FlashStack Virtual Server Infrastructure with Fibre Channel Storage for VMware vSphere 6.7 U1

Deployment Guide for Fibre Channel using FlashStack with Cisco UCS 6400 Fabric Interconnect and Pure Storage FlashArray//X Series

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Last Updated: December 23, 2019

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary. 6

Solution Overview.. 7

Introduction. 7

Audience. 7

Purpose of this Document 7

Solution Summary. 7

Deployment Hardware and Software. 10

Software Revisions. 10

Configuration Guidelines. 11

Physical Topology. 14

Network Switch Configuration. 20

Network Configuration. 20

Physical Connectivity. 20

Cisco Nexus Basic System Configuration Dialog. 20

Cisco Nexus Switch Configuration. 23

Storage Configuration. 27

Pure Storage FlashArray//X70 R2 Configuration. 27

FlashArray Initial Configuration. 27

Add an Alert Recipient 28

Configure Pure1 Support 29

Configure the Domain Name System (DNS) Server IP Addresses. 31

Directory Service Sub-view.. 32

SSL Certificate Sub-view.. 34

CA-Sign Certificate. 34

MDS Fabric Configuration. 37

Physical Connectivity. 37

Cisco MDS Basic System Configuration Dialog. 37

Cisco MDS Configuration. 40

Compute Configuration. 43

Cisco UCS Compute Configuration. 43

Physical Connectivity. 43

Cisco UCS Basic System Configuration Dialog. 43

Cisco UCS Manager Configuration. 45

Upgrade Cisco UCS Manager to Version 4.0(2b) 45

Enable Anonymous Reporting. 45

Configure Cisco UCS Call Home. 46

Configure NTP. 47

Configure Cisco UCS Servers. 49

Edit Chassis Discovery Policy. 49

Enable Server and Uplink Ports. 49

Acknowledge Cisco UCS Chassis. 51

Create Pools. 52

Set Packages and Policies. 66

Configure Cisco UCS LAN Connectivity. 79

Create Uplink Port Channels. 79

Create VLANS. 82

Create vNIC Templates. 85

Create LAN Connectivity Policy. 99

Configure FC SAN Connectivity. 107

Create Boot Policy. 119

Create Service Profile Templates. 125

Create Service Profiles. 134

Claim in Intersight 134

MDS Fabric Zoning. 137

Create Device Aliases. 137

MDS Zoning. 141

Create and Activate Zoneset 142

FlashArray Storage Deployment 143

Host Port Identification. 143

Host Registration. 143

Create Host Group. 146

Private Boot Volumes for Each ESXi Host 148

Configure Storage Policy Based Management 150

VMware vSphere Deployment 152

ESXi Installation. 152

Download Cisco Custom Image for ESXi 6.7 U1. 152

Log into Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect 153

Set Up VMware ESXi Installation. 153

Install ESXi 153

Set Up Management Networking for ESXi Hosts. 154

Create FlashStack Datacenter 155

Create VMware vDS for Infrastructure and Application Traffic. 156

Add the VMware ESXi Hosts Using the VMware vSphere Web Client 163

Pure Storage vSphere Web Client Plugin. 167

Import Protection Group as VM Storage Policy. 170

Add Datastores. 171

Configure ESXi Settings. 174

Install VMware Driver for the Cisco Virtual Interface Card (VIC) 178

Add the ESXi Hosts to the vDS. 179

Create vMotion VMkernel adapters. 191

Appendix. 196

Sample Switch Configuration. 196

About the Authors. 202

Acknowledgements. 202

 

 

Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs) consist of systems and solutions that are designed, tested, and documented to facilitate and improve customer deployments. These designs incorporate a wide range of technologies and products into a portfolio of solutions that have been developed to address the business needs of our customers.

This document details the design in the FlashStack Virtual Server Infrastructure Design Guide for VMware vSphere 6.7 U1, which describes a validated converged infrastructure jointly developed by Cisco and Pure Storage.  This solution explains the deployment of a predesigned, best-practice data center architecture with VMware vSphere built on the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), the Cisco Nexus® 9000 family of switches, Cisco MDS 9000 family of Fibre Channel switches, and Pure Storage FlashArray//X all flash storage configured for Fibre Channel based storage access.

When deployed, the architecture presents a robust infrastructure viable for a wide range of application workloads implemented as a virtual server infrastructure.

Introduction

In the current industry there is a trend for pre-engineered solutions which standardize the data center infrastructure, offering the business operational efficiencies, agility and scale to address cloud, bimodal IT and their business.  Their challenge is complexity, diverse application support, efficiency and risk; all these are met by FlashStack with:

·       Reduced complexity and automatable infrastructure and easily deployed resources

·       Robust components capable of supporting high performance and high bandwidth virtualized applications

·       Efficiency through optimization of network bandwidth and in-line storage compression with de-duplication

·       Risk reduction at each level of the design with resiliency built into each touch point throughout

Cisco and Pure Storage have partnered to deliver this Cisco Validated Design, which uses best of breed storage, server and network components to serve as the foundation for virtualized workloads, enabling efficient architectural designs that can be quickly and confidently deployed. 

In this document we will describe a reference architecture detailing a Virtual Server Infrastructure composed of Cisco Nexus switches, Cisco UCS Compute, Cisco MDS Multilayer Fabric Switches and a Pure Storage FlashArray//X delivering a VMware vSphere 6.7 U1 hypervisor environment.

Audience

The audience for this document includes, but is not limited to; sales engineers, field consultants, professional services, IT managers, partner engineers, and customers who want to take advantage of an infrastructure built to deliver IT efficiency and enable IT innovation.

Purpose of this Document

This document details a step-by-step configuration and implementation guide for FlashStack, centered around the Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect and the Pure Storage FlashArray//X70 R2.  These components are supported by the 100G capable Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 switch and 32G FC capable Cisco MDS 9132T to deliver a Virtual Server infrastructure on Cisco UCS B200 M5 Blade Servers and Cisco UCS C220 M5 Rack Servers running VMware vSphere 6.7 U1. 

The design that will be implemented is discussed in the FlashStack Virtual Server Infrastructure for VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 1 Design Guide.

Solution Summary

The FlashStack Virtual Server Infrastructure is a validated reference architecture, collaborated on by Cisco and Pure Storage, built to serve enterprise data centers.  The solution is built to deliver a VMware vSphere based environment, leveraging the Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS), Cisco Nexus switches, Cisco MDS switches, and Pure Storage FlashArray.

The architecture brings together a simple, wire once solution that is SAN booted from FC and is highly resilient at each layer of the design. This creates an infrastructure that is ideal for a variety of virtual application deployments that can reliably scale when growth is needed.

Figure 1 illustrates the base physical architecture used in FlashStack Virtual Server Infrastructure.

Figure 1        FlashStack with Cisco UCS 6454 and Pure Storage FlashArray //70 R2

 

The reference hardware configuration includes:

·       Two Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 Switches

·       Two Cisco MDS 9132T Switches

·       Two Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects

·       Cisco UCS 5108 Chassis with two Cisco UCS 2308 Fabric Extenders

·       Two Cisco UCS B200 M5 Blade Servers

·       Four Cisco UCS C220 M5 Rack Servers

·       One Pure Storage FlashArray//X70 R2

 

The virtual environment this supports is within VMware vSphere 6.7 U1 and includes virtual management and automation components from Cisco and Pure Storage built into the solution, or as optional add-ons.

This document provides a low-level example of steps to deploy this base architecture that may need some adjustments depending on the customer environment. These steps include physical cabling, network, storage, compute, and virtual device configurations.

Software Revisions

Table 1   lists the software versions for hardware and virtual components used in this solution.  Each of these versions have been used have been certified within interoperability matrixes supported by Cisco, Pure Storage, and VMware.  For information about the current supported versions, consult the following sources:

·       Cisco UCS Hardware and Software Interoperability Tool: http://www.cisco.com/web/techdoc/ucs/interoperability/matrix/matrix.html

·       Pure Storage Interoperability(note, this interoperability list will require a support login form Pure):  https://support.purestorage.com/FlashArray/Getting_Started/Compatibility_Matrix

·       Pure Storage FlashStack Compatibility Matrix (note, this interoperability list will require a support login from Pure): https://support.purestorage.com/FlashStack/Product_Information/FlashStack_Compatibility_Matrix

·       VMware Compatibility Guide: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

·       Additionally, it is also strongly suggested to align FlashStack deployments with the recommended release for the Cisco Nexus 9000 switches used in the architecture:

·       Nexus: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus9000/sw/recommended_release/b_Minimum_and_Recommended_Cisco_NX-OS_Releases_for_Cisco_Nexus_9000_Series_Switches.html

·       MDS: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/mds9000/sw/b_MDS_NX-OS_Recommended_Releases.html

If versions are selected that differ from the validated versions below, it is highly recommended to read the release notes of the selected version to be aware of any changes to features or commands that may have occurred.

Table 1    Software Revisions

Configuration Guidelines

This document details the step-by-step configuration of a fully redundant and highly available Virtual Server Infrastructure built on Cisco and Pure Storage components.  References are made to which component is being configured with each step, either 01 or 02 or A and B. For example, controller-1 and controller-2 are used to identify the two controllers within the Pure Storage FlashArray//X that are provisioned with this document, and Cisco Nexus A or Cisco Nexus B identifies the pair of Cisco Nexus switches that are configured. The Cisco UCS fabric interconnects are similarly configured. Additionally, this document details the steps for provisioning multiple Cisco UCS hosts, and these examples are identified as: VM-Host-FC-01, VM-Host-FC-02 to represent Fibre Channel booted infrastructure and production hosts deployed to the fabric interconnects in this document. Finally, to indicate that you should include information pertinent to your environment in a given step, <<text>> appears as part of the command structure. See the following example during a configuration step for both Nexus switches:

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# ntp server <<var_oob_ntp>> use-vrf management

This document is intended to enable you to fully configure the customer environment. In this process, various steps require you to insert customer-specific naming conventions, IP addresses, and VLAN schemes, as well as to record appropriate MAC addresses. Table 2   lists the VLANs necessary for deployment as outlined in this guide, and Table 3  lists the virtual machines (VMs) necessary for deployment as outlined in this guide.

Table 2    Required VLANs

Table 3    Infrastructure Servers

Table 4    Configuration Variables

Physical Topology

This section details a cabling example for a FlashStack environment. To explain the connectivity in this example, the tables include both the local and remote port locations.

This document assumes that out-of-band management ports are plugged into an existing management infrastructure at the deployment site.  The upstream network from the Nexus 9336C-FX2 switches is out of scope of this document, with only the assumption that these switches will connect to the upstream switch or switches with a vPC.

Figure 2 shows the cabling configuration used in this FlashStack design. 

Figure 2        FlashStack Cabling in the Validate Topology

Table 5    Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2-A Cabling Information

Table 6    Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2-B Cabling Information

Table 7    Cisco UCS-6545-A Cabling Information

Table 8    Cisco UCS-6545-B Cabling Information

Table 9    Cisco MDS-9132T-A Cabling Information

Table 10      Cisco MDS-9132T-B Cabling Information

Table 11      Pure Storage FlashArray//X70 R2 Controller 1 Cabling Information

Table 12      Pure Storage FlashArray//X70 R2 Controller 2 Cabling Information

Network Configuration

The following procedures describe how to configure the Cisco Nexus switches for use in a base FlashStack environment.  This procedure assumes the use of Nexus 9336C-FX2 switches running 7.0(3)I7(5).  Configuration on a differing model of Nexus 9000 series switch should be comparable but may differ slightly with model and changes in NX-OS release.  The Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 switch and NX-OS 7.0(3)I7(5) release were used in validation of this FlashStack solution, so the instructions will reflect this model and release.

Figure 3        Network Configuration Workflow

Physical Connectivity

Physical cabling should be completed by following the diagram and table references in the previous section referenced as FlashStack Cabling.

Cisco Nexus Basic System Configuration Dialog

This section provides detailed instructions for the configuration of the Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 switches used in this FlashStack solution.  Some changes may be appropriate for a customer’s environment, but care should be taken when stepping outside of these instructions as it may lead to an improper configuration.

