Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Microsoft Edition Version 5.
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Contents About This Guide............................................................................................................................ 6 Revision History..................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Audience........................................................................................................................................................................
Best Practices for SharePoint..................................................................................................................................... 24 3 Remote Setup Wizard................................................................................................................. 25 PS Series Group Requirements for Using RSW.............................................................................................................. 25 Windows System Requirements for Using RSW...........
Configure the Dell EqualLogic Storage Management Provider.....................................................................................46 Create a Classification for Dell EqualLogic Storage Resources.....................................................................................47 Import the SMP Through the SCVMM GUI.....................................................................................................................47 Configure PS Series Groups....................................
Preface About This Guide Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Microsoft (HIT/Microsoft) enables you to manage and configure PS Series storage arrays from the servers that use them. From initializing new arrays to creating application-consistent snapshots, HIT/Microsoft exposes a wide variety of management capabilities to administrators. Revision History Revision Date Description R1 April 2020 Version 5.
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1 Introduction to Host Integration Tools Host Integration Tools for Microsoft (HIT/Microsoft) simplifies the configuration and administration of PS Series arrays on Windows computers. Topics: • • • • Host Integration Tools Components SMP Support SCVMM Support Supported Applications Host Integration Tools Components Table 1. Host Integration Tools Application Components lists the Host Integration Tools application components and Table 2.
Component Description Manager/Microsoft Edition User’s Guide, or you can use the RSWCLI, described in Remote Setup Command Line Utility. HPC iSCSI Provider Allows the High Performance Computing (HPC) Service to provision volumes and deploy compute nodes on Dell EqualLogic SANs. This service is available only on systems running Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 or later. See www.microsoft.com/hpc for more information. iSCSI Initiator Enables connections to iSCSI targets.
3. Verify that the connection to the group was established successfully by entering the following two commands and checking the output: Get-EqlGroupAccess Get-EqlGroup 4. If the connection to the group was established successfully, restart the EqlSMPHost service. 5. Import the storage provider module using the following command: Import-SCStorageProvider 6. Perform one of the following steps to update SCVMM with the group information: • • Enter the Update-StorageProviderCache cmdlet.
• • • Support for creating snapshots, replicas, or clones of Microsoft SQL Server databases residing on PS Series volumes Automatic discovery of Microsoft SQL Server instance and all Microsoft SQL databases Consistent, online backups and quick restores of Microsoft SQL Server databases residing on PS Series volumes SQL Server application supports both full and copy backup type Smart Copies on Microsoft SQL Server 2014, SQL Server 2016, and SQL Server 2017.
2 Installation You can use two methods to install the Host Integration Tools for Microsoft on a host: manual installation and remote host installation. For first-time installations, you must perform a manual installation. After the first installation, you can easily install the Host Integration Tools on any number of hosts using the remote installation process from the ASM/ME GUI.
• • x86 version on all 32-bit systems. x64 version on 64-bit systems. These products display in Add/Remove Programs with the version listed if they are installed. • • • You might need to reboot your system after installing the Redistributable. Install the Microsoft Native MPIO — Install the version that is built into the version of the Windows operating system that you are using. It can be installed through the Add/Remove Features wizard. For instructions on how to install this feature, see technet.
See the Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide for more information. The installer automatically performs the following operations: • • Configures the Windows MPIO service if Dell EqualLogic MPIO is installed. Adds configuration rules to the Windows firewall so that the Host Integration Tools can work properly. Update an Installation To update a HIT installation: 1. Double-click the downloaded Setup.exe file to start the installation wizard. 2. Select Modify and click Next. 3.
Install HIT on a Windows Server 2012 R2 Core Cluster Because Windows Server 2012 R2 Core does not provide a user interface, you can use a non-clustered Windows host with a regular GUI to help you easily and efficiently push parallel installations out to every cluster node. 1. Using the manual installation procedure described in Install Host Integration Tools for Microsoft, install the Host Integration Tools on a non-clustered Windows host with a regular user interface.
