Table Of Contents
Operating Service Networks
Managing Operations—Basic Workflow
Understanding Operations
Logical Versus Physical Resources
Service Network and Logical Element States
Service Network Configuration
Service Network Verification
Operations Control
Scheduled Operations
Network Settings
Server Group Policies
Notifications and Alarms
Operating a Service Network—Scenario
Configure Your Servers
Test Your Service Network
Deploy Your Service Network
Monitor and Maintain Your Service Network
Working with Operations
Configuring Servers
Testing Service Network Deployment
Deploying Service Networks
Stopping Service Networks
Stopping ESX Servers
Verifying Service Networks
Creating Virtual Machines
Releasing Service Network Resources
Monitoring Operations
Using LUNs Dynamically
Dynamic NAS LUNs
Dynamic SAN LUNs
Dynamic ESX Port Group LUNs
Dynamic ESX VMFS LUNs
Defining Service Network Policies
Scheduling Operations
Defining Network Settings
Defining Server Settings
Defining Server Count
Defining Load-Based Rules
Defining Monitoring and Trend Policies
Defining Notifications for Alarms
Defining Alarms
Troubleshooting Operations
Operations Reference
Operations Tab
Start Network Dialog Box
Verify Service Network Dialog Box
History Dialog Box
Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box
Server Group - Servers Dialog Box
Server Properties Dialog Box
Server LUN and Path Selection Dialog Box
Confirmation Dialog Box
Logs Tab
Verification Results Tab
Configuration Results Tab
Alarms Tab
Logical Element Fault State Machine Reference
Logical Server Fault State Machines
Logical Network Fault State Machines
Logical Network Services Fault State Machines
Logical Storage Fault State Machines
Operating Service Networks
Operations includes setting up, deploying, and monitoring the service networks that have been designed.
This chapter provides detailed information about setting up and deploying your service network, and includes the following sections:
•
Managing Operations—Basic Workflow
•
Understanding Operations
•
Operating a Service Network—Scenario
•
Working with Operations
•
Troubleshooting Operations
•
Operations Reference
Managing Operations—Basic Workflow
Table 14-1 is an overview of the steps you take to set up and deploy a service network in VFrame.
Understanding Operations
Operations include deploying and un-deploying service networks and creating policies that help to maintain optimal performance of your service network. This section helps you understand operations, and includes the following topics:
•
Logical Versus Physical Resources
•
Service Network and Logical Element States
•
Service Network Configuration
•
Operations Control
Logical Versus Physical Resources
In VFrame, you create service network templates, which are used to design service networks. The components that make up service network templates and service networks are called elements. Elements are logical representations of components and links within your service network. Elements are components, such as Firewall Services Modules, switches, server groups, links, ports, and so on.
Designing a service network is the process of assigning physical resources and defining specific information about the elements in the service network.
When you prepare a service network for deployment, you create logical elements. logical elements, such as logical servers, are devices that have been allocated, imaged, and configured, but have not yet been deployed.
When you deploy a service network, VFrame acquires physical resources to run the logical elements you have included in your service network. Physical resources are the actual devices that are configured to run your service network.
Service Network and Logical Element States
Table 14-2 describes operational states of service networks and their logical elements.
Table 14-2 Service Network and Logical Element States
State
|
Description
|
Deployable
|
Service network must be in the Deployable state for any operation to be taken on the service network. When in this state, the service network has been successfully validated and is ready to be deployed.
At this point, you can either schedule to deploy or manually deploy the service network.
|
Acquiring Resources
|
A service network enters this state when attempting to gather the physical and logical resources it needs to run. As soon as it enters this state, the service network notifies all of its logical elements to also enter the Acquiring Resources state. Each logical element continues to reflect its own state during the acquisition process. When all logical elements have successfully acquired physical resources, the service network enters the Resources Acquired state; otherwise, it enters the Acquisition Failed state.
|
Resources Acquired
|
A logical element enters this state when VFrame successfully obtains all the physical and logical resources required for a particular logical element. It saves these mappings and places the logical element in the Resources Acquired state; otherwise, the logical element enters the Acquisition Failed state.
A service network enters this state when all essential logical elements have entered the Resources Acquired state. It is possible for a service network to enter the Resources Acquired state, while one of its logical elements remains in the Acquisition Failed state. This can happen when a particular logical element is not required for the service network to run.
The physical resources are now ready to be configured to run the service network. The service network automatically proceeds to the Configuring state.
|
Acquisition Failed
|
If a particular logical element fails to acquire the physical resources it needs, it enters the Acquisition Failed state. If this logical element is essential for the service network to function, the service network also enters the Acquisition Failed state. This can occur, for example, when the service network has only one logical element in it or when the failure of a logical element puts the number of logical elements of that type below the minimum required for the service network to function.
From this state, you can stop the service network. In addition, if a schedule is associated with the service network, and the time comes to stop the service network, the service network transitions to the Release state.
|
Configuring
|
A service network enters this state while configuring the physical resources to run the mapped logical elements. Each of the logical elements also enters a Configuring state.
|
Configured
|
The configuration generation failed for an element in a service network due to an application error, so the configuration is terminated. This state applies only to non-server elements. You can un-deploy the network from this state.
|
Configuration Failed
|
This state indicates a failure in configuring a physical resource to run its mapped logical element. The service network enters this state if any of its essential logical elements enters this state.
If the failed logical element is a server, you can stop the server without affecting the service network.
If the logical network is in this state, you can stop the service network.
|
Running
|
The service network and all its essential logical elements are in the Running state. It is possible for a service network to enter the Running state while a server remains in the Configuration Failed state.
|
Failure While Running
|
A service network in the Running state enters the Failure While Running state when it detects a fault in an essential logical element or when a verification operation returns a critical fault.
|
Service Network Element Error
|
(Servers only.) A server enters this state whenever it misses the specified number of consecutive heartbeats within the specified time frame.
For information about specifying server heartbeats and time frames, see Server Settings and Defining Server Settings.
|
Configuring (For Maintenance)
|
When you place any of the essential logical elements in maintenance mode, the logical element and service network enter the Configuring (For Maintenance) state.
Some logical elements require configuration of an associated physical resources for it to enter the Maintenance state. These logical elements have macros attached to them to perform configuration changes when a Maintenance event occurs. For example, a server might require an associated load balancer to be reconfigure not to direct traffic to it while it is in a Maintenance state. In this case, the load balancer enters the Configuring (For Maintenance) state.
If logical elements are successfully configured for maintenance, they, as well as the service network, enter the Maintenance state. The other resources that were configured for maintenance enter the Running state.
|
Maintenance
|
A service network enters a Maintenance state when any of the logical elements transition to the Maintenance state.
A scheduled operation (such as start, stop, or verify) has no affect on a service network in the Maintenance state. This prevents any maintenance operation from being interrupted.
|
Configuration (For Maintenance) Failed
|
A service network enters the Configuration (For Maintenance) Failed state whenever any of its essential logical elements enter this state.
You can stop or schedule to stop a service network when it is in this state.
|
Configuration (For Maintenance) Failed on Other
|
Some logical elements require configuration of an associated logical element for it to enter the Maintenance state. The logical element that initiates the Maintenance event is referred to as the source. The associated logical element that needs to be configured for the source logical element to enter the Maintenance state is referred to as the target.
A source logical element enters this state when configuration fails on its target logical elements. The target logical elements and the service network enter the Configuration (For Maintenance) Failed on Element state.
To clear this state, do one of the following:
• Clear the status of the error: Choose the logical element, the Configuration tab, and then the error, and then click Clear Status. The logical element and service network go back to their previous states.
• Stop the network.
|
Configuration (For Maintenance) Failed on Element
|
Some logical elements require configuration of another logical element for it to enter the Maintenance state. The logical element that initiates the Maintenance event is referred to as the source. The other logical element is referred to as the target.
A target logical element enters this state when it fails to be configured for maintenance.
To clear this state, do one of the following:
• Clear the status of the error: Choose the logical element, in the lower left pane of the Operations tab, then click the Configuration Results tab, and then the error. Then click Clear Status. The logical element and service network go back to their previous states.
• Stop the network.
|
Configuring (For Exiting Maintenance)
|
A service network enters this state when any of its essential logical elements enter this state. A logical element enters this state when it needs to make configuration changes on an associated physical resource to return it to a Running state. Logical elements that do not require this type of configuration change skip this state.
When a service network or logical element successfully completes the configuration changes necessary to resume operation, it returns to the Running state.
|
Configuration (For Exiting Maintenance) Failed
|
A service network enters this state when any of its essential logical elements enters this state.
You can stop or schedule to stop a service network when it is in this state.
|
Configuration (For Exiting Maintenance) Failed on Other
|
Some logical elements require configuration of another logical element for it to exit the Maintenance state. The logical element that initiates Exit Maintenance event is referred to as the source. The logical element that needs to be configured for the source logical element to exit the Maintenance state is referred to as the target.
A source logical element enters this state when configuration fails on target logical elements. The target logical elements and the service network enter the Configuration (For Exiting Maintenance) Failed on Element state.
To clear this state, do one of the following:
• Clear the status of the error: Choose the logical element, in the lower left pane of the Operations tab, then click the Configuration Results tab, and then the error. Then click Clear Status. The logical element and service network go back to their previous states.
• Stop the network.
|
Configuration (For Exiting Maintenance) Failed on Element
|
A logical element enters this state when it fails to be configured for exiting maintenance.
To clear this state, do one of the following:
• Clear the status of the error: Choose the logical element, in the lower left pane of the Operations tab, then click the Configuration Results tab, and then the error. Then click Clear Status. The logical element and service network go back to their previous states.
• Stop the network.
|
Configuring (For Incremental Change)
|
A service network enters this state whenever an incremental change needs to be made to any of its essential logical elements. For example, a load balancer configuration might need to be changed when a server is added to the service network. In this case, the load balancer and the service network enter the Configuring (For Incremental Change) state.
When a service network or logical element successfully completes the configuration changes necessary for incremental change, it returns to the Running state.
|
Configuration (For Incremental Change) Failed
|
A service network enters this state when any of its essential logical elements enters this state.
You can stop or schedule to stop a service network when it is in this state.
|
Configuring (For Server Start)
|
A logical element enters this state when a Start Server event triggers configuration macros to be run on it.
|
Server Start Failed
|
(Servers only.) A server enters this state after it is successfully acquired and configured, but it or the logical elements surrounding it fail to be configured successfully.
|
Configuration (For Server Start) Failed
|
A logical element enters this state after entering the Configuring (For Server Start) state and failing to be successfully configured.
|
Removing Configuration (For Server Stop)
|
A logical element enters this state after entering the ConfigFailedForServerState state and receiving a Stop Server event.
|
Removing Configuration (For Server Stop) Failed
|
A logical element enters this state after entering the Removing Configuration (For Server Stop) state and failing to remove its configuration. If successful, it enters the Running state.
|
Server Initiated Maintenance
|
(Windows servers only.) A Windows server enters this state when it reboots. After successfully rebooting, it enters the Running state.
|
Removing Configuration
|
A service network enters this state when a user or schedule stops the service network from a Running or Maintenance state. Each of its logical elements also enters the Removing Configuration state while it removes any configuration that was done to set up the logical element on the physical resource.
|
Completed Removing Configuration
|
A logical element enters this state after successfully removing any configuration that was done to set up the logical element on the physical resource.