Cisco Nexus Basic System Configuration Dialog

^{Abort Auto Provisioning and continue with normal setup ?(yes/no)[n]: y} 

^{---- System Admin Account Setup ----}

 

^{Do you want to enforce secure password standard (yes/no) [y]: yes}

 

  ^{Enter the password for "admin":}

  ^{Confirm the password for "admin":}

 

         ^{---- Basic System Configuration Dialog VDC: 1 ----}

 

^{This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of}

^{the system. Setup configures only enough connectivity for management}

^{of the system.}

 

^{Please register Cisco Nexus9000 Family devices promptly with your}

^{supplier. Failure to register may affect response times for initial}

^{service calls. Nexus9000 devices must be registered to receive}

^{entitled support services.}

 

^{Press Enter at anytime to skip a dialog. Use ctrl-c at anytime}

^{to skip the remaining dialogs.}

 

 ^{Would you like to enter the basic configuration dialog (yes/no): yes}

  

  ^{Create another login account (yes/no) [n]: no}

 

  ^{Configure read-only SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]: no}

 

  ^{Configure read-write SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]: no}

 

  ^{Enter the switch name :}<<var_nexus_A_hostname>>

 

  ^{Continue with Out-of-band (mgmt0) management configuration? (yes/no) [y]: yes}

 

   ^{Mgmt0 IPv4 address :}<<var_nexus_A_mgmt_ip>>

 

    ^{Mgmt0 IPv4 netmask :}<<var_oob_mgmt_mask>>

 

  ^{Configure the default gateway? (yes/no) [y]: yes}

 

    ^{IPv4 address of the default gateway :}<<var_oob_gateway>>

 

  ^{Configure advanced IP options? (yes/no) [n]: n}

 

  ^{Enable the telnet service? (yes/no) [n]: no}

 

  ^{Enable the ssh service? (yes/no) [y]: yes}

 

    ^{Type of ssh key you would like to generate (dsa/rsa) [rsa]: rsa}

 

    ^{Number of rsa key bits <1024-2048> [1024]: 2048}

 

  ^{Configure the ntp server? (yes/no) [n]: yes}

 

    ^{NTP server IPv4 address : <<var_oob_ntp>>}

 

  ^{Configure default interface layer (L3/L2) [L2]: L2}

 

  ^{Configure default switchport interface state (shut/noshut) [noshut]: noshut}

 

  ^{Configure CoPP system profile (strict/moderate/lenient/dense) [strict]: strict}

 

^{The following configuration will be applied:}

  ^{password strength-check}

  ^{switchname AA12-9336C-A}

^{vrf context management}

^{ip route 0.0.0.0/0 192.168.164.254}

^exit

  ^{no feature telnet}

  ^{ssh key rsa 2048 force}

  ^{feature ssh}

  ^{ntp server 172.26.163.254}

  ^{system default switchport}

  ^{no system default switchport shutdown}

  ^{copp profile strict}

^{interface mgmt0}

^{ip address 192.168.164.90 255.255.252.0}

^{no shutdown}

 

^{Would you like to edit the configuration? (yes/no) [n]: no}

 

^{Use this configuration and save it? (yes/no) [y]: yes}

Cisco Nexus Switch Configuration

Enable Features and Settings

To enable IP switching features, run the following commands on each Cisco Nexus:

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# feature lacp

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# feature vpc

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# feature interface-vlan

Additionally, configure spanning tree and save the running configuration to start-up:

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# spanning-tree port type network default 
AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# spanning-tree port type edge bpduguard default 
AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# spanning-tree port type edge bpdufilter default 

Configure Global Settings

Run the following commands on both switches to set global configurations:

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# port-channel load-balance src-dst l4port

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# ip route 0.0.0.0/0 <<var_ib-mgmt-vlan_gateway>>

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# ntp server <<var_oob_ntp>> use-vrf management

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# ntp master 3

 

Configure VLANs

Run the following commands on both switches to create VLANs:

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# vlan <<var_ib-mgmt_vlan_id>>

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)# name IB-MGMT-VLAN

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)# vlan <<var_native_vlan_id>>

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)# name Native-VLAN

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)# vlan <<var_vmotion_vlan_id>>

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)# name vMotion-VLAN

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)#  vlan <<var_application_vlan_id>>

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-vlan)#  name VM-App1-VLAN

 

Continue adding VLANs as appropriate to the customer’s environment.

Add Interface Port Descriptions

To add individual port descriptions for troubleshooting activity and verification for switch A, enter the following commands from the global configuration mode:

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/31

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# description AA12-UCS-6454-A-Eth1/53

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/32

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# description AA12-UCS-6454-B-Eth1/53

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/33

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# description AA12-9336C-B-Eth1/33 Peer Link

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/34

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# description AA12-9336C-B-Eth1/34 Peer Link

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/35

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# description Network-Uplink-A

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/36

AA12-9336C-A(config-if)# description Network-Uplink-B

 

To add individual port descriptions for troubleshooting activity and verification for switch B, enter the following commands from the global configuration mode:

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/31

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# description AA12-UCS-6454-A-Eth1/54

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/32

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# description AA12-UCS-6454-B-Eth1/54

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/33

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# description AA12-9336C-A-Eth1/33 Peer Link

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/34

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# description AA12-9336C-A-Eth1/34 Peer Link

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/35

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# description Network-Uplink-A

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# interface Ethernet1/36

AA12-9336C-B(config-if)# description Network-Uplink-B

Configure vPC Domain Settings

The vPC domain will be assigned a unique number from 1-1000 and will handle the vPC settings specified within the switches. To set the vPC domain configuration on 9336C-A, run the following commands:

AA12-9336C-A(config)# vpc domain 10

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# peer-switch

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# role priority 10

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# peer-keepalive destination <<var_nexus_B_mgmt_ip>> source <<var_nexus_A_mgmt_ip>>

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# delay restore 150

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# peer-gateway

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# auto-recovery

AA12-9336C-A(config-vpc-domain)# ip arp synchronize

To set the vPC domain configuration on 9336C-B, run the following commands:

AA12-9336C-B(config)# vpc domain 10

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# peer-switch

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# role priority 20

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# peer-keepalive destination <<var_nexus_A_mgmt_ip>> source <<var_nexus_B_mgmt_ip>>

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# delay restore 150

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# peer-gateway

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# auto-recovery

AA12-9336C-B(config-vpc-domain)# ip arp synchronize

Configure vPC Peer-Link

On each switch, configure the Port Channel member interfaces that will be part of the vPC Peer Link and configure the vPC Peer Link:

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# int eth 1/33-34

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# switchport mode trunk

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# switchport trunk native vlan 2

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1110,1120,1130,1301-1303

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# channel-group 133 mode active

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# no shut

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# int port-channel 133

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# description AA12-9336C Peer Link

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# vpc peer-link

Configure Port-Channels

On each switch, configure the Port Channel member interfaces and the vPC Port Channels to the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect and the upstream network switches:

Nexus Connection vPC to UCS Fabric Interconnect A

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# int eth 1/31

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# switchport mode trunk

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# switchport trunk native vlan 2

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1110,1120,1130,1301-1303

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# channel-group 131 mode active

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# no shut

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# int port-channel 131

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# description AA12-UCS-6454-A

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# vpc 131

 

Nexus Connection vPC to UCS Fabric Interconnect B

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# int eth 1/32

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# switchport mode trunk

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# switchport trunk native vlan 2

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1110,1120,1130,1301-1303

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# channel-group 132 mode active

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# no shut

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# int port-channel 132

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# description AA12-UCS-6454-B

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# vpc 132

 

Nexus Connection vPC to Upstream Network

AA12-9336C-A&B (config)# int eth 1/35-36

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# switchport mode trunk

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# switchport trunk native vlan 2

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1110,1120,1130,1301-1303

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# channel-group 135 mode active

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# no shut

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if-range)# int port-channel 135

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# description Uplink

AA12-9336C-A&B (config-if)# vpc 135

Pure Storage FlashArray//X70 R2 Configuration

FlashArray Initial Configuration

The information in Table 13  should be gathered to enable the installation and configuration of the FlashArray. An official representative of Pure Storage will help rack and configure the new installation of the FlashArray.

Table 13      FlashArray Setup Information

When the FlashArray has completed initial configuration, it is important to configure the Cloud Assist phone-home connection to provide the best pro-active support experience possible. Furthermore, this will enable the analytics functionalities provided by Pure1.

Add an Alert Recipient

The Alerts sub-view is used to manage the list of addresses to which Purity delivers alert notifications, and the attributes of alert message delivery. The Alert Recipients section displays a list of email addresses that are designated to receive Purity alert messages. Up to 20 alert recipients can be designated.

The email address that Purity uses to send alert messages includes the sender domain name and is comprised of the following components:

<Array_Name>-<Controller_Name>@<Sender_Domain_Name>.com

To add an alert recipient, follow these steps:

1.     Select Settings

2.     In the Alert Watchers section, enter the email address of the alert recipient and click the + icon.

The Relay Host section displays the hostname or IP address of an SMTP relay host, if one is configured for the array. If you specify a relay host, Purity routes the email messages via the relay (mail forwarding) address rather than sending them directly to the alert recipient addresses.

In the Sender Domain section, the sender domain determines how Purity logs are parsed and treated by Pure Storage Support and Escalations. By default, the sender domain is set to the domain name please-configure.me.

It is crucial that you set the sender domain to the correct domain name. If the array is not a Pure Storage test array, set the sender domain to the actual customer domain name. For example, mycompany.com.

Configure Pure1 Support

The Pure1 Support section manages the phone home facility. The phone home facility provides a secure direct link between the array and the Pure Storage Technical Support web site. The link is used to transmit log contents and alert messages to the Pure Storage Support team so that when diagnosis or remedial action is required, complete recent history about array performance and significant events is available.

The Remote Assist section displays the remote assist status as "Connected" or "Disconnected." By default, remote assist is disconnected. A connected remote assist status means that a remote assist session has been opened, allowing Pure Storage Support to connect to the array. Disconnect the remote assist session to close the session.

By default, the phone home facility is enabled. If the phone home facility is enabled to send information automatically, Purity transmits log and alert information directly to Pure Storage Support via a secure network connection. Log contents are transmitted hourly and stored at the support web site, enabling detection of array performance and error rate trends. Alerts are reported immediately when they occur so that timely action can be taken.

Phone home logs can also be sent to Pure Storage Technical support on demand, with options including Today's Logs, Yesterday's Logs, or All Log History.

The Support Logs section allows you to download the Purity log contents of the specified controller to the current administrative workstation. Purity continuously logs a variety of array activities, including performance summaries, hardware and operating status reports, and administrative actions.

Configure the Domain Name System (DNS) Server IP Addresses

To configure the DNS server IP addresses, follow these steps:

1.     Select Settings > Network.

2.     In the DNS section, hover over the domain name and click the pencil icon. The Edit DNS dialog box appears.

3.     Complete the following fields:

a.     Domain: Specify the domain suffix to be appended by the array when doing DNS lookups.

b.     NS#: Specify up to three DNS server IP addresses for Purity to use to resolve hostnames to IP addresses. Enter one IP address in each DNS# field. Purity queries the DNS servers in the order that the IP addresses are listed.

4.     Click Save.

Directory Service Sub-view

The Directory Service sub-view manages the integration of FlashArray with an existing directory service. When the Directory Service sub-view is configured and enabled, the FlashArray leverages a directory service to perform user account and permission level searches. Configuring directory services is OPTIONAL.

The FlashArray is delivered with a single local user, named pureuser, with array-wide (Array Admin) permissions.

To support multiple FlashArray users, integrate the array with a directory service, such as Microsoft Active Directory or OpenLDAP.

Role-based access control is achieved by configuring groups in the directory that correspond to the following permission groups (roles) on the array:

·       Read Only Group. Read Only users have read-only privilege to run commands that convey the state of the array. Read Only uses cannot alter the state of the array.

·        Storage Admin Group. Storage Admin users have all the privileges of Read Only users, plus the ability to run commands related to storage operations, such as administering volumes, hosts, and host groups. Storage Admin users cannot perform operations that deal with global and system configurations.

·        Array Admin Group. Array Admin users have all the privileges of Storage Admin users, plus the ability to perform array-wide changes. In other words, Array Admin users can perform all FlashArray operations.

1.      Select Settings > Users.

2.     Select the  icon in the Directory Services panel:

a.     Enabled: Select the check box to leverage the directory service to perform user account and permission level searches.

b.     URI: Enter the comma-separated list of up to 30 URIs of the directory servers. The URI must include a URL scheme (ldap, or ldaps for LDAP over SSL), the hostname, and the domain. You can optionally specify a port. For example, ldap://ad.company.com configures the directory service with the hostname "ad" in the domain "company.com" while specifying the unencrypted LDAP protocol.

c.     Base DN: Enter the base distinguished name (DN) of the directory service. The Base DN is built from the domain and should consist only of domain components (DCs). For example, for ldap://ad.storage.company.com, the Base DN would be: “DC=storage,DC=company,DC=com”

d.     Bind User: Username used to bind to and query the directory. For Active Directory, enter the username - often referred to as sAMAccountName or User Logon Name - of the account that is used to perform directory lookups. The username cannot contain the characters " [ ] : ; | = + * ? < > / \ and cannot exceed 20 characters in length. For OpenLDAP, enter the full DN of the user. For example, "CN=John,OU=Users,DC=example,DC=com".

e.     Bind Password: Enter the password for the bind user account.

f.      Group Base: Enter the organizational unit (OU) to the configured groups in the directory tree. The Group Base consists of OUs that, when combined with the base DN attribute and the configured group CNs, complete the full Distinguished Name of each groups. The group base should specify "OU=" for each OU and multiple OUs should be separated by commas. The order of OUs should get larger in scope from left to right. In the following example, SANManagers contains the sub-organizational unit PureGroups: "OU=PureGroups,OU=SANManagers".

g.     Array Admin Group: Common Name (CN) of the directory service group containing administrators with full privileges to manage the FlashArray. Array Admin Group administrators have the same privileges as pureuser. The name should be the Common Name of the group without the "CN=" specifier. If the configured groups are not in the same OU, also specify the OU. For example, "pureadmins,OU=PureStorage", where pureadmins is the common name of the directory service group.

h.     Storage Admin Group: Common Name (CN) of the configured directory service group containing administrators with storage related privileges on the FlashArray. The name should be the Common Name of the group without the "CN=" specifier. If the configured groups are not in the same OU, also specify the OU. For example, "pureusers,OU=PureStorage", where pureusers is the common name of the directory service group.

i.       Read Only Group: Common Name (CN) of the configured directory service group containing users with read-only privileges on the FlashArray. The name should be the Common Name of the group without the "CN=" specifier. If the configured groups are not in the same OU, also specify the OU. For example, "purereadonly,OU=PureStorage", where purereadonly is the common name of the directory service group.

j.       Check Peer: Select the check box to validate the authenticity of the directory servers using the CA Certificate. If you enable Check Peer, you must provide a CA Certificate.

k.     CA Certificate: Enter the certificate of the issuing certificate authority. Only one certificate can be configured at a time, so the same certificate authority should be the issuer of all directory server certificates. The certificate must be PEM formatted (Base64 encoded) and include the "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" and "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" lines. The certificate cannot exceed 3000 characters in total length.

