Getting Started with the NetApp ONTAP 8.3 Simulator

... or ‘How to do a Basic Setup of an ONTAP 8.3 2-Node Simulator Cluster with VMware Workstation’.

I needed to refresh my lab (a bit late really), so thought I’d chronicle how to do a basic setup of a 2-Node ONTAP 8.3 Simulator cluster.

Initial VM Setups

Skipping the downloading from support.netapp.com, unpacking the files, opening in VMware Workstation bits - that really hasn’t changed much since I did this this post in January 2013...

- First thing to point out is that the ONTAP 8.3 Simulator VMX file has 5GB of memory configured; you can of course lower this if you want (say to 2GB).
- Secondly, you’ll probably want to change the virtual networks settings to work for you, I’ve stuck them all on my “Custom (VMnet1)” network, it really doesn’t matter much for the SIM (in the real world your Cluster Network is totally separate.)
- Thirdly, I always untick the “Connect at power on” for the Serial Port & Serial Port 2 (if you have multiple simulators using the same named pipe, VM Workstation errors and disconnects them anyway.)

Image: ONTAP 8.3 Simulator in VMware Workstation - Virtual Machine Settings

1.0 Cluster Node 1

1.1 Wipeconfig Procedure

Click the “Power on...”

When it says:

Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.

Press any other key.

At the VLOADER> prompt type

setenv bootarg.vm.no_poweroff_on_halt false
boot_ontap

N.B.: The no_poweroff just means when you halt ONTAP, the VM doesn’t power off. I prefer the VM to power off after I’ve halted it.

When it says:

Press Ctrl-C for Boot Menu

Press Ctrl-C

At the Boot Menu, select option 4 -

(4) Clean configuration and initialize all disks.

- and press Enter.

Zero disks, reset config and install a new file system?:

Type y and press Enter.

This will erase all the data on the disks, are you sure?:

Type y and press Enter.

... and wait ...

1.2 Node Setup

After completing the wipeconfig procedure, the SIM will come to:

Welcome to node setup.

And it will tell you that AutoSupport will be enabled from the start.

Type yes to confirm and continue {yes}:

Type y and press Enter.

Enter the node management interface port [e0c]:

Press Enter to accept e0c.

Supply the appropriate detail to the below prompts:

Enter the node management interface IP address:
Enter the node management interface netmask:
Enter the node management interface default gateway:

1.3 Cluster Setup

At this stage you can either use System Setup software, or continue in the console. For this post I’ll use the console.

At the login prompt enter admin and press Enter.

At the ::> prompt type cluster setup and press Enter.

Do you want to create a new cluster or join an existing cluster?

Type create and press Enter.

Do you intend for this node to be used as a single node cluster?

Type no and press Enter.

Will the cluster network be configured to use network switches?

Type no and press Enter.

It will then list the System Defaults for the cluster network.

Do you want to use these defaults?

Type yes and press Enter.

Supply the appropriate detail to the below prompts:

Enter the cluster administrator’s (username “admin”) password:
Retype the password:

... and wait ...

Step 1 of 5: Create a Cluster
Enter the cluster name:
Enter the cluster base license key: SMKQROWJNQYQSDAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

N.B.: There's 14 A's in that key.

... and wait ...

Step 2 of 5: Add Feature License Keys
Enter an additional license key:

Step 3 of 5: Set Up a Vserver for Cluster Administration
Enter the cluster management interface port [e0d]:
Enter the cluster management interface IP address:
Enter the cluster management interface netmask:
Enter the cluster management interface default gateway:

Enter the DNS domain names:
Enter the name server IP addresses:

Step 4 of 5: Configure Storage Failover (SFO)

Step 5 of 5: Set Up the Node
Where is the controller located:
Enter the node management interface port [e0c]:
Enter the node management interface IP address:
Enter the node management interface netmask:
Enter the node management interface default gateway:

Press enter to continue:

DONE!

2.0 Cluster Node 2

2.1 Wipeconfig Procedure

Click the “Power on...”

When it says:

Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or any other key for command prompt.

Press any other key.

At the VLOADER> prompt type

setenv SYS_SERIAL_NUM 4034389-06-2
setenv bootarg.nvram.sysid 4034389062
setenv bootarg.vm.no_poweroff_on_halt false
boot_ontap

N.B.: The no_poweroff just means when you halt ONTAP, the VM doesn’t power off. I prefer the VM to power off after I’ve halted it.
N.B.: IMPORTANT! The only change from 1.1 is that we change the SYS_SERIAL_NUM and sysid, this is so we can apply licenses to node 2 later.

When it says:

Press Ctrl-C for Boot Menu

Press Ctrl-C

At the Boot Menu, select option 4 -

(4) Clean configuration and initialize all disks.

- and press Enter.

Zero disks, reset config and install a new file system?:

Type y and press Enter.

This will erase all the data on the disks, are you sure?:

Type y and press Enter.

... and wait ...

2.2 Node Setup

After completing the wipeconfig procedure, the SIM will come to:

Welcome to node setup.

And it will tell you that AutoSupport will be enabled from the start.

Type yes to confirm and continue {yes}:

Type y and press Enter.

Enter the node management interface port [e0c]:

Press Enter to accept e0c.

Supply the appropriate detail to the below prompts:

Enter the node management interface IP address:
Enter the node management interface netmask:
Enter the node management interface default gateway:

2.3 Cluster Setup

At the login prompt enter admin and press Enter.

At the ::> prompt type cluster setup and press Enter.

Do you want to create a new cluster or join an existing cluster?

Type join and press Enter.

It will then list the System Defaults for the cluster network.

Do you want to use these defaults?

Type yes and press Enter.

... and wait ...

Supply the appropriate detail to the below prompts:

Step 1 of 3: Join an Existing Cluster
Enter the name of the cluster you would like to join:

... and wait ...

Step 2 of 3: Configure Storage Failover (SFO)

Step 3 of 3: Set Up the Node
Enter the node management interface port [e0c]:
Enter the node management interface IP address:
Enter the node management interface netmask:
Enter the node management interface default gateway:

Press enter to continue:

DONE - 2 node cluster basic setup complete!

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