Added a documentation on how to install Simplyblock on a Talos-based Kubernetes cluster by noctarius · Pull Request #408 · siderolabs/docs

noctarius · 2026-03-03T09:51:06Z

This pull request adds a documentation page to explain how simplyblock storage clusters can be installed (fully hypercoverged) into a Talos Kubernetes cluster.

It follows the existing Ceph / Rook style and has a short explanation of the three different simplyblock components that can be installed.

…Kubernetes cluster

Copilot

Pull request overview

Adds a new Kubernetes CSI guide documenting how to install Simplyblock (control plane, storage plane, and CSI driver) on a Talos-based Kubernetes cluster, and wires it into the docs navigation so it appears in the CSI section.

Changes:

Added a new MDX guide: simplyblock-storage.mdx covering preparation (kernel modules, hugepages, namespace) and installation/cleanup steps.
Updated docs navigation (public/docs.json and kubernetes-guides.yaml) to include the new guide under CSI.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

File	Description
public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx	New Talos-focused Simplyblock installation guide (control plane, storage plane, CSI, cleanup, references).
public/docs.json	Adds the Simplyblock guide route to the CSI navigation list.
kubernetes-guides.yaml	Adds the Simplyblock guide to the CSI pages list for the docs navigation.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (2)

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx:16

The product name is capitalized inconsistently in this paragraph ("Simplyblock" vs "simplyblock"). For clarity and consistency across the docs, use a single capitalization for the product name (and keep the lowercase form only for things that are explicitly named that way, such as namespaces or CLI flags).

Simplyblock is a highly versatile storage platform that can be deployed on Kubernetes and other platforms. That means that not all components must be installed on Talos. In this guide, we will focus on a full installation of simplyblock into Talos. For all options, see the [simplyblock documentation](https://docs.simplyblock.io/latest/).

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx:235

The cleanup section uninstalls a release named simplyblock, but the install sections reference/select release=simplyblock-csi and currently don't clearly define the release name. Once the install commands are fixed, please ensure the uninstall command matches the actual release name users will have installed (and consider uninstalling both CSI and any controller release if applicable).

Uninstall the storage plane and CSI driver chart:

```bash
helm uninstall simplyblock -n simplyblock

</details>



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public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

rothgar · 2026-03-03T20:28:00Z

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

+Simplyblock requires pre-reserved huge pages and expects the `hugepages-2Mi` pool (2 MiB page size).
+The required amount depends on your planned storage-node sizing (for example, CPU count, number of volumes, and expected provisioned capacity per node), so decide the target huge page memory first, then convert it into page count.
+
+After installing the control plane, run this command from the admin control pod to calculate the required huge pages on the host:


Do you mean the Kubernetes control plane or the simplyblock control plane? The sbctl command won't be available on Talos.

This is the simplyblock control plane and sbctl will be available in the simplyblock control plane node. But you're right, this isn't clear yet. Let me move the cp installation before the reconfiguration for the storage plane. Great catch!

rothgar · 2026-03-03T20:42:31Z

A couple questions because I'm not familiar with simplyblock.

Is Simplyblock free to use in this use case? I couldn't tell from the website which parts are open source and which require a license.
Should the storage have a dedicated partition or disk? There's no steps on creating a volume to be used with simplyblock so I'm assuming it would consume part of the EHPEMERAL partition but that may not be ideal if someone wipes the partition during an upgrade.

noctarius · 2026-03-03T20:53:30Z

In practice there is no difference between the free and the commercial version of simplyblock. The business model is based on support and storage size. Simplyblock can, however, also be run without a support contract. Meaning, both models are supported with the given installation since we don't have any license keys or anything.
Good question. We require full, unpartitioned NVMe devices. I mentioned the privileged requirement in combination with the direct access to NVMe devices, but I see how this isn't clear without prior knowledge. I'll add a short explanation 👍

…lane to the storage plane installation

rothgar · 2026-03-03T21:08:49Z

Good question. We require full, unpartitioned NVMe devices. I mentioned the privileged requirement in combination with the direct access to NVMe devices, but I see how this isn't clear without prior knowledge. I'll add a short explanation 👍

An example talos patch would be helpful. Knowing you need to have a separate nvme drive for this will be good to call out for people trying to run it in home labs

noctarius · 2026-03-03T21:11:10Z

There is no patch required. Simplyblock will either use all free NVMe devices or whatever is configured in the helm parameters. The requirement for additional NVMe devices has been added in the latest commit :)

rothgar · 2026-03-05T00:13:49Z

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

+pip install sbctl --upgrade
+```
+
+Find the Helm chart bundled with `sbctl`, then deploy the control plane:


Just curious, do you have plans to publish the helm chart instead of distributing it with the cli?

rothgar · 2026-03-05T00:16:24Z

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

+Create `simplyblock-namespace.yaml`:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: v1


If possible we like to use heredocs so they're 1 line copy/pastable

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f - apiVersion: v1 kind: Namespace metadata: name: simplyblock labels: pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce-version: latest pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit-version: latest pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: privileged pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn-version: latest EOF

rothgar · 2026-03-05T00:16:59Z

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

+Label Talos nodes that should run simplyblock storage nodes:
+
+```bash
+kubectl label nodes <NODE_NAME> ^\


is the ^ on this line a mistake?

rothgar · 2026-03-05T00:17:57Z

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

+CLUSTER_SECRET="<SECRET>"
+CNTR_ADDR="<CONTROL-PLANE-ADDR>"
+POOL_NAME="<POOL-NAME>"
+


nit: separate these two code blocks so variables can be exported together and the second code block can be copy/pasted without modification

rothgar · 2026-03-05T00:18:23Z

public/kubernetes-guides/csi/simplyblock-storage.mdx

+CLUSTER_SECRET="<SECRET>"
+CNTR_ADDR="<CONTROL-PLANE-ADDR>"
+POOL_NAME="<POOL-NAME>"
+


nit: separate variables as it's own code block

Added a documentation on how to install Simplyblock on a Talos-based …

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…Kubernetes cluster

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 3, 2026 09:51

talos-bot added this to Planning Mar 3, 2026

github-project-automation bot moved this to To Do in Planning Mar 3, 2026

talos-bot moved this from To Do to In Review in Planning Mar 3, 2026

noctarius marked this pull request as draft March 3, 2026 09:51

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of noctarius March 3, 2026 09:51 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 3, 2026

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noctarius added 5 commits March 3, 2026 11:19

Adjusting the helm install commands for better clarity

896dd33

Removed old Helm repository note

80ee932

Fixed talosctl patch command

d0928d3

Made some longer commands more readable

ad90034

Added minimum required version numbers

0658825

noctarius marked this pull request as ready for review March 3, 2026 11:03

rothgar reviewed Mar 3, 2026

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Applied feedback and moved the preparations section for the storage p…

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…lane to the storage plane installation

Iheanacho-ai approved these changes Mar 4, 2026

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github-project-automation bot moved this from In Review to Approved in Planning Mar 4, 2026

rothgar reviewed Mar 5, 2026

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noctarius commented Mar 3, 2026 •

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