3.     Click Save.

4.     Click Test to test the configuration settings. The LDAP Test Results pop-up window appears. Green squares represent successful checks. Red squares represent failed checks.

 

SSL Certificate Sub-view

Purity creates a self-signed certificate and private key when you start the system for the first time. The SSL Certificate sub-view allows you to view and change certificate attributes, create a new self-signed certificate, construct certificate signing requests, import certificates and private keys, and export certificates.

Creating a self-signed certificate replaces the current certificate. When you create a self-signed certificate, include any attribute changes, specify the validity period of the new certificate, and optionally generate a new private key.

When you create the self-signed certificate, you can generate a private key and specify a different key size. If you do not generate a private key, the new certificate uses the existing key.

You can change the validity period of the new self-signed certificate. By default, self-signed certificates are valid for 3650 days

CA-Sign Certificate

Certificate authorities (CA) are third party entities outside the organization that issue certificates. To obtain a CA certificate, you must first construct a certificate signing request (CSR) on the array.

The CSR represents a block of encrypted data specific to your organization. You can change the certificate attributes when you construct the CSR; otherwise, Purity will reuse the attributes of the current certificate (self-signed or imported) to construct the new one. Note that the certificate attribute changes will only be visible after you import the signed certificate from the CA.

Send the CSR to a certificate authority for signing. The certificate authority returns the SSL certificate for you to import. Verify that the signed certificate is PEM formatted (Base64 encoded), includes the "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----" and "-----END CERTIFICATE-----" lines, and does not exceed 3000 characters in total length. When you import the certificate, also import the intermediate certificate if it is not bundled with the CA certificate.

If the certificate is signed with the CSR that was constructed on the current array and you did not change the private key, you do not need to import the key. However, if the CSR was not constructed on the current array or if the private key has changed since you constructed the CSR, you must import the private key. If the private key is encrypted, also specify the passphrase.

This section provides detailed instructions for the configuration of the Cisco MDS 9132T Multilayer Fabric Switches used in this FlashStack solution.  Some changes may be appropriate for a customer’s environment, but use caution; if you don’t follow the instructions as written it may lead to an improper configuration. 

Physical Connectivity

Physical cabling should be completed by following the diagram and table references in the previous section referenced as FlashStack Cabling.

Cisco MDS Basic System Configuration Dialog

This section provides detailed instructions for the configuration of the Cisco MDS 9132T switches used in this FlashStack solution.  Some changes may be appropriate for a customer’s environment, but care should be taken when stepping outside of these instructions as it may lead to an improper configuration.

Cisco MDS Basic System Configuration Dialog

Set up the initial configuration for the Cisco MDS A switch on <<var_mds_A_hostname>>, by following the dialogue steps:

Do you want to enforce secure password standard (yes/no) [y]: yes

 

  Enter the password for "admin":

  Confirm the password for "admin":

 

         ---- Basic System Configuration Dialog ----

 

This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of

the system. Setup configures only enough connectivity for management

of the system.

 

Please register Cisco MDS 9000 Family devices promptly with your

supplier. Failure to register may affect response times for initial

service calls. MDS devices must be registered to receive entitled

support services.

 

Press Enter at anytime to skip a dialog. Use ctrl-c at anytime

to skip the remaining dialogs.

 

Would you like to enter the basic configuration dialog (yes/no): yes

 

  Create another login account (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Configure read-only SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Configure read-write SNMP community string (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Enter the switch name : <<var_mds_A_mgmt_hostname>>

 

  Continue with Out-of-band (mgmt0) management configuration? (yes/no) [y]: yes

 

    Mgmt0 IPv4 address : <<var_mds_A_mgmt_ip>>

 

    Mgmt0 IPv4 netmask : <<var_oob_mgmt_mask>>

 

  Configure the default gateway? (yes/no) [y]: yes

 

    IPv4 address of the default gateway : <<var_oob_gateway>>

 

  Configure advanced IP options? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Enable the ssh service? (yes/no) [y]: yes

 

    Type of ssh key you would like to generate (dsa/rsa) [rsa]: rsa

 

    Number of rsa key bits <1024-2048> [1024]: 1024

 

  Enable the telnet service? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Configure congestion/no_credit drop for fc interfaces? (yes/no)     [y]: yes

 

  Enter the type of drop to configure congestion/no_credit drop? (con/no) [c]: con

 

    Enter milliseconds in multiples of 10 for congestion-drop for logical-type edge

    in range (<200-500>/default), where default is 500.  [d]: 500

 

    Congestion-drop for logical-type core must be greater than or equal to

    Congestion-drop for logical-type edge. Hence, Congestion drop for

    logical-type core will be set as default.

 

  Enable the http-server? (yes/no) [y]: yes

 

 Configure clock? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

 Configure timezone? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

 Configure summertime? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Configure the ntp server? (yes/no) [n]: yes

 

    NTP server IPv4 address : <<var_oob_ntp>>

 

  Configure default switchport interface state (shut/noshut) [shut]: shut

 

  Configure default switchport trunk mode (on/off/auto) [on]: on

 

  Configure default switchport port mode F (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Configure default zone policy (permit/deny) [deny]: deny

 

  Enable full zoneset distribution? (yes/no) [n]: yes

 

  Configure default zone mode (basic/enhanced) [basic]: enhanced

 

The following configuration will be applied:

  password strength-check

  switchname MDS-9132T-A

  interface mgmt0

    ip address 10.2.164.92 255.255.255.0

    no shutdown

  ip default-gateway 10.2.164.254

  ssh key rsa 1024 force

  feature ssh

  no feature telnet

  system timeout congestion-drop 500 logical-type edge

  system timeout congestion-drop default logical-type core

  feature http-server

  ntp server 172.26.163.254

  system default switchport shutdown

  system default switchport trunk mode on

  no system default zone default-zone permit

  system default zone distribute full

  system default zone mode enhanced

 

Would you like to edit the configuration? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

Use this configuration and save it? (yes/no) [y]: yes

Set up the initial configuration for the Cisco MDS B switch on <<var_mds_B_hostname>>, by running through the same steps followed in the configuration, making the appropriate substitutions for <<var_mds_B_hostname>> and <<var_mds_B_mgmt_ip>>.

Cisco MDS Configuration

Enable Features and Settings

mds-9132T-a&b(config)# feature npiv

mds-9132T-a&b(config)# feature fport-channel-trunk

Create VSAN and Interfaces

On MDS 9132T A create the VSAN that will be used for connectivity to the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect and the Pure Storage FlashArray.  Assign this VSAN to the interfaces that will connect to the Pure Storage FlashArray, as well as the interfaces and the Port Channel they create that are connected to the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect:

mds-9132T-a(config)# vsan database
mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_a_id>> 

mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_a_id>> name Fabric-A

mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# exit

mds-9132T-a(config)# zone smart-zoning enable vsan <<var_vsan_a_id>>

mds-9132T-a(config)# vsan database
mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_a_id>>  interface fc1/1-4

mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_a_id>>  interface fc1/15-18
mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_a_id>>  interface po1

mds-9132T-a(config-vsan-db)# exit

mds-9132T-a(config)# int fc1/1-4

mds-9132T-a(config-if)# no shut

mds-9132T-a(config)# int fc1/15-18

mds-9132T-a(config-if)# no shut

mds-9132T-a(config-if)# exit

Repeat these commands on MDS 9132T B using the Fabric B appropriate VSAN ID:

mds-9132T-b(config)# vsan database
mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_b_id>> 

mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_b_id>> name Fabric-B

mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# exit

mds-9132T-b(config)# zone smart-zoning enable vsan <<var_vsan_b_id>>

mds-9132T-b(config)# vsan database
mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_b_id>>  interface fc1/1-4

mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_b_id>>  interface fc1/15-18

mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# vsan <<var_vsan_b_id>>  interface po2

mds-9132T-b(config-vsan-db)# exit

mds-9132T-b(config)# int fc1/1-4

mds-9132T-b(config-if)# no shut

mds-9132T-b(config)# int fc1/15-18

mds-9132T-b(config-if)# no shut

mds-9132T-b(config-if)# exit

Configure the MDS 9132T A Port Channel and add the interfaces connecting into the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect into it:

mds-9132T-a(config)# interface port-channel 1
mds-9132T-a(config-if)# channel mode active 
mds-9132T-a(config-if)# switchport rate-mode dedicated

mds-9132T-a(config-if)# interface fc1/1-4
mds-9132T-a(config-if)# port-license acquire 
mds-9132T-a(config-if)# channel-group 1 force  
mds-9132T-a(config-if)# no shutdown 

Repeat these commands on MDS 9132T B using the Fabric B appropriate Port Channel:

mds-9132T-b(config)# interface port-channel 2
mds-9132T-b(config-if)# channel mode active 
mds-9132T-b(config-if)# switchport rate-mode dedicated

mds-9132T-b(config-if)# interface fc1/1-4
mds-9132T-b(config-if)# port-license acquire 
mds-9132T-b(config-if)# channel-group 2 force  
mds-9132T-b(config-if)# no shutdown 

mds-9132T-a&b (config-if)# copy running-config startup-config

Cisco UCS Compute Configuration

The following procedures describe how to configure the Cisco UCS domain for use in a base FlashStack environment.  This procedure assumes the use of UCS Fabric Interconnects running 4.0(2b).  Configuration on a differing model of UCS Fabric Interconnects should be comparable but may differ slightly with model and changes in the Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM) release.  The Cisco USC 6454 Fabric Interconnects and Cisco UCS Manger 4.0(2b) release were used in validation of this FlashStack solution, so steps will reflect this model and release.

Figure 4        Compute Configuration Workflow

Physical Connectivity

Physical cabling should be completed by following the diagram and table references in the previous section referenced as FlashStack Cabling.

Cisco UCS Basic System Configuration Dialog

This section provides detailed instructions for the configuration of the Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects used in this FlashStack solution.  Some changes may be appropriate for a customer’s environment, but care should be taken when stepping outside of these instructions as it may lead to an improper configuration.

To start on the configuration of the Fabric Interconnect A, connect to the console of the fabric interconnect and step through the Basic System Configuration Dialogue:

UCSM image signature verification successful

 

           ---- Basic System Configuration Dialog ----

 

  This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of

  the system. Only minimal configuration including IP connectivity to

  the Fabric interconnect and its clustering mode is performed through these steps.

 

  Type Ctrl-C at any time to abort configuration and reboot system.

  To back track or make modifications to already entered values,

  complete input till end of section and answer no when prompted

  to apply configuration.

 

 

  Enter the configuration method. (console/gui) ? console

 

  Enter the setup mode; setup newly or restore from backup. (setup/restore) ? setup

 

  You have chosen to setup a new Fabric interconnect. Continue? (y/n): y

 

  Enforce strong password? (y/n) [y]: y

 

  Enter the password for "admin":

  Confirm the password for "admin":

 

  Is this Fabric interconnect part of a cluster(select 'no' for standalone)? (yes/no) [n]: yes

 

  Enter the switch fabric (A/B) []: A

 

  Enter the system name:  <var_ucs_clustername>>

 

  Physical Switch Mgmt0 IP address : <<var_ucs_a_mgmt_ip>>

 

  Physical Switch Mgmt0 IPv4 netmask : <<var_oob_mgmt_mask>>

 

  IPv4 address of the default gateway : <<var_oob_gateway>>

 

 

  Cluster IPv4 address : <<var_ucs_mgmt_vip>

 

  Configure the DNS Server IP address? (yes/no) [n]: yes

 

    DNS IP address : <<var_nameserver_ip>>

 

  Configure the default domain name? (yes/no) [n]: yes

 

    Default domain name : <<var_dns_domain_name>>

 

  Join centralized management environment (UCS Central)? (yes/no) [n]: no

 

  Following configurations will be applied:

 

    Switch Fabric=A

    System Name=AA12-UCS-6454

    Enforced Strong Password=yes

    Physical Switch Mgmt0 IP Address=10.2.164.51

    Physical Switch Mgmt0 IP Netmask=255.255.255.0

    Default Gateway=10.2.164.254

    Ipv6 value=0

    DNS Server=10.1.164.9

    Domain Name=flashstack.cisco.com

 

    Cluster Enabled=yes

    Cluster IP Address=10.2.164.50

    NOTE: Cluster IP will be configured only after both Fabric Interconnects are initialized.

          UCSM will be functional only after peer FI is configured in clustering mode.

 

  Apply and save the configuration (select 'no' if you want to re-enter)? (yes/no):yes

 

Continue the configuration on the console of the Fabric Interconnect B:

---- Basic System Configuration Dialog ----

 

  This setup utility will guide you through the basic configuration of

  the system. Only minimal configuration including IP connectivity to

  the Fabric interconnect and its clustering mode is performed through these steps.

