcd: false
  host: ""
  ingress: false
  isolated: true
  monitoring: false
  seaweedfs: false

2. Deploy SeaweedFS in Multi-Zone Mode

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: SeaweedFS
metadata:
  name: seaweedfs
  namespace: tenant-dev
spec:
  host: dev.s3.example.org
  replicas: 4
  size: 100Gi
  topology: MultiZone
  zones:
    dc1: {}
    dc2: {}
    dc3: {}

In this example, SeaweedFS starts 12 volume servers (4 replicas × 3 zones).

Parameter zones lists each data-centre. Any setting omitted inside a zone inherits the top-level values (replicas, size, etc.).

3. Enable SeaweedFS in the tenant

After the SeaweedFS instance is ready, enable it in the tenant. Apply the following updated resource definition:

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: Tenant
metadata:
  name: dev
  namespace: tenant-root
spec:
  etcd: false
  host: ""
  ingress: false
  isolated: true
  monitoring: false
  seaweedfs: true

Bucket creation is now available for everything under this tenant tree.

Using a Remote SeaweedFS Instance

You can expose one SeaweedFS deployment to other CozyStack clusters and let them connect in Client mode.

1. Export SeaweedFS

Set the filer’s gRPC endpoint and whitelist the networks that may connect:

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: SeaweedFS
metadata:
  name: seaweedfs
  namespace: tenant-dev
spec:
  host: dev.s3.example.org
  replicas: 4
  size: 100Gi
  topology: MultiZone
  zones:
    dc1: {}
    dc2: {}
    dc3: {}
  filer:
    grpcHost: filer-dev.s3.example.org
    whitelist:
      - 0.0.0.0/0   # expose to all networks (adjust for production)

2. Configure Remote SeaweedFS

Consume the remote SeaweedFS instance from another cluster:

apiVersion: apps.cozystack.io/v1alpha1
kind: SeaweedFS
metadata:
  name: seaweedfs
spec:
  host: dev.s3.example.org
  topology: Client
  filer:
    grpcHost: filer-dev.s3.example.org

3. Enable Access to Remote SeaweedFS

To let your local cluster authenticate to the remote SeaweedFS filer, export the seaweedfs-client-cert secret from the remote cluster:

kubectl get secret seaweedfs-client-cert -n tenant-dev -o yaml \
  > seaweedfs-client-cert.yaml

Open seaweedfs-client-cert.yaml and delete the namespace, labels, and annotations fields. They belong to the remote cluster and must not be re-applied locally. After cleanup the manifest should look roughly like this:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
type: kubernetes.io/tls
metadata:
  name: seaweedfs-client-cert
data:
  tls.crt: ...
  tls.key: ...

Apply the secret to the target namespace in your local cluster:

kubectl apply -f seaweedfs-client-cert.yaml -n tenant-root

Note: In Client mode the cluster creates no volume servers; it simply re-uses the remote SeaweedFS instance for all bucket operations.