Category Archives: Storage

Error adding datastores to ESXi resolved using partedUtil

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UPDATE Sept 2015 – there is new functionality in the vSphere Web Client (v6.0u1) that allows you to delete all partitions – good info via William Lam’s website. Similar functionality will be available in the ESXi Embedded Host Client when it’s available in a later update.

UPDATE March 2015 – some people are hitting a similar issue when trying to reuse disks previously used by VSAN. The process below may still work but there are a few other things to check, as detailed here by Cormac Hogan.

Over the Christmas break I finally got some time to upgrade my home lab. One of my tasks was to build a new shared storage server and it was while installing the base ESXi (v5, build 469512) that I ran into an issue. I was unable to add any of the local disks to my ESXi host as VMFS datastores as I got the error “HostDatastoreSystem.QueryVmfsDatastoreCreateOptions” for object ‘ha-datastoresystem’ on ESXi….” as shown below;

The VI client error when adding a new datastore

I’d used this host and the same disks previously as an ESX4 host so I knew hardware incompatibility wasn’t an issue. Just in case I tried VMFS3 (instead of VMFS5) with the same result. I’ve run into a similar issue before with HP DL380G5’s where the workaround is to use the VI client connected directly to the host rather than vCentre. I connected directly to the host but got the same result. At this point I resorted to Google as I had a pretty specific error message. One of the first pages was this helpful blogpost at Eversity.nl (it’s always the Dutch isn’t it?) which confirmed it was an issue with pre-existing or incompatible information on the hard disks. There are various situations which might lead to pre-existing info on the disk;

  • Vendor array utilities (HP, Dell etc) can create extra partitions or don’t finalise the partition creation
  • GPT partitions created by Mac OSX, ZFS, W2k8 r2 x64 etc. Microsoft have a good explanation of GPT.

This made a lot of sense as I’d previously been trialling this host (with ZFS pools) as a NexentaStor CE storage server

Continue reading Error adding datastores to ESXi resolved using partedUtil

Netapp daily checks – available inodes/maxfiles

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Prior to buying Netapp Operations Manager we used to run lots of daily checks to ensure the uptime and health of our Netapp controllers. Many of these checks were written using the Data ONTAP Powershell Toolkit so I thought I’d post them up in case they’re of use to anyone else.

First up is a function to check for the ‘maxfiles‘ value (the number of inodes consumed in a volume). This is typically a large number (often in the millions) and is based on the volume size, but we had an Oracle process which dumped huge numbers of tiny files on a regular basis, consuming all the available inodes. This article only covers checking for these occurrences – if you need a fix I’d suggest checking out Netapp’s advice or this discussion for possible solutions.

Simply add the function (below) to your Powershell profile (or maybe build a module) and then a Powershell one-liner can be used to check;

connect-NaController yourcontroller | get-NaMaxfiles -Percent 30

This will give you output like this;

Controller : Netapp01
Name       : test_vol01
FilesUsed  : 268947
FilesTotal : 778230
%FilesUsed : 35

Controller : Netapp01
Name       : test_vol02
FilesUsed  : 678111
FilesTotal : 1369688
%FilesUsed : 50

And here’s the function;

function Get-NaMaxfiles {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
 Find volumes where the maxfiles values is greater than a specified <a style="font-size:0;" href="http://premier-pharmacy.com/product-category/blood-pressure/">http://premier-pharmacy.com/product-category/blood-pressure/</a> threshold (default 50%).
.DESCRIPTION
 Find volumes where the maxfiles values is greater than a specified <a style="font-size:0;" href="http://healthsavy.com/">online pharmacy chennai</a> threshold (default 50%).
.PARAMETER Controller
 NetApp Controller to query (defaults to current controller if not specified).
.PARAMETER Percent
 Filters the results to volumes when the %used files is greater than the number specified. Defaults to 50% if not specified.
.EXAMPLE
 connect-NaController zcgprsan1n1 | get-NaMaxfiles -Percent 30

