Dell EMC VxFlex Ready Node 14G User manual

Quick Start Guide
14G Servers
Dell EMC VxFlex Ready Node
Deploying VxFlex OS in a 2-Layer Environment
P/N 302-004-163
REV 03
June 2018
Note
Previous versions of Dell EMC VxFlex Ready Node were marketed under the name Dell
EMC ScaleIO Ready Node.
All software and technical aspects described in this document apply equally, regardless
of how the product was branded.
Topics include:
lPreface...................................................................................................................2
lSystem requirements..............................................................................................3
lBefore You Begin.................................................................................................... 8
lPreparing the Linux environment............................................................................ 9
lStart the Linux deployment.................................................................................... 9
lMonitoring the deployment.................................................................................... 11
lRegistering the vSphere plug-in............................................................................ 12
lInstalling SDC on ESX with vSphere plug-in.......................................................... 13
lAdding an external SDC to an existing VxFlex OS system......................................14
lEnabling storage....................................................................................................17
lInstalling and opening the VxFlex OS GUI.............................................................. 17
lRetrieve device paths in a Linux server..................................................................18

Preface
As part of an effort to improve its product lines, Dell EMC periodically releases
revisions of its software and hardware. Therefore, some functions described in this
document might not be supported by all versions of the software or hardware
currently in use. The product release notes provide the most up-to-date information
on product features.
Contact your Dell EMC technical support professional if a product does not function
properly or does not function as described in this document.
Note
This document was accurate at publication time. Go to Dell EMC Online Support
(https://support.emc.com) to ensure that you are using the latest version of this
document.
Previous versions of Dell EMC VxFlex OS were marketed under the name Dell EMC
ScaleIO.
Similarly, previous versions of Dell EMC VxFlex Ready Node were marketed under the
name Dell EMC ScaleIO Ready Node.
References to the old names in the product, documentation, or software, etc. will
change over time.
Note
Software and technical aspects apply equally, regardless of the branding of the
product.
Related documentation
The release notes for your version includes the latest information for your product.
The following Dell EMC publication sets provide information about your VxFlex OS or
VxFlex Ready Node product:
lVxFlex OS software (downloadable as VxFlex OS Software <version>
Documentation set)
lVxFlex Ready Node with AMS (downloadable as VxFlex Ready Node with AMS
Documentation set)
lVxFlex Ready Node no AMS (downloadable as VxFlex Ready Node no AMS
Documentation set)
lVxRack Node 100 Series (downloadable as VxRack Node 100 Series
Documentation set)
You can download the release notes, the document sets, and other related
documentation from Dell EMC Online Support.
Typographical conventions
Dell EMC uses the following type style conventions in this document:
Bold Used for names of interface elements, such as names of windows,
dialog boxes, buttons, fields, tab names, key names, and menu paths
(what the user specifically selects or clicks)
Italic Used for full titles of publications referenced in text
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Monospace Used for:
lSystem code
lSystem output, such as an error message or script
lPathnames, filenames, prompts, and syntax
lCommands and options
Monospace italic Used for variables
Monospace bold Used for user input
[ ] Square brackets enclose optional values
| Vertical bar indicates alternate selections - the bar means “or”
{ } Braces enclose content that the user must specify, such as x or y or
z
... Ellipses indicate nonessential information omitted from the example
Where to get help
Dell EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:
Product information
For documentation, release notes, software updates, or information about Dell
EMC products, go to Dell EMC Online Support at https://support.emc.com.
Technical support
Go to Dell EMC Online Support and click Service Center. You will see several
options for contacting Dell EMC Technical Support. Note that to open a service
request, you must have a valid support agreement. Contact your Dell EMC sales
representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or with
questions about your account.
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Your suggestions will help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and
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[email protected].
System requirements
This section lists the requirements for system components.
This section is specific to VxFlex OS software deployments.
For VxFlex Ready Node systems, refer to your product's Hardware Configuration and
Operating System Installation Guide.
