Use this procedure to add an existing service to discover and import hardware resources that were not originally deployed with
PowerFlex Manager.
Prerequisites
Ensure the following conditions are met before you add an existing service:
The vCenter,
PowerFlex gateway, CloudLink Center, and hosts must be discovered in the resource list.
The
PowerFlex gateway must be in the service.
Steps
On the menu bar, click
Services and then click
+ Add Existing Service.
On the
Add Existing Service page, enter a service name in the
Name field.
Enter a description in the
Description field.
Select the
Type for the service.
The choices are
Hyperconverged,
Compute Only, and
Storage Only.
PowerFlex Manager checks to see whether there are any vCLS VMs on local storage. If it finds any, it puts the service in lifecycle mode and gives you the opportunity to migrate these to shared storage.
To specify the compliance version to use for compliance, select the version from the
Firmware and Software Compliance list or choose
Use PowerFlex Manager appliance default catalog.
You cannot specify a minimal compliance version when you add an existing service, since it only includes server firmware updates. The compliance version for an existing service must include the full set of compliance update capabilities.
PowerFlex Manager does not show any minimal compliance versions in the
Firmware and Software Compliance list.
NOTE:Changing the compliance version might update the firmware level on nodes for this service. Firmware on shared devices is maintained by the global default firmware repository.
Specify the service permissions under
Who should have access to the service deployed from this template? by performing one of the following actions:
To restrict access to administrators, select the
Only PowerFlex Manager Administrators option.
To grant access to administrators and specific standard users, select the
PowerFlex Manager Administrators and Specific Standard and Operator Users option, and perform the following tasks:
Click
Add User(s) to add one more standard or operator users to the list.
To delete a standard or operator user from the list, select the user and click
Remove User(s).
After adding the standard and or operator users, select or clear the check box next to the standard or operator users to grant or block access to use this template.
To grant access to administrators and all standard users, select the
PowerFlex Manager Administrators and All Standard and Operator Users option.
Click
Next.
Choose one of the following network automation types:
Full Network Automation
Partial Network Automation
When you choose
Partial Network Automation,
PowerFlex Manager skips the switch configuration step, which is normally performed for a service with
Full Network Automation. Partial network automation allows you to work with unsupported switches. However, it also requires more manual configuration before a deployment can proceed successfully. If you choose to use partial network automation, you give up the error handling and network automation features that are available with a full network configuration that includes supported switches.
In the
Number of Instances box, provide the number of component instances that you want to include in the template.
On the
Cluster Information page, enter a name for the cluster component in the
Component Name field.
Select values for the cluster settings:
For a hyperconverged or compute-only service, select values for these cluster settings:
Target Virtual Machine Manager—Select the vCenter name where the cluster is available.
Data Center Name—Select the data center name where the cluster is available.
NOTE:Ensure that selected vCenter has unique names for clusters in case there are multiple clusters in the vCenter.
Cluster Name—Select the name of the cluster you want to discover.
OS Image—Select the image or choose
Use Compliance File ESXi image if you want to use the image provided with the target compliance version.
PowerFlex Manager filters the operating system image choices to show only ESXi images for a hyperconverged or compute-only service.
For a storage-only service, select values for these cluster settings:
Target PowerFlex Gateway—Select the gateway where the cluster is available.
Protection Domain—Select the name of the protection domain in
PowerFlex.
OS Image—Select the image or choose
Use Compliance File Linux image
if you want to use the image provided with the target compliance version.
PowerFlex Manager filters the operating system image choices to show only Linux images for a storage-only service.
Click
Next.
On
OS Credentials page, select the OS credential that you want to use for each node and SVM.
You can select one credential for all nodes (or SVMs), or choose credentials for each item separately. You can create the operating system credentials on the
Credentials Management page under
Settings.
PowerFlex Manager validates the credentials for the nodes and SVMs before it creates the service. This validation makes it possible for
PowerFlex Manager to run a full inventory on all nodes and SVMs before creating the service. The process of running the inventory can take five to ten seconds to complete.
To import a VMware NSX-T or NSX-V configuration,
PowerFlex Manager must have the operating system inventory to recognize that NSX VIBs are on the node. Without the inventory, it is unable to tell if a node has NSX-T or NSX-V.
PowerFlex Manager runs the inventory on all nodes and SVMs for which the credentials are valid. The service uses any nodes and SVMs for which it has a successful inventory. For example, if you have four nodes, and one node has an invalid operating system password,
PowerFlex Manager adds the three nodes for which the credentials are valid and ignores the one with the invalid password.
Click
Next.
The list of resources available in the cluster is displayed on the
Inventory Summary page.