• Copy the Setup.exe and Setup64.exe installation files into a directory of your choice. Because you must specify this directory multiple times if you are adding several hosts for management or pushing out multiple installations, you can simplify the process by copying the installation files onto a network shared directory. (The default installation directory is C:\Program Files \EqualLogic\bin, so you can also place it there).
You can select the same installation options that the regular Windows installer allows. You can install MPIO alone because it does not require ASM/ME. If you install ASM/ME, then RSW and VSS, the ASMCLI will automatically be installed as well. If you do not specify these components, you will be prompted accordingly. To use a PowerShell script to install the Host Integration Tools, the following prerequisites must be met: • • • PowerShell version 2.0 or later is required.
Option Description ASM Auto-Snapshot Manager VDS Virtual Disk Service Provider MPIO Multipath I/O DSM (might require system reboot) PS PowerShell Tools HPC HPC iSCSI Provider (valid only on 64-bit servers) TRIM Volume rethinning driver (system reboot required) SMP Storage Management Provider for Windows 2012 or later To run the script for the first time: 1. Open a PowerShell window. 2. Navigate to the directory specified when the Host Integration Tools were installed on the local host.
• • To specify the network folder, see Specify the ASM/ME Backup Document Directory. To specify the login account, see Change the Logon Account for ASM/ME Services (EQLReqService and EqlASMAgent). Specify the ASM/ME Backup Document Directory To set or modify the ASM/ME Backup Document directory: 1. In ASM/ME, click Settings in the navigation area. 2. Click the General Settings tab. 3. Perform the following steps: • • Specify a directory for backup documents.
• During the installation process, installation messages from third-party products might be displayed, indicating what software is being installed. However, these messages do not interfere with the installation and can be ignored. The drive letter that you specify in the installation script is used on every computer on which you run the script. For example, if you specified F:\Eql in the script, then all of the other computers on which you run the script will attempt to install the kit on the F:\ drive.
To install all supported features to the default installation directory and specify a custom user name and password for the HIT services, enter the following command: Setup.exe /s /v/qn /V"/q ADDLOCAL=ALL IS_NET_API_LOGON_USERNAME=Domain\Administrator IS_NET_API_LOGON_PASSWORD=password" To install all supported features to the default installation directory on a 64-bit Windows system, enter the following command (if MPIO is being installed, the host might be rebooted): Setup64.
Figure 1. SharePoint Installation — Server Type Tab 4. Click the File Location tab. 5. Provide the path to the PS Series volume that contains the search indexes in the bottom field for the location of the search index files. For example, E:\SharePoint Indexes (See the following figure.) In this example, the E:\ drive is a PS Series volume that was created in advance and logged on the search host. The SharePoint Indexes directory was created to store the search indexes. Figure 2.
To resolve this problem: • • • Specify the file location during a new SharePoint installation (see Specify Index File Locations When Installing SharePoint). Uninstall and then reinstall SharePoint with the new default file location. NOTE: Make sure your farm can handle the temporary loss of a host, such as by setting up a redundant service application. Change the location of the different search files.
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN\ To see the current index location, enter: • stsadm.exe -o spsearch -action list To change the index location, enter: stsadm.exe -o spsearch -indexlocation "E:\SharePoint Indexes" Best Practices for SharePoint • • • • • 24 Dell recommends that you reinstall SharePoint on the application server and define the default index location as described in Specify Index File Locations When Installing SharePoint.
3 Remote Setup Wizard Remote Setup Wizard (RSW) allows you to initialize a PS Series array, either by creating a new PS Series group with the array as the first member, or having the array join an existing group. The wizard includes links to the ASM/ME GUI that enable you to: • • Configure PS Series group access to the computer Configure MPIO settings To install RSW, see Installation. The Host Integration Tools also include the Remote Setup Command Line Interface (RSWCLI).