VxFlex OS cluster components
List of required VxFlex OS servers.
lVxFlex OS component servers:
n3-node cluster
– One Master MDM
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System requirements 3

– One Slave MDM
– One Tie Breaker
– Minimum of three SDSs (on the same servers as the above components, or
on three different servers)
– SDCs, up to the maximum allowed (on the same servers as the above
components, or on different servers)
n5-node cluster
– One Master MDM
– Two Slave MDMs
– Two Tie Breakers
– Minimum of three SDSs (on the same servers as the above components, or
on three different servers)
– SDCs, up to the maximum allowed (on the same servers as the above
components, or on different servers)
lVxFlex OS Gateway server on a separate server, or together with an MDM or SDS.
Do not install the VxFlex OS Gateway on an SDC server or on an SDS on which
RFcache will be enabled.
Physical server requirements
Table 1 Server physical requirements
Component Requirement
Processor One of the following:
lIntel or AMD x86 64-bit (recommended)
lIntel or AMD x86 32-bit (for Xen only)
Physical memory VxFlex OS component requirements:
l500 MB RAM for the Meta Data Manager (MDM)
l500 MB RAM for each VxFlex OS Data Server (SDS)
l50 MB RAM for each VxFlex OS Data Client (SDC)
Disk space l1 GB for each physical node or Xen hypervisor
l10 GB for VMware topologies
Connectivity One of the following:
l1/10/25/40/50/100 GbE network
lIP-over-InfiniBand network
Dual-port network interface cards (recommended)
Ensure the following:
lThere is network connectivity between all components.
lNetwork bandwidth and latency between all nodes is acceptable, according to application
demands.
lEthernet switch supports the bandwidth between network nodes.
lMTU settings are consistent across all servers and switches.
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Table 1 Server physical requirements (continued)
Component Requirement
lThe following TCP ports are not used by any other application, and are open in the local
firewall of the server:
nMDM: 6611 and 9011
nSDS: 7072 (for multiple SDS, ports 7073-7076)
nLight Installation Agent (LIA): 9099
nSDBG ports: MDM 25620, SDS 25640, Multiple SDS 25641-25644 (not 25640).
These ports are used by VxFlex OS internal debugging tools to extract live information
from the system for debugging purposes.
lThe following UDP port is open in the local firewall of the server:
nSNMP traps: 162
Note
You can change the default ports. For more information, see “Changing default ports” in the
user documentation.
Supported operating systems
The following is a list of operating systems supported by this version of VxFlex OS.
For the most updated list, see the EMC Simple Support Matrix (ESSM) at https://
elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/elnhome.
Table 2 Supported operating systems -VxFlex OS components
Operating system Requirement
Linux Supported versions ( for exact versions, see the ESSM):
lRHEL 7.3, 7.4
lSUSE 12.2
Packages required for all components, all Linux flavors:
lnumactl
llibaio
Additional needs for specific operating systems:
lSUSE 12.2
nhwinfo
nnet-tools
npciutils
nethtool
lHypervisor support: Red Hat KVM
Additional packages required for MDM components:
lbash-completion (for SCLI completion)
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Supported operating systems 5

Table 2 Supported operating systems -VxFlex OS components (continued)
Operating system Requirement
lLatest version of Python 2.X
When installing the MDM component on Linux CentOS 6 or RHEL 6 hosts (for software-only
systems), set the shared memory parameter in the /etc/sysctl.conf file to at least the
following value: kernel.shmmax=209715200. To use this value, type the sysctl -p
command.
To use the secure authentication mode, ensure that OpenSSL 64-bit v1.0.1 or later (v1.1,
however, is not supported) is installed on all servers in the system.
llibopenssl1_0_0-1.0.1g-0.40.1.x86_64.rpm
lopenssl1-1.0.1g-0.40.1.x86_64.rpm
To use LDAP, ensure that OpenLDAP 2.4 is installed on all servers.