 

  Type Ctrl-C at any time to abort configuration and reboot system.

  To back track or make modifications to already entered values,

  complete input till end of section and answer no when prompted

  to apply configuration.

 

 

  Enter the configuration method. (console/gui) ? console

 

  Installer has detected the presence of a peer Fabric interconnect. This Fabric interconnect will be added to the cluster. Continue (y/n) ? y

 

  Enter the admin password of the peer Fabric interconnect:

    Connecting to peer Fabric interconnect... done

    Retrieving config from peer Fabric interconnect... done

    Peer Fabric interconnect Mgmt0 IPv4 Address: 10.2.164.51

    Peer Fabric interconnect Mgmt0 IPv4 Netmask: 255.255.255.0

    Cluster IPv4 address          : 10.2.164.50

 

    Peer FI is IPv4 Cluster enabled. Please Provide Local Fabric Interconnect Mgmt0 IPv4 Address

 

  Physical Switch Mgmt0 IP address : <<var_ucs_b_mgmt_ip>>

 

  Local fabric interconnect model(UCS-FI-6454)

  Peer fabric interconnect is compatible with the local fabric interconnect. Continuing with the installer...

 

  Apply and save the configuration (select 'no' if you want to re-enter)? (yes/no): yes

Cisco UCS Manager Configuration

To log in to the Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) environment, follow these steps:

1.     Open a web browser and navigate to the Cisco UCS fabric interconnect cluster address.

2.     Click the Launch UCS Manager link within the opening page.

3.     If prompted to accept security certificates, accept as necessary.

4.     When the Cisco UCS Manager login is prompted, enter admin as the user name and enter the administrative password.

5.     Click Login to log into Cisco UCS Manager.

Upgrade Cisco UCS Manager to Version 4.0(2b)

This document assumes the use of Cisco UCS 4.0(2b). To upgrade the Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM) software and the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect software to version 4.0(2b), refer to Cisco UCS Manager Install and Upgrade Guides.

Enable Anonymous Reporting

During the first connection to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI, a pop-up window will appear to allow for the configuration of Anonymous Reporting to Cisco on use to help with future development.  To create anonymous reporting, complete the following step:

1.     In the Anonymous Reporting window, select whether to send anonymous data to Cisco for improving future products, and provide the appropriate SMTP server gateway information if configuring:

 

2.     If you want to enable or disable Anonymous Reporting at a later date, it can be found within Cisco UCS Manager under:  Admin -> Communication Management -> Call Home, which has a tab on the far right for Anonymous Reporting.

Configure Cisco UCS Call Home

During the first connection to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI, a pop-up window will appear to allow for the configuration of Anonymous Reporting to Cisco on use to help with future development.  To create anonymous reporting, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Admin tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Expand Communication Management and click Call Home

3.     Change State to On.

4.     Fill in the fields according to your preferences and click Save Changes and OK

Configure NTP

To synchronize the Cisco UCS environment to the NTP server, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Admin tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Expand Timezone Management and click Timezone.

3.     In the Properties pane, select the appropriate time zone in the Timezone menu.

4.     Click Save Changes and then click OK.

5.     Click Add NTP Server.

6.     Enter <<var_oob_ntp>> and click OK.

7.     Click OK.

Configure Cisco UCS Servers

Edit Chassis Discovery Policy

Setting the discovery policy simplifies the addition of the Cisco UCS B-Series chassis. To modify the chassis discovery policy, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Equipment tab in the navigation pane and select Policies in the list  under the drop-down.

2.     Under Global Policies, set the Chassis/FEX Discovery Policy to match the number of uplink ports that are cabled between the chassis or fabric extenders (FEXes) and the fabric interconnects.

3.     Set the Link Grouping Preference to Port Channel.

4.     Leave other settings alone or change if appropriate to your environment.

5.     Click Save Changes.

6.     Click OK.

Enable Server and Uplink Ports

To enable server and uplink ports, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Equipment tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Equipment > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric Interconnect A (primary) > Fixed Module.

3.     Expand Ethernet Ports.

4.     Select the ports that are connected to the chassis, right-click them, and select “Configure as Server Port.”

5.     Click Yes to confirm server ports and click OK.

6.     Verify that the ports connected to the chassis are now configured as server ports.

7.     Select ports 39 and 40 that are connected to the Cisco Nexus switches, right-click them, and select Configure as Uplink Port.

8.     Click Yes to confirm uplink ports and click OK.

9.     Select Equipment > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric Interconnect B (subordinate) > Fixed Module.

10.  Expand Ethernet Ports.

11.  Select the ports that are connected to the chassis, right-click them and select Configure as Server Port.

12.  Click Yes to confirm server ports and click OK.

13.  Select ports 39 and 40 that are connected to the Cisco Nexus switches, right-click them, and select Configure as Uplink Port.

14.  Click Yes to confirm the uplink ports and click OK

Acknowledge Cisco UCS Chassis

To acknowledge all Cisco UCS chassis, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Equipment tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Expand Chassis and select each chassis that is listed.

3.     Right-click each chassis and select Acknowledge Chassis.

4.     Click Yes and then click OK to complete acknowledging the chassis.

Create Pools

Create MAC Address Pools

To configure the necessary MAC address pools for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Pools > root.

3.     Right-click MAC Pools under the root organization.

4.     Select Create MAC Pool to create the MAC address pool.

5.     Enter MAC_Pool_A as the name of the MAC pool.

6.     Optional: Enter a description for the MAC pool.

7.     Select Sequential as the option for Assignment Order.

8.     Click Next.

9.     Click Add.

10.  Specify a starting MAC address.

11.  Specify a size for the MAC address pool that is sufficient to support the available blade or server resources.

12.  Click OK.

13.  Click Finish.

14.  In the confirmation message, click OK.

15.  Right-click MAC Pools under the root organization.

16.  Select Create MAC Pool to create the MAC address pool.

17.  Enter MAC_Pool_B as the name of the MAC pool.

18.  Optional: Enter a description for the MAC pool.

19.  Click Next.

20.  Click Add.

21.  Specify a starting MAC address.

22.  Specify a size for the MAC address pool that is sufficient to support the available blade or server resources.

23.  Click OK.

24.  Click Finish.

25.  In the confirmation message, click OK.

Create WWNN Pool

To configure the necessary WWNN pool for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps on Cisco UCS Manager:

1.      Select the SAN tab.

2.     Select Pools > root.

3.     Right-click WWNN Pools under the root organization.

4.     Select Create WWNN Pool to create the WWNN pool.

5.     Enter WWNN_Pool for the name of the WWNN pool.

6.     Optional: Enter a description for the WWNN pool.

7.     Select Sequential for Assignment Order.

8.     Click Next.

9.     Click Add.

10.  Modify the From field as necessary for the UCS Environment.

11.  Specify a size of the WWNN block sufficient to support the available server resources.

12.  Click OK.

13.  Click Finish to create the WWNN Pool.

14.  Click OK.

Create WWPN Pools

To configure the necessary WWPN pools for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the SAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Pools > root.

3.     In this procedure, two WWPN pools are created, one for each switching fabric.

4.     Right-click WWPN Pools under the root organization.

5.     Select Create WWPN Pool to create the WWPN pool.

6.     Enter WWPN_Pool_A as the name of the WWPN pool.

7.     Optional: Enter a description for the WWPN pool.

8.     Select Sequential for Assignment Order.

9.     Click Next.

10.  Click Add.

11.   Specify a starting WWPN

12.   Specify a size for the WWPN pool that is sufficient to support the available blade or server resources.

13.    Click OK.

14.  Click Finish.

15.  In the confirmation message, click OK.

16.  Right-click WWPN Pools under the root organization.

17.  Select Create WWPN Pool to create the WWPN pool.

18.  Enter WWPN_Pool_B as the name of the WWPN pool.

19.  Optional: Enter a description for the WWPN pool.

20.   Select Sequential for Assignment Order.

21.   Click Next.

22.  Click Add.

23.  Specify a starting WWPN.

24.  Specify a size for the WWPN address pool that is sufficient to support the available blade or server resources.

25.   Click OK.

26.  Click Finish.

27.  In the confirmation message, click OK.

Create UUID Suffix Pool

To configure the necessary universally unique identifier (UUID) suffix pool for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Pools > root.

3.     Right-click UUID Suffix Pools.

4.     Select Create UUID Suffix Pool.

5.     Enter UUID_Pool as the name of the UUID suffix pool.

6.     Optional: Enter a description for the UUID suffix pool.

7.     Keep the prefix at the derived option.

8.     Select Sequential for the Assignment Order.

9.     Click Next.

10.  Click Add to add a block of UUIDs.

11.  Keep the From: field at the default setting.

12.  Specify a size for the UUID block that is sufficient to support the available blade or server resources.

13.  Click OK.

14.  Click Finish.

15.  Click OK.

Create Server Pool

To configure the necessary server pool for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Pools > root.

3.     Right-click Server Pools.

4.     Select Create Server Pool.

5.     Enter Infra_Pool as the name of the server pool.

6.     Optional: Enter a description for the server pool.

7.     Click Next.

8.     Select two (or more) servers to be used for the VMware management cluster and click >> to add them to the Infra_Pool server pool.

9.     Click Finish.

10.  Click OK

Create IP Pool for KVM Access

To create a block of IP addresses for in band server Keyboard, Video, Mouse (KVM) access in the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Pools > root > IP Pools.

3.     Right-click IP Pool ext-mgmt and select Create Block of IPv4 Addresses.

4.     Enter the starting IP address of the block and the number of IP addresses required, and the subnet and gateway information.

5.     Click OK to create the block of IPs.

6.     Click OK.

Set Packages and Policies

Create Host Firmware Package

Firmware management policies allow the administrator to select the corresponding packages for a given server configuration. These policies often include packages for adapter, BIOS, board controller, FC adapters, host bus adapter (HBA) option ROM, and storage controller properties.

To create a firmware management policy for a given server configuration in the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Expand Host Firmware Packages.

4.     Select default.

5.     In the Actions pane, select Modify Package Versions.

6.     Select the version 4.0(2b)B for the Blade Package, and optionally set version 4.0(2b)C for the Rack Package.

7.     Leave Excluded Components with only Local Disk selected.

8.     Click OK to modify the host firmware package.

Create Server Pool Qualification Policy (Optional)

To create an optional server pool qualification policy for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click Server Pool Policy Qualifications.

4.     Select Create Server Pool Policy Qualification.

5.     Name the policy UCS-B200M5.

6.     Select Create Server PID Qualifications.

7.     Select UCS-B200-M5 from the PID drop-down list.

8.     Click OK.

9.     Optionally select additional qualifications to refine server selection parameters for the server pool.

10.  Click OK to create the policy then OK for the confirmation.

Create vMedia Policy for VMware ESXi 6.7 U1 Install Boot (Optional)

A separate HTTP web server is required to automate the availability of the ESXi image to each Service Profile on first power on.  The creation of this web server is not covered in this document but can be any existing web server capable of serving files via HTTP that are accessible on the OOB network that the ESXi image can be placed upon.

Place the Cisco Custom Image VMware ESXi 6.7 U1 ISO on the HTTP server and follow these steps to create a vMedia Policy:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, select Servers.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vMedia Policies.

4.     Select Create vMedia Policy.

5.     Name the policy ESXi-6.7U1-HTTP.

6.     Enter “Mounts ISO for ESXi 6.7 U1” in the Description field.

7.     Click Add.

8.     Name the mount ESXi-6.7U1-HTTP.

9.     Select the CDD Device Type.

10.  Select the HTTP Protocol.

11.  Enter the IP Address of the web server.

12.  Leave “None” selected for Image Name Variable.

13.  Enter VMware_ESXi_6.7.0_10302608_Custom_Cisco_6.7.1.1 as the Remote File name.

14.  Enter the web server path to the ISO file in the Remote Path field.

15.  Click OK to create the vMedia Mount.

16.  Click OK then OK again to complete creating the vMedia Policy.

Create Server BIOS Policy

To create a server BIOS policy for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click Servers .

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click BIOS Policies.

4.     Select Create BIOS Policy.

5.     Enter VM-Host as the BIOS policy name.

6.     Select and right click the newly created BIOS Policy.

7.     Within the Main tab of the Policy:

8.     Change CDN Control to enabled.

9.     Change the Quiet Boot setting to disabled.

10.  Click the Advanced tab, leaving the Processor tab selected within the Advanced tab.

11.  Set the following within the Processor tab:

a.     DRAM Clock Throttling -> Performance

b.     Frequency Floor Override -> Enabled

c.     Energy Performance -> Performance

12.  Scroll down to the remaining Processor options and select:

a.     Processor C State -> Disabled

b.     Processor C1E -> disabled

c.     Processor C3 Report -> disabled

d.     Processor C6 Report -> disabled

e.     Processor C7 Report -> disabled

13.  Click the RAS Memory tab and select:

a.     LV DDR Mode -> performance-mode

14.  Click Save Changes.

15.  Click OK.

Update Default Maintenance Policy

To update the default Maintenance Policy, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Select Maintenance Policies > default.

4.     Change the Reboot Policy to User Ack.

5.     (Optional: Click “On Next Boot” to delegate maintenance windows to server owners).