• • Configure the computer to access a PS Series group (launches the Auto-Snapshot Manager GUI) Configure multipathing (MPIO) settings for the computer (launches the Auto-Snapshot Manager GUI) Launch RSW From ASM/ME 1. In the ASM/ME menu bar, click Launch. 2. Select Remote Setup Wizard. Initialize a PS Series Array Using RSW This section contains information on how to use RSW to initialize a PS Series array.
Prompt Description volumes from computers outside the local network). The default gateway must be on the same subnet as the Ethernet 0 network interface. RAID policy RAID policy configured on the first member of the group: • • • • RAID 6 — Of the total number of disks installed in the array, two disks are used for parity and one disk is a spare. The rest are data disks.
6. Select the Create a new group option, then click Next. 7. Typethe group information in the required fields, then click Next. 8. Click OK. The next screen displays a message stating that the array has been successfully initialized and the PS Series group has been created. 9. Click Finish to exit the wizard. • • Click View Log to view a summary of the array configuration. Click Next to configure additional arrays. NOTE: If a problem occurs during the RSW setup, see Troubleshoot RSW.
4 Remote Setup Command Line Utility The Remote Setup Command Line Utility (also referred to as the Remote Setup CLI or RSWCLI) provides an alternative to using the Remote Setup Wizard. You can perform the same set of operations provided by the Remote Setup Wizard, except that the setup and configuration tasks are performed through commands executed at a Windows command prompt instead of the wizard. When you install the Remote Setup Wizard, the Remote Setup CLI is also installed.
Using RSWCLI Commands The RSWCLI executable is located under the default installation folder, or the folder that you specified for HIT during installation. The default folder is: C:\Program Files\EqualLogic\bin You execute a command by starting the Windows Server command prompt: 1. Click Start → Run. 2. Type cmd. 3. In the command window, you can change the directory to C:\Program Files\EqualLogic\bin or add the RSWCLI commands folder to your path by editing your Windows PATH environment variable.
Parameter Argument Description you must also enter the ‑GroupName and ‑GroupIP command parameters. SerialNumber= serial number Designates the serial number of the PS Series array to be initialized. Use either this option or the ServiceTag option, but not both. ServiceTag= service tag number Designates the service tag number of the PS Series array to be initialized. Use either this option or the SerialNumber option, but not both.
All parameters are optional. If no parameters are entered for this command, the current values for all parameters are listed. The command syntax is as follows: rswcli -MPIOParameters -MaxSessionsPerVolumeSlice=1-4 -MaxSessionsPerEntireVolume=1-12 -DefaultLoadBalancing=LQD|RR|FO -UseMPIOForSnapshots=yes|no -UseIPv4 | -UseIPv6 -ClearDeviceLBPolicy -MinAdapterSpeed=100|1000|10000 (as Mbps) The following table describes the command parameters. Table 8.
Include a Subnet or Adapter for Use by MPIO By default, all subnets, adapters, and IP addresses accessible to the group start out in the included list. Use the rswcli ‑MPIOInclude command to include a subnet, adapter, or IP address for use by MPIO, or to move a subnet, adapter, or IP address from the excluded list to the included list. If the subnet, adapter MAC address, or IP address defined by these arguments is already in the included subnet, adapter, or IP address list, the command will fail.
Use the rswcli ‑MPIOExclude command to exclude a subnet, adapter, or IP address from use by MPIO, or to move a subnet, IP address, or adapter from the included list to the excluded list. If the subnet, adapter MAC address, or IP address defined by these arguments is already in the excluded subnet, adapter MAC address, or IP address list, the command will fail.
5 Using the Multipath I/O Component The Dell EqualLogic Multipath I/O (MPIO) DSM (Device Specific Module) enables you to configure redundant network paths from a Windows computer to PS Series volumes for high availability and high-performance SAN data traffic.
