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Dell EMC VMAX 100K V9.1.0 Storage Product Guide PDF

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Summary of Content for Dell EMC VMAX 100K V9.1.0 Storage Product Guide PDF

Product Guide

Dell EMC VASA Provider for PowerMax 9.1.0

Rev. 03 February 2021

This product guide contain supplemental information about Dell EMC VASA Provider for PowerMax. Topics include:

Overview.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................2

Environment and system requirements.............................................................................................................................................................. 2

Compatibility matrix................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Installing VASA Provider......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

VASA Provider registration.................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Workflow overview.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4

Serviceability............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Certificates................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Overview

A VASA (vSphere APIs for Storage Awareness) provider is a storage-side software component that acts as a storage awareness service for vSphere. VASA Provider is responsible for storage orchestration between VMware vSphere components and the PowerMax system.

The VASA Provider is delivered as a virtual appliance which orchestrates the lifecycle of Virtual Volumes (vVols) and their derivatives: snapshots, clones, and fast-clones. It also provides storage topology, capabilities and status information to the vCenter and the ESXi hosts.

vVols are a storage abstraction designed by VMware with the collaboration of Dell EMC. vVols provide storage arrays with visibility at a virtual disk level and enables them to fulfill the application's storage requirements. vVols are PowerMax devices that store application data, virtual machine configuration, swap space, and memory state. vVols offer more granular control to end users and increased scale beyond the previous limit of 256 logical unit numbers (LUNs) per ESXi host.

Environment and system requirements

Dell EMC VASA Provider for PowerMax has the following system requirements:

Two virtual disks with a minimum size of 10 GB and 15 GB each 8 GB of RAM and two Virtual Central Processing Units (vCPU) A Raw Device Mapping (RDM) device from the array of 4 GB size VMware vSphere 6.0 or higher The ESXi host running VASA Provider must have a Fibre Channel connection. A redundant TCP/IP network A minimum of five gatekeepers that are mapped to the virtual appliance

See the Dell EMC Virtual Appliance Manager Installation Guide on the Dell EMC support site for more details.

Compatibility matrix

Table 1 lists the software version numbers compatible with VASA Provider.

Table 1. Compatibility matrix

VASA Provider vApp Manager Solutions Enabler PowerMaxOS vCenter Server ESX/ESXi Server

9.1 9.1 9.1 5978.479.479 6.0, 6.5, 6.7 6.0, 6.5, 6.7

NOTE: VASA Provider 9.1 Rapid TDEV Deallocation is not supported with earlier PowerMaxOS code levels, see SFA 539986

for more information.

Installing VASA Provider

About this task

For detailed instructions on installing vApp Manager for PowerMax VASA Provider, see the Virtual Appliance Manager Installation Guide on support.emc.com. Once you have installed the appliance, follow these steps to configure it.

Steps

1. Launch vApp Manager:

a. In a browser, type https://appliance_IP:5480 or https://appliance_host_name:5480 to access the vApp Manager GUI.

b. Log in using vpconfig as the username and password.

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NOTE: For security reasons, you must change the password after the first login.

c. The vApp Manager dashboard will be displayed after a successful login.

2. Add an ESXi server:

Users must configure the ESXi server, where the appliance is running, after installing the vApp Manager. Ensure that the ESXi host has its FQDN name set properly. The name lookup for the ESXi should be successful before adding the ESXi to the vApp Manager.

NOTE: Gatekeeper devices are visible to the vApp manager after the ESXi host is added to the appliance. For this

reason, the ESXi must be added before the gatekeeper devices are mapped.

a. Select Manage > Gatekeepers. b. Click Add ESXi, fill out the fields, and click Add.

NOTE: Check that the ESXi hostname is visible in the vApp Manager screen.

c. Click VALIDATE ESXi to validate the issuer certificate.

NOTE: If you are upgrading, you must validate the ESXi to view the gatekeepers that were mapped before the

upgrade.

