Setup OADP for AWS

This skill provides comprehensive guidance for configuring OADP on AWS-based OpenShift clusters, including S3 bucket setup, IAM permissions, EBS volume snapshots, and ROSA-specific configurations.

When to Use This Skill

AWS Clusters: Setting up OADP on OpenShift clusters running on AWS EC2
ROSA Clusters: Configuring OADP on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS
AWS STS: Using AWS Security Token Service for authentication
S3 Storage: Configuring S3 as backup storage location
EBS Snapshots: Setting up EBS volume snapshot integration
Cross-Region: Configuring multi-region backup redundancy

What This Skill Does

Creates S3 Bucket: Sets up S3 bucket for backup storage
Configures IAM: Creates IAM users/roles with required permissions
Sets Up Credentials: Configures AWS credentials for OADP
Configures DPA: Creates DataProtectionApplication with AWS provider
Enables EBS Snapshots: Configures VolumeSnapshotLocation for EBS
Validates Setup: Tests S3 connectivity and snapshot capabilities
Optimizes Configuration: Tunes settings for AWS-specific performance

How to Use

Basic Usage

Setup OADP for AWS with S3 bucket

Configure OADP on ROSA cluster

Advanced Usage

Setup OADP with AWS STS authentication

Configure multi-region AWS backup with failover

Prerequisites

Before setting up OADP on AWS:

OpenShift cluster running on AWS or ROSA
AWS CLI configured with admin credentials
OADP operator installed (see install-oadp skill)
S3 bucket created or permissions to create one
IAM permissions to create users/roles/policies
Understanding of AWS regions and availability zones

Examples

Example 1: Basic AWS Setup with IAM User

User: "Setup OADP with AWS S3 using IAM user credentials"

Skill Actions:

Create S3 bucket:

bash

# Set variables
BUCKET_NAME="oadp-backups-$(date +%s)"
AWS_REGION="us-east-1"

# Create bucket
aws s3 mb s3://$BUCKET_NAME --region $AWS_REGION

# Enable versioning (recommended)
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning \
  --bucket $BUCKET_NAME \
  --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# Enable encryption
aws s3api put-bucket-encryption \
  --bucket $BUCKET_NAME \
  --server-side-encryption-configuration '{
    "Rules": [{
      "ApplyServerSideEncryptionByDefault": {
        "SSEAlgorithm": "AES256"
      }
    }]
  }'

echo "S3 bucket created: $BUCKET_NAME"

Create IAM policy for OADP:

bash

# Create policy document
cat <<EOF > oadp-s3-policy.json
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:DeleteObject",
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:AbortMultipartUpload",
        "s3:ListMultipartUploadParts"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:s3:::$BUCKET_NAME/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:ListBucket",
        "s3:GetBucketLocation",
        "s3:ListBucketMultipartUploads"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:s3:::$BUCKET_NAME"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ec2:DescribeVolumes",
        "ec2:DescribeSnapshots",
        "ec2:CreateTags",
        "ec2:CreateVolume",
        "ec2:CreateSnapshot",
        "ec2:DeleteSnapshot"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}
EOF

# Create IAM policy
aws iam create-policy \
  --policy-name OADPBackupPolicy \
  --policy-document file://oadp-s3-policy.json

POLICY_ARN=$(aws iam list-policies --query 'Policies[?PolicyName==`OADPBackupPolicy`].Arn' --output text)
echo "IAM Policy ARN: $POLICY_ARN"

Create IAM user and attach policy:

bash

# Create IAM user
aws iam create-user --user-name oadp-backup-user

# Attach policy to user
aws iam attach-user-policy \
  --user-name oadp-backup-user \
  --policy-arn $POLICY_ARN

# Create access keys
aws iam create-access-key --user-name oadp-backup-user > oadp-access-keys.json

# Extract credentials
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$(jq -r '.AccessKey.AccessKeyId' oadp-access-keys.json)
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$(jq -r '.AccessKey.SecretAccessKey' oadp-access-keys.json)

echo "Access Key ID: $AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID"
echo "Secret saved in oadp-access-keys.json - store securely!"