A service network enters this state when all logical elements have entered this state.
|
Removing Configuration Failed
|
A logical element enters this state when it is unsuccessful at removing any configuration that was done to set up the logical element on the physical resource.
A service network enters this state when all logical elements have entered this state.
|
Removing Configuration (Due To Error)
|
A logical element enters this state when it experiences a failure or an error, and then VFrame issues a Un-deploy Network event or you manually stop the network.
|
Completed Removing Configuration (Due To Error) Failed
|
A logical element enters this state after entering the Removing Configuration (Due To Error) state and failing to remove its configuration.
|
Completed Removing Configuration (Due To Error)
|
A logical element enters this state after entering the Removing Configuration (Due To Error) state and successfully removing its configuration.
|
Releasing Resources
|
A service network enters the Releasing Resources state when all of its logical elements have entered the Completed Removing Configuration state. When this happens, all resources associated with the logical elements are released, and consequently, they also transition to an appropriate release state.
Logical elements enter this state while releasing all their associated physical and logical resources.
|
Releasing (Due To Error)
|
A service network enters this state in any of the following situations:
• A user or schedule stops the service network from an error state, such as Failed, Configuration Failed, or Configuring (For Incremental Change) Failed.
• Any of its logical elements enters the Removing Configuration Failed state.
When either of these situations happen, all physical resources associated with the logical elements are released in error, and consequently, they also transition to the ReleaseDueToError state.
A logical element enters this state when it is stopped either manually or at a scheduled time while it is in a configuration error state. The Releasing (Due To Error) state implies that VFrame was unable to remove completely the configuration from the physical resource.
|
Deployment Blocked
|
A service network enters this state if any of its essential logical elements enter this state. In this case, the service network releases all logical elements and physical resources.
You cannot deploy a service network when it is in this state; however, you can configure VFrame to ignore errors and transition to the Deployable state. You can also fix the errors on affected logical elements, which prompts the logical elements to transition to the Deployable state and the service network to transition to the Deployable state.
|
Service Network Configuration
When a configuration change is made, VFrame captures the configuration of the physical resource before and after the change. VFrame maintains a limited number of configurations, and older configurations are removed when new ones are uploaded.
If the device configuration uploaded before and after a configuration state change is made, you can view the difference in the device configuration caused by the VFrame action. You can also view the latest configuration of a physical resource if VFrame is the only management application configuring the physical resource.
Service Network Verification
Service network verification compares the initial configuration that VFrame deployed with the configuration running on the device. Verification checks all system-defined configuration changes and any user-defined macros that are associated with Verify events.
Any changes are reported as errors. If you want errors to be automatically corrected, select the Auto Correct Detected Changes option. This applies to all system actions and any user-defined macros that are designed with the capability to perform corrections. For more information about designing macros to perform auto correction, see Macro Design Concepts, page 11-9.
Operations Control
VFrame enables you to control the operation of your service network and the elements within it. You can schedule when to deploy or un-deploy a service network, set the server count, and set up policies that specify when or under what conditions to start or stop a server. You can also configure e-mail notifications if faults of a specific priority level are logged.
VFrame uses the management VLAN to stop service networks and servers. So, it is important to have the management VLAN set up properly.
This section provides detailed information about controlling operations, and includes the following topics:
•
Scheduled Operations
•
Network Settings
•
Server Group Policies
•
Monitoring and Trend Policies
•
Notifications and Alarms
Scheduled Operations
Scheduled operations are start, stop, and verification operations that occur at defined times for the opened service network. You can specify what time the operation should occur and whether it should be repeated.
For information about configuring these settings, see Scheduling Operations.
Network Settings
You can define a network setting, which affects all devices in your service network.
You can choose to upload device configuration settings after a configuration operation has completed. This information is used in the Diff operation to compare configuration settings before and after a configuration change.
For information about configuring this settings, see Defining Network Settings.
Server Group Policies
Server group policies maintain an optimum number of servers for your service network at any given time. This section provides server group policy information, and includes the following topics:
•
Server Settings
•
Server Count
•
Load-Based Rules
•
Monitoring and Trend Policies
Server Settings
You specify server settings to tell VFrame the number of minutes to allow for a server to boot. You can also set the number of consecutive heartbeats to allow a server to miss before VFrame marks a server as failed and remaps it to a different physical server and the number of times a server may fail within a specific time frame before the server is marked in error. This failure count is for logical servers, not physical servers.
Note
All deployed servers must be configured to do a PXE boot request.
Remapping occurs when a logical server is successfully started, and then fails while it is in the Running state. VFrame stops the failed logical server and starts the same logical server on a different physical server. If an error occurs while the logical server is attempting to start, it enters the Configuration Failed state until you stop the logical server or the service network.
For information about configuring these settings, see Defining Server Settings.
Server Count
You can configure a default server count, which is in effect whenever the service network is running and no other rule is in effect. You can also create server count rules that specify the maximum, minimum, and target number of servers for a service network during specified times.
VFrame applies the first server count rule that matches the current time. If none match, it applies the default server count settings.
The maximum, minimum, and target number of servers are defined as follows:
•
Maximum—The network must not have more than the maximum number of servers running. If the running server count is above the maximum number, VFrame logs an error and tries to stop enough servers to bring the count down to the maximum number.
•
Minimum—The network must have at least the minimum number of servers running. If the running server count falls below this number, VFrame logs an alarm and tries to start enough servers to bring the count back up to the minimum number.
•
Target—The network should have at least the target number of server running. If the running server count falls below the target number, VFrame logs a warning and tries to start enough servers to bring the count back up to the target number. If the running server count is above the target number, no action is taken.
When applying server counts, if the server count is below the target number, VFrame starts as many servers as needed to bring the count up to the target number. However, if the server count is above the target number, VFrame functions differently. VFrame stops servers only if the count is above the maximum number, and it stops only enough servers to bring the server count down to the maximum number, not to the target number.
Note
The default server count is not in effect when a service network is in maintenance mode.
For information about configuring these settings, see Defining Server Count.
Load-Based Rules
Load-based rules specify thresholds for average memory and CPU utilization during specified times. They also define what action VFrame should take if one of those thresholds is exceeded. The actions are to start or stop a server.
For time- and load-based rules, VFrame evaluates all policies that match. Then it performs the action that has the most matches. For example, if six rules match with start server actions and three rules match with stop server actions, VFrame starts one server, because there are more matches with start server actions.
VFrame waits the number of minutes you specify in the default load-based rules settings whenever repeating an identical load rule action because rules matched. So, if VFrame already started one server based on a load rule, it will wait the number of minutes indicated before starting another server based on load rules.
Note
The wait time is the minimum interval between two load-based actions of the same type (for example, both server start or server stop actions). It does not matter whether the same rules applied in both cases or not.
You can define load-based policies to monitor memory or CPU usage and start another server whenever the percentage of usage for any number of running servers exceeds the percentage indicated for the number of monitoring intervals specified. For example, you can set the CPU usage to 90 percent for three servers for five monitoring intervals. If VFrame finds that the CPU usage for three servers is at 90 percent or greater for five monitoring intervals, it adds a server.
Similarly, you can define load-based policies to monitor memory or CPU usage and stop a running server whenever the percentage of usage for any number of running servers falls below the percentage indicated for the specified number of monitoring intervals. For example, you can set the CPU usage to 20 percent for two servers for five monitoring intervals. If VFrame finds that the CPU usage for two servers is at or below 20 percent for five monitoring intervals, it will stop a running server.
Similar to default policies, when VFrame adds a server, the same constraints apply. VFrame can only start another server if one is allocated and available. A server is started based on load rules only if the running server count is below the maximum number, and a server is stopped based on load rules only if the running server count is above the target number.
For information about configuring these settings, see Defining Load-Based Rules.
Monitoring and Trend Policies
Monitoring and trend policies define time intervals for VFrame to poll servers in the selected server group for specified data. You specify the type of data, which is grouped into these four categories: system, interface, HBA ports, and NFS statistics.
Valid polling intervals are between 1 minute and 2 hours. Data is used to generate logical server trend reports. For details, see Generating Logical Server Reports, page 16-8.
For information about configuring these settings, see Defining Monitoring and Trend Policies.
Notifications and Alarms
VFrame defines several fault state machines to track the status of various types of resources, both virtual and physical. In operations, you manage fault state machines for logical elements. For information about managing fault state machines for physical resources, see Managing Fault Alarms, page 15-1.
Each fault state machine includes a set of states. Whenever a resource enters or leaves a state, VFrame issues a fault alarm. You can configure the fault alarm to be one of four priority levels: fatal, error, warning, and informational. For each level, you can also configure e-mail notifications to be sent out. For details about setting fault alarm priority and e-mail notifications, see Defining Notifications for Alarms.
Notification settings specified for a service network automatically apply to all logical elements within the service network. For example, if you set an e-mail notification for faults with an Info priority level at the network level, whenever any of the logical elements log a fault with Info priority level, e-mail notifications are sent.
Operating a Service Network—Scenario
This scenario builds upon the service network template you created in Chapter 11, "Designing Templates" and the service network you designed in Chapter 13, "Designing Service Networks." The template is based on a sample network design in which you have a switch with a CSM connected in single subnet (bridge) mode to a group of servers, as shown in Figure 11-12.
This scenario assumes that the VFrame administrator has already completed all of the prerequisites for creating a service network template and created the CSM service network template. For details on these prerequisites, see Creating a Service Network Template—Scenario, page 11-33. In addition, the default service network policies will be used for this scenario. For details about service network policies, see Operations Control.
This scenario assumes that you have done the following:
•
Created the CSM template as described in Creating a Service Network Template—Scenario, page 11-33.
•
Created the CSM service network as described in Chapter 13, "Designing Service Networks."
This section provides a scenario for operating a service network, and includes the following topics:
•
Configure Your Servers
•
Test Your Service Network
•
Deploy Your Service Network
•
Monitor and Maintain Your Service Network
Configure Your Servers
To run your service network, you need to create and image your servers. This scenario assumes you are using NFS storage, so LUN paths do not need to be defined.
Before You Begin
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
Open the desired service network.
Step 3
In the Opened Service Network selector, right-click the desired server group element and select New Servers.
Step 4
In the Number of Logical servers field, enter the number of servers to create and click OK. For this scenario, enter 3 as the number of servers.
As the servers are created, their names and states appear below the server group, and they enter the Ready For Imaging state.
Step 5
Right-click the first server and select Image Servers. Repeat this step for each server.
Tip
To select multiple servers, select the first server, and then hold down the Shift key while selecting additional servers. To image multiple servers, click the Actions drop-down menu and select Image Servers.
After the servers are imaged, they enter the Deployable state.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Server Properties Dialog Box
Test Your Service Network
Before you deploy your service network, it is a good idea to perform a test run. Doing a test run starts virtual tasks without actually acquiring or configuring resources.
Before You Begin
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click the Open button.
Step 3
Click the Deploy button.
Step 4
Click the Dry run radio button and click OK.
Step 5
Review the information in the following tabs for information about your test:
•
Logs tab—Displays log entries for every operation that VFrame performed for the opened service network. For detailed reference information, see Logs Tab.
•
Acquired Resources tab—Displays resources, such as devices and IP addresses, that have been acquired for your service network.
•
Verification Results tab—Displays details about the verification operation actions performed for the opened service network. For detailed reference information, see Verification Results Tab.
•
Configuration Results tab—Displays details about the configuration operation actions performed for the opened service network. For detailed reference information, see Configuration Results Tab.