6.     Click Save Changes.

7.      Click OK to accept the change.

Create Local Disk Configuration Policy (Optional)

A local disk configuration for the Cisco UCS environment is necessary if the servers in the environment do not have a local disk.

To create a local disk configuration policy, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click Local Disk Config Policies.

4.     Select Create Local Disk Configuration Policy.

5.     Enter SAN-Boot as the local disk configuration policy name.

6.     Change the mode to No Local Storage.

7.     Click OK to create the local disk configuration policy.

8.     Click OK.

Create Power Control Policy

To create a power control policy for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click Power Control Policies.

4.     Select Create Power Control Policy.

5.     Enter No-Power-Cap as the power control policy name.

6.     Change the power capping setting to No Cap.

7.     Click OK to create the power control policy.

8.     Click OK.

Create Network Control Policy for Cisco Discovery Protocol

To create a network control policy that enables Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) on virtual network ports, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click Network Control Policies.

4.     Select Create Network Control Policy.

5.     Enter Enable_CDP as the policy name.

6.     For CDP, select the Enabled option.

7.     Click OK to create the network control policy.

8.     Click OK.

Configure Cisco UCS LAN Connectivity

Create Uplink Port Channels

To configure the necessary port channels out of the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Under LAN > LAN Cloud, expand the Fabric A tree.

3.     Right-click Port Channels.

4.     Select Create Port Channel.

5.     Enter a unique ID for the port channel, (131 in our example to correspond with the upstream Nexus port channel).

6.     With 131 selected, enter vPC-131-Nexus as the name of the port channel.

7.     Click Next.

8.     Select the following ports to add to the port channel:

a.     Slot ID 1 and port 49

b.     Slot ID 1 and port 50

9.     Click >> to add the ports to the port channel.

10.  Click Finish to create the port channel.

11.  Click OK.

12.  In the navigation pane, under LAN > LAN Cloud, expand the fabric B tree.

13.  Right-click Port Channels.

14.  Select Create Port Channel.

15.  Enter a unique ID for the port channel, (132 in our example to correspond with the upstream Nexus port channel).

16.  With 132 selected, enter vPC-132-Nexus as the name of the port channel.

17.  Click Next.

18.  Select the following ports to add to the port channel:

a.     Slot ID 1 and port 49

b.     Slot ID 1 and port 50

19.  Click >> to add the ports to the port channel.

20.  Click Finish to create the port channel.

21.  Click OK.

Create VLANS

To configure the necessary virtual local area networks (VLANs) for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select LAN > LAN Cloud.

3.     Right-click VLANs.

4.     Select Create VLANs.

5.     Enter Native-VLAN as the name of the VLAN to be used as the native VLAN.

6.     Keep the Common/Global option selected for the scope of the VLAN.

7.     Enter the native VLAN ID.

8.     Keep the Sharing Type as None.

9.     Click OK and then click OK again.

10.  Expand the list of VLANs in the navigation pane, right-click the newly created Native-VLAN and select Set as Native VLAN.

11.  Click Yes and then click OK.

12.  Right-click VLANs.

13.  Select Create VLANs

14.  Enter IB-Mgmt as the name of the VLAN to be used for management traffic.

15.  Keep the Common/Global option selected for the scope of the VLAN.

16.  Enter the In-Band management VLAN ID.

17.  Keep the Sharing Type as None.

18.  Click OK and then click OK again.

19.  Right-click VLANs.

20.  Select Create VLANs.

21.  Enter vMotion as the name of the VLAN to be used for vMotion.

22.  Keep the Common/Global option selected for the scope of the VLAN.

23.  Enter the vMotion VLAN ID.

24.  Keep the Sharing Type as None.

25.  Click OK and then click OK again.

26.  Right-click VLANs.

27.  Select Create VLANs.

28.  Enter VM-App- as the prefix of the VLANs to be used for VM Traffic.

29.  Keep the Common/Global option selected for the scope of the VLAN.

30.  Enter the VM-Traffic VLAN ID range.

31.  Keep the Sharing Type as None.

Create vNIC Templates

To create the multiple virtual network interface card (vNIC) templates for the Cisco UCS environment, follow the steps in this section.

Create Management vNICs

For the vNIC_Mgmt_A Template, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vNIC Templates.

4.     Select Create vNIC Template.

5.     Enter vNIC_Mgmt_A as the vNIC template name.

6.     Keep Fabric A selected.

7.     Select Primary Template for the Redundancy Type.

8.     Leave Peer Redundancy Template as <not set>

9.     Under Target, make sure that the VM checkbox is not selected.

10.  Select Updating Template as the Template Type.

11.  Under VLANs, select the checkboxes for IB-Mgmt and Native-VLAN VLANs.

12.  Set Native-VLAN as the native VLAN.

13.  Leave vNIC Name selected for the CDN Source.

14.  Leave 1500 for the MTU.

15.  In the MAC Pool list, select MAC_Pool_A.

16.  In the Network Control Policy list, select Enable_CDP.

17.  Click OK to create the vNIC template.

18.  Click OK.

For the vNIC_Mgmt_B Template, follow these steps:

1.     In the navigation pane, select the LAN tab.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vNIC Templates.

4.     Select Create vNIC Template

5.     Enter vNIC_Mgmt_B as the vNIC template name.

6.     Select Fabric B.

7.     Select Secondary Template for Redundancy Type.

8.     For the Peer Redundancy Template drop-down list, select vNIC_Mgmt_A.

9.     Under Target, make sure the VM checkbox is not selected.

10.  In the MAC Pool list, select MAC_Pool_B.

11.  Click OK to create the vNIC template.

12.  Click OK.

Create vMotion vNICs

For the vNIC_vMotion_A Template, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.      Right-click vNIC Templates.

4.     Select Create vNIC Template.

5.     Enter vNIC_vMotion_A as the vNIC template name.

6.     Keep Fabric A selected.

7.     Select Primary Template for the Redundancy Type.

8.     Leave Peer Redundancy Template as <not set>

9.     Under Target, make sure that the VM checkbox is not selected.

10.  Select Updating Template as the Template Type.

11.  Under VLANs, select the checkboxes vMotion and Native-VLAN.

12.  Set vMotion as the native VLAN.

13.  For MTU, enter 9000.

14.  In the MAC Pool list, select MAC_Pool_A.

15.  In the Network Control Policy list, select Enable_CDP.

16.  Click OK to create the vNIC template.

17.  Click OK.

For the vNIC_vMotion_B Template, follow these steps:

1.     In the navigation pane, select the LAN tab.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vNIC Templates.

4.     Select Create vNIC Template

5.     Enter vNIC_vMotion_B as the vNIC template name.

6.     Select Fabric B.

7.     Select Secondary Template for Redundancy Type.

8.     For the Peer Redundancy Template drop-down, select vNIC_vMotion_A.

9.     Under Target, make sure the VM checkbox is not selected.

10.  In the MAC Pool list, select MAC_Pool_B.

11.  Click OK to create the vNIC template.

12.  Click OK.

Create Application vNICs

For the vNIC_App_A Template, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the LAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vNIC Templates.

4.     Select Create vNIC Template.

5.     Enter vNIC_App_A as the vNIC template name.

6.     Keep Fabric A selected.

7.     Optional: select the Enable Failover checkbox.

8.     Select Primary Template for the Redundancy Type.

9.     Leave Peer Redundancy Template as <not set>

10.  Under Target, make sure that the VM checkbox is not selected.

11.  Select Updating Template as the Template Type.

12.  Set default as the native VLAN.

13.  Under VLANs, select the checkboxes for any application or production VLANs that should be delivered to the ESXi hosts.

14.  For MTU, enter 9000.

15.  In the MAC Pool list, select MAC_Pool_A.

16.  In the Network Control Policy list, select Enable_CDP.

17.  Click OK to create the vNIC template.

18.  Click OK.

For the vNIC_App_B Templates, follow these steps:

1.     In the navigation pane, select the LAN tab.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vNIC Templates.

4.     Select Create vNIC Template

5.     Enter vNIC_App_B as the vNIC template name.

6.     Select Fabric B.

7.     Select Secondary Template for Redundancy Type.

8.     For the Peer Redundancy Template drop-down, select vNIC_App_A.

9.     Under Target, make sure the VM checkbox is not selected.

10.  In the MAC Pool list, select MAC_Pool_B.

11.  Click OK to create the vNIC template.

12.  Click OK.

13.  Click OK and then click OK again.

14.  Repeat as needed for any additional VLANs created on the upstream Nexus switches.

Create LAN Connectivity Policy

To configure the necessary FC Infrastructure LAN Connectivity Policy, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click LAN .

2.     Select LAN > Policies > root.

3.     Right-click LAN Connectivity Policies.

4.     Select Create LAN Connectivity Policy.

5.     Enter FC-LAN-Policy as the name of the policy.

6.     Click the upper Add button to add a vNIC.

7.     In the Create vNIC dialog box, enter 00-Mgmt-A as the name of the vNIC.

8.     Select the Use vNIC Template checkbox.

9.     In the vNIC Template list, select 00-Mgmt-A.

10.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

11.  Click OK to add this vNIC to the policy.

12.  Click the upper Add button to add another vNIC to the policy.

13.  In the Create vNIC box, enter 01-Mgmt-B as the name of the vNIC.

14.  Select the Use vNIC Template checkbox.

15.  In the vNIC Template list, select 01-Mgmt-B.

16.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

17.  Click OK to add the vNIC to the policy.

18.  Click the upper Add button to add a vNIC.

19.  In the Create vNIC dialog box, enter 02-vMotion-A as the name of the vNIC.

20.  Select the Use vNIC Template checkbox.

21.  In the vNIC Template list, select vNIC_vMotion_A.

22.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

23.  Click OK to add this vNIC to the policy.

24.  Click the upper Add button to add a vNIC to the policy.

25.  In the Create vNIC dialog box, enter 03-vMotion-B as the name of the vNIC.

26.  Select the Use vNIC Template checkbox.

27.  In the vNIC Template list, select vNIC_vMotion_B.

28.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

29.  Click OK to add this vNIC to the policy.

30.  Click the upper Add button to add a vNIC.

31.  In the Create vNIC dialog box, enter 04-App-A as the name of the vNIC.

32.  Select the Use vNIC Template checkbox.

33.  In the vNIC Template list, select vNIC_App_A.

34.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

35.  Click OK to add this vNIC to the policy.

36.  Click the upper Add button to add a vNIC to the policy.

37.  In the Create vNIC dialog box, enter 05-App-B as the name of the vNIC.

38.  Select the Use vNIC Template checkbox.

39.  In the vNIC Template list, select vNIC_App_B.

40.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

41.  Click OK to add this vNIC to the policy.

42.  Click OK again to create the LAN Connectivity Policy.

Configure FC SAN Connectivity

These Fibre Channel configuration steps will enable the FlashStack for provisioning of volumes to be used as datastores by the FlashStack vSphere hosts, and the creation of UCS Service Profiles that will be configured to boot from Fibre Channel LUNs.

Configure Unified Ports

The Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects will have a slider mechanism within the Cisco UCS Manager GUI interface that will control the first 8 ports starting from the first port, and configured in increments of the first 4 or 8 of the unified ports. 

To enable the fibre channel ports, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Equipment tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Equipment > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric Interconnect A (primary)

3.     Select Configure Unified Ports.

4.     Click Yes on the pop-up window warning that changes to the fixed module will require a reboot of the fabric interconnect and changes to the expansion module will require a reboot of that module.

5.     Within the Configured Fixed Ports pop-up window move the gray slider bar from the left to the right to select either 4 or 8 ports to be set as FC Uplinks.

6.     Click OK to continue

7.     Select Equipment > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric Interconnect B (primary)

8.     Select Configure Unified Ports.

9.     Click Yes on the pop-up window warning that changes to the fixed module will require a reboot of the fabric interconnect and changes to the expansion module will require a reboot of that module.

10.  Within the Configured Fixed Ports pop-up window move the gray slider bar from the left to the right to select either 4 or 8 ports to be set as FC Uplinks.

11.  Click OK to continue

Create VSANs

To configure the necessary virtual storage area networks (VSANs) for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the SAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select SAN > SAN Cloud.

3.     Right-click VSANs.

4.     Select Create VSAN.

5.     Enter VSAN_A as the name of the VSAN to be used for Fabric A

6.     Leave Disabled selected for FC Zoning.

7.     Select Fabric A.

8.     Enter a unique VSAN ID and a corresponding FCoE VLAN ID. 

9.     Click OK and then click OK again.

10.  Under SAN Cloud, right-click VSANs.

11.  Select Create VSAN.

12.  Enter VSAN_B as the name of the VSAN to be used for Fabric B.

13.  Leave Disabled selected for FC Zoning.

14.  Select Fabric B.

15.  Enter a unique VSAN ID and a corresponding FCoE VLAN ID.  It is recommended use the same ID for both parameters and to use something other than 1.