Create credentials secret in OpenShift:

bash

# Create credentials file
cat <<EOF > credentials-velero
[default]
aws_access_key_id=$AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
aws_secret_access_key=$AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
EOF

# Create secret
oc create secret generic cloud-credentials \
  --from-file cloud=credentials-velero \
  -n openshift-adp

# Clean up local credentials
rm -f credentials-velero oadp-access-keys.json

Create DataProtectionApplication:

yaml

apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: dpa-aws
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
      featureFlags:
        - EnableCSI
    kopia:
      enable: true
    # Note: Restic is deprecated in OADP 1.4+, use Kopia for new deployments
  backupLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: $BUCKET_NAME
          prefix: cluster-backups
        config:
          region: $AWS_REGION
        credential:
          name: cloud-credentials
          key: cloud
  snapshotLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        provider: aws
        config:
          region: $AWS_REGION

Verify setup:

bash

# Check DPA status
oc get dpa -n openshift-adp

# Check BackupStorageLocation
oc get backupstoragelocations -n openshift-adp

# Verify BSL is Available
oc get bsl -n openshift-adp -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.phase}'

# Test S3 connectivity
velero backup-location get

Success Indicators:

✅ S3 bucket created with versioning and encryption
✅ IAM policy and user created
✅ BackupStorageLocation shows "Available"
✅ VolumeSnapshotLocation configured for EBS

Example 2: ROSA Setup with AWS STS

User: "Configure OADP on ROSA cluster using STS authentication"

Skill Actions:

Create S3 bucket (same as Example 1):

bash

BUCKET_NAME="oadp-rosa-backups-$(date +%s)"
AWS_REGION="us-east-1"

aws s3 mb s3://$BUCKET_NAME --region $AWS_REGION
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning --bucket $BUCKET_NAME --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

Get ROSA cluster OIDC provider:

bash

# Get ROSA cluster ID
CLUSTER_NAME="my-rosa-cluster"
CLUSTER_ID=$(rosa describe cluster -c $CLUSTER_NAME -o json | jq -r .id)

# Get OIDC endpoint
OIDC_ENDPOINT=$(rosa describe cluster -c $CLUSTER_NAME -o json | jq -r .aws.sts.oidc_endpoint_url)
OIDC_ENDPOINT=${OIDC_ENDPOINT#https://}

echo "OIDC Endpoint: $OIDC_ENDPOINT"

Create IAM trust policy for STS:

bash

# Get AWS account ID
AWS_ACCOUNT_ID=$(aws sts get-caller-identity --query Account --output text)

# Create trust policy
cat <<EOF > trust-policy.json
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "Federated": "arn:aws:iam::${AWS_ACCOUNT_ID}:oidc-provider/${OIDC_ENDPOINT}"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "${OIDC_ENDPOINT}:sub": [
            "system:serviceaccount:openshift-adp:velero",
            "system:serviceaccount:openshift-adp:openshift-adp-controller-manager"
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
EOF

Create IAM role with STS:

bash

# Create IAM role
aws iam create-role \
  --role-name ROSA-OADP-Role \
  --assume-role-policy-document file://trust-policy.json \
  --description "OADP backup role for ROSA with STS"

# Attach OADP policy (created earlier)
aws iam attach-role-policy \
  --role-name ROSA-OADP-Role \
  --policy-arn $POLICY_ARN

# Get role ARN
ROLE_ARN=$(aws iam get-role --role-name ROSA-OADP-Role --query Role.Arn --output text)
echo "Role ARN: $ROLE_ARN"

Create credentials secret with STS role:

bash

# Create credentials file for STS
cat <<EOF > credentials-velero
[default]
role_arn=$ROLE_ARN
web_identity_token_file=/var/run/secrets/openshift/serviceaccount/token
EOF

# Create secret
oc create secret generic cloud-credentials-sts \
  --from-file cloud=credentials-velero \
  -n openshift-adp

rm credentials-velero

Create DPA for ROSA with STS:

yaml

apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: dpa-rosa-sts
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
      podConfig:
        env:
          - name: AWS_ROLE_ARN
            value: $ROLE_ARN
          - name: AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE
            value: /var/run/secrets/openshift/serviceaccount/token
        volumes:
          - name: bound-sa-token
            projected:
              sources:
                - serviceAccountToken:
                    path: token
                    expirationSeconds: 3600
                    audience: openshift
        volumeMounts:
          - name: bound-sa-token
            mountPath: /var/run/secrets/openshift/serviceaccount
    kopia:
      enable: true
      podConfig:
        env:
          - name: AWS_ROLE_ARN
            value: $ROLE_ARN
          - name: AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE
            value: /var/run/secrets/openshift/serviceaccount/token
  backupLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: $BUCKET_NAME
          prefix: rosa-backups
        config:
          region: $AWS_REGION
        credential:
          name: cloud-credentials-sts
          key: cloud
  snapshotLocations:
    - name: default
      velero:
        provider: aws
        config:
          region: $AWS_REGION

ROSA-Specific Notes:

STS provides temporary credentials via OIDC
No long-lived access keys required
ServiceAccount token refreshed automatically
More secure than static IAM users

Example 3: Multi-Region AWS Setup

User: "Configure OADP with primary and secondary regions for DR"

Skill Actions:

Create S3 buckets in multiple regions:

bash

PRIMARY_REGION="us-east-1"
SECONDARY_REGION="us-west-2"
PRIMARY_BUCKET="oadp-primary-$(date +%s)"
SECONDARY_BUCKET="oadp-secondary-$(date +%s)"

# Create primary bucket
aws s3 mb s3://$PRIMARY_BUCKET --region $PRIMARY_REGION
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning --bucket $PRIMARY_BUCKET --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# Create secondary bucket
aws s3 mb s3://$SECONDARY_BUCKET --region $SECONDARY_REGION
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning --bucket $SECONDARY_BUCKET --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# Optional: Enable cross-region replication
# (Requires additional IAM role and replication configuration)

Create multi-region DPA:

yaml

apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: dpa-multi-region
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
  backupLocations:
    - name: primary-us-east
      velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: $PRIMARY_BUCKET
          prefix: cluster-backups
        config:
          region: us-east-1
        credential:
          name: cloud-credentials
          key: cloud
    - name: secondary-us-west
      velero:
        provider: aws
        default: false
        objectStorage:
          bucket: $SECONDARY_BUCKET
          prefix: cluster-backups
        config:
          region: us-west-2
        credential:
          name: cloud-credentials
          key: cloud
  snapshotLocations:
    - name: primary-snapshots
      velero:
        provider: aws
        config:
          region: us-east-1
    - name: secondary-snapshots
      velero:
        provider: aws
        config:
          region: us-west-2

Create backup to specific region:

bash

# Backup to primary region (default)
velero backup create app-backup-primary \
  --include-namespaces myapp

# Backup to secondary region
velero backup create app-backup-secondary \
  --include-namespaces myapp \
  --storage-location secondary-us-west \
  --volume-snapshot-locations secondary-snapshots

Example 4: S3-Compatible Storage (MinIO, Wasabi)

User: "Setup OADP with S3-compatible storage"

Skill Actions:

Create DPA for S3-compatible endpoint:

yaml

apiVersion: oadp.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: DataProtectionApplication
metadata:
  name: dpa-s3-compatible
  namespace: openshift-adp
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      defaultPlugins:
        - openshift
        - aws
  backupLocations:
    - name: s3-compatible
      velero:
        provider: aws
        default: true
        objectStorage:
          bucket: oadp-backups
          prefix: openshift
        config:
          region: minio  # Arbitrary for non-AWS
          s3ForcePathStyle: "true"  # Required for MinIO/others
          s3Url: https://minio.example.com:9000  # Custom endpoint
          insecureSkipTLSVerify: "false"  # Set true for self-signed certs
        credential:
          name: cloud-credentials
          key: cloud

Credentials for S3-compatible:

bash

# Same format as AWS
cat <<EOF > credentials-velero
[default]
aws_access_key_id=<MINIO_ACCESS_KEY>
aws_secret_access_key=<MINIO_SECRET_KEY>
EOF

AWS-Specific Configuration Options

S3 Bucket Configuration

Recommended S3 settings:

bash

# Enable versioning (for backup recovery)
aws s3api put-bucket-versioning \
  --bucket $BUCKET_NAME \
  --versioning-configuration Status=Enabled

# Enable server-side encryption
aws s3api put-bucket-encryption \
  --bucket $BUCKET_NAME \
  --server-side-encryption-configuration '{
    "Rules": [{
      "ApplyServerSideEncryptionByDefault": {
        "SSEAlgorithm": "AES256"
      },
      "BucketKeyEnabled": true
    }]
  }'

# Configure lifecycle policy (optional)
aws s3api put-bucket-lifecycle-configuration \
  --bucket $BUCKET_NAME \
  --lifecycle-configuration file://lifecycle-policy.json

Lifecycle policy example:

json

{
  "Rules": [
    {
      "Id": "TransitionOldBackups",
      "Status": "Enabled",
      "Transitions": [
        {
          "Days": 30,
          "StorageClass": "STANDARD_IA"
        },
        {
          "Days": 90,
          "StorageClass": "GLACIER"
        }
      ],
      "NoncurrentVersionExpiration": {
        "NoncurrentDays": 90
      }
    }
  ]
}

EBS Snapshot Configuration

VolumeSnapshotClass for EBS:

yaml

apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshotClass
metadata:
  name: oadp-ebs-snapclass
  labels:
    velero.io/csi-volumesnapshot-class: "true"
driver: ebs.csi.aws.com
deletionPolicy: Retain
parameters:
  tagSpecification_1: "Name=velero-backup"
  tagSpecification_2: "ManagedBy=oadp"