•
Alarm tab—Displays details about the alarms detected by your service network. For detailed reference information, see Alarms Tab.
Step 6
Correct any errors and rerun the test until you are confident in the results.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Verification Results Tab
Deploy Your Service Network
After you have configured and tested your service network, you can deploy your service network.
Before You Begin
•
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click on the Open button.
Step 3
Click on the Deploy button.
Step 4
Click the Run deployment now radio button.
Step 5
Optionally, you can select the Stop on Error check box. If a configuration error occurs during startup, an error is generated and the network is stopped. Left unchecked, the network continues to run while in the error state so that you can locate and correct the error. To implement the correction, you must undeploy and redeploy the network.
Step 6
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Scheduled Operations
Monitor and Maintain Your Service Network
After your service network has been deployed successfully, you need to monitor it to make sure that it continues to operate as expected. You might also need to perform maintenance operations, such as upgrading device OS versions, replacing failing devices, or placing logical servers in Maintenance mode.
Following are some suggestions for monitoring and maintaining your service network:
•
Periodically review the alarms status. You can display details about the alarms detected by your service network in the Alarms tab. From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click the Alarms tab. For detailed reference information, see Alarms Tab.
•
Set up automatic e-mail notifications for alarms. Alarms and notifications are defined separately; however, they work together. When an alarm reaches a specified severity, a notification can be sent to a recipient via e-mail.
You can configure e-mail notifications for alarms based on the alarm severity. Although each alarm has a default severity, you can modify the severity to suit your notification requirements; changing the severity does not affect how the system responds to the faults. For details on setting up automatic e-mail notifications for alarms, see Defining Alarms and Defining Notifications for Alarms.
•
Periodically review the Verification Results tab. You can display details about the verification operations performed for the service network. From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click the Verification Results tab. For detailed reference information, see Verification Results Tab.
•
When necessary, launch the device manager of a particular device to determine its status or troubleshoot a problem. Depending on your location in VFrame, you can launch a device manager for a physical device or a logical server:
–
To launch a device manager to access the physical device, from the Resources or Pools tab, right-click a device and select Device Manager. Then choose an external program to connect to the device. For example, you could start an SSH client session with a Catalyst switch.
–
To launch a device manager to access a logical server, from the Operations tab, right-click a logical server and select Device Manager. Then choose an external program to connect to the logical server. For example, you could start a telnet session with a Windows server.
Note
Before you can use the Device Manager command, you must configure the applications that users can select from. For details, see Configuring Device Managers, page 18-7.
•
Perform regular maintenance on physical devices in your service network. During normal network operation, you might need to perform maintenance tasks on the physical devices in your network. For example, you might need to upgrade (or downgrade) the OS version of a switch or server or replace defective service modules (FWSM, CSM). However before beginning, it is important that you understand how maintenance tasks can affect the physical devices in your network now that VFrame manages them. For detailed information, see Chapter 17, "Maintaining Devices."
Working with Operations
This section provides detailed procedures for managing Operations, and includes the following topics:
•
Configuring Servers
•
Testing Service Network Deployment
•
Deploying Service Networks
•
Stopping Service Networks
•
Stopping ESX Servers
•
Verifying Service Networks
•
Releasing Service Network Resources
•
Monitoring Operations
•
Using LUNs Dynamically
•
Defining Service Network Policies
Configuring Servers
To run your service network, first you need to configure your servers.
Before You Begin
•
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View> Operations.
Step 2
Open the desired service network.
Step 3
In the Opened Service Network selector, choose the desired SAN storage device.
Step 4
A SAN Storage tab is added to the window to the right, click this tab.
Step 5
In the Storage Per Server field, choose a server, then right-click to display the pop-up item, Edit LUN Paths to open the Edit LUN Paths dialog box. This displays information for up to two fabrics, depending on the number chosen in the Storage Per Server window.
Step 6
If you are using NFS storage, proceed to Step 8.
Step 7
Perform the following steps for each fabric:
a.
Click the Filter list box to filter the storage Fibre Channel ports shown. Valid options are All, Active, or Passive.
b.
In the Storage Port Attached to Server Port list box, choose the desired server Fibre Channel port.
c.
In the LUNs Available for Selected Ports pane, click the desired LUN.
d.
In the LUN Paths pane, choose the row corresponding to the desired storage-to-server path.
e.
Click Create LUN Path. The newly created path appears in the LUN Path Table.
f.
Click Save.
The servers enter the Ready For Imaging state.
Step 8
Right-click the first server and select Image Servers. Repeat this step for each server.
Tip
To select multiple servers, choose the first server, and then hold down the Shift key while choosing additional servers. To image these servers, click the Actions drop-down menu and select Image Servers.
Step 9
Right-click the first server and select Start Servers. Repeat this step for each server.
Tip
To select multiple servers, choose the first server, and then hold down the Shift key while choosing additional servers. To start multiple servers, click the Actions drop-down menu and select Start Servers.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Testing Service Network Deployment
•
Operations Tab
Testing Service Network Deployment
Before you deploy your service network, it is a good idea to perform a test run.
Before You Begin
•
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Deploy.
Step 3
Click the Dry run radio button and click OK.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Deploying Service Networks
Deploying Service Networks
After you have configured your service network and its policies, you can deploy your service network.
Before You Begin
•
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Deploy.
Step 3
Click the Run deployment now radio button.
Step 4
Optionally, you can also click the Stop on Error check box.
If a configuration error occurs during startup, an error is generated and the network is stopped. Left unchecked, the network continues to run while in the error state so that you can locate and correct the error. To implement the correction, you must undeploy and redeploy the network.
Step 5
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Testing Service Network Deployment
•
Stopping Service Networks
•
Start Network Dialog Box
Stopping Service Networks
You can stop your service network at any time, which removes configurations from resources and releases them.
Alternatively, you can remove resources from your service network, which stops the resource from running but does not remove the configurations. For more information about this option, see Releasing Service Network Resources
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Undeploy.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Testing Service Network Deployment
•
Deploying Service Networks
Stopping ESX Servers
You can stop your ESX server.
This is still to stop the ESX server, but the dialog has more information so the user can make an informed decision. For example, it is probably a bad idea to stop an ESX host if there are 15 running virtual machines on that host. Try to evacuate the virtual machines (using VMove) that are still in the running state. If there is no alternate host where the VMs can move, then the VM is shutdown before ESX shuts down.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
Expand the server group and choose a server.
Step 3
Click Actions.
Step 4
Choose Stop Server from the menu.
The Confirmation dialog box appears.
Step 5
Choose one or more servers in the Virtual Machines area.
Step 6
Check the Enter ESX Maintenance Before Shutdown check box if you want the server to enter maintenance before shutdown.
Step 7
Click Yes.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Stopping Service Networks
Verifying Service Networks
You can compare the initial configurations that VFrame deployed with the configurations running on the devices.
Before You Begin
•
Make sure the state of the service network is Deployable.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Verify.
Step 3
If you want errors to be corrected automatically, choose the Auto Correct Detected Changes option.
Auto-correction applies to all system-defined configuration changes and any user-defined macros that are designed with the capability to perform corrections. For more information about designing macros to perform auto correction, see Macro Design Concepts, page 11-9.
Step 4
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Service Network Verification
•
Testing Service Network Deployment
•
Deploying Service Networks
Creating Virtual Machines
When you have your service network running, you can create virtual machines on your ESX servers. VFrame Data Center does not support creating virtual machines within the application. You can create virtual machines using VirtualCenter. Also, you can create virtual machines using the following third-party applications:
•
VMware SOAP API
•
QVMS
Note
The preceding list is not a complete list of third-party applications that are used to create virtual machines.
Releasing Service Network Resources
You can use the Release Resources option to stop resources from running without removing their configurations.
Alternatively, to remove resources from the network and remove their configurations, you can stop the service network. For more information about this option, see Stopping Service Networks.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Release Resources.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Stopping Service Networks
Monitoring Operations
You can display information about the operations that have been performed for the selected service network.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click History to open the History dialog box (see History Dialog Box).
Step 3
Choose an entry in the top pane, and then click one of the following tabs in the bottom pane to display detailed results:
•
Logs tab—Displays log entries for every operation that VFrame performed for the opened service network (see Logs Tab).
•
Verification Results tab—Displays details about the verification operations performed for the opened service network (see Verification Results Tab).
•
Configuration Results tab—Displays details about the configuration operations performed for the opened service network (see Configuration Results Tab).
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Verification Results Tab
Using LUNs Dynamically
It is possible to add and remove LUNs from servers while the network is deployed and operating.
For "shared" storage groups, define the number of LUNs to be added to the group. These LUNs are then shared across all of the servers in the server group.
Note
Shares are used only with a Linux imaged server. Shares do not work with Windows imaged servers.
For "additional" storage groups, define the number of LUNs to be added per server. Those LUNs are then used only by the server for which they are created.
After a LUN is added, paths to the LUN from the servers are automatically generated. If this path selection is successful, the State column in the Storage per Server table will read "Ready to Deploy." If this path selection is unsuccessful, the State column in the Storage per Server table will read "Path Selection Required." If the path selection is successful for at least one server in the server group, the State column in the Storage Groups table reads, "Ready to Deploy." If the path selection is unsuccessful for all of the servers in the server group, the State column in the Storage Groups table will read "Path Selection Required."
Note
LUNs cannot be added or removed from the "root" storage group.
If a storage group or a server is in the "Ready to Deploy" state, its context menu has a "Deploy Configuration" option. When selected from the storage group, this option applies to all of the servers in this state. When this option is selected and a server is running, the changes are deployed to the server. If successful, it returns to the "Running" state. If a server is not running, it moves to the "Deployable" state. If the application of the changes is unsuccessful, the server will move to the "Configuration Failed" state.
An Undeploy Configuration option is available that removes the LUN configuration from the server. If a LUN is undeployed, the server moves into the "LUN Path Selection Required" This option is available whether the server is in "Running," "Deployable," or "Failed" state. It is not available if the server is in "Changes Ready to Deploy" State.
A Delete LUN option is also available that deletes the LUNs from the servers.
Dynamic NAS LUNs
The following steps add or delete LUNs for a named NAS share or additional partition to a named and running server.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
Step 2
Click the NAS tab in the upper pane.
Step 3
Within the NAS view, choose a NAS LUN, then right-click the entry.
•
If this is a NAS share partition, choose either Add SHARED_PARTITION_NAME to SERVER_NAME or Delete SHARED_PARTITION_NAME from SERVER_NAME
•
If this is a NAS additional partition, choose either Add PARTITION_NAME for SERVER_NAME or Delete PARTITION_NAME from SERVER_NAME.
Related Topics
•
Dynamic SAN LUNs
•
Dynamic ESX VMFS LUNs
Dynamic SAN LUNs
The following steps add SAN LUNs for a named SAN share or adds (and deletes) additional partition to a named and running server.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
Step 2
Click the SAN Storage tab in the upper pane.
Step 3
Within the SAN Storage view, choose a SAN LUN, then right click the entry.
•
If this is a SAN share partition, choose Add shared LUNs to SHARED_PARTITION_NAME. This opens the Add shared LUNs to SHARED_PARTITION_NAME dialog box.
•
Within the SHARED_PARTITION_NAME dialog box, enter the number of LUNs to assign to the partition, then click OK.
•
If this is a SAN additional partition, select either Add LUNs to PARTITION_NAME on SERVER_NAME or Delete PARTITION_NAME LUNs from SERVER_NAME.