16.  Click OK and then click OK again.

Create FC Port Channels

To configure the necessary port channels for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

Fabric A

1.     In the navigation pane under SAN > SAN Cloud expand the Fabric A tree.

2.     Right-click FC Port Channels.

3.     Select Create FC Port Channel.

4.     Enter 1 for the ID and SAN-Po1 for the Port Channel name.

5.     Click Next then choose appropriate ports and click >> to add the ports to the port channel.

6.     Click Finish.

7.     Click OK.

8.     Select the newly created Port-Channel.

9.     Under the VSAN drop-down for Port-Channel SAN-Po1, select VSAN_A 100

10.  Click Save Changes and then click OK.

Fabric B

1.     In the navigation pane under SAN > SAN Cloud expand the Fabric B tree.

2.     Right-click FC Port Channels.

3.     Select Create Port Channel.

4.     Enter 2 for the ID and SAN-Po2 for the Port Channel name.

5.     Click Next then choose the appropriate ports and click >> to add the ports to the port channel.

6.     Click Finish.

7.     Click OK.

8.     Select the newly created Port-Channel.

9.     From the VSAN drop-down list for Port-Channel SAN-Po2, select VSAN_A 200.

10.  Click Save Changes and then click OK.

Create vHBA Templates

To create the necessary virtual host bus adapter (vHBA) templates for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the SAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click vHBA Templates.

4.     Select Create vHBA Template.

5.     Enter vHBA_Template_A as the vHBA template name.

6.     Keep Fabric A selected.

7.     Leave Redundancy Type as No Redundancy.

8.     Select VSAN_A.

9.     Leave Initial Template as the Template Type.

10.  Select WWPN_Pool_A as the WWPN Pool.

11.  Click OK to create the vHBA template.

12.  Click OK.

13.  Right-click vHBA Templates.

14.  Select Create vHBA Template.

15.  Enter vHBA_Template_B as the vHBA template name.

16.  Select Fabric B.

17.  Leave Redundancy Type as No Redundancy.

18.  Select VSAN_B.

19.  Leave Initial Template as the Template Type.

20.  Select WWPN_Pool_B as the WWPN Pool.

21.  Click OK to create the vHBA template.

22.  Click OK.

Create SAN Connectivity Policy

To configure the necessary Infrastructure SAN Connectivity Policy, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the SAN tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select SAN > Policies > root.

3.     Right-click SAN Connectivity Policies.

4.     Select Create SAN Connectivity Policy.

5.     Enter Infra-SAN-Policy as the name of the policy.

6.     Select the previously created WWNN_Pool for the WWNN Assignment.

7.     Click the Add button at the bottom to add a vHBA.

8.     In the Create vHBA dialog box, enter Fabric-A as the name of the vHBA.

9.     Select the Use vHBA Template checkbox.

10.  Leave Redundancy Pair unselected.

11.  In the vHBA Template list, select vHBA_Template_A.

12.  In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

13.  Click OK.

14.  Click the Add button at the bottom to add a second vHBA.

15.  In the Create vHBA dialog box, enter Fabric-B as the name of the vHBA.

16.  Select the Use vHBA Template checkbox.

17.  Leave Redundancy Pair unselected.

18.  In the vHBA Template list, select vHBA_Template_B.

19.   In the Adapter Policy list, select VMWare.

20.  Click OK.

21.  Click OK to create the SAN Connectivity Policy.

22.  Click OK to confirm creation.

Create Boot Policy

This procedure will define the Primary and Secondary Boot Targets for each Fabric side (A/B).   These will be the WWNs that need to be collected from the first adapter of each controller on the Pure Storage FlashArray that are visible from the Connections tab under the Health  section of the FlashArray Web GUI.

As an alternative to the GUI, connect to the FlashArray//X via ssh using the pureuser account and find the WWNs using the pureport list command:

Find the FC0 adapters for each controller from within the System view and record the values to be used for Primary and Secondary Targets.  In the example lab environment, these appear as the first ports on the right side of each controller shown.

Within the same System view, find the FC1 adapters for each controller and record the values to be used for Primary and Secondary Targets.  In the example lab environment, these appear as the second ports on the right side of each controller shown.

To create boot policies for the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Policies > root.

3.     Right-click Boot Policies.

4.     Select Create Boot Policy.

5.     Enter Boot-FC-X-A as the name of the boot policy.

6.     Optional: Enter a description for the boot policy.

7.     Expand the Local Devices drop-down menu and select Add Remote CD/DVD.

8.     Expand the vHBAs drop-down menu and select Add SAN Boot.

9.     In the Add SAN Boot dialog box, enter Fabric-A in the vHBA field.

10.  Confirm that Primary is selected for the Type option.

11.  Click OK to add the SAN boot initiator.

12.  From the vHBA drop-down menu, select Add SAN Boot Target.

13.  Enter 1 as the value for Boot Target LUN.

14.  Enter the WWPN for CT0.FC0 recorded in Table 14. 

15.  Select Primary for the SAN boot target type.

16.  Click OK to add the SAN boot target.

17.  From the vHBA drop-down menu, select Add SAN Boot Target.

18.  Enter 1 as the value for Boot Target LUN.

19.  Enter the WWPN for CT1.FC0 recorded in Table 14.

20.  Click OK to add the SAN boot target.

21.  From the vHBA drop-down menu, select Add SAN Boot.

22.  In the Add SAN Boot dialog box, enter Fabric-B in the vHBA box.

23.  Click OK to add the SAN boot initiator.

24.  From the vHBA drop-down menu, select Add SAN Boot Target.

25.  Enter 1 as the value for Boot Target LUN.

26.  Enter the WWPN for CT0.FC1 recorded in Table 14.

27.  Select Primary for the SAN boot target type.

28.  Click OK to add the SAN boot target.

29.  From the vHBA drop-down list, select Add SAN Boot Target.

30.  Enter 1 as the value for Boot Target LUN.

31.  Enter the WWPN for CT1.FC1 recorded in Table 15. 

32.  Click OK to add the SAN boot target.

33.  Expand CIMC Mounted Media and select Add CIMC Mounted CD/DVD.

34.  Click OK, then click OK again to create the boot policy.

Create Service Profile Templates

In this procedure, one service profile template for Infrastructure ESXi hosts is created for FC boot.

To create the service profile template, follow these steps:

1.     In Cisco UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Service Profile Templates > root.

3.     Right-click root.

4.     Select Create Service Profile Template to open the Create Service Profile Template wizard.

5.     Enter VM-Host-FC-A as the name of the service profile template. This service profile template is configured to boot from FlashArray//X70 R2 controller 1 on fabric A.

6.     Select the “Updating Template” option.

7.     Under UUID, select UUID_Pool as the UUID pool.

8.     Click Next.

Configure Storage Provisioning

To configure storage provisioning, follow these steps:

1.     Select Local Disk Configuration Policy tab

2.     If you have servers with no physical disks, click the Local Disk Configuration Policy tab and select the SAN-Boot Local Storage Policy. Otherwise, select the default Local Storage Policy.

3.     Click Next.

Configure Networking Options

To configure the network options, follow these steps:

1.     Keep the default setting for Dynamic vNIC Connection Policy.

2.     Select the “Use Connectivity Policy” option to configure the LAN connectivity.

3.     Select FC-LAN-Policy from the LAN Connectivity Policy drop-down list.

4.     Click Next.

Configure SAN Connectivity Options

To configure the SAN connectivity options, follow these steps:

1.     Select the Use Connectivity Policy option for the “How would you like to configure SAN connectivity?” field.

2.     Pick the Infra-SAN-Policy option from the SAN Connectivity Policy drop-down list.

Configure Zoning Options

1.     Leave Zoning configuration unspecified and click Next.

Configure vNIC/HBA Placement

1.     In the “Select Placement” list, leave the placement policy as “Let System Perform Placement”.

2.     Click Next.

Configure vMedia Policy

1.     Do not select a vMedia Policy.

2.     Click Next.

Configure Server Boot Order

1.     Select Boot-FC-X-A for Boot Policy.

2.     Click Next to continue to the next section.

Configure Maintenance Policy

To configure the maintenance policy, follow these steps:

1.     Change the Maintenance Policy to default.

2.     Click Next.

Configure Server Assignment

To configure server assignment, follow these steps:

1.     In the Pool Assignment list, select Infra_Pool.

2.     Optional: Select a Server Pool Qualification policy.

3.     Select Down as the power state to be applied when the profile is associated with the server.

4.     Optional: Select “UCS-B200M5” for the Server Pool Qualification.

5.     Firmware Management at the bottom of the page can be left alone as it will use default from the Host Firmware list.

6.     Click Next.

Configure Operational Policies

To configure the operational policies, follow these steps:

1.     In the BIOS Policy list, select VM-Host.

2.     Expand Power Control Policy Configuration and select No-Power-Cap in the Power Control Policy list.

3.     Click Finish to create the service profile template.

4.     Click OK in the confirmation message.

Create vMedia Service Profile Template

If the optional ESXi 6.7 U1 vMedia Policy is being used, a clone of the created service profile template will be made to reference this vMedia Policy.  The clone of the service profile template will have the vMedia Policy configured for it, and service profiles created from it, will be unbound and re-associated to the original service profile template after ESXi installation.  To create a clone of the VM-Host-FC-A service profile template, and associate the vMedia Policy to it, follow these steps:

1.     Connect to UCS Manager, click Servers.

2.     Select Service Profile Templates > root > Service Template VM-Host-FC-A.

3.     Right-click Service Template VM-Host-FC-A and select Create a Clone.

4.     Name the clone VM-Host-FC-A-vM and click OK.

5.     Select Service Template VM-Host-FC-A-vM.

6.     In the right pane, select the vMedia Policy tab.

7.     Under Actions, select Modify vMedia Policy.

8.     From the drop-down list, select the ESXi-6.7U1-HTTP vMedia Policy.

9.     Click OK then click OK again to complete modifying the Service Profile Template.

Create Service Profiles

To create service profiles from the service profile template, follow these steps:

1.     Connect to the UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect UCS Manager, click the Servers tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Service Profile Templates > root > Service Template VM-Host-FC-A.

3.     Right-click VM-Host-FC-A and select Create Service Profiles from Template.

4.     Enter VM-Host-FC-0 as the service profile prefix.

5.     Leave 1 as “Name Suffix Starting Number.”

6.     Leave 2 as the “Number of Instances.”

7.     Click OK to create the service profiles.

8.     Click OK in the confirmation message to provision two FlashStack Service Profiles.

9.     When VMware ESXi 6.5 U1 has been installed on the hosts, the host Service Profiles can be unbound from the VM-Host-FC-A-vM and rebound to the VM-Host-FC-A Service Profile Template to remove the vMedia mapping from the host, to prevent issues at boot time if the HTTP source for the ESXi ISO is somehow not available.

Claim in Intersight

To claim the UCS 6454 Domain in Intersight, follow these steps:

1.     Connect to the UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect UCS Manager, click the Admin tab in the navigation pane.

2.     Select Device Connector.

3.     Set Intersight Management to Enabled.

4.     Copy the Device ID and Claim Code.

5.     Open a browser to Cisco Intersight, https://intersight.com and log in to your Intersight account.

6.     Select Devices.

7.     Click Claim a New Device and enter your Device ID and Claim Code.

8.     Click Claim.

This section continues the configuration of the Cisco MDS 9132T Multilayer Fabric Switches now that resources are attached, to provide zoning for supported devices.

Create Device Aliases

To create device aliases, follow these steps:

1.     Gather the WWPN of the FlashArray adapters using the show flogi database command on each switch and create a spreadsheet to reference when creating device aliases on each MDS.  For MDS 9132T-A this is:

2.     Match the values from the individual interfaces to the Purity command line output gained from a ssh connection to the FlashArray using the pureuser account:

3.     Match the values from the port-channel to the  UCS Service Profile vHBA listing for each host found within Servers -> Service Profiles -> <Service Profile of Source Host> -> Storage -> vHBAs.

4.    Create device alias database entries for each of the PWWNs mapping them to their human readable source names:

5.    Repeat steps 1-4 on MDS 9132T-B, starting with gathering the flogi database information:

 

6.     Create device alias database entries for each of the PWWNs mapping them to their human readable source names:

MDS Zoning

Create zones for each host using the device aliases created in the previous step, specifying init and target roles to optimize zone traffic:

Zone for UCS VM-Host-FC-01 on MDS A

MDS-9132T-A(config)# zone name  VM-Host-FC-01-A vsan 100

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias  VM-Host-FC-01-A init

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC0 target

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC2 target

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC0 target

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC2 target

Zone for UCS VM-Host-FC-02 on MDS A

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# zone name  VM-Host-FC-02-A vsan 100

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias  VM-Host-FC-02-A init

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC0 target

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC2 target

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC0 target

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC2 target

Zone for UCS VM-Host-FC-01 on MDS B

MDS-9132T-B(config)# zone name  VM-Host-FC-01-B vsan 200

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias  VM-Host-FC-01-B init

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC1 target

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC3 target

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC1 target

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC3 target

Zone for UCS VM-Host-FC-02 on MDS B

MDS-9132T-B(config)# zone name  VM-Host-FC-02-B vsan 200

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias  VM-Host-FC-02-B init

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC1 target

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT0FC3 target

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC1 target

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# member device-alias FlashArray-CT1FC3 target

Create and Activate Zoneset

Add the zones to a zoneset on each MDS switch:

zoneset for MDS A

MDS-9132T-A(config-zone)# zoneset name flashstack-zoneset vsan 100

MDS-9132T-A config-zoneset)# member VM-Host-FC-01-A

MDS-9132T-A(config-zoneset)# member VM-Host-FC-02-A

zoneset for MDS B

MDS-9132T-B(config-zone)# zoneset name flashstack-zoneset vsan 200

MDS-9132T-B(config-zoneset)# member VM-Host-FC-01-B

MDS-9132T-B(config-zoneset)# member VM-Host-FC-02-B

Activate the zonesets and save the configuration:

zoneset for MDS A

mds-9148s-a(config-zoneset)# zoneset activate name flashstack-zoneset vsan 101

mds-9148s-a(config)# copy run start

zoneset for MDS B

mds-9148s-b(config-zoneset)# zoneset activate name flashstack-zoneset vsan 102

mds-9148s-b(config)# copy run start

The Pure Storage FlashArray//X is accessible to the FlashStack, but no storage has been deployed at this point.  The storage to be deployed will include:

·       ESXi FC Boot LUNs

·       VMFS Datastores

·       VVol Data Stores

The FC Boot LUNs will need to be setup from the Pure Storage Web Portal, and the VMFS datastores will be directly provisioned from the vSphere Web Client after the Pure Storage vSphere Web Client Plug-in has later been registered with the vCenter.