Figure 3. Multipath I/O Configuration The table below describes the callouts in the above figure. Number Callout Description 1 eqldsm.sys or dcdsm.sys - kernel mode driver (performs I/O path selection and error handling) 2 EHCMservice.exe user mode service (manages iSCSI sessions), and DC-HAService.
• • Example B—You have one 10Gb host NIC, and are connecting to a volume on members with four 1Gb Ethernet ports. The optimal number of sessions is four per member, because that number will saturate the member Ethernet ports. Example C—You have two 10Gb host NICs, and are connecting to a volume on members with one 10Gb Ethernet port. The optional number of sessions is one per member, because that number will saturate the member Ethernet ports. 2. Apply any user-configured session limits.
Prompt Description Max sessions per volume slice For volumes that span multiple group members, you can specify the maximum sessions permitted for a volume per group member. Select a value in the range 1-4. Max sessions per entire volume For volumes that span multiple group members, you can specify the maximum session permitted for the volume. Select a value in the range 1-12, where the value is greater than or equal to the value of the max sessions per volume slice.
Log Off a Volume With Multipath I/O on Variants of Windows Operating Systems To log off a volume with multiple connections when using other Windows variants, you must select and log out of each connection session as follows: 1. Click the Targets tab, select the target, then click Details. The Target Properties dialog box opens. 2. Click the Sessions tab. 3. Select all sessions and click LogOff.
Figure 4. MPIO Properties Tab in the iSCSI Initiator The MPIO properties tab also provides the information shown in the following table. Table 13. MPIO Log Data Column Title Data Description Source IP TCP/IP address of the link source device. This address is the NIC or HBA installed in the computer that accesses an iSCSI volume. Target Name of the iSCSI volume that is the target of the link. When MPIO is configured, you will see multiple links.
• Ability to change the MPIO settings. Click the button to open the ASM/ME GUI directly to the MPIO Settings screen. For detailed information about what you can change, see Setting MPIO Properties in the Dell EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft Edition User’s Guide. Set the MPIO Load-Balancing Policy When you have configured multiple data pathways, it is appropriate to configure MPIO DSM to balance data traffic loads across the pathways.
Figure 5.
6 Use the VDS Provider The Dell EqualLogic Virtual Disk Service (VDS) provider enables you to use VDS version 1.1 and Storage Manager for SANs to create and manage volumes in a PS Series group.
A target’s iSCSI name and friendly name is based on the LUN name for ease of use. Because the LUN name is not specified at LUN creation time, the VDS provider delays setting these target names to allow the creator to first set a more descriptive LUN name. Dell recommends that VDS clients set the friendly name before querying the target properties so that the desired friendly name can be used in the target name.
Because of the way it gathers storage information, the Storage Manager for SANs application incorrectly reports the total capacity and used space of a PS Series group. Use the Group Manager GUI to obtain accurate free space information. You can also use the Provision Storage Wizard (found within Storage Manager for SANs), which reports the size of actual storage space available on the group as the maximum volume size.
7 Use SCVMM With the Dell EqualLogic SMP This release of the Host Integration Tools supports the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM, or VMM) 2012 SP1, 2012 R2 and 2016. The scope of this chapter is limited to essential storage management tasks in VMM with the Dell EqualLogic Storage Management Provider (SMP) for PS Series storage. Using ASM/ME, you can create Smart Copies and collections of rapid-provisioned VMs created by SCVMM.
separate Run As account to manage SMP. Refer to the Microsoft SCVMM documentation regarding correct setup of the service login account. 2. In the SCVMM server GUI, configure PowerShell/SMP access (PS Authentication). 3. Use the SCVMM Command Shell (SCVMM PowerShell environment) and run the Import-SCStorageProvider command. Alternatively, import SMP using the SCVMM Console GUI. See Import the SMP through the SCVMM GUI. Create a Classification for Dell EqualLogic Storage Resources 1.
Figure 7. Gather Information Screen 6. Select one or more pools on the configured groups that you intend to use for provisioning storage in SCVMM, then click Next. (See the following figure.) Figure 8. Select Storage Devices Screen 7. Confirm the configuration on the Summary screen, then click Finish (See the following figure.