Related Topics
•
Dynamic NAS LUNs
•
Dynamic ESX VMFS LUNs
Dynamic ESX Port Group LUNs
It is possible to add and remove ESX Port Groups virtual switches and servers while the network is deployed and operating.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
Step 2
Click the ESX Port Groups tab in the upper pane.
Step 3
Within the ESX Port Groups on the Server Group pane, choose a port group, then right-click on the entry. This produces a drop-down list that allows you to select one of the following:
•
Add Port Group to virtual switch VIRTUAL_SWITCH_NAME
•
Deploy PORT_GROUP_NAME Configuration to all current and future servers
•
Deploy PORT_GROUP_NAME Configuration to all current servers
•
Undeploy PORT_GROUP_NAME Configuration from all servers
•
Delete port group
To deploy a port group on a server, do the following:
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
Step 2
Choose the ESX Port Groups tab in the upper pane.
Step 3
Within the ESX Port Groups per Server pane, choose a server, then right-click on the entry. This produces a drop-down list that allows you to select one of the following:
•
Deploy PORT_GROUP_NAME Configuration to server SERVER_NAME
•
UnDeploy PORT_GROUP_NAME Configuration from server SERVER_NAME
Dynamic ESX VMFS LUNs
Shared LUNs can be added to or deleted from all of the VMWare ESX Virtual Machine File Systems (VMFS) while the network is deployed and operating.
To add LUNs to a VMFS data share on all servers, do the following:
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
click the SAN Storage icon, then click on the SAN Storage tab.
Step 2
Within the Storage Groups pane, choose a VMFS share, then right-click on the entry. Select Add Shared LUNs to VMFS_SHARE_NAME on All Servers.
Step 3
Selecting Add Shared LUNs to VMFS_SHARE_NAME on All Servers opens the Add Shared LUNs dialog box.
Step 4
On the Add Shared LUNs dialog box, specify the number of LUNs to add to the VMFS (the default is one).
Step 5
In the VMFS datastores pane, select whether to create or extend the current VMFS datastore or to rescan the Host Bus Adapter (HBA) and VMFS datastores.
Step 6
The VMFS datastore creation option pane displays how many LUNs you've added, the datastore name and the maximum file size for the datastore.
Step 7
Next, select the LUN Path Selection Policy. The following are possible options:
•
Fixed—Use the preferred path when available.
•
Most Recently Use—Use the most recently used path.
•
Round Robin—Load balance across all available paths.
Step 8
If active, click on one of the buttons under LUN Active Path Selections:
•
Distribute active LUN paths evenly across all HBAs
•
Let ESX choose the active path.
Step 9
Click the OK button when finished.
To delete LUNs to a VMFS data share on all servers, do the following:
Step 1
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab (see Operations Tab).
click the SAN Storage icon, then click on the SAN Storage tab.
Step 2
Within the Storage Per Server pane, choose a VMFS share, then right-click on the entry. This produces a drop-down menu.
Step 3
Select Undeploy VMFS_SHARE_NAME Configuration for All Servers.
Step 4
Once the data share is undeployed, go to the Storage Group pane and select the corresponding VMFS share.
Step 5
Select Delete all VMFS_SHARE_NAME LUNs from All Servers. This will remove the ESX data share from all operating servers.
Defining Service Network Policies
This section provides detailed procedures for defining service network policies, and includes the following topics:
•
Scheduling Operations
•
Defining Network Settings
•
Defining Server Settings
•
Defining Server Count
•
Defining Load-Based Rules
•
Defining Monitoring and Trend Policies
•
Defining Notifications for Alarms
Scheduling Operations
You can schedule the times when you want to perform start, stop, and verification operations automatically for the selected service network. You can specify the time that the operation occurs and whether it is repeated.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies. Notice that the Schedule tab is selected by default.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the service network and click New. The Schedule a network operation dialog box appears. (See Schedule Tab.)
Step 4
In the Schedule a network operation dialog box:
•
Choose the operation type to schedule: Start, Stop, or Verify.
•
Set the date and time for the operation to start.
•
For the operation to be repeated on a regular interval, define the number of days, hours, and minutes for the repeat interval.
For example, to schedule an operation to occur every other day, define 2 days, 0 hours, and 0 minutes. The operation will be repeated at the initial time you specify and every other day thereafter at the same time.
•
If you are scheduling a verify operation and you want VFrame to correct any configuration discrepancies that it finds, choose the Auto Correct option. For more information about this option, see Verifying Service Networks.
Step 5
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Scheduled Operations
•
Schedule Tab
Defining Network Settings
You can define a network setting, which affects all devices in your service network.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
Click the Network Settings tab.
Step 4
To upload device configuration settings after a configuration operation has completed, choose the Upload Device Configuration check box. Otherwise, leave this check box empty. This information is used in the Diff operation to compare configuration settings before and after a configuration change.
Step 5
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Server Settings
•
Server Settings Tab
Defining Server Settings
You can define server settings to maintain an optimum number of servers for your service network at any given time.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the desired server group. The Server Settings tab is selected by default (see Server Settings Tab).
Step 4
In the Server Settings tab, do the following:
•
Set the number of minutes VFrame waits for a DHCP request when starting servers before timing out.
•
Set the number of minutes VFrame waits for a server to boot.
•
Set the number of missed heartbeats before VFrame marks a server as failed and remaps it to a different physical server.
•
Set the number of allowed server failures within a specified time period before VFrame marks a server with an error.
•
Set an option to automatically move virtual machines before you shutdown an ESX server.
Step 5
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Server Settings
•
Server Settings Tab
Defining Server Count
You can configure a default server count, which is in effect whenever the service network is running You can also create server count rules that specify the maximum, minimum, and target number of servers for a service network during specified times.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the desired server group.
Step 4
Click the Server Count tab (see Server Count Tab).
Step 5
Server Count tab window:
•
Click the Edit button to set the default target, minimum, and maximum number of servers.
•
Create or modify rules—Click New to create rules that specify the maximum, minimum, and target number of servers for a service network during specified time period. Choose an existing rule and click the Edit button (the pencil icon) to change the current settings. The Server Count Rule dialog box opens. For details, see Server Count Rule Dialog Box.
•
Choose an existing rule and click the up or down arrow button to change the order in which the rule is applied.
Step 6
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Server Count
•
Server Count Tab
Defining Load-Based Rules
You can define load-based rules that specify whether to start or stop a server based on memory or CPU utilization.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the desired server group.
Step 4
Click the Load based rules tab (see Load Based Rules Tab).
Step 5
In the Load based rules tab window, do the following:
•
Define the default number of minutes VFrame waits before starting or stopping a server based on a specified rule.
•
Change order of rules—Choose a rule and click the up or down arrow buttons to change its order.
•
Create or modify rules—Click New to create a new rule or select a rule and click the Edit button (the pencil icon) to change a rule. The Load Based Rules dialog box opens. For details, see Load Based Rules Dialog Box.
•
Delete rules—Choose a rule and click Delete.
Step 6
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Load-Based Rules
•
Load Based Rules Tab
Defining Monitoring and Trend Policies
You can define Monitoring and Trend policies that specify events that you want to track and how often you want to poll for this information.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the desired server group.
Step 4
Click the Monitoring/Trend tab (see Monitoring/Trend Tab).
Step 5
In the Monitoring and Trend tab Window:
•
Set time intervals during which VFrame polls servers in the selected server group for specified data. Valid polling intervals are between 1 minute and 2 hours.
•
Specify data to track and download at monitoring intervals. Choose the check box next to the trend variable that you want to track. Data is used to generate logical server reports. For more information, see Understanding Logical Server Report, page 16-3.
Step 6
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Monitoring and Trend Policies
•
Monitoring/Trend Tab
Defining Notifications for Alarms
Alarms and notifications are defined separately; however, they work together. When an alarm reaches a specified severity, a notification can be sent to a recipient via e-mail.
You can configure e-mail notifications for alarms based on the alarm severity. Although each alarm has a default severity, you can modify the severity to suit your notification requirements; changing the severity for notification purposes does not affect how the system responds to the faults.
Before You Begin
The system settings must identify an e-mail address and related account information that VFrame can use for sending e-mail notifications. Choose Tools > VFrame Administration > General, then click the SMTP tab to configure these settings if you have the appropriate permissions.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the desired element.
Step 4
Click the Notification tab (see Notification Tab).
Step 5
In the Notification tab, do the following:
•
Create or modify rules—Click New (the Plus button), to set up or Modify (Pencil button) to change e-mail notification for a specified fault priority level. Valid priority levels are fatal, error, warning, and informational. You can specify a single e-mail address or multiple E-mail addresses separated by commas.
•
Delete rules—Choose a rule and click Delete (the Trash Can button).
Step 6
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Notifications and Alarms
•
Notification Tab
Defining Alarms
Alarms and notifications are defined separately; however, they work together. When an alarm reaches a specified severity, a notification can be sent to a recipient via e-mail.
Although each alarm has a default severity, you can modify the severity to suit your notification requirements; changing the severity does not affect how the system responds to the faults.
Before You Begin
The system settings must identify an e-mail address and related account information that VFrame can use for sending e-mail notifications. Choose Tools > VFrame Administration > General, choose the SMTP tab to configure these settings if you have the appropriate permissions.
Procedure
Step 1
Choose View > Operations.
Step 2
In the Service Networks selector, choose the desired service network and click Policies.
Step 3
In the LN Elements selector, choose the desired element.
Step 4
Click the Alarms tab (see Alarms Tab).
Step 5
In the Alarms box, do the following:
•
Click the fault state machines to display the contents.
•
For each fault state, choose the alarm level (Fatal, Error, Warning, or Info).
Step 6
Click OK.
Related Topics
•
Notifications and Alarms
•
Alarms Tab
Troubleshooting Operations
This section describes some problems you might encounter with operations and their solutions, and includes the following topics:
•
Deployment fails due to wrong gateway IP address assignment.
•
Verification fails on the FWSM standby unit.
•
Users do not receive e-mail notifications for fault alarms.
•
Service network starts and stops at unexpected times.
•
The Diff report (obtained by right-clicking on the Configuration Results and Verification results tabs) contains no comparison data.
•
Servers start but VFrame logs them as failed.
•
Server count is not what is expected.
•
VFrame attempts to start a server because of a load-based rule, but the server start fails, and VFrame does not attempt to start another server.
•
VFrame logs fault alarms when acting on a new server count rule.
•
Server acquisition fails.
•
VFrame cannot start servers because of DHCP server timeouts.
Problem
Deployment fails due to wrong gateway IP address assignment.
Solution
You must correct the gateway IP address assignment and redeploy the service network. To do so, delete the servers that you have created. From the Operations tab, right-click the desired server and select Delete Servers. Next, correct the gateway IP address. Choose View > Service Networks, select the appropriate Service Network from the list, then click the Open button. Select the corresponding server from the list of network elements, then click the Block Variables tab and enter the correct gateway IP address. Create and image servers and redeploy the service network.
Problem
Verification fails on the FWSM standby unit.
Solution
VFrame detected configuration differences between the standby unit and the active unit. If you did not make any manual changes to the standby unit, you can re-synchronize the configurations by entering the write standby command from the active unit. This command writes the configuration from the active unit to the standby unit.
Problem
Users do not receive e-mail notifications for fault alarms.