3. Add an array:

Users must configure the array after adding the ESXi host . Arrays that are visible to the ESXi host are available for adding to that host.

a. Select Manage > Gatekeeper and then click Add Array. b. Select the radio button next to the wanted array ID and then click Add Array.

The devices available for mapping are displayed.

4. Map Fibre Channel and iSCSI gatekeeper devices:

Array devices will be visible only to the VASA Provider after mapping the gatekeepers from the array to the vApp Manager. To add the gatekeeper devices, complete the following steps:

a. Select Manage > Gatekeepers > Add Array > Select Array. The unmapped and mapped Fibre Channel gatekeeper devices are displayed.

b. In the Devices attached to the Host ESXi (Available for mapping to the Virtual Appliance machine) list, click the checkbox next to the devices you want to map and then click Map Devices.

5. Select the device to mount the database LUN and click Mount DB.

NOTE: The Mount DB option is only enabled if the device size is more than 1 GB.

A message appears to indicate the status of the operation: If the LUN is not recognized by the operating system (not properly partitioned), you are prompted to format the LUN.

NOTE: Formatting clears the data present on the LUN.

If the LUN is partitioned correctly and has an older compatible database instance, you are prompted to either use this instance or create a fresh database instance.

If the LUN does not have an older database instance or the database instance is corrupted, a fresh database instance is created.

6. To verify that ECOM has started successfully, go to Manage > Daemons where ECOM should be shown as running.

VASA Provider registration

Prerequisites

About this task

The VASA Provider must be registered with the VMware vSphere Client for vCenter so that the vCenter can access the array. Follow these steps to register the VP.

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Steps

1. Open the Navigator panel of the VMware vSphere Client for vCenter.

2. Select the vCenter in the Hosts and Clusters view.

3. Under the Manage tab (Configure tab in vCenter 6.5, 6.7, 7.0), select Storage Providers and click the + symbol.

4. In the New Storage Provider dialog, fill out the name, URL, username (admin), password (#1Password), and click OK.

5. Click Yes to the Security Alert dialog that asks if you want to trust the host.

NOTE: The VASA Provider URL is https://vAppHostName:5989/vasa-providers.xml. This link is also available from the

vApp Manager home page.

6. To verify the registration, refresh the view in the vSphere Web Client. The VP and its details should be listed. If the VP is not listed as being online, then the registration was not successful. Users should analyze the setup and fix any issues that are reported during the registration process.

Next steps

Rescan from vCenter to discover the newly created Storage Containers.

Workflow overview

This section defines different workflows that are required for creating vVol-based Virtual Machines (VM).

Policy Management

About this task

During the creation of a VM, the VM should be associated with a VMware policy. The VMware policy translates into the underlying storage profile that is associated with the VM. The user defines a VMware policy with storage profile values, for example, the service level.

Based on what kind of storage is available in the vVol datastore, it is marked compatible with the VMware profile.

When you select a VMware policy for a VM during creation time, the user interface displays a list of compatible datastores for the VM. You can select any datastore from this list to create a VM.

This section below describes the workflows that are related to VMware policies.

Creation

Steps

1. In the VMware vSphere Web Client or vSphere Client, select Menu > Policies and Profiles.

2. Select VM Storage Policy.

3. Set the name of the policy and the corresponding descriptions.

4. Select VmaxVVolProvider from the drop-down menu next to Rules based on data services.

NOTE: Selecting VmaxVvolProvider creates a VASA 2.0 policy using the VMware VASA 2.0 specification. Selecting

VmaxVvolVasaProvider VASA 1.0 configures the policy under the VMware VASA 1.0 specification.

5. Select the relevant Service Level. The list of compatible Datastores is listed for the newly created policy.

6. Select the Workload.

NOTE: Workloads are supported only for backwards compatibility. Storage policies should include the Workload attribute

for compliance calculations. Workload should be set to "None."