Host Port Identification

FC Boot LUNs is mapped by the FlashArray//X using the assigned Initiator PWWN to the provisioned service profiles. 

Host Registration

For Host registration, follow these steps in the Pure Storage Web Portal:

1.     Select Storage > Hosts

2.     Select the + icon in the Hosts Panel

3.     After clicking the Create Host (+) option, a pop-up will appear to create an individual host entry on the FlashArray

4.     To create more than one host entry, click the Create Multiple… option, filling in the Name, Start Number, Count, and Number of Digits, with a “#” appearing in the name where an iterating number will appear:

5.     Click Create to add the hosts.

6.     For each host created, select the host.

7.     In the Host view, select Configure WWNs… from the Host Ports menu.

8.     A pop-up will appear for Configure Fibre Channel WWNs <host being configured>.  Within this pop-up, select the appropriate Existing WWNs from the discovered list.

9.     Or you may enter the WWN manually by Selecting the +.

10.  After entering the PWWN/WWPN, click Add to add the Host Ports. 

11.  Select Set Personality… in the Details menu.

12.  Select ESXi and click Save.

13.  Repeat steps 1-12 for each host created.

Create Host Group

Host Groups allow the Administrator to map Volumes to a group of hosts at once with the same LUN ID.  To create a Host Group, follow these steps in the Pure Storage Web Portal:

1.     Select Storage > Hosts.

2.     Select the + icon in the Host Groups Panel.

3.     A pop-up will appear to create a host group on the FlashArray.

4.     Provide a name for the group and click Create.

5.     Select the group in the Host Groups Panel.

6.     In the Host Group view, select Add… from the Member Hosts menu.

7.     Select the host to be part of the host group.

8.     Click Add.

Private Boot Volumes for Each ESXi Host

To create private boot volumes for each ESXi Host, follow these steps in the Pure Storage Web Portal:

1.     Select Storage > Volumes.

2.     Select the + icon in the Volumes Panel.

3.     A pop-up will appear to create a volume on the FlashArray.

4.     To create more than one volume, click the Create Multiple… option, filling in the Name, Provisioned Size, Staring Number, Count, and Number of Digits, with a “#” appearing in the name where an iterating number will appear.

5.     Click Create to provision the volumes to be used as FC boot LUNs.

6.     Go back to the Hosts section under the Storage tab.  Click one of the hosts and select the gear icon drop-down list within the Connected Volumes tab within that host.

7.     From the drop-down list of the gear icon, select Connect Volumes, and a pop-up will appear.

8.     Select the volume that has been provisioned for the host, set the LUN ID for the volume, click the + next to the volume, and select Confirm to proceed.  Repeat steps 1-7 to connect volumes for each of the host/volume pairs configured.

Configure Storage Policy Based Management

vSphere can communicate to the array via VASA provider to find out what features it supports and allow the vSphere administrator to assign, change, or remove functionality on a VVol on demand and via policies.
Below is an example of how to configure a Protection group that will provide hourly snapshots that will be retained for 1 day, with 4 snapshots per day retained for 7 days.  These policies should be configured based on application snapshot need.

To configure Storage Policy Based Management, follow these steps:

1.     In the Pure Storage Web Portal select Storage > Protection Groups.

2.     Select Create… from the Protection Groups menu.

3.     Enter a name.

4.     Select the protection group.

5.     Edit the Snapshot Schedule based on your operational requirements.

6.     Click Save.

ESXi Installation

This section provides detailed instructions to install VMware ESXi 6.7 U1 in a FlashStack environment. After the procedures are completed, the FC SAN booted ESXi hosts will be configured.

Several methods exist for installing ESXi in a VMware environment. These procedures focus on how to use the built-in keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) console and virtual media features in Cisco UCS Manager to map remote installation media to individual servers and connect to their boot logical unit numbers (LUNs).

Download Cisco Custom Image for ESXi 6.7 U1

The VMware Cisco Custom Image will be needed for use during installation by manual access to the Cisco UCS KVM vMedia, or through a vMedia Policy covered in a previous subsection.  If the Cisco Custom Image was not downloaded during the vMedia Policy setup, download it now by following these steps:

1.     Click the following link:  https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OEM-ESXI67U1-CISCO&productId=859

2.     You will need a user id and password on vmware.com to download this software.

3.     Download the .iso file.

Log into Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnect

The IP KVM enables the administrator to begin the installation of the operating system (OS) through remote media. It is necessary to log into the Cisco UCS environment to run the IP KVM.

To log into the Cisco UCS environment, follow these steps:

1.     Open a web browser to https:// <<var_ucs_mgmt_vip>>

2.     Select the Launch UCS Manager Section in the HTML section to pull up the UCSM HTML5 GUI.

3.     Enter admin for the Username, and provide the password used during setup.

4.     Within the UCSM select Servers -> Service Profiles and pick the first host provisioned as VM-Host-FC-01.

5.     Click the KVM Console option within Actions and accept the KVM server certificate in the new window or browser tab that is spawned for the KVM session.

6.     Click the link within the new window or browser tab to load the KVM client application.

Set Up VMware ESXi Installation

To prepare the server for the OS installation, follow these steps on each ESXi host:

1.     In the KVM window, click Virtual Media icon  in the upper right of the screen.

2.     Click Activate Virtual Devices

3.     Click Virtual Media again and select Map CD/DVD.

4.     Browse to the ESXi installer ISO image file and click Open.

5.     Click Map Device.

6.     Click the KVM tab to monitor the server boot.

7.     Boot the server by selecting Boot Server and clicking OK, then click OK again.

Install ESXi

To install VMware ESXi to the FC bootable LUN of the hosts, follow these steps on each host:

1.     On reboot, the machine detects the presence of the ESXi installation media. Select the ESXi installer from the boot menu that is displayed.

2.     After the installer is finished loading, press Enter to continue with the installation.

3.     Read and accept the end-user license agreement (EULA). Press F11 to accept and continue.

4.     Select the LUN that was previously set up as the installation disk for ESXi and press Enter to continue with the installation.

5.     Select the appropriate keyboard layout and press Enter.

6.     Enter and confirm the root password and press Enter.

7.     The installer issues a warning that the selected disk will be repartitioned. Press F11 to continue with the installation.

8.     After the installation is complete, if using locally mapped Virtual Media, click the Virtual Media tab and clear the P mark next to the ESXi installation media. Click Yes.

9.     From the KVM window, press Enter to reboot the server.

Set Up Management Networking for ESXi Hosts

Adding a management network for each VMware host is necessary for managing the host. To add a management network for the VMware hosts, follow these steps on each ESXi host:

To configure the ESXi host with access to the management network, follow these steps:

1.     After the server has finished rebooting, press F2 to customize the system.

2.     Log in as root, enter the corresponding password, and press Enter to log in.

3.     Select the Configure the Management Network option and press Enter.

4.     Select Network Adapters option leave vmnic0 selected, arrow down to vmnic1 and press space to select vmnic1 as well and press Enter.

5.     Select the VLAN (Optional) option and press Enter.

6.     Enter the <<var_ib_mgmt_vlan_id>> and press Enter.

7.     From the Configure Management Network menu, select IPv4 Configuration and press Enter.

8.     Select the Set Static IP Address and Network Configuration option by using the space bar.

9.     Enter <<var_vm_host_FC_01_ip>> for the IPv4 Address for managing the first ESXi host.

10.  Enter <<var_ib_mgmt_vlan_netmask_length>> for the Subnet Mask for the first ESXi host.

11.  Enter <<var_ib_mgmt_gateway>> for the Default Gateway for the first ESXi host.

12.  Press Enter to accept the changes to the IPv4 configuration.

13.  Select the DNS Configuration option and press Enter.

14.  Enter the IP address of <<var_nameserver_ip>> for the Primary DNS Server.

15.  Optional: Enter the IP address of the Secondary DNS Server.

16.  Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the first ESXi host.

17.  Press Enter to accept the changes to the DNS configuration.

18.  Select the IPv6 Configuration option and press Enter.

19.  Using the spacebar, select Disable IPv6 (restart required) and press Enter.

20.  Press Esc to exit the Configure Management Network submenu.

21.  Press Y to confirm the changes and return to the main menu.

22.  The ESXi host reboots. After reboot, press F2 and log back in as root.

23.  Select Test Management Network to verify that the management network is set up correctly and press Enter.

24.  Press Enter to run the test.

25.  Press Enter to exit the window, and press Esc to log out of the VMware console.

26.  Repeat the steps in Set Up VMware ESXi Installation, Install ESXi, and Set UP Management Networking for ESXi Host for additional hosts provisioned, using appropriate values.

Create FlashStack Datacenter

If a new Datacenter is needed for the FlashStack, follow these steps on the vCenter:

1.     Connect to the vSphere Web Client and click Hosts and Clusters from the left side Navigator window or the Hosts and Clusters icon from the Home center window.

2.     From Hosts and Clusters:

3.     Right-click the vCenter icon and select New Datacenter… from the drop-down list.

4.     From the New Datacenter pop-up dialogue enter in a Datacenter name and click OK.

Create VMware vDS for Infrastructure and Application Traffic

The VMware vDS setup will consist of two vDS that are separated for Infrastructure use versus Application traffic. 

FlashStack Infrastructure vDS

To configure the first VMware vDS, follow these steps:

1.     Connect to the vSphere Web Client and click Networking from the left side Navigator window or the Networking icon from the Home center window.

2.     Right-click the FlashStack-VSI datacenter and select Distributed Switch > New Distributed Switch…

3.     Give the Distributed Switch a descriptive name and click Next.

4.     Make sure Distributed switch: 6.6.0 is selected and click Next.

5.     Leave the Number of uplinks at 4. If VMware Network I/O Control is to be used for Quality of Service, leave Network I/O Control Enabled.  Otherwise, Disable Network I/O Control. Enter IB-Mgmt for the name of the default Port group to be created. Click Next.

6.     Review the information and click Finish to complete creating the vDS.

 

7.     Right-click the newly created vDS , and select Settings -> Edit Settings…

8.     Click the Advanced option  side of the Edit Settings window and adjust the MTU from 1500 to 9000.

9.     Click OK to save the changes.

10.  Expand the FlashStack VSI data center and the newly created vDS. 

11.  Right-click the IB-Mgmt Distributed Port Group, and select Edit Settings…

12.  Click VLAN, changing VLAN type from None to VLAN, and enter in the appropriate VLAN number for the IB-Mgmt network.

13.  Click the Teaming and Failover and move the Uplinks 3 and 4 to the Unused uplinks state and move the Uplink 2 to the Standby uplinks state.

14.  Click OK to save the changes.

15.  Right-click the infrastructure vDS (Infra-DSwitch), and select Distributed Port Group -> New Distributed Port Group…

16.  Name the new Port Group vMotion and click Next.

17.  Change the VLAN type from None to VLAN, select the VLAN ID appropriate for your vMotion traffic, and select the Customize default policies configuration check box under the Advanced section.

18.  Click Next.

19.  Click Next through the Security and Traffic Shaping sections.

20.  Within the Teaming and failover section, move Uplinks 1 & 2 to the Unused uplinks section, and move Uplink 3 to the Standby uplinks section.

21.  Click Next

22.  Click Next Past Monitoring, Miscellaneous, and Edit additional settings sections.

23.  Review the Ready to complete section.

24.  Click Finish to create the Distributed Port Group.

FlashStack Application vDS

To configure the second VMware vDS, follow these steps:

1.     Right-click the FlashStack-VSI Datacenter and select Distributed Switch -> New Distributed Switch… to create the Application vDS.

2.     Provide a name for the vDS (App-DSwitch), and click Next.

3.     Make sure Distributed switch: 6.6.0 is selected and click Next.

4.     Change the Number of uplinks to 2. If VMware Network I/O Control is to be used for Quality of Service, leave Network I/O Control Enabled.  Otherwise, Disable Network I/O Control. Enter App-1301 for the name of the default Port group to be created. Click Next.

5.     Review the information and click Finish to complete creating the vDS.

6.     Right-click the newly created App-DSwitch vDS, and select Settings -> Edit Settings…

7.     Click the Advanced option for the Edit Settings window and change the MTU from 1500 to 9000.

8.     Click OK to save the changes.

9.     Right-click the App-1301 Distributed Port Group, and select Edit Settings…

10.  Click VLAN, changing VLAN type from None to VLAN, and enter in the appropriate VLAN number for the first application network.

11.  Click OK to save the changes.

12.  Right-Click the App-DSwitch, selecting Distributed Port Group -> New Distributed Port Group… for any additional application networks to be created, setting the appropriate VLAN for each new Distributed Port Group.

