OCB Quick Setup Guide: Part 1/9 - Pre-requisites

The following 9 part series briefly runs through a setup of NetApp’s OnCommand Balance. This posting doesn’t cover all bases (for that check out the resources listed here.) Here we are focusing on setting up for monitoring a homogeneous environment of NetApp Controllers, VMware vSphere, Windows and Linux servers / guests, and SQL servers.

1. Software:

Download the OnCommand Balance VA from:

http://support.netapp.com > Downloads > Software > OnCommand Balance

Note: The downloaded file is called something like balance-netapp-4.1.0.1.26-virtual.ova

The proxy server (if required) will need a:

- Dedicated physical or virtual machine with Windows Server 2003 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 with User Account Control (UAC) disabled.

- 32-bit version of Java is required for both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.

- For non-NetApp array management softwares see “OnCommand® Balance 4.1.0 Installation and Configuration Guide”

Balance web browser requirements:

- Mozilla Firefox 6.0 or later.

- Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later.

- Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Adobe Flash Player plugins compatible with your browser.

Note 1: For IE 8, ensure that Compatibility Mode (Compatibility View) is disabled. For IE 9, ensure that Compatibility Mode is enabled.

Note 2: Recommend disabling any popup blockers.

Note 3: For Windows 2003 bug that prevents IE from displaying the Balance login page see here!

2. Resource:

i) A VMware ESXi host / vSphere Infrastructure to deploy the Balance Virtual Appliance to!

ii) The virtual appliance initially needs around 20 GB disk space if thin provisioned, or around 230 GB disk space if thick provisioned (additional disks can be added later.)

Figure: Virtual Appliance Resource Recommendations

iii) The proxy needs at least 20 GB disk space to install (approximately 10 GB should be available after installation.)

Figure: Proxy host resource limits

3. Ports:

From Management Workstation to OnCommand Balance VA:

TCP 80/443   OnCommand Balance WebUI

TCP 22 (SSH) OnCommand Balance AMT (Advanced Management Tool)

From OnCommand Balance VA to Proxy:

TCP 9443 OnCommand Balance Proxy

From OnCommand Balance VA to Monitored Devices:

TCP 22 (SSH)   Linux Servers / Guests

TCP 443        VMware Virtual Center API

TCP 22, 80/443 NetApp FAS Series Controller

From OnCommand Balance Proxy to Monitored Devices:

TCP 135, 49152-66535 (WMI) Windows Servers / Guests

A more complete picture is below.

Image: OnCommand Balance Discovery Ports and Protocols

4. Credentials:

Commonly asked for minimum required credentials:

vCenter – an account with read-only permission at the Datacenter level

NetApp Data ONTAP 7-Mode – a root account or an account created as below:

useradmin role add balance_user -a login-http-admin,api-system-get-info,api-system-get-version,api-fcp-adapter-list-info,cli-ifconfig,api-lun-list-info,api-lun-get-geometry,api-aggr-list-info,api-disk-list-info,api-lun-map-list-info,api-volume-list-info,api-qtree-list,api-lun-get-serial-number,api-lun-stats-list-info,api-cifs-share-list-iter-start,api-nfs-exportfs-list-rules,api-nfs-exportfs-list-rules-2,api-cifs-share-list-iter-next,api-cifs-share-list-iter-end,api-perf-object-list-info,api-perf-object-counter-list-info,api-perf-object-get-instances,api-perf-object-get-instances-iter-start,api-perf-object-get-instances-iter-next,api-perf-object-get-instances-iter-end,api-license-list-info,api-cf-status,api-cifs-status,api-nfs-status,api-volume-get-root-name,api-system-cli,api-useradmin-role-list,api-useradmin-group-list,api-useradmin-user-list,cli-rdfile,cli-fcp,api-vfiler-list-info,security-api-vfiler,login-ssh,cli-passwd,api-volume-list-info-iter-start,api-volume-list-info-iter-next,api-volume-list-info-iter-end

useradmin group add group -r balance_user

useradmin user add balance_user -g group

Note: The above useradmin role add provides corrections to the entry in the 4.1.0 manual.

Windows – A user with local admin rights on each server

Linux – root or an account with sudo access to commands listed in the config guide

For more information check out the “OnCommand® Balance 4.1.0 Installation and Configuration Guide”!

SQL – On the MS SQL Server, create a local, read-only user login. Add the following user mapping permissions to each login: db_reader, public (SQL must be running in mixed mode)

Now we’re ready to begin!