Dell PowerFlex 4.5.x Administration Guide

Adding an existing resource group

You can add an existing resource group to discover and import hardware resources that were not originally deployed with PowerFlex Manager.

1. On the menu bar, click Lifecycle > Resource Groups and then click + Add Existing Resource Group.
2. On the Add Existing Resource Group page, enter a resource group name in the Name field.
3. Enter a description in the Description field.
4. Select the Type for the resource group.

   The choices are Hyperconverged, Compute Only, Storage Only, and PowerFlex File.

   PowerFlex Manager checks to see whether there are any vCLS VMs on local storage. If it finds any, it puts the resource group in life cycle mode and lets you migrate these VMs to shared storage.

5. To specify the compliance version to use for compliance, select the version from the Firmware and Software Compliance list or select Use PowerFlex Manager appliance default catalog.

   You cannot specify a minimal compliance version when you add an existing resource group, since it only includes server firmware updates. The compliance version for an existing resource group 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 resource group. Firmware on shared devices is maintained by the global default firmware repository.
6. Specify the resource group permissions under Who should have access to the resource group deployed from this template? by performing one of the following actions:
   • To restrict access to super users, select Only PowerFlex SuperUser.
   • To grant access to super users and some specific lifecycle administrators and drive replacers, select the PowerFlex SuperUser and specific LifecycleAdmin and DriveReplacer option, and perform the following steps:
     1. Click Add User(s) to add one or more LifecycleAdmin or DriveReplacer users to the list.
     2. Select which users will have access to this resource group.
     3. To delete a user from the list, select the user and click Remove User(s).
     4. After adding the users, select or clear the check box next to the users to grant or block access.
   • To grant access to super users and all lifecycle administrators and drive replacers, select PowerFlex SuperUser and all LifecycleAdmin and DriveReplacer.
7. Click Next.
8. 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 resource group 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.

9. On the Cluster Information page, enter a name for the cluster component in the Component Name field.
10. Select values for the cluster settings:

    For a hyperconverged or compute-only resource group, select values for these cluster settings:

    1. Target Virtual Machine Manager—Select the vCenter name where the cluster is available.
    2. 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.
    3. Cluster Name—Select the name of the cluster you want to discover.
    4. 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 resource group.

    For a storage-only resource group, select values for these cluster settings:

    1. Target PowerFlex Gateway—Select the gateway where the cluster is available.
    2. Protection Domain—Select the name of the protection domain in PowerFlex.
    3. 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 resource group.

    For a PowerFlex file resource group, select values for these cluster settings:

    1. Target PowerFlex Gateway—Select the gateway where the cluster is available.
    2. OS Image—Choose Use Compliance File Linux image for a PowerFlex file resource group.
11. Click Next.
12. On OS Credentials page, select the OS credential that you want to use for each node, SVM, and MVM.

    You can select one credential for all nodes, SVMs or MVMs, 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 before it creates the resource group. This validation makes it possible for PowerFlex Manager to run a full inventory on all nodes, SVMs, and MVMs before creating the resource group.

    PowerFlex Manager runs the inventory on all nodes, SVMs, and MVMs for which the credentials are valid. The resource group uses any nodes, SVMs, and MVMs 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 an invalid password.

13. Click Next.

    The list of resources available in the cluster is displayed on the Inventory Summary page.

14. Review the inventory on the Inventory Summary page.

    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 resource group (Hyper-converged, Compute only, Storage only, or PowerFlex File).

    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.
15. Click Next.
16. 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.

17. To import many general-purpose VLANs from vCenter, perform these steps:
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Click the double arrow (>>) to move the networks you chose to Selected Networks.
       PowerFlex Manager updates the Selected Networks to show the ones that you have chosen.
    5. Click Save.
18. Click Next.
19. Review the Summary page and click Finish when you are ready to add the resource group.

    The process of adding an existing resource group causes no disruption to the underlying hardware resources. It does not shut down any of the nodes or the vCenter.

    For an existing resource group, the Reference Template field shows Generated Existing Resource Group Template on the Resource Group Details page. You can distinguish existing resource groups from new resource groups that were deployed with PowerFlex Manager.

    When PowerFlex Manager must put a resource group in lifecycle mode, the Summary page for the Add Existing Resource Group 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 resource group.