Add the VMware ESXi Hosts Using the VMware vSphere Web Client

To add the VMware ESXi Hosts using the VMware vSphere Web Client, follow these steps:

1.     From the Hosts and Clusters tab, right-click the new or existing Datacenter within the Navigation window and select New Cluster… from the drop-down options.

2.     Enter a name for the new cluster, select the DRS and HA checkmark boxes, leaving all other options with defaults.

3.     Click OK to create the cluster.

4.     Right-click the newly created cluster and select Add Host..

5.     Enter the IP or FQDN of the first ESXi host and click Next.

6.     Enter root for the User Name, provide the password set during initial setup and click Next.

7.     Click Yes in the Security Alert pop-up to confirm the host’s certificate.

8.     Click Next past the Host summary dialogue.

9.     Provide a license by clicking the green + icon under the License title, select an existing license, or skip past the Assign license dialogue by clicking Next.

10.  Leave lockdown mode Disabled within the Lockdown mode dialogue window and click Next.

11.  Skip past the Resource pool dialogue by clicking Next.

12.  Confirm the Summary dialogue and add the ESXi host to the cluster by clicking Next.

13.  Repeat steps 4-12 for each ESXi host to be added to the cluster.

Pure Storage vSphere Web Client Plugin

The Pure Storage vSphere Web Client Plugin will be accessible through the vSphere Web Client after registration through the Pure Storage Web Portal.

To access the Pure Storage vSphere Web Client Plugin, follow these steps:

1.     Go to Settings > Software

2.     Select the edit icon in the vSphere Plugin panel

 

3.     Enter the vCenter information in the pop-up window and click Save.

4.     After the discovery completes.  Click Install.

5.     In vCenter, register the FlashArray to the plugin by navigating to Home and selecting the Pure Storage Plugin.  Then select Add FlashArray

6.     Add the FlashArray as a Storage Provider by clicking the ‘Register Storage Provider’ () icon and providing the login information for the FlashArray.

7.     Verify that the FlashArray is registered correctly as a storage provider.

8.     Select Host and Cluster, Select the vCenter Server.

9.     Select Configure > Storage Providers.

10.  Filter on the name.

11.  Verify that one controller is Active and the other is Standby.

Import Protection Group as VM Storage Policy

To import the FlashArray Protection Group settings are VM Storage Policies, follow these steps:

1.     From the vSphere Web Client home screen Select the Pure Storage Plugin.

2.     Select Import Protection Groups.

3.     Select the local snapshot Protection Group that was created during the “Configure Storage Policy Based Management” step and click Import.

 

Add Datastores

This section details the steps to add VMFS to place swap and driver files and a VVol datastore to place VMs on the FlashArray//X R2.

1.      Right-click the cluster and select the Pure Storage -> Create Datastore option from the drop-down list.

2.     Select Datastore type VMFS, provide a Datastore Name, Datastore size, Cluster, and Select VMFS 6.

3.     Right-click the cluster and select the Pure Storage -> Create Datastore option from the drop-down list to create a second datastore.

4.     Select Datastore Type VVol and click Create to finish.

You will now be able to select the VM storage policy when creating or migrating Virtual Machines.

Configure ESXi Settings

Base settings are needed for the stability of the vSphere environment, as well as optional enablement of SSH connectivity to each host for the updating of drivers.

To configure ESXi settings, follow these steps:

1.     Select the first ESXi host to configure with standard settings.

2.     Select the Configure tab and select Time Configuration within the options  under System and click Edit within Time Configuration.

3.     Select Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client), enter <<var_oob_ntp>> for the NTP Servers, select Start and stop with port usage for NTP Service Startup Policy, and click Start within NTP Service Status.  Click OK to submit the changes.

4.     (Optional) Click Security Profile within the Configure tab under the System section for the host.

5.     Scroll down to the Services section within Security Profile and click Edit.

6.     Select the ESXi Shell entry, change the Startup Policy to Start and stop with port usage, and click Start.  Repeat these steps for the SSH entry. Click OK.

7.     If an optional ESXi swap datastore was configured earlier, click System Swap the System section within the Configure tab and click Edit.

8.     Checkmark the Can use datastore option, and from the drop-down list select the ESXi swap datastore that was configured.   Click OK.

9.     Repeat steps 1-8 on each ESXi host being added into the cluster.

Install VMware Driver for the Cisco Virtual Interface Card (VIC)

The Cisco Custom Image for VMware vSphere 6.7 U1 comes with the currently specified nenic 1.0.25.0 for Ethernet traffic from the ESXi host, an upgrade is recommended.  For the most recent versions, please refer to Cisco UCS HW and SW Availability Interoperability Matrix.  If a more recent driver is made available that is appropriate for VMware vSphere 6.7 U1, to update the drivers, follow these steps:

1.     Download and extract either driver bundle (example nenic Driver version 1.0.26.0) to the system the vSphere Web Client is running from.

2.     Within the vSphere Web Client, select one of the datastores common to all the hosts.

3.     Click the Upload a file to the Datastore button.

4.     Select and upload the offline_bundle (VMW-ESX-6.7.0-nenic-1.0.26.0-offline_bundle-10825029.zip) from each of the extracted driver downloads.

5.     Place all hosts in Maintenance mode requiring update.

6.     Connect to each ESXi host through ssh from a shell connection or putty terminal.

7.     Login as root with the root password.

8.     Run the following command (substituting the appropriate datastore directory if needed) on each host:

esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/ESXi-Swap/VMW-ESX-6.7.0-nenic-1.0.26.0-offline_bundle-10825029.zip

9.     Reboot each host by typing reboot from the SSH connection after the command has run.

10.  Log into the Host Client on each host once reboot is complete.

Add the ESXi Hosts to the vDS

To Add the ESXi Hosts to each vDS, follow these steps:

1.     Within the Networking tab of the Navigator window, right-click the Infra-DSwitch vDS and select Add and Manage Hosts…

2.     Leave Add hosts selected and click Next.

3.     Click the green + icon next to New hosts…

4.     In the Select new hosts pop-up that appears, select the hosts to be added, and click OK to begin joining them to the vDS. 

5.     Click Next.

6.     Leave Manage physical adapters and Manage VMkernel adapters both selected and click Next.

7.     Select vmnic0 from the Host/Physical Network Adapters column and click the Assign uplink option.

8.     Leave Uplink 1 selected and click OK.

9.     Repeat this step for vmnic1-3, assigning them to uplinks 2-4 in corresponding sequence.

10.  Repeat these assignments for all additional ESXi hosts being configured.

11.  Click Next.

12.  Select the vmk0 of the first host and click the Assign port group option.

13.  Select the IB-Mgmt destination port group and click OK.

14.  Repeat this step for all additional hosts being configured.

15.  Click Next.

16.  Click Next past Analyze impact.

17.  Review the settings and click Finish to apply.

18.  Within the Networking tab of the Navigator window, right-click the App-DSwitch vDS and select Add and Manage Hosts…

19.  Leave Add hosts selected and click Next.

20.  Click the green + icon next to New hosts…

21.  In the Select new hosts pop-up that appears, select the hosts to be added, and click OK to begin joining them to the vDS.

22.  Click Next.

23.  Leave Manage physical adapters selected and unselect Manage VMkernel adapters.

24.  Click Next.

25.  Select vmnic4 from the Host/Physical Network Adapters column and click the Assign uplink option.

26.  Leave Uplink 1 selected and click OK.

27.  Repeat this step for vmnic5, assigning it to uplink 2, then perform these same steps for vmnic4 and vmnic5 for all remaining ESXi hosts to be configured.

28.  Click Next.

29.  Click Next past Analyze impact.

30.  Review the settings and click Finish to apply.

Create vMotion VMkernel adapters

A vMotion VMkernel adapter will be created for FlashStack infrastructure to keep vMotion traffic independent of management traffic.  To create the vMotion VMkernel adapters, follow these steps:

1.     From the Hosts and Clusters, drill down to the first host and select the Configure tab for that host.

2.     Select the VMkernel adapters option within the Networking section of Configure.

3.     Click the first icon under VMkernel adapters to Add host networking.

4.     Leave the connection type selected as VMkernel Network Adapter and click Next.

5.     Select Browse with Select an existing network selected.

6.     Pick the vMotion network from the list shown and click OK.

7.     Click Next.

8.     Select the vMotion from the Available services and click Next.

9.     Provide and IP address and subnet mask within the vMotion network.  Click Next.

10.  Review the settings and click Finish to create the VMkernel adapter.

11.  Select the newly created vMotion VMkernel adapter.

12.  Click the pencil icon to Edit settings for the VMkernel adapter.

13.  Select the NIC Settings option and change the MTU from 1500 to 9000.

14.  Click OK to save the changes.

15.  Repeat steps 1-14 to create and adjust vMotion VMkernel adapters for each additional ESXi host.

Sample Switch Configuration

switchname AA12-9336C-A

vdc AA12-9336C-A id 1

  limit-resource vlan minimum 16 maximum 4094

  limit-resource vrf minimum 2 maximum 4096

  limit-resource port-channel minimum 0 maximum 511

  limit-resource u4route-mem minimum 248 maximum 248

  limit-resource u6route-mem minimum 96 maximum 96

  limit-resource m4route-mem minimum 58 maximum 58

  limit-resource m6route-mem minimum 8 maximum 8

 

cfs eth distribute

feature interface-vlan

feature lacp

feature vpc

feature lldp

 

ssh key rsa 2048

ip domain-lookup

system default switchport

copp profile strict

rmon event 1 description FATAL(1) owner PMON@FATAL

rmon event 2 description CRITICAL(2) owner PMON@CRITICAL

rmon event 3 description ERROR(3) owner PMON@ERROR

rmon event 4 description WARNING(4) owner PMON@WARNING

rmon event 5 description INFORMATION(5) owner PMON@INFO

ntp server 172.26.163.254 use-vrf default

 

vlan 1,15,215,1130,1301-1303

vlan 15

  name pure-oob

vlan 215

  name Management

vlan 1130

  name vMotion

vlan 1301

  name VM-Apps-1

vlan 1302

  name VM-Apps-2

vlan 1303

  name VM-Apps-3

 

vrf context management

  ip route 0.0.0.0/0 10.2.164.254

vpc domain 10

  peer-keepalive destination 10.2.164.91

 

 

 

interface port-channel136

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 15,215,1130,1301-1303

  mtu 9216

  vpc 136

 

interface port-channel133

  switchport mode trunk

  spanning-tree port type network

  vpc peer-link

 

interface port-channel129

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 215, 1130,1301-1303

  spanning-tree port type edge trunk

  mtu 9216

  vpc 129

 

interface port-channel130

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1130,1301-1303

  spanning-tree port type edge trunk

  mtu 9216

  vpc 130

 

interface Ethernet1/1

 

interface Ethernet1/2

 

interface Ethernet1/3

 

interface Ethernet1/4

 

interface Ethernet1/5

 

interface Ethernet1/6

 

interface Ethernet1/7

 

interface Ethernet1/8

 

interface Ethernet1/9

 

interface Ethernet1/10

 

interface Ethernet1/11

 

interface Ethernet1/12

 

interface Ethernet1/13

 

interface Ethernet1/14

 

interface Ethernet1/15

 

interface Ethernet1/16

 

interface Ethernet1/17

 

interface Ethernet1/18

 

interface Ethernet1/19

 

interface Ethernet1/20

 

interface Ethernet1/21

 

interface Ethernet1/22

 

interface Ethernet1/23

 

interface Ethernet1/24

 

interface Ethernet1/25

 

interface Ethernet1/26

 

interface Ethernet1/27

 

interface Ethernet1/28

 

interface Ethernet1/29

  description FSV-UCS-FI-A

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1130,1301-1303

  spanning-tree port type edge trunk

  mtu 9216

  channel-group 129 mode active

 

interface Ethernet1/30

  description FSV-UCS-FI-B

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 215,1130,1301-1303

  mtu 9216

  channel-group 130 mode active

 

interface Ethernet1/31

 

interface Ethernet1/32

 

interface Ethernet1/33

  switchport mode trunk

  channel-group 133 mode active

 

interface Ethernet1/34

  switchport mode trunk

  channel-group 133 mode active

 

interface Ethernet1/35

 

interface Ethernet1/36

  switchport mode trunk

  switchport trunk allowed vlan 15,115,215,1130,1301-1303

  mtu 9216

  channel-group 136 mode active

 

interface mgmt0

  vrf member management

  ip address 10.2.164.90/24

line console

line vty

no system default switchport shutdown

Allen Clark, Technical Marketing Engineer, Cisco Systems, Inc.

Allen Clark has over 15 years of experience working with enterprise storage and data center technologies.  As a member of various organizations within Cisco, Allen has worked with hundreds of customers on implementation and support of compute and storage products. Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and is a dual Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE 39519, Storage Networking and Data Center)

Acknowledgements

For their support and contribution to the design, validation, and creation of this Cisco Validated Design, the authors would like to thank:

·       Ramesh Isaac, Technical Marketing Engineer, Cisco Systems, Inc.

·       Haseeb Niazi, Technical Marketing Engineer, Cisco Systems, Inc.

·       Craig Waters, Solutions Architecture / Product Management, Pure Storage Inc.

·       Alex Carver, Solutions Architecture, Pure Storage Inc.