======================= Basic Ceph Client Setup

Client hosts require basic configuration to interact with Ceph clusters. This section describes how to perform this configuration.

.. note:: Most client hosts need to install only the ceph-common package and its dependencies. Such an installation supplies the basic ceph and rados commands, as well as other commands including mount.ceph and rbd.

Config File Setup

To generate a minimal config file, log into a host that has been configured as a client or that is running a cluster daemon, then run the following command:

.. prompt:: bash #

ceph config generate-minimal-conf

This command generates a minimal config file that tells the client how to reach the Ceph Monitors. This file should usually be copied to /etc/ceph/ceph.conf on each client host.

Keyring Setup

Most Ceph clusters run with authentication enabled. This means that the client needs keys in order to communicate with Ceph daemons. To generate a keyring file with credentials for client.fs, log into a running cluster member and run the following command:

.. prompt:: bash #

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 :ref: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 :ref:ceph_conf_distribution_label.