Figure 9. Summary Screen When the Dell EqualLogic SMP is successfully added, the PS Series groups open in the Arrays view (click Fabric → Storage → Arrays in the bottom-left pane). Continue with Configure Group Access on Managed Hosts and Clusters. Configure PS Series Groups 1. In the SCVMM Console GUI, right-click a PS Series group in the Arrays view (click Fabric, then Storage → Arrays) and open the Properties dialog box. 2. In the Properties dialog box (see figure below), click the Storage Pools tab.
3. Confirm that the EqualLogic classification is displayed in the Classification view (click Fabric, then Storage, then Classification and Pools). 4. Continue with the following topic,Configure Group Access on Managed Hosts and Clusters. Configure Group Access on Managed Hosts and Clusters SCVMM does not automatically configure or maintain iSCSI discovery target portal settings on managed hosts based on the provider and PS Series group configuration on SMP.
Figure 12. Create New iSCSI Session Screen 3. Confirm that the PS Series group was added (see figure below), then click OK. Figure 13. Confirm Array Screen 4. Continue with the following topic, Configure Storage for VM Rapid Provisioning. Configure Storage for VM Rapid Provisioning SMP supports VM Rapid Provisioning through the use of thin clones of template volumes. Before performing rapid provisioning operations: 1. Expand the Storage node and select Arrays. 2.
Figure 14. Storage Array Settings Screen The other setting—Clone logical units—will result in creating regular (fully provisioned) clones of the template volume, and is not recommended for rapid provisioning using SMP in SCVMM because it will not scale. The Storage Array Settings apply to individual PS Series groups and are not a global configuration for SMP. 4. Click OK to close the Properties panel. Create a VM Template for the Library Share 1.
6. Use the VHD on the volume to create a VM template. You can explore the discovered VHDs in the Library Servers (click Library workspace → Library Servers → Server or Share). See the following figure. Figure 16. Library Servers in VMM Screen If configured correctly, when you open the library host, the discovered VHD opens to show a Yes in the property field labeled SAN Copy Capable.
Figure 18. VM Templates View Screen 5. To create a VM from the new template, right-click the template, then select Create Virtual Machine as shown in the following figure. Figure 19. Create Virtual Machine Menu Option Screen 6. In the Specify Virtual Machine Identity screen of the Create Virtual Machine wizard, specify a VM name and, optionally, a description, then click Next. 7. In the Select Host screen, select the host to use as the target for VM deployment, then click Next.
8. Verify that the new VM is available in the VMs and Services view under a particular host, cluster, or private cloud. For more information about VM deployment, see the Microsoft SCVMM documentation. 9. Continue with the following procedure, Migrate the Rapid-Provisioned VMs. Migrate the Rapid-Provisioned VMs 1. In the VMs and Services workspace view, right-click the VM and select Migrate Virtual Machine. 2.
Figure 22. Migrate VM Wizard—Rating Explanation Tab 3. Continue with the remaining screens in the wizard. If the migration is successful, the VM is displayed under the target host in the VMs and Services workspace view. For more information about VM migration, see the Microsoft SCVMM documentation. Migrate Storage of a Deployed VM to Another Location You can migrate the storage of a deployed VM from a CSV volume to a different CSV volume, or from a non-CSV volume to a CSV volume. 1.
3. Review the selected settings, then click Move to complete the operation. Troubleshoot SCVMM Issues SCVMM relies on storage providers such as SMP when performing storage provisioning tasks. When using SMP, loss of connectivity to the managed PS groups might adversely affect these operations. Note that connectivity has to be ensured on the SCVMM management host as well as on all managed hosts or clusters involved in provisioning tasks using SMP.
Cmdlet Description Get-StorageSubSystem Retrieves storage subsystem information. Reports group information as well as features supported in EqualLogic provider implementation.