Solution
If you configured notification settings for a fault state machine, and a fault alarm occurred that should have generated an e-mail but did not, the problem is probably that the SMTP settings for VFrame are not configured correctly. Choose Tools > VFrame Administrator > General, and then the SMTP tab. Ensure that a valid, existing e-mail address and SMTP server are specified. Click Test Settings to verify that VFrame can use the account.
Problem
Service network starts and stops at unexpected times.
Solution
VFrame does not prevent you from scheduling conflicting start and stop rules for your service network. For example, you could create a rule to start the network at 10:00 a.m., repeating every 6 hours and another rule to stop the network at 11:00 a.m., repeating every 5 hours. At some point, these rules will collide, and the result will be unexpected starting and stopping of your network. To avoid this problem, start and stop network rules should have the same repeat time intervals.
Problem
The Diff report (obtained by right-clicking on the Configuration Results and Verification results tabs) contains no comparison data.
Solution
For the Diff report to show comparison data, you need to configure VFrame to upload the device configuration when deploying a service network. From the Operations tab, open the service network and click Policies. Choose the Network Settings tab and the Upload Device Configuration check box.
Problem
Servers start but VFrame logs them as failed.
Solution
The time required for the servers to boot might be longer than the time-out set in VFrame. Check the DHCP server and server boot-up settings. From the Operations tab, open the service network and click Policies. Choose the server group logical element and click the Server Settings tab.
Problem
Server count is not what is expected.
Solution
VFrame does not prevent you from creating overlapping server count rules for your service network. For example, you could create the following rules:
•
Rule 1: Daily starting at 5:00 AM for 12 hours, set server count to Target = 5, Minimum = 3, and Maximum = no limit
•
Rule 2: Daily starting at 10:00 AM for 2 hours, set server count to Target = 8, Minimum = 5, and Maximum = no limit
Each monitoring interval (set in the Monitoring/Trend tab), VFrame checks the rules to determine if any action is necessary, and acts on the first rule that it matches. Because VFrame analyzes the first rule and finds a match, the second rule will never be acted upon.
Check that your server count rules do not overlap. From the Operations tab, open the service network and click Policies. Choose the server group and click the Server Count tab.
Problem
VFrame attempts to start a server because of a load-based rule, but the server start fails, and VFrame does not attempt to start another server.
Solution
If server start fails, VFrame waits the number of minutes indicated by the monitoring interval before attempting to start another server. To check or change the monitoring interval, from the Operations tab, open the service network and click Policies. Choose the server group and click the Monitoring/Trend tab.
Problem
VFrame logs fault alarms when acting on a new server count rule.
Solution
If the number of running servers exceeds the new server count rule, fault alarms are logged. To avoid this, you can adjust the minimum or maximum number of servers to be within the range of the previous rule or you can create an interim server count rule that specifies the new target number of servers as the previous minimum number of servers.
For example, you have the following server count rules:
•
Rule 1: Daily starting at 5:00 AM for 12 hours, set server count to Target = 5, Minimum = 3, and Maximum = no limit
•
Rule 2: Daily starting at 5:00 PM for 12 hours, set server count to Target = 10, Minimum = 8, and Maximum = no limit
When VFrame transitions from rule 1 to rule 2, fault alarms will be logged because, based on the new rule, the service network is running with 5 servers, which is below 8 servers (the new minimum number of servers specified). To prevent unnecessary fault alarms, you can change minimum number of servers in rule 2 to be 5 servers. Alternatively, you can create a new rule that sets the minimum number of servers to 5 to be in effect temporarily, until VFrame can start enough servers to reach the new target.
Problem
Server acquisition fails.
Solution
One possibility is that VFrame cannot find a server that matches the requirements specified in Service Network Design. Make sure that you specified the correct requirements or contact your network administrator to determine if servers can be added that match your needs.
Another possibility is that all server resources in the specified pool are in use. You will need to wait until these resources are released before your service network is able to acquire servers.
Problem
VFrame cannot start servers because of DHCP server timeouts.
Solution
Check the following:
•
The time required for the servers to boot might be longer than the time-out set in VFrame. Check the DHCP server settings. From the Operations tab, open the service network and click Policies. Choose the server group logical element and click the Server Settings tab.
•
Make sure that the IP helper is configured on the SVI interface if VFrame is not in the same subnet as the server.
•
Verify that VFrame has a route to the subnet or that the VFrame default route can reach the subnet.
•
Make sure that spanning tree PortFast is enabled on the server connected to the switch port.
Operations Reference
This section describes the tabs and dialog boxes you use when operating service networks, and includes the following topics:
How to Get to This Tab
Choose View > Operations to open the Operations tab.
Operations Tab
Use the Operations tab to deploy, undeploy, and manage your service networks. This section describes the tabs and boxes that are accessible under the Operations tab. These are the following:
•
Start Network Dialog Box
•
Verify Service Network Dialog Box
•
History Dialog Box
•
Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box
•
Server Group - Servers Dialog Box
•
Server Properties Dialog Box
•
Server LUN and Path Selection Dialog Box
•
Confirmation Dialog Box
•
Logs Tab
•
Verification Results Tab
•
Configuration Results Tab
•
Alarms Tab
•
Logical Element Fault State Machine Reference
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Working with Operations
Field Reference
Table 14-3 Operations Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Buttons
|
Deploy
|
Click this button to deploy the opened service network so that physical network resources are acquired and configured to run the desired applications. For information about the dialog box that appears, see Start Network Dialog Box.
|
Undeploy
|
Click this button to stop the opened service network so that all physical resources are unconfigured and released.
|
Open
|
Click this button to open the selected service network. Alternatively, you can double-click the service network from the Service Networks selector.
|
Verify
|
Click this button to compare the device configuration with the configuration commands executed by VFrame and report any differences as errors. Differences in configurations can occur when someone changes a device configuration using the CLI after VFrame has already made configuration changes (called out-of-band changes).
For information about the dialog box that appears, see Verify Service Network Dialog Box.
|
Release Resources
|
Click this button to release all resources acquired by a running network without removing the configurations on the devices. You might want to use this function to stop a running network but leave all physical resources with their current configurations.
|
Details
|
Click this button to display information, such as variable values and assigned resources, about the opened service network.
|
History
|
Click this button to display state information for the opened service network. For more information, see History Dialog Box.
|
Policies
|
Click this button to display a dialog box in which you can set up policies to manage your network performance and operations. For information about the dialog box that appears, see Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box
|
Service Networks Selector—Lists the service networks that have been created. Double-click the name of a service network to open the definition pane for that service network.
|
Opened Service Network Selector—Lists the elements within the service network that is open. Right-click and select an option to perform actions on the selected element.
|
Filter button
|
Click this button to specify the scope of information to be displayed. The Filter dialog box appears.
|
Actions button
|
Choose an item and click this button to open a context-sensitive drop-down menu of actions that you can perform. This menu is also available when you right-click an item.
|
Topology Map—Displays elements in the opened service network.
|
Pan
|
Enables you to move the viewable area of the template. Click the Pan button, and then click and hold the left mouse button and drag the image to the desired position.
|
Select
|
Enables you to select the template or an item (element or link) within the template.
Click the Select button; and then right-click the work area to select the template or the desired item. To select multiple items within a template, right-click the item, and then hold down the Shift key while right-clicking additional items.
|
Zoom in rect
|
Choose and zoom in on a selected area.
Click the Zoom in rect button, and then click and hold the left mouse button and drag it. A rectangle forms. Choose the items you want to zoom in on, and then release the left mouse button. The view zooms into the area contained by the rectangle.
|
Zoom in
|
Increases the size of the items displayed.
|
Zoom out
|
Decreases the size of the items displayed.
|
Fit to view
|
Resizes all items and displays them within the viewable work area.
|
Network Operations Tabs—Click the desired tab to display operational information about the opened service network or selected element.
|
Logs tab
|
Displays log entries for every operation that VFrame performed for the opened service network. For detailed reference information, see Logs Tab.
|
Acquired Resources tab
|
Depending on the logical element you select in the opened Service Network selector, displays resources, such as devices and IP addresses, that have been acquired for your service network.
Right-click a resource in the Acquired Resources tab and select one of the following options:
• Show Service Networks—Displays a list of service networks that have assigned and/or acquired the selected resource.
• Device Manager—Displays a dialog box from which you can select a device manager, and then starts an external application to connect to the selected device for device management. You are presented with a list of applications that the VFrame administrator defined for the type of device selected. Choose the appropriate application, and VFrame starts it. For example, the Device Manager command might allow you to start an SSH session with a Catalyst switch.
The Device Manager command does not function unless you or an administrator with the appropriate privileges sets up a device manager as described in Configuring Device Managers, page 18-7.
• Properties—Displays attributes about the selected resource.
Note Only options that are available for the selected resource type are displayed.
|
Verification Results tab
|
Displays details about the verification operation actions performed for the opened service network. For detailed reference information, see Verification Results Tab.
|
Configuration Results tab
|
Displays details about the configuration operation actions performed for the opened service network. For detailed reference information, see Configuration Results Tab.
|
Alarms tab
|
Displays details about the faults detected by your service network. For detailed reference information, see Alarms Tab.
|
Start Network Dialog Box
Use the Start Network dialog box to deploy your network or perform a dry run.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click Deploy.
Related Topics
•
Testing Service Network Deployment
•
Deploying Service Networks
Field Reference
Table 14-4 Configuration Results Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Run deployment now
|
Deploys the network immediately.
|
Dry run
|
Starts virtual tasks without actually acquiring or configuring resources.
|
Stop on Error
|
Check this check box to stop the network if a configuration error occurs during startup. Left unchecked, the network continues to run while in the error state so that you can locate and correct the error. To implement the correction, you must undeploy and redeploy the network.
|
Verify Service Network Dialog Box
You can compare device configurations with the configuration commands provided by VFrame and get a list of errors indicating any differences. You can schedule verification to occur immediately or at a future time. You can also schedule it to repeat at specified intervals. If auto-correction is enabled, VFrame corrects configuration errors that it detects, if possible.
The results of the verification are displayed in the History dialog box for a service network and on the Verification Results tab for a selected element.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click Verify.
Related Topics
•
History Dialog Box
•
Verification Results Tab
Field Reference
Table 14-5 Verify Service Network Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Auto Correct Detected Changes
|
If selected, VFrame corrects configuration errors that it detects, if possible.
|
History Dialog Box
Use the History dialog box to display information about the operations that have been performed for the opened service network.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click History.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Monitoring Operations
Field Reference
Table 14-6 History Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Service Network Histories
|
Filter button
|
Click this button to specify the scope of information to be displayed. The Filter dialog box appears.
You can filter the operations shown based on a combination of job type, status, and date and time range. You can also limit the number of items shown from 100 to 5000 items per page.
|
Show All button
|
Click this button to display all operations for the opened service network.
|
Type
|
Type of entry to display. The following are valid choices:
• All
• Fault
• Logical Network
• Logical Network Verification
• Server Design
|
Max Results
|
Number of entries to display.
|
Cancel button
|
Click to stop the search for the specified type of entries.
|
Time Started
|
Time the operation began.
|
Operation
|
Name of the operation.
|
Operation Type
|
Type of operation.
|
SNE Name
|
Name of the service network.
|
Status
|
Status of the operation, indicating whether it was successful or not.
|
Duration
|
Amount of time the operation lasted.
|
Results for Selected History
|
Logs tab
|
Displays log entries showing the results of the selected operation. For detailed reference information, see Logs Tab.
|
Verification Results tab
|
Displays details about the actions performed for the selected verification operation. For detailed reference information, see Verification Results Tab.
|
Configuration Results tab
|
Displays details about the actions performed for the selected configuration operation. For detailed reference information, see Configuration Results Tab.
|
Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box
Use the Service Networks Policy Management dialog box to set up policies to manage your network performance and operations.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click Policies. Then select the service network or an element within the service network.