Performance Tuning

Optimize for large AWS deployments:

yaml

spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      podConfig:
        resourceAllocations:
          limits:
            cpu: "2"
            memory: 2Gi
          requests:
            cpu: "1"
            memory: 1Gi
      args:
        - --max-concurrent-k8s-connections=50
        - --resource-timeout=10m
    kopia:
      podConfig:
        resourceAllocations:
          limits:
            cpu: "2"
            memory: 4Gi
        env:
          - name: KOPIA_PARALLEL_FILE_OPERATIONS
            value: "8"

Troubleshooting

BSL Shows Unavailable

Symptoms: BackupStorageLocation phase is "Unavailable" on AWS

Common AWS-specific causes:

IAM permissions insufficient:

bash

# Test S3 access
aws s3 ls s3://$BUCKET_NAME

# Test with Velero pod's credentials
oc exec -n openshift-adp deployment/velero -- aws s3 ls s3://$BUCKET_NAME

Wrong region:

bash

# Check bucket region
aws s3api get-bucket-location --bucket $BUCKET_NAME

# Verify matches DPA configuration
oc get dpa -n openshift-adp -o yaml | grep region

S3 endpoint unreachable:

bash

# Test from Velero pod
oc exec -n openshift-adp deployment/velero -- curl -I https://s3.$AWS_REGION.amazonaws.com

EBS Snapshot Failures

Symptoms: Volume snapshots fail with AWS errors

Diagnosis:

bash

# Check VolumeSnapshot status
oc get volumesnapshots -A

# Check VolumeSnapshot errors
oc describe volumesnapshot <snapshot-name> -n <namespace>

# Check CSI driver logs
oc logs -n openshift-cluster-csi-drivers -l app=aws-ebs-csi-driver

Common issues:

IAM role missing EC2 snapshot permissions
EBS volume in different AZ than snapshot location
Volume encryption key access denied
Snapshot quota exceeded

STS Token Expiration

Symptoms: ROSA/STS backups fail intermittently

Solution:

yaml

# Increase token expiration in DPA
spec:
  configuration:
    velero:
      podConfig:
        volumes:
          - name: bound-sa-token
            projected:
              sources:
                - serviceAccountToken:
                    path: token
                    expirationSeconds: 7200  # Increase from 3600

Best Practices

Use IAM Roles over Users
- Prefer STS/IRSA for ROSA
- Use IAM roles for EC2-based clusters
- Rotate credentials regularly
- Use least-privilege permissions
Enable S3 Features
- Versioning for backup recovery
- Encryption at rest
- Access logging
- Lifecycle policies for cost optimization
Multi-Region Strategy
- Primary and secondary BSLs
- Cross-region replication for critical data
- Test cross-region restore
- Document failover procedures
Cost Optimization
- Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- Implement lifecycle policies
- Delete old snapshots
- Monitor S3 storage costs
Security
- Encrypt S3 buckets
- Use VPC endpoints for S3 access
- Enable S3 access logs
- Restrict IAM policies to specific buckets
- Use KMS for encryption keys

Verification Checklist

After AWS setup:

S3 bucket created with versioning enabled
S3 bucket encrypted at rest
IAM user/role created with correct permissions
Credentials secret created in openshift-adp namespace
DPA applied and reconciled successfully
BackupStorageLocation shows "Available"
VolumeSnapshotLocation configured
Test backup created successfully
Can list backups in S3 bucket
EBS snapshot created during test backup

Next Steps

After AWS setup:

Test Backup: Create test backup with EBS volumes
Test Restore: Verify cross-AZ and cross-region restore
Configure Schedules: Set up automated backup schedules
Monitor Costs: Track S3 and EBS snapshot costs
Document: Record AWS account, bucket names, IAM details

Related Skills:

install-oadp - Install OADP operator
create-backup - Create backups
backup-etcd - Backup etcd for control plane DR

Resources

AWS OADP Documentation: https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/latest/backup_and_restore/application_backup_and_restore/installing/installing-oadp-aws.html
ROSA OADP Guide: https://docs.openshift.com/rosa/rosa_backing_up_and_restoring_applications/backing-up-applications.html
AWS STS: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/welcome.html

Version: 1.0 Last Updated: 2025-11-17 Tested With: OADP 1.3+, AWS, ROSA

Search AI Tools

setup-oadp-aws

Install this agent skill to your Project

SKILL.md

Setup OADP for AWS

When to Use This Skill

What This Skill Does

How to Use

Basic Usage

Advanced Usage

Prerequisites

Examples

Example 1: Basic AWS Setup with IAM User

Example 2: ROSA Setup with AWS STS

Example 3: Multi-Region AWS Setup

Example 4: S3-Compatible Storage (MinIO, Wasabi)

AWS-Specific Configuration Options

S3 Bucket Configuration

EBS Snapshot Configuration

Performance Tuning

Troubleshooting

BSL Shows Unavailable

EBS Snapshot Failures

STS Token Expiration

Best Practices

Verification Checklist

Next Steps

Resources