8 Use the HPC iSCSI Provider Microsoft supports iSCSI storage in its High-Performance Compute Cluster software, HPC Server. iSCSI support allows HPC nodes to boot from iSCSI volumes, and allows the HPC server to provision those volumes. To enable this support, a vendor-specific HPC iSCSI Provider is required. This version of the Host Integration Tools includes this provider.
Setting Default Value Description the volume. For base volumes, the minimum volume reserve cannot be less than 10 percent. Difference Volume Provisioning 0%, 80%, 100% These parameters have the same effect as the base volume provisioning parameters, but apply to differencing volumes. Create new volumes with open ACLs no Normally the HPC server maps a volume to a given node, which causes an ACL to be set on the volume.
9 Tools and Utilities The Host Integration Toolkit includes utilities that can be run by administrators. NOTE: If the Host Integration Kit is installed with the capability to import EqualLogic volumes to a PowerStore array, see the Appendix ImportKit-CLI for Windows in the Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide.
• • • • -h -o -c -v Display this message Overwrite existing destination files Compare source and destination files after copy Verbose output 4. To copy file1.zip to a new file called file2.zip, enter the command: eqlxcp e:\file1.zip e:\file2.zip EqlLog Utility The Host Integration Tools kit includes a debug trace logging utility, EqlLog, that collects HIT trace logs, VSS logs, VDS logs, cluster logs, install logs, event logs, Setup API logs, backup documents, and MSInfo output.
Option Description --no-vss Do not collect VSS logs. --no-vds Do not collect VDS logs. --no-cluster Do not collect cluster logs. --no-install Do not collect HIT installer logs. --no-event Do not collect Windows event logs. --no-registry Do not collect registry settings. --no-ehcm Do not collect EHCM diagnostic report. --no-explorer Do not launch Windows Explorer when log collection is complete.
1. From the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator. 2. In the command window, change the directory to: C:\Program Files\EqualLogic\bin 3. Enter the command eqlrethin to display the syntax for the utility. EqualLogic Volume Re-Thinning Utility Usage: EqlRethin [OPTION] volume0 [volumeN]...
Index Special Characters .
group (continued) multipath requirements 37 H HBA finding information 39 support considerations 37 HIT application support for backup and restore operations Exchange Server 2010 SP3 RU 12 10 CD-ROM installation kit download 12 components Dell EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft Edition (ASM/ME), See ASM/ME HPC iSCSI Provider 9 Multipath I/O DSM (MPIO DSM) 8 Remote Setup Wizard, See RSW Remote Setup Wizard Command Line Utility , See RSWCLI EqlLog command line options 62 utility 62 EqlLog utility over
modify (continued) access controls 44 MPIO excluded subnet IPv4 37 minimum adapter speed 38 optimal number of sessions 36 snapshots 38 volume log off 39 MPIO DSM CHAP credentials 37 configuring LAN 37 device specific module 35 ehcm.
RSW (continued) initialize an array 28 launch 26 launch on the host 25 PS Series array initialize 26 PS Series Array RSW initialization requirements 26 PS Series Array initialization requirements 26 PS Series group requirements 25 troubleshoot array initialization failure 28 uninitialized arrays search 26 uninitialized arraysuninitialized arrays discovery 26 Windows system requirements 25 RSWCLI bin folder 30 command syntax 29 commands help 29 discover an uninitialized array 30 entering commands 30 exclude
uninitialized arrays discover 30 uninstall HIT component 14 V VDS create a volume 44 guidelines 43 requirements 43 restrictions 43 Volumes in Group Manager 43 VDS Provider 8 VHD create a VM template 53 enable for SAN operations 57 Virtual Desk Service, See VDS VM enable template for SAN operations 57 rapid provisioning 51 VM template create for the Library Share 52 VMM 46 volume log off with MPIO 39 log on with MPIO MPIO DSM log on volume 38 rethinning disable the SCSI unmap support 63 rethinning driver 20
