FAQ: Ansible Module for Dell EMC Isilon

To which Ansible module for Dell EMC Isilon version does this FAQ apply?

This FAQ applies to version 1.0 of the module.

 

Where can I get this Ansible module for Dell EMC Isilon?

We have a community in GitHub: https://github.com/dell/ansible-isilon

 

What are the software pre-requisites?

• Isilon OneFS 8 or higher
• Ansible 2.7 or higher
• Python 2.7.12 or higher
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6

 

What are the supported features for this Ansible module for Dell EMC Isilon?

The Ansible Modules for Dell EMC Isilon includes:

• File System Module
• Access Zone Module
• Users Module
• Groups Module
• Snapshot Module
• Snapshot Schedule Module
• NFS Module
• SMB Module
• Gather Facts Module

Each module includes View, Create, Delete, and Modify operations. For the details, refer to the table below:

 

 

What is the filesystem as we don't see this concept in Isilon?

Filesystem in this Ansible module represents a directory in a given access zone with owner, ACL, and even quotas specified.

 

How to install it?

I've listed the high-level steps below. For the details, refer to the product guide at https://github.com/dell/ansible-isilon/blob/master/dellemc_ansible/docs/Ansible%20for%20Dell%20EMC%20Isilon%20v1.0%20Product%20Guide.pdf

 

The following example is using CenoOS 8 + python 3.6 + Ansible 2.9.5 + Isilon sdk 8.1.1 + OneFS 8.2.2. The overall steps are as the followings:

1. Install Ansible 2.9.5

# dnf -y install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

# dnf install ansible

2. Check the python version for ansible by using the following command

# ansible --version

In my case it’s python 3.6.8

# ansible --version

ansible 2.9.5

  config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg

  configured module search path = ['/root/.ansible/plugins/modules', '/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules']

  ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible

  executable location = /usr/bin/ansible

  python version = 3.6.8 (default, Nov 21 2019, 19:31:34) [GCC 8.3.1 20190507 (Red Hat 8.3.1-4)]

3. Install Isilon sdk 8.1.1

# pip3 install isi_sdk_8_1_1

4. Install Isilon Ansible module: (make sure the path is aligned with the python version)

Copy utils/dellemc_ansible_utils.py to  /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible/module_utils/

Copy all module Python files from isilon/library folder to  /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible/modules/storage/emc

5. Install the playbook

Copy dellemc_ansible/isilon/playbooks to any place you want

6. Test the installation

Update the playbooks/flo_test.yml ; mine is as below:

---
- name: Collect set of facts in Isilon
  hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  vars:
    onefs_host: '192.168.116.88'
    verify_ssl: False
    api_user: 'root'
    api_password: 'a'
    access_zone: 'System'
  tasks:
  - name: Get nodes of the Isilon cluster
    dellemc_isilon_gatherfacts:
      onefs_host: "{
  {onefs_host}}"
      verify_ssl: "{
  {verify_ssl}}"
      api_user: "{
  {api_user}}"
      api_password: "{
  {api_password}}"
      gather_subset:
        - nodes
    register: subset_result
  - debug:
      var: subset_result

run the playbook:

# ansible-playbook  playbooks/flo_test.yml

If everything is good, you should see the Info for your Isilon is returned:

…………
                        "release": "v9.0.0.BETA.0",
                        "uptime": 24533,
                        "version": "Isilon OneFS v8.2.2(RELEASE): 0x900003000000001:Tue Feb 25 09:19:10 PST 2020    root@se********-build11-114:/b/mnt/obj/b/mnt/src/********md64.********md64/sys/IQ.********md64.rele********se   FreeBSD cl********ng version 5.0.0 (t********gs/RELEASE_500/fin********l 312559) (b********sed on LLVM 5.0.0svn)"
                    }
                }
            ],
            "total": 1
        },
        "Providers": [],
        "Users": [],
        "changed": false,
        "failed": false
    }
}
 
PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
localhost                  : ok=3    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   

 

Does this module support quota?

The current version only supports directory(file system) quotas, but not user or group quotas.

 

Where can I find the examples?

Check examples from each module's file in /ansible-isilon/dellemc_ansible/isilon/library/

I've also created a short video on how to use this module to create and mount NFS export from Isilon.

 

What are the limitations of this module?

 

How to uninstall the module?

1. pip3 uninstall isi_sdk_8_1_1
2. Remove dellemc_ansible_utils.py from  /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible/module_utils/
3. Remove the following files from  /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ansible/modules/storage/emc

         dellemc_isilon_accesszone.py
         dellemc_isilon_filesystem.py
         dellemc_isilon_gatherfacts.py
         dellemc_isilon_group.py
         dellemc_isilon_nfs.py
         dellemc_isilon_smb.py
         dellemc_isilon_snapshot.py
         dellemc_isilon_snapshotschedule.py
         dellemc_isilon_user.py

4. Remove all the playbooks

 

Where do I submit an issue against the driver?

The Ansible module for Dell EMC Isilon is officially by Dell EMC. Therefore you can open a ticket directly to the support website : https://www.dell.com/support/ or open a discussion in the forum : https://www.dell.com/community/Containers/bd-p/Containers

 

Can I run this module in a production environment?

Yes, the module is production-grade. Please make sure your environment follows the pre-requisites and Ansible best practices.