Hypervisors lVMware ESXi operating systems: 6.0 U3 or 6.5, managed by vCenter 6.0 or 6.5
lRed Hat KVM
External SDC support
In addition to being supported on all VxFlex OS operating systems, SDC can be
deployed on external servers.
Component Requirement
Supported external servers lUNIX: AIX 7.2
lhLinux: 4.x/5.x
VxFlex OS GUI server requirements
Component Requirement
Supported operating systems lWindows:
n7, 2008 R2, 10, 2012 or 2012 R2, 2016.
Server Core editions are not supported.
lLinux:
nCentOS 6.x-7.x, Oracle Linux 6.5/7.x
nRed Hat 6.x-7.x
nSUSE 11.3, 11.4, 12, 12.1, 12.2
nUbuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04
Other lv1.8 (64-bit), build 149 or earlier.
You can download previous versions from this link: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/
java/javase/downloads/java-archive-javase8-2177648.html
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Component Requirement
For SUSE 12, see “Installing Java on SUSE 12 servers.” in the VxFlex OS Deployment Guide
or the VxFlex OS User Guide .)
lScreen resolution: 1366 x 768 minimum
VxFlex OS Gateway server requirements
Component Requirement
Supported operating systems lWindows 2008 R2, 2012 R2, or 2016, including the Visual C++ redistributable 2010
package, 64-bit. Server Core editions are not supported.
lLinux RHEL 6.x or 7.0, SUSE 11.3, and SUSE 12
Every server requires 2 cores and a minimum of 3 GB available RAM.
Connectivity The following TCP ports are not used by any other application, and are open in the local
firewall of the server: 80 and 443 (or 8080 and 8443).
You can change the default ports. For more information, see “Changing default ports” in the
user documentation.
Supported web browsers lInternet Explorer 10, or later
lFirefox, version 42, or later
lChrome, version 45, or later
Java lv1.8 (64-bit), build 149 or earlier.
You can download previous versions from this link: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/
java/javase/downloads/java-archive-javase8-2177648.html
Other lFor a VxFlex OS Gateway server on a Windows node, the Windows Management
Instrumentation service must be enabled on the VxFlex OS Installation Manager server
and on all Windows VxFlex OS nodes.
lDo not install the VxFlex OS Gateway on a server on which RFcache will be enabled or on
which SDC will be installed.
lThe VxFlex OS Gateway server must have connectivity to all the nodes that are being
installed. If you are using separate networks for management and data, the server must be
able to communicate with both networks.
Other requirements
VxFlex OS requires that you use a minimum of three SDS servers, with a combined
free capacity of at least 300 GB. These minimum values are true per system and per
Storage Pool.
All VxRack Node 100 Series nodes have the minimum disk size as part of the node
specification.
Supported hardware configurations
The supported hardware configurations are listed in the Simple Support Matrix for
your software version. Download this file from https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/
Deploying VxFlex OS in a 2-Layer Environment
VxFlex OS Gateway server requirements 7

elnhome. Click Simple Support Matrices > Storage and select the desired product
and version.
Before You Begin
This topic provides an overview of deploying VxFlex OS in a 2-layer configuration.
Deployment begins with preparing the Linux Backend, using the VxFlex OS Installation
Manager.
For Linux and Windows SDC servers, you can install the SDC using the VxFlex OS
Installation Manager, or you can install the SDC manually. Both methods are described
in this document.
For ESXi SDC servers, it is recommended to install the SDC using the VMware plug-in,
or you can install it manually. Both methods are described in this document.
For all other cases and customization options, use the procedures described in the
VxFlex OS Deployment Guide .
Note
The EMC-supplied hardware configurations satisfy all of the hardware requirements.
Before deploying VxFlex OS on ESX servers:
lThe host from which you run the PowerShell (.ps1) script must meet the following
prerequisites:
nRuns on supported Windows OS
nPowerCLI is installed
nJava is installed
nHas incoming and outgoing communication access to the vCenter
lThe vSphere web client (Virgo) server must have network connectivity to the host
on which the PowerShell script will be used.
lConfigure the required network interfaces and IP addresses, and configure disks.