Related Topics
•
Operations Control
•
Defining Service Network Policies
Field Reference
Table 14-7 Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
LN Elements Selector
|
Displays the name of the opened service network and its elements.
|
Schedule tab
|
Schedule start, stop, and verification operations for the opened service network. For more information, see Schedule Tab.
|
Network Settings tab
|
Specify whether to upload a device configuration settings after a configuration operation has completed. This information is used in the Diff operation to compare configuration settings before and after a configuration change.
|
Notification tab
|
Set up e-mail notifications for fatal, error, warning, and informational priority-level faults. For more information, see Notification Tab.
|
Alarms tab
|
Specify priority levels according to the state that the selected fault state machine enters. When a state machine for the selected element enters the corresponding state, an alarm is generated and set to the priority level you specify. For more information, see Alarms Tab.
You can also set e-mail notifications based on the severity of the alarm. See Notification Tab.
|
Server settings tab
|
Specify server settings, such as maximum number of minutes for server boot and server failure thresholds. You can also specify ESX server maintenance settings. For more information, see Server Settings Tab. (Displayed only for server groups.)
|
Server count tab
|
Create rules that specify the target, minimum, and maximum number of servers allowed for a given time period. For more information, see Server Count Tab. (Displayed only for server groups.)
|
Load based rules tab
|
Create rules that specify whether to start or stop a server based on memory or CPU utilization. For more information, see Load Based Rules Tab. (Displayed only for server groups.)
|
Monitoring/Trend tab
|
Specify events that you want to track and how often you want to poll for this information. For more information, see Monitoring/Trend Tab. (Displayed only for server groups.)
|
Schedule Tab
Use the Schedule tab to schedule start, stop, and verification operations for the opened service network. You can specify the time that the operation should occur and whether it should be repeated.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a service network and click the Schedule tab.
Related Topics
•
Scheduled Operations
•
Scheduling Operations
Field Reference
Table 14-8 Schedule Tab
Element
|
Description
|
New button
|
Click this button to create a schedule-based policy for the opened service network. In the dialog box that appears, specify the following parameters:
• Operation type—Choose a start, stop, or verification operation.
• Trigger time—Choose the date and time when VFrame should perform this operation.
• Repeat every—To repeat the operation at regular intervals, specify the number of days, hours, and minutes for the operation to occur.
• Auto Correct—If you specify a verification operation, you can select the Auto Correct option, which means that if VFrame detects a difference between what was deployed and the current running configuration, VFrame automatically resets the configuration to what was previously deployed.
|
Edit button
|
Click this button to modify the selected schedule-based policy. See the description of the New button for field descriptions.
|
Delete button
|
Click this button to remove the selected schedule-based policy.
|
Operation
|
Type of operation.
|
Trigger Time
|
Date and time when operation is to occur.
|
Repeat Interval
|
Number of days, hours, and minutes between operations.
|
Parameters
|
For verification, indicates whether the Auto Correct option is enabled.
|
Notification Tab
Use the Notification tab to set up e-mail notifications for fatal, error, warning, and informational priority-level faults.
This feature works with the Alarms tab. In the Alarms tab, you specify the fault priority levels for selected fault state machines, so that when a fault state machine enters the specified state, an alarm is generated and set to the corresponding priority level. When this situation happens, e-mail notifications are sent out to the e-mail addresses you specify.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a service network or element from the LN Elements selector and click the Notification tab.
Related Topics
•
Notifications and Alarms
•
Defining Notifications for Alarms
Field Reference
Table 14-9 Notification Tab
Element
|
Description
|
New button (Plus button)
|
Click this button to set up an e-mail notification for a specified fault priority level. Valid priority levels are fatal, error, warning, and informational. You can specify a single e-mail address or multiple e-mail addresses separated by commas.
|
Modify button (Pencil Button)
|
Click this button to modifies the selected policy. See description for the New button for field descriptions.
|
Delete button (Trash Can button)
|
Click this button to remove the selected schedule-based policy.
|
Severity
|
Fault priority level. Valid priority levels are fatal, error, warning, and informational.
|
E-mail
|
E-mail addresses.
|
Alarms Tab
Use the Alarms tab to specify the fault priority levels for the selected state machine. When the selected state machine enters the corresponding state, an alarm is generated and set to the priority level you specify.
You can use this feature with the Notifications tab to send out e-mail notifications when specified alarm priority-levels are reached.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a service network or element from the LN Elements selector and click the Alarms tab.
Related Topics
•
Notifications and Alarms
•
Defining Notifications for Alarms
Field Reference
Table 14-10 Alarms Tab
Element
|
Description
|
State Machines
|
Based on the element selected, displays the state machine category and state machines associated with it. Choose a state machine to display its states and set its state priority level.
For more information, see Logical Element Fault State Machine Reference.
|
Alarm level
|
List box containing the priority levels from which you can choose: fatal, error, warning, or informational. This field corresponds to the state displayed to its left.
When the selected state machine enters the corresponding state, an alarm is generated and set to the priority level you specify.
|
Server Settings Tab
Use the Server Settings tab to set the following thresholds and actions for the servers in your service network:
•
Number of minutes VFrame waits for a DHCP request when starting servers before timing out.
•
Number of minutes VFrame waits for a server to boot.
•
Number of missed heartbeats before VFrame marks a server as failed and remaps it to a different physical server.
•
Number of server failures within a specified time period before VFrame marks a server with an error
•
ESX server maintenance area:
–
Check the check box to specify that the server enters maintenance before shutdown.
–
Choose from the scroll list how long it takes the server to enter maintenance.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a server group from the LN Elements selector and click the Server Settings tab.
Related Topics
•
Server Settings
•
Defining Server Settings
Server Count Tab
Use the Server Count tab to specify defaults and to create rules that specify the target, minimum, and maximum number of servers allowed for a given time period.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a server group and click the Server Count tab.
Related Topics
•
Server Count
•
Defining Server Count
Field Reference
Table 14-11 Server Count Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Default
|
Default target, minimum, and maximum number of servers.
|
Edit button
|
Click this button to specify the default target, minimum, and maximum number of servers.
|
Rules
|
Displays rules in the order in which they are executed. You can do any of the following:
• Change order of rules—Choose a rule and click the up or down arrow buttons to change its order.
• Create rules—Click New to create a new rule. The Server Count Rule dialog box opens. For details, see Server Count Rule Dialog Box.
• Modify rules—Choose a rule and click Modify to change a rule. The Server Count Rule dialog box opens. For details, see Server Count Rule Dialog Box.
• Delete rules—Choose a rule and click Delete to remove a rule.
|
Server Count Rule Dialog Box
Use the Server Count Rule dialog box to create rules that specify the target, minimum, and maximum number of servers allowed for a given time period.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Server Count Tab, click New or select an existing rule and click Modify.
Related Topics
•
Server Count
•
Defining Server Count
Field Reference
Table 14-12 Server Count Rule Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Time Range
|
Time when the rule is in effect. Valid times are daily or weekly. If you select daily, you can specify the start time and duration for the rule to be in effect. If you select weekly, you can specify the start time, duration, and days of the week for the rule to be in effect.
|
Action
|
Server count (target, minimum, and maximum) in effect during the specified time period. If you select the No Limit option, there is no maximum to the number of servers that can be in effect during the specified time period.
|
Load Based Rules Tab
Use the Load Based Rules tab to create rules that specify whether to start or stop a server based on memory or CPU utilization.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a server group and click the Load Based Rules tab.
Related Topics
•
Load-Based Rules
•
Defining Load-Based Rules
Field Reference
Table 14-13 Load Based Rules Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Default
|
Number of minutes VFrame waits before starting or stopping a server based on a specified rule.
|
Rules
|
Displays rules in the order in which they are executed. You can do any of the following:
• Change order of rules—Choose a rule and click the up or down arrow buttons to change its order.
• Create rules—Click New to create a new rule. The Server Count Rule dialog box opens. For details, see Load Based Rules Dialog Box.
• Modify rules—Choose a rule and click Modify to change a rule. The Server Count Rule dialog box opens. For details, see Load Based Rules Dialog Box.
• Delete rules—Choose a rule and click Delete to remove a rule.
|
Load Based Rules Dialog Box
Use the Load Based Rules dialog box to create rules that specify whether to start or stop a server based on memory or CPU utilization.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Load Based Rules Tab, click New or select an existing rule and click Modify.
Related Topics
•
Load-Based Rules
•
Defining Load-Based Rules
Field Reference
Table 14-14 Load Based Rules Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Time Range
|
Time when the rule is in effect. Valid times are anytime, daily, and weekly. If you select daily, you can specify the start time and duration for the rule to be in effect. If you select weekly, you can specify the start time, duration, and days of the week for the rule to be in effect.
|
Condition
|
Memory and CPU utilization rules. Complete the fields to define this type of rule. You define the average memory or CPU utilization for all servers as being greater than or less than or equal to a percentage for any number of monitoring intervals. When the time and conditions are met, then the action you specify in the Action field is taken.
|
Action
|
Action that VFrame takes on the service network when the time and conditions of the rule are met. The following are valid actions:
• Start another server.
• Stop a running server.
|
Monitoring/Trend Tab
Use the Monitoring/Trend tab to specify events that you want to track and how often you want to poll for this information.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Service Networks Policy Management Dialog Box, select a server group and click the Monitoring/Trend tab.
Related Topics
•
Monitoring and Trend Policies
•
Defining Monitoring and Trend Policies
Field Reference
Table 14-15 Monitoring/Trend Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Monitoring Interval
|
Time intervals during which VFrame polls servers in the selected server group for specified data. Valid polling intervals are between 1 minute and 2 hours.
|
Trend Variables
|
Data to track and download at monitoring intervals. Check the trend variable check box that you want to track. Data is used to generate logical server reports. For more information, see Understanding Logical Server Report, page 16-3.
|
Server Group - Servers Dialog Box
Use the Server Group - Servers dialog box to display information about the servers in the selected server group.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select the desired server group, then right-click to select Show Servers.
Related Topics
•
Configuring Servers
Field Reference
Table 14-16 Server Group - Servers Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Name
|
Name of the server.
|
Operation State
|
State of the server. For information about server states, see Service Network and Logical Element States.
|
Fault Status
|
Fault status of the server. Valid values are ERROR, PARTIAL ERROR (errors on child elements only—not server), WARNING, and OK.
|
Config Status
|
Configuration status of the server. Valid values are ERROR, PARTIAL ERROR (errors on child elements only—not server), WARNING, and OK.
|
Verification Status
|
Verification status of the server. Valid values are ERROR, PARTIAL ERROR (errors on child elements only—not server), WARNING, and OK.
|
Server Properties Dialog Box
Use the Server Properties dialog box to obtain information about the selected server.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, right-click the desired server and select Server Details.
Related Topics
•
Configuring Servers
Field Reference
Table 14-17 Server Properties Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Design tab
|
Lists variable groups and variables associated with the selected server and shows the current variable values. Allows you to edit the variable values.
|
Deploy tab
|
Shows the following tabs, which provide information about the resources that were acquired for the server to function:
• Network Connectivity tab—Shows details about the server port and the switch port to which the server is connected. For details, see Network Connectivity Tab.