7. Select Finish to create the policy.

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Association

About this task

See the VM creation section to see how the policy is associated with a virtual machine.

Update Profile

About this task

The storage profile that is associated with the VMware policy can be updated when required.

Steps

1. Select the policy that must be updated.

2. Click Edit Settings.

3. Select the relevant section, and update the corresponding values.

4. Click OK to confirm.

Storage configuration

Prerequisites

Before creating the VMware vVol datastore, ensure that there are vVol storage containers that are created on the array. The steps to create a vVol storage container on the array can be found in the Unisphere for PowerMax Online Help at https:// support.emc.com.

vVol datastore creation

About this task

Most of the workflow to create a vVol datastore is similar to that when creating a VMFS datastore. On the screen where the user selects the VMFS type, for a vVol datastore you should select the vVol type. See the VMware documentation on datastore creation for further details.

Steps

1. Go to the Storage tab to create a Datastore.

2. Select vVol as the Datastore type.

3. Enter the Datastore name and select the storage container from the Backing Storage Container table.

4. Select the host from the list.

5. Click Finish.

VM Creation

About this task

The VM creation procedure for vVol-based VMs is similar to that for non-vVol-based VMs. In a vVol-based VM, the VM should be associated with the vVol policy. This decides the underlying storage on which the VM is hosted. See the VMware documentation on VM creation for further details.

Steps

1. Select the VM policy and the compatible datastore for the policy.

2. Complete the wizard to create a vVol-based VM.

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VM Policy update

About this task

For a VM on the vVol datastore, you have the option of changing the policy at VM level and at individual disk level (VMDK).

The VM control and provisioning operations for a VM on a vVol datastore are the same as for the VMs on a VMFS datastore.

Serviceability

This section contains information about serviceability issues.

Call Homes

In certain scenarios, the VASA Provider issues a Call Home. The table below describes the different Call Home codes, their causes, and possible resolutions.

Table 2. VASA Provider Call Homes

Code Description Reason

0x01 VASA Info: VASA Provider started. Generated every time the VP is started.

0x02 VASA Info: VASA Provider shutdown Generated every time the VP is shut down cleanly.

0x03 VASA Error: Postgres server is down. Generated when the postgres server becomes inaccessible.

0x04 VASA Error: Database LUN failed to mount. Generated when the postgres server fails to find the mounted database path.

Possible corrective action: Check whether the DB LUN has been mounted. If not, mount a DB LUN using the vApp Manager UI.

0x05 VASA Error: Database initialization failed due to some unknown error.

Generated when the database server has started but the initialization failed.

Possible corrective action: Check if another process is using port 5432. Try to restart the VP if the error in the udb.log suggests a timeout.

0x06 VASA Error: Gate keeper devices not found. Generated when the VP fails to find mapped gate keepers.

Possible corrective action: Add gate keepers from the vApp Manager.

0x07 VASA Error: VASA Provider initialization failed. Generated when the VP failed during initialization.

Possible Corrective action: See the Error Code 0x07 Resolution Table below for more details.

0x08 VASA Error: VASA Provider restarted after crash.

Generated when the VP restarts after an unclean shutdown. If the core file is generated, it must be analyzed to understand the reason for the unclean shutdown.

0x09 VASA Error: Database LUN Error. Generated when there is a problem that is associated with access to the mounted DB LUN. This could be a device error or a loss of access.

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Table 2. VASA Provider Call Homes (continued)

Code Description Reason

0x0A VASA Info: Database recovery initiated. Generated when VP information is being recovered from the array.

0x0B VASA Error: Database recovery failed. Generated when there is a failure during recovery of VP information from the array.

0X0C VASA Info: Database recovery completed. Generated when VP information is successfully recovered from the array.

0x0D VASA Warning: Database partially recovered. Generated when VP information is recovered from the array but there was a problem when storing it into the VP DB.