Review the inventory on the
Inventory Summary screen.
The summary shows all nodes that are available. If a node is not available, it might be because this node does not match the
Type you selected for the service (Hyper-converged,
Compute only, or
Storage only).
Depending on how the node is configured, the summary might show additional inventory information. For example, for a node that has NVDIMM compression, the summary shows additional information about the acceleration pool and compression settings.
If the resources are discovered and in an available state, the
Available Inventory displays the components as
Yes. An unavailable
PowerFlex gateway is shown as
No.
If the credentials are invalid for a node or SVM, or if you have a network connectivity problem,
PowerFlex Manager displays
No in the
Available Inventory column for the node, and displays an error message to notify you about the problem.
PowerFlex Manager cannot update firmware and software versions for
PowerFlex clusters that do not have available
PowerFlex Gateways. If expected
PowerFlex Gateways are not shown as available, you can discover the gateways and run the wizard again.
NOTE:PowerFlex Manager retrieves the hostname value from iDRAC and not the operating system. If the hostname field is not updated in iDRAC, an incorrect value can be displayed in
PowerFlex Manager. Certain operating systems require extra packages that are installed for iDRAC to update the correct hostname.
Click
Next.
On the
Network Mapping page, review the networks that are mapped to port groups and make any required edits.
PowerFlex Manager attempts to select the correct network based on the VLAN ID, subnet, or IP ranges entered in
PowerFlex Manager. If
PowerFlex Manager finds only one network for a given network type, it selects the network automatically. If it finds more than one, you must select the network from the
Network drop-down list. The OS Installation network does not get a VLAN ID.
NOTE: If the OS Install VLAN is not already configured in your environment, add it. This network is required to perform node expansions. This network is typically added during
PowerFlex Manager configuration.
If there are any port groups for which you do not want
PowerFlex Manager to manage access, leave those port groups cleared. If no network is selected for a particular port group,
PowerFlex Manager leaves it out of the deployment data and does not add it to the nodes.
For an existing service that supports NSX-T,
PowerFlex Manager shows VDS switches that are sharing uplinks.
To import a large number of general-purpose VLANs from vCenter, perform these steps:
Click
Import Networks on the
Network Mapping page.
PowerFlex Manager displays the
Import Networks wizard. In the
Import Networks wizard,
PowerFlex Manager lists the port groups that are defined on the vCenter as
Available Networks. You can see the port groups and the VLAN IDs.
Optionally, search for a VLAN name or VLAN ID.
PowerFlex Manager filters the list of available networks to include only those networks that match your search.
Click each network that you want to add under
Available Networks. If you want to add all the available networks, click the check box to the left of the
Name column.
Click the double arrow (>>) to move the networks you chose to
Selected Networks.
PowerFlex Manager updates the
Selected Networks to show the ones you have chosen.
Click
Save.
Click
Next.
Review the
Summary page and click
Finish when you are ready to add the service.
The process of adding an existing service causes no disruption to the underlying hardware resources. It does not shut down any of the nodes or the vCenter.
For an existing service, the
Reference Template field shows
Generated Existing Service Template on the
Service Details page. You can distinguish existing services from new services that were deployed with
PowerFlex Manager.
When
PowerFlex Manager must put a service in lifecycle mode, the
Summary page for the
Add Existing Service wizard displays a warning message indicating the reason.
In some situations, an imported configuration might not meet the minimal requirements for lifecycle mode. In this case,
PowerFlex Manager does not allow you to add the service.
Next steps
When you add an existing service,
PowerFlex Manager matches the hosts, vCenter, and other items it finds with discovered resources in the resource list. If you missed a component initially, you can change your resource inventory, and update the service to reflect these changes. Go back to the resources list, select the component, and mark it as
Managed by selecting
Change resource state to Managed. Then, perform an
Update Service Details operation on the service to pull in the missing component.
When you deploy an existing service,
PowerFlex Manager reserves any IP addresses from vCenter or the
PowerFlex gateway that it needs. If you later tear down the service, it releases those IP addresses so that they can be reused.
If you add an existing service that supports NSX-T or NSX-V,
PowerFlex Manager displays a banner indicating that the service supports a limited set of actions. Most service actions are disabled for an NSX-T or NSX-V configuration, except the ability to update the firmware and software components, remove resources (or the service as a whole), and update service details.
When you add an existing service,
PowerFlex Manager checks to see whether there are any vCLS VMs on local storage. If it finds any, it displays a banner on the
Service Details page indicating that it has put the service in lifecycle mode and gives you the opportunity to migrate the VMs to shared storage.
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