• Storage tab—Shows details about the storage devices to which the server is connected. For details, see Storage Tab.
|
Device Manager tab
|
Displays the device managers available for connecting to the device, and the parameters available for use with the device managers. For some attributes, such as the alternate management address, you can configure the value by selecting the attribute and clicking Edit. However, your changes are used only if the configured device managers use the selected attribute. For information on the attributes available, Device Managers Parameter Variables, page 18-18.
|
Network Connectivity Tab
Use the Network Connectivity tab to obtain details about the server port and the switch port to which the server is connected.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Server Properties Dialog Box, select Deploy > Network Connectivity.
Related Topics
•
Configuring Servers
Field Reference
Table 14-18 Network Connectivity Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Physical Server
|
MAC address of the server port connected to the switch.
|
Logical Server Ethernet Interface
|
Name of the link connected to the server.
|
Logical Eth Port
|
Name of the Ethernet port on the server.
|
Logical Switch Port
|
Name of the Ethernet port on the switch.
|
Switch Port Vlan ID
|
VLAN number on the switch port.
|
Physical Server Eth Port
|
MAC address of the server Ethernet port.
|
Switch Port MACAddress
|
MAC address of the switch Ethernet port.
|
Switch Port/InterfaceID
|
Switch port and interface identifiers.
|
Switch
|
IP address of the switch.
|
Storage Tab
Use the Storage tab to obtain details about the storage devices to which the server is connected.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Server Properties Dialog Box, select Deploy > Storage.
Related Topics
•
Configuring Servers
Field Reference
Table 14-19 Storage Tab
Element
|
Description
|
NFS Storage Info
|
Local Mount Points
|
Location on the server local file system where the exported NFS Qtrees are mounted.
|
Filter IPAddress
|
IP address of the filer that is exporting Qtrees for the server.
|
Volume
|
Name of the volume on which the exported Qtrees for the server are located.
|
Total Capacity of Volume
|
Total size of the volume in bytes.
|
Free Space on Volume
|
Available size of the volume in bytes.
|
Qtree on Filter (Path)
|
Full path name or location of the Qtrees on the filer.
|
SAN Storage Info
|
Server Port
|
Name of the Fibre Channel port on the logical server.
|
Server Port WWN
|
Identifier of the physical server Fibre Channel port that was acquired.
|
Server Port HBA Model
|
Host bus adapter model name of the acquired server Fibre Channel port.
|
Logical Fabric
|
VSAN that was assigned and acquired for the server.
|
Logical Fabric VSAN ID
|
VSAN identifier number.
|
Storage Port Logical Name
|
Name of the storage port.
|
Storage Port WWN
|
Physical identifier of the port.
|
Storage Port
|
WWN of the storage Fibre Channel port that was assigned in the LUN Path selection dialog and then acquired.
|
Storage Array ID
|
Array identification number (typically a serial number) that contains the storage Fibre Channel port.
|
LUN
|
Name of the LUN.
|
LUN ID
|
Identification number of the LUN.
|
LUN Size
|
Space available on the LUN.
|
Server LUN and Path Selection Dialog Box
Use the Server LUN and Path Selection dialog box to identify the paths that VFrame will use to connect to specified LUNs. This dialog box displays information for up to two fabrics, depending on the number chosen in the Server Group Configuration wizard.
Note
Table 14-20 lists the information that is displayed for one fabric, but the same information is displayed for a second fabric, if present.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a server that you have previously created (and is in the Waiting on LUN and Path selection state), select the SAN Storage tab, and then right-click on a server listing in the Storage Per Server pane—Select Edit LUN Path.
Related Topics
•
Configuring Servers
Field Reference
Table 14-20 Server LUN and Paths Selection Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Fabric Information—Displays information for up to two fabrics, depending on the number of fabrics chosen in the Server Group Configuration wizard.
|
Storage FC Ports
|
Lists the information about the Fibre Channel ports on the storage device:
• Operational Speed—Array port speed. Typically this is either 1 Gbps, 2 Gbps, or 4 Gbps. This information is obtained from the port to which the switch is connected during SAN discovery.
• Port WWN—Array Fibre Channel port name (8 bytes converted into 16 hex characters).
• # of HBA Ports mapped to the array port—Number of server initiators that have been assigned or acquired by that port in that particular row.
Some arrays have a limitation on the number of array ports. Generally they limit the number of server HBA ports that can be masked to each Fibre Channel port within the array. A value of 1 indicates that VFrame is using one array port for one server HBA port.
Note VFrame does not track array ports that are configured outside of VFrame.
• # of LUNs mapped to HBA Ports via Array Port—Number of unique LUNs that have been exposed by that particular array port. Arrays also restrict the number of LUNs that can exposed on any array Fibre Channel port.
|
Filter
|
Click this button to specify the scope of information to be displayed. The following are valid choices:
• All—Displays all Fibre Channel ports.
• Active—Displays only the Fibre Channel ports that are in active mode.
• Passive—Displays only the Fibre Channel ports that are in passive mode.
|
Server FC Port
|
Click this list box to select the desired Fibre Channel port on the server. VFrame lists the storage Fibre Channel ports to which the selected server Fibre Channel port is connected.
|
Available LUNs
|
LUN name (user-defined)
|
One tab contains information about the root LUN. Remaining tabs contain information about additional LUNs.
|
Buttons
|
Create LUN Path
|
Choose a storage-to-server path and LUN and click this button to create a LUN path.
|
Delete LUN Path
|
Choose a LUN path and click this button to delete a LUN path.
|
Delete All LUN Paths
|
Choose this button to delete all LUN paths.
|
LUN Path Table
|
Fabric
|
Name of the fabric.
|
Server Port
|
Fibre Channel port on the server.
|
Storage Port WWN
|
Physical identifier of the port.
|
LUN
|
Name of the LUN.
|
Confirmation Dialog Box
Use the Confirmation dialog box to gracefully shutdown ESX servers.
How to Get to This Dialog Box
On the Operations Tab in the lower left pane, choose a server. Click Actions and choose Stop Server from the menu.
Related Topics
•
Stopping ESX Servers
Table 14-21 Confirmation Dialog Box
Element
|
Description
|
Virtual Machines area
|
Choose a server or servers to shutdown.
|
Enter ESX Maintenance Before Shutdown check box
|
Check this box to specify that the server enter maintenance before shutting down.
|
Logs Tab
Use the Logs tab to display log entries for every operation that VFrame performed for the opened service network.
How to Get to This Tab
Do the following:
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click the Logs tab.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
Field Reference
Table 14-22 Logs Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Max Results
|
Number of entries to show from 100 through 10000.
|
Filter button
|
Click this button to specify the scope of information to be displayed. The Filter dialog box appears.
From the Filter tab:
• Click More to include additional types of information. The types of information to choose from depends on the selected tab (Logs tab, Verification Results tab, or Configuration Results tab).
• Check the check box to filter values.
|
Details button
|
Choose a row in the table and click this button to display the information in a dialog box instead. This display helps you read the information in the row without having to use the horizontal scroll bar.
|
Severity
|
Priority level of the log entry. Valid priority level are fatal, error, warning, and informational.
|
Time
|
Date and time the operation occurred.
|
Job Name
|
Name of operation.
|
Entry
|
Log entry.
|
Event Name
|
Name of event.
|
Activity
|
Action being performed.
|
Target Resource Name
|
Target resource name.
|
Target Resource Type
|
Target resource type.
|
Verification Results Tab
Use the Verification Results tab to display details about the verification operations performed for the opened service network.
How to Get to This Tab
Do one of the following:
•
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click the Verification Results tab.
•
From the Operations Tab, select a service network, click History, and then click the Verification Results tab.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Verifying Service Networks
Field Reference
Table 14-23 Verification Results Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Filter button
|
Click this button to specify the scope of information to be displayed. The Filter dialog box appears.
From the Filter dialog box:
• Check the check box to filter values.
From the Summary tab, check your current filter selections.
|
Details button
|
Choose a row in the table and click this button to display the information in a dialog box instead. This display helps you read the information in the row without having to use the horizontal scroll bar.
|
Clear Status button
|
Choose a row in the table and click this button to clear an error state. (This button is displayed only if you select the Verification Results tab or Configuration Results tab.)
|
Diff button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to an action (user-defined macro) and click this button to compare the last known configuration (if available) with the most recent configuration that VFrame deployed.
|
Logs button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to an action (user-defined macro) and click this button to display the communication between VFrame and the device. The communication includes commands sent to the device and the device prompts and responses.
|
Perl Routine button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to an action (user-defined macro) and click this button to display the Perl file that was generated before running the macro.
|
Variable File button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to an action (user-defined macro) and click this button to display the variable values that were generated before running the macro.
|
Failed results only1
|
Click this check box to show only configuration operations that resulted in failure.
|
Status
|
Status of the action, indicating whether it was successful or not.
|
Last Update Time
|
Time the verification action was completed.
|
Event Type
|
Type of event that occurred. For a complete list of event types, see Events, page 11-7.
|
Event Name
|
Name of the event that occurred.
|
Action
|
User-defined macro or system action.
|
Message
|
Error or informational message after action occurs.
|
Resource
|
Resource associated with the target element.
|
Target SNE Name
|
Name of the target service network element.
|
Prev. Reset Status2
|
Status of the error before it was cleared.
|
Reset By2
|
Username of the person who cleared the error.
|
Configuration Results Tab
Use the Configuration Results tab to display details about the configuration operations performed for the opened service network.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click the Configuration Results tab.
Related Topics
•
Understanding Operations
•
Deploying Service Networks
Field Reference
Table 14-24 Configuration Results Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Filter button
|
Click this button to specify the scope of information to be displayed. The Filter dialog box appears.
From the Filter dialog box:
• Check the check box to filter values.
From the Summary tab, check your current filter selections.
|
Details button
|
Choose a row in the table and click this button to display the information in a dialog box instead. This display helps you read the information in the row without having to use the horizontal scroll bar.
|
Clear Status button
|
Choose a row in the table and click this button to clear an error state. (This button is displayed only when you select the Verification Results tab or Configuration Results tab.)
|
Diff button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to a user action (user-defined macro) and click this button to compare the last known configuration (if available) with the most recent configuration that VFrame deployed.
|
Logs button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to a user action (user-defined macro) and click this button to display the communication between VFrame and the device. The communication includes commands sent to the device and the device prompts and responses.
|
Perl Routine button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to a user action (user-defined macro) and click this button to display the Perl file that was generated before running macro.
|
Variable File button
|
Choose a row in the table pertaining to a user action (user-defined macro) and click this button to display the variable values that were generated before running the macro.
|
Show failed results only1
|
Choose this check box to show only configuration operations that resulted in failure.
|
Status
|
Status of the action, indicating whether it was successful or not.
|
Last Update Time
|
Time the configuration action was completed.
|
Event Name
|
Name of the event that triggered the configuration task action.
|
Action
|
Name of the action.
|
Message
|
Error or informational message after action occurs.
|
Resource
|
Resource associated with the target element.
|
Target SNE Name
|
Name of the target service network element.
|
Alarms Tab
Use the Alarms tab to display details about the faults detected by your service network.
How to Get to This Tab
From the Operations Tab, select a service network and click the Alarms tab.