0x0E VASA Error: SFS I/O Failed. Generated when there is a failure while reading or writing metadata to the array.

0X0F VASA Error: MDP I/O failed. Generated when the saving of vVol metadata fails.

0X10 VASA Info: Snapshot operation timed out. Generated when a snapshot operation fails because it exceeded the timeout.

Possible corrective action: Retry the snapshot operation.

0x11 VASA Info: Number of snapshots exceeded for a vVol.

Generated when the snapshot limit for a virtual volume has been exceeded.

0x12 VASA Info: Number of fast clones exceeded for a vVol.

Generated when the fast clone limit for a virtual volume has been exceeded.

0x13 VASA Error: Disk going out of space. Generated when the disk usage on the VP goes beyond the threshold.

0x14 VASA Error: VASA Provider VM running on low memory.

Generated when the memory usage on the VP goes beyond the threshold.

Possible corrective action: Restart VP.

See SFA 488138: https://support.emc.com/kb/488138

0x15 VASA Error: VASA Provider is offline. The VASA Provider keeps sending a heartbeat to the uCode. When the uCode detects a missed heartbeat from the VASA Provider for two iterations, it generates the call home error 7A5A.15.

Table 3. Error Code 0x07 Resolutions

Possible cause Possible corrective action

Failure to discover the array. Map GK devices using vApp UI and restart VP.

Invalid/empty array ID. Map GK devices using vApp UI and restart VP.

Failure to initialize Provider object in Database. Check disk usage. Restart VP.

Failure to initialize threads. Restart VP.

Failure to initialize capability metadata. Restart VP.

Failure to initialize capability profiles. Restart VP.

Failure to create event subjects . Restart VP.

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Knowledge Base articles

The full list of Knowledge Base articles for VASA Provider for PowerMax is available on www.dell.com. The latest articles are listed below:

000521733 - Describes the removal of workloads in PowerMaxOS 5978. 000519712 - Describes the failure to authenticate a request from the vCenter when the request is signed by the intermediate

CA in the list of certificates. 000511602 - Describes a possible security vulnerability in some VP versions.

Configuration options

ECOM is the web server that is used by the PowerMax VP. This section describes the configuration options available to you when using the ECOM configuration page to manage the VP appliance. Only those configuration options that are relevant to the VP are described.

ECOMConfig options

Launch the ECOM configuration page by using the URL https:// :5989/ECOMConfig/ The default user credentials are admin/#1Password.

On successful login, the main page is displayed. You can use this page to go to the area you are interested in. This section covers some of the most frequently used options.

Multi-vCenter configuration

VASA Provider can be configured with multiple vCenters as follows: 1. Enable the VASA Provider setting RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE in the vApp Manager by setting the value to TRUE.

2. Generate the self-signed certificate as per the Self-Signed Certificate section of this document. 3. Register the VASA Provider with all the vCenters that are going to use the storage array the VASA Provider is managing.

NOTE: If the VASA provider is already registered with one vCenter and the user intends to register it multiple

vCenters, the VASA Provider must be de-registered from the first vCenter and follow the above steps to complete

the configuration.

Logging

This section allows you to view the VP logs and to change the log levels for the VP appliance.

The log settings have the following meanings:

CIMOMLOG: Logs the messages from the ECOM server SECURITYLOG: Logs authentication messages from the ECOM server HTTP_TRACE_LOG: Logs the HTTP traffic to and from the ECOM server

Security settings:

User management

The following settings are used to manage ECOM users:

Add User: Allows creation of a new user Modify User: Allows changes to be made to an existing user Change Password: Allows a password change for an existing user Set Password Quality: Allows setting the parameters for the user password Delete User: Allows deletion of a user List Users: Allows listing of the users in the system

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SSL certificate management

This option can be used to create an ECOM certificate and allows you to perform the following actions:

Generate a CSR. Import a signed certificate. Generate a self-signed certificate. Import a CA certificate file.