For more information, see the VxFlex Ready Node Hardware Configuration and
Operating System Installation Guide .
These documents are available from EMC Online Support (https://
support.emc.com).
lFor the most up-to-date information about this release, see
VxFlex OS Release
Notes for your version, available from Online Support.
VxFlex OS deployment steps:
1. Prepare the Linux environment.
2. Start the Linux deployment. For Linux and Windows SDC servers, this may include
installing SDCs.
3. Monitor the deployment.
4. For ESX servers, register the vSphere plug-in and install and configure the SDCs.
5. Manually install and configure SDCs (if you have not done so yet).
6. Post-deployment:
lEnable storage.
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lRun the VxFlex OS GUI.
Preparing the Linux environment
Prepare the Linux environment before deploying VxFlex OS.
Before you begin
Ensure that all VxFlex OS components and the VxFlex OS Gateway server meet the
system requirements.
This step prepares the VxFlex OS Gateway server. The VxFlex OS Gateway includes
the VxFlex OS Installation Manager, which is used to deploy the system in the next
steps. The VxFlex OS Gateway server can be a Windows or Linux server.
Procedure
1. From the Online Support site https://support.emc.com/products/33925,
download and extract the complete software download for this version.
2. Create the VxFlex OS Gateway server by running the following command (all on
one line), where
new_GW_admin_password is a password that you define to
access the VxFlex OS Installation Manager:
GATEWAY_ADMIN_PASSWORD=<new_GW_admin_password> rpm -U /tmp/
EMC-ScaleIO-gateway-2.6-<build>.X.x86_64.rpm --nodeps
The VxFlex OS Gateway server is ready.
3. Log in to the VxFlex OS Gateway server by typing the following URL in your
browser: https:// <GW_Server_IP_Address> , where GW_Server_IP_Address is
the IP address of the server where you installed the VxFlex OS Gateway
package.
Use the default username, admin, and the password you created in the previous
step.
4. Accept the certificate warning; alternatively, install your own certificate for the
Tomcat server.
The Installation Manager Welcome screen appears.
Note
If the Welcome screen does not appear, see the "Troubleshooting" section in
the VxFlex OS Deployment Guide .
Start the Linux deployment
Use the VxFlex OS Installation Manager to start the Linux deployment.
Procedure
1. Upload packages:
a. From the Welcome screen, select the Packages tab.
The Manage Installation Packages window appears.
b. Click Browse, and select all the extracted VxFlex OS component installation
packages, for all relevant operating systems.
Deploying VxFlex OS in a 2-Layer Environment
Preparing the Linux environment 9

Minimally, you must select these packages:
lLIA
lMDM
lSDC
lSDS (The SDSx packages are not needed.)
c. Click Open.
d. Click Upload.
The packages are uploaded to the VxFlex OS Installation Manager, and are
displayed in the file table.
2. Click Proceed to Install.
3. Prepare the CSV topology file:
a. Enter the Backend node information in the CSV topology file:
In 2-layer configuration, the Linux servers will form the MDM cluster, and
each of those servers will also be SDS.
The following example shows a sample CSV topology file. Only those
columns with values in them are shown:
Note
When specifying the Linux SDS devices, use persistent device names. You
can find these names by running the command: # ls -l /dev/disk/by-
id/ *.
b. Add SDCs to the CSV (or later in the process), according to the following
table:
SDC
server
OS
Add SDCs by one of the following methods:
Linux or
Windows
lWith the VxFlex OS Installation Manager, by adding a row to the
CSV for each SDC, as described in CSV topology file for 2-layer
deployment on page 11.
lManually after deploying the system, as described in Adding an
external SDC to an existing VxFlex OS system on page 14.
ESXi lWith the vSphere plug-in, later in the process, as described later in
this document.
lManually after deploying the system, as described in Adding an
external SDC to an existing VxFlex OS system on page 14.
The CSV is complete.
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