Related Topics
•
Notifications and Alarms
•
Logical Element Fault State Machine Reference
Field Reference
Table 14-25 Alarms Tab
Element
|
Description
|
Severity
|
Severity of the alarm (as assigned under Policies > Alarms). Options are Info, Warning, Error and Critical.
|
State
|
State of the fault state machine. Options are Active, Cleared, and Acknowledged.
|
Name
|
Name of element on which the fault was generated.
|
Type
|
Type of element on which the fault was generated.
|
Attribute
|
Name of the fault state machine.
|
Status
|
Status of the fault state machine.
|
Description
|
Description of the fault state machine.
|
Previous State
|
Previous state of the fault state machine.
|
Time
|
Time the fault state machine entered the corresponding state.
|
Logical Element Fault State Machine Reference
This section describes the fault state machines that are used with logical elements, and includes the following topics:
•
Logical Server Fault State Machines
•
Logical Network Fault State Machines
•
Logical Network Services Fault State Machines
•
Logical Storage Fault State Machines
Logical Server Fault State Machines
The logical server fault state machines relate to your virtual application servers. You can configure fault severity, which is the severity level of the fault generated by changes to this state. This configuration affects the severity displayed in the interface, and is what controls when notifications are sent based on your notification settings. For details, see Defining Alarms.
Table 14-26 explains the logical server fault state machines.
Table 14-26 Logical Server Fault State Machines
Fault State Machine
|
Description and States
|
LN Server (Logical Network Server)
Fault state machines related to virtual application servers.
|
ConfigurationServer
|
Indicates the state of the server. For a complete description of these states, see Table 14-2.
|
Health
|
Indicates the health of a logical server. A logical server is considered unhealthy if it repeatedly fails too frequently (for example, misses heartbeats or repeatedly goes into a Failure While Running state). This might indicate a problem with the image.
By default, if the same logical server misses a heartbeat three times in one hour, it is considered unhealthy, and it goes into a Service Network Element Error state. When this happens, VFrame no longer tries to remap that logical server. When the affected logical server (or the service network) is stopped, the logical server enters a Deployment Blocked state and remain in this state until you acknowledge and clear it.
• OK—Logical server is in good health.
• Bad—Logical server missed too many heartbeats within a specified time range. The time range is specified in the Server Settings tab (View > Operations > Policies > ServerGroup > Server Settings).
|
Heartbeat
|
Indicates whether VFrame is receiving regular heartbeats from the server while it is running. The heartbeat interval is specified under View > Operations > Policies > ServerGroup > Monitoring/Trend. The default is once per minute.
• OK—VFrame is receiving heartbeats; the server is up and running
• Missed—VFrame missed the number of heartbeats specified in the Server Settings tab (View > Operations > Policies > ServerGroup > Server Settings). The default is three heartbeats. If VFrame misses three consecutive heartbeats from a server in the selected server group, this fault state machine enters a Missed state. When this happens, the running logical server enters a Failure While Running state, and the logical server is stopped and started again on a different physical server.
|
LogicalElementConfigurationError
|
Reports any problems during the configuration of a device, either during network deployment or reconfiguration of a running network.
• · OK—No problems during configuration or a past problem was corrected.
• · Warning—Problem during configuration of a logical entity (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—No problems during configuration of the logical entity; however, there were problems configuring one or more of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem during configuration that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementFaultError
|
Reports a problem with the logical entity during the operation of the network.
• · OK—No problems with this service element.
• · Warning—Problem with this service element (or one of its child nodes) during network operation, which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—This service element is operating correctly; however, there is a problem with one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem with this service element that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementVerificationServer
|
Checks that the device configuration is that which was configured by VFrame and reports the outcome.
• OK—Verification did not detect any configuration changes.
• Warning—Verification detected a configuration change on a logical server (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• Partial Error—Verification did not detect any configuration changes on the logical server; however, it did detect one or more configuration changes on one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• Error—Verification detected a configuration change that might cause network failure.
|
LogicalElementDesignedServerImageVersion
|
Checks whether the server image version is in sync with the golden image version associated with the corresponding server group specified in Service Networks tab: Service Networks > Server Group > Settings > Image.
• OK—Implies that server group golden image matches the logical server image version. No mismatch.
• Warning—This is raised when the logical server image version does not match the golden image version associated with the corresponding server group. This occurs when there are servers created in new, deployable or running states with a particular image version and the server group is moved to a different golden image version.
|
LogicalElementAppliedServerImageVersion
|
Checks whether the image version applied on the deployed server matches the server image version associated with the logical server.
• OK—Implies that the server image version and the applied image version of the deployed server are identical. No mismatch.
• Warning—This indicates there is a mismatch between the image version associated with the logical server and the applied version copied on to the remote storage for the deployed server. This occurs when the logical server is imaged with a particular version, and then moved to another image version by using the right click menu option on the server. The applied version on the remote storage is reported by the VHA every time there is a change in the version details in /opt/cisco_vfdc/gi_version file on the server or the server starts up, which in turn is compared against the server image version associated with the server.
|
Logical Server Group
Fault state machines related to virtual application server groups.
|
LogicalElementConfigurationError
|
Reports any problems during the configuration of a device, either during network deployment or reconfiguration of a running network.
• · OK—No problems during configuration or a past problem was corrected.
• · Warning—Problem during configuration of a logical entity (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—No problems during configuration of the logical entity; however, there were problems configuring one or more of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem during configuration that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementFaultError
|
Reports a problem with the logical entity during the operation of the network.
• · OK—No problems with this service element.
• · Warning—Problem with this service element (or one of its child nodes) during network operation, which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—This service element is operating correctly; however, there is a problem with one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem with this service element that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementVerificationServer
|
Checks that the device configuration is that which was configured by VFrame and reports the outcome.
• OK—Verification did not detect any configuration changes.
• Warning—Verification detected a configuration change on a logical server (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• Partial Error—Verification did not detect any configuration changes on the logical server; however, it did detect one or more configuration changes on one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• Error—Verification detected a configuration change that might cause network failure.
|
Server Count
|
Indicates how the number of running logical servers compares to the number specified in the Server Count tab (Policies > Server Group > Server Count).
• Over Target—VFrame detected more running servers than the target number specified. This condition is not considered to be an error. The servers will continue to run.
• OK—VFrame detected the specified number of servers running.
• Below Target—VFrame detected fewer running servers than the target number specified or VFrame detected the exact number or fewer running servers than the minimum number specified. This condition is a minor error, and VFrame will try to bring up additional logical servers until the running number of servers reaches the specified target count.
• Below Minimum—VFrame detected fewer running servers than the minimum number of servers specified. This condition produces an error, and VFrame will try to start additional logical servers until the running number of servers reaches the specified target count.
• Over Maximum—VFrame detected more running servers than the maximum number of servers specified. This condition produces an error, and VFrame will try to stop running servers until the running number of servers reaches the maximum number of servers specified.
|
Logical Network Fault State Machines
The logical network fault state machines relate to your virtual Ethernet switches. You can configure fault severity, which is the severity level of the fault generated by changes to this state. This configuration affects the severity displayed in the interface, and is what controls when notifications are sent based on your notification settings. For details, see Defining Alarms.
Table 14-27 explains the network fault state machines.
Table 14-27 Logical Network Fault State Machines
Fault State Machine
|
Description and States
|
Logical Network
Fault state machines related to your virtual Ethernet switches.
|
ConfigurationLogicalNetwork
|
Indicates the state of the logical network. For a complete description of these states, see Table 14-2.
|
LogicalElementConfigurationError
|
Reports any problems during the configuration of a device, either during network deployment or reconfiguration of a running network.
• · OK—No problems during configuration or a past problem was corrected.
• · Warning—Problem during configuration of a logical entity (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—No problems during configuration of the logical entity; however, there were problems configuring one or more of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem during configuration that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementFaultError
|
Reports a problem with the logical entity during the operation of the network.
• · OK—No problems with this service element.
• · Warning—Problem with this service element (or one of its child nodes) during network operation, which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—This service element is operating correctly; however, there is a problem with one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem with this service element that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementVerificationServer
|
Checks that the device configuration is that which was configured by VFrame and reports the outcome.
• OK—Verification did not detect any configuration changes.
• Warning—Verification detected a configuration change on a logical server (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• Partial Error—Verification did not detect any configuration changes on the logical server; however, it did detect one or more configuration changes on one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• Error—Verification detected a configuration change that might cause network failure.
|
Logical Network Services Fault State Machines
The logical network services fault state machines relate to your virtual Ethernet switch modules, such as Firewall Services Modules (FWSMs). You can configure fault severity, which is the severity level of the fault generated by changes to this state. This configuration affects the severity displayed in the interface, and is what controls when notifications are sent based on your notification settings. For details, see Defining Alarms.
Table 14-28 explains the logical network services fault state machines.
Table 14-28 Logical Network Services Fault State Machines
Fault State Machine
|
Description and States
|
Logical Element
Fault state machines related to the virtual Ethernet switch modules, such as Firewall Services Modules (FWSMs).
|
LogicalElementConfigurationError
|
Reports any problems during the configuration of a device, either during network deployment or reconfiguration of a running network.
• · OK—No problems during configuration or a past problem was corrected.
• · Warning—Problem during configuration of a logical entity (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—No problems during configuration of the logical entity; however, there were problems configuring one or more of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem during configuration that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementFaultError
|
Reports a problem with the logical entity during the operation of the network.
• · OK—No problems with this service element.
• · Warning—Problem with this service element (or one of its child nodes) during network operation, which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—This service element is operating correctly; however, there is a problem with one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem with this service element that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementVerificationServer
|
Checks that the device configuration is that which was configured by VFrame and reports the outcome.
• OK—Verification did not detect any configuration changes.
• Warning—Verification detected a configuration change on a logical server (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• Partial Error—Verification did not detect any configuration changes on the logical server; however, it did detect one or more configuration changes on one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• Error—Verification detected a configuration change that might cause network failure.
|
Logical Storage Fault State Machines
The logical storage fault state machines relate to your virtual storage devices, such as storage area network (SAN) equipment and NFS filers.You can configure fault severity, which is the severity level of the fault generated by changes to this state. This configuration affects the severity displayed in the interface, and is what controls when notifications are sent based on your notification settings. For details, see Defining Alarms.
Table 14-29 explains the logical storage fault state machines.
Table 14-29 Logical Storage Fault State Machines
Fault State Machine
|
Description and States
|
Logical Fabric
Fault state machines related to SAN fabrics.
|
LogicalElementConfigurationError
|
Reports any problems during the configuration of a device, either during network deployment or reconfiguration of a running network.
• · OK—No problems during configuration or a past problem was corrected.
• · Warning—Problem during configuration of a logical entity (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—No problems during configuration of the logical entity; however, there were problems configuring one or more of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem during configuration that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementFaultError
|
Reports a problem with the logical entity during the operation of the network.
• · OK—No problems with this service element.
• · Warning—Problem with this service element (or one of its child nodes) during network operation, which might not cause a network failure.
• · Partial Error—This service element is operating correctly; however, there is a problem with one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• · Error—Problem with this service element that might cause a network failure.
|
LogicalElementVerificationServer
|
Checks that the device configuration is that which was configured by VFrame and reports the outcome.
• OK—Verification did not detect any configuration changes.
• Warning—Verification detected a configuration change on a logical server (or one of its child nodes), which might not cause a network failure.
• Partial Error—Verification did not detect any configuration changes on the logical server; however, it did detect one or more configuration changes on one of its child nodes, which might cause a network failure.
• Error—Verification detected a configuration change that might cause network failure.
|