Certificates

This section describes the different types of certificates that the VP supports.

By default the VP has a self-signed certificate that is overwritten by a VMCA certificate during the registration process. This behavior is defined by the RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE flag that is defined in the vApp Manager configuration. RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE is FALSE by default. When enabled, the existing VASA Provider certificate is not overwritten. For more information, see the Virtual Appliance Manager Installation Guide on https://support.emc.com.

Self-signed certificate

The default self-signed certificate that is created by ECOM cannot be used when the RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE flag is set to TRUE. IN order to use self-signed certificate, the ESXi servers require the extension CertificateSign to be present in the keyUsage for the self-signed certificate.

Set this flag in the KeyUsage while creating the self-signed certificate. Follow the steps below to create and use the self-signed certificate.

1. Change RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE to TRUE in VASA Provider.

2. Log in to the ECOM Config page (https:// :5989 for ecomconfig), go to SSL Certificate Management and then click Option #2 Generate Self-Signed Certificate.

3. The Self-Signed Certificate page is displayed, enter the following details: Common Name : Country : State: Locality: Organization name: Organization Unit name: Serial Number: SAN Email Address: SAN IP: SAN URI: Key Usage: DigitalSignature;NonRepudiation;KeyEncipherment;KeyAgreement;EncipherOnly;DecipherOnly;CertificateSign CA

4. Click Generate a Self-Signed Certificate. 5. Restart ECOM. 6. Register VASA Provider. If it is already registered, unregister and register it again.

The ECOM default value for the Key Usage field is: DigitalSignature;NonRepudiation;KeyEncipherment;DataEncipherment;KeyAgreement;CertificateSi gn;CRLSign;EncipherOnly;DecipherOnly.

The VASA default value for the Key Usage field is: DigitalSignature;NonRepudiation;KeyEncipherment;KeyAgreement;EncipherOnly;DecipherOnly.

CA certificate

To use the CA certificate in the VP environment, the RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE flag should be unset (marked FALSE).

In this scenario, at VP registration time, the vCenter ignores the certificate that is sent by the VP and sends the vCenter certificate as the new certificate. This certificate is stored by the VP for all future handshakes.

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Self-Signed Certificate on multiple vCenter appliances

When a VASA Provider is registered with a vCenter, the following actions take place: 1. VASA Provider presents the vCenter with a self-signed certificate. The vSphere user validates the thumbprint and accepts

the certificate. 2. After the validation, VASA Provider sends a CSR with its public key. 3. vCenter responds with a VMCA signed certificate that is stored in the VASA Provider trust store.

NOTE: The above steps are only applicable when using a VMCA as certificate authority.

VASA Provider uses VMCA signed certificates to communicate with ESX and vCenter servers. This works because all the

components (vCenter/ESX/VP) use VMCA signed certificates.

In a multi-vCenter environment, when a VP is registered with the first vCenter the steps mentioned above are performed and VP receives a VMCA certificate from the first vCenter. When the same VASA Provider is registered again with second vCenter, and if the RETAIN_VP_CERTIFICATE flag is set to false (not enabled) then the certificate is overwritten and the communication with the first vCenter is broken and only second vCenter communicates with VASA Provider.

If the RETAIN VP CERTIFICATE flag is set to true, this makes sure that the VP trust store is not overwritten, hence the communication with first vCenter is not broken, but communication with second vCenter will not be established.

If user wants to use both vCenters, there are two options: 1. A common VMCA is required, where both vCenters are part of a common VMCA. 2. Use Self Signed Certificate along with the extension CertificateSign to be present in the keyUsage (In this case the RETAIN

VP CERTIFICATE flag must be set to true).

The VMCA can be deployed as a standalone or as a subordinate to another CA. If both vCenters use a standalone VMCA, the configuration is not supported because they are two different CA instances and the VP can retain only one.

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Notes, cautions, and warnings

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product

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