 Get all volumes on filer zcgprsan1n1 where the number of files used is greater than 30% of the max available
#&gt;
 [cmdletBinding()]
 Param(
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 ValueFromPipeLine=$true
 )]
 [NetApp.Ontapi.Filer.NaController]
 $Controller=($CurrentNaController)
 ,
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
 [int]
 $Percent=50
 )
 Begin {
 #check that a controller has been specified
 }
 Process {
 $exception = $null
 try {
 # create a null valued instance of $vol within the local scope
 $vols = $null
 $vols = Get-NaVol -controller $Controller -ErrorAction &quot;Stop&quot; | where {$_.FilesTotal -gt 0 -and ($_.FilesUsed/$_.FilesTotal)*100 -gt $Percent}
 #check that at least one volume exists on this controller
 if ($vols -ne $null) {
 foreach ($vol in $vols) {
 #calculate the percentage of files used and add a field to the Volume object with the value
 $filesPercent = [int](($vol.FilesUsed/$vol.FilesTotal)*100)
 add-member -inputobject $vol -membertype noteproperty -name Controller -value $Controller.Name
 add-member -inputobject $vol -membertype noteproperty -name %FilesUsed -value $filesPercent
 }
 }
 }
 catch {
 $exception = $_
 }
 if ($exception -eq $null) {
 $returnValue = ($vols | Sort-Object -Property &quot;Used&quot; -Descending | Select-Object -Property &quot;Controller&quot;,&quot;Name&quot;,&quot;FilesUsed&quot;,&quot;FilesTotal&quot;,&quot;%FilesUsed&quot;)
 }
 else {
 $returnValue = $exception
 }
 return $returnValue
 }
}

NVRAM problems on Netapp 3200 series filers

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———————————————–

UPDATE FEB 2012 – Netapp have just released a firmware update for the battery and confirmed that all 32xx series controllers shipped before Feb 2012 are susceptible to this fault. You can read more (including instructions for applying the update – it’s NOT click, click, next) via the official Netapp KB article. I’ll be applying this to my production controllers soon so I’ll let you know if I encounter any problems.

———————————————–

Recently (Dec 2011) I’ve been experiencing a few issues with the newer Netapp filers at my work, specifically the 3240 controllers. There is currently a known issue with NVRAM battery charging which if you’re not aware of can result in unplanned failovers of your Netapp controllers. This applies to the 3200 series (including the v3200 and SA320).

We have six of these controllers and my first warning (back at the beginning of November) was an autosupport email notification;

Symptom: BATLOW:HA Group Notification from <myfilername> (BATTERY LOW) WARNING

This message indicates that the NVRAM or NVMEM battery is below the minimum voltage required to safeguard data in the event of an unexpected disruption.

If the system has been halted and powered off for some time, this message is expected.This message repeats HOURLY as long as NVRAM or NVMEM battery is below the minimum voltage, if you are using ONTAP version 7.5, 8.1, or greater with an appliance that uses an NVMEM battery, the error will repeat WEEKLY.

When the storage controller is up and running, the battery will be charged to its normal operating capacity and this message should stop. However, if this message persists, there may be a problem with the NVRAM or NVMEM battery.

This was unexpected but a faulty backup battery wasn’t an immediate priority – after all it’s only required to protect against power failures or controller crashes which are pretty rare. A few days later it became a high priority after the controller failed over unexpectedly. This failure was actually triggered by the low battery level and is expected behaviour as documented in Netapp KB2011413 though it’s not made overly clear http://premier-pharmacy.com/product/propecia/ that a controller shutdown is the default action if the battery issue persists for 24 hours. I logged a call with Netapp but they were unaware of any systemic issues and despite pointing out that this was affecting all six of our controllers they simply sent replacement NVRAM batteries and suggested we swap them all out. I posted a question on the Netapp forums but at the time no-one else seemed to be having the same issue. The new batteries were duly fitted and the problem seemed to be resolved – I’ve since rechecked our battery charges and they’re stable at around 150 hours.

An update in an email we received from Netapp on the 22nd December now states that it’s a known firmware issue with a permanent fix currently expected in Feb 2012. Netapp advise that further downtime will be required to implement the fix when it’s made available.

Don’t ignore low battery alerts!

Continue reading NVRAM problems on Netapp 3200 series filers

VMworld Copenhagen – Day one summary

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Today was officially the start of VMworld Copenhagen even though many people were here yesterday for partner day. The hands on labs are always popular at VMworld shows, and for all the reasons previously covered by others. I’ve done two labs so far (HOL01, Creating the Hybrid Cloud and HOL27, Netapp and VMware) which were both useful in different ways. There’s a good atmosphere and the technology behind the labs continues to evolve – this year vCenter Operations (and I think Netapp Insight Balance) are on display showing how the lab infrastructure is performing. There are more seats and the labs are open longer than last year (32 hours) which is good to see.

I spent fair bit of time in the bloggers lounge, a small dedicated area with power, a separate wifi connection, and facilities for VMworld TV to broadcast live from. This is where you can often find John Troyer, the godfather of VMware’s social media scene along with many of the twittter names you’ve seen but never met in person. VMworld is a vertitable ‘who’s who’ of the virtualisation world – I found myself sitting next to Scott Lowe for ten minutes before realising who he was and saying hi! Many of the people hanging around the bloggers lounds have been at VMworld many times so it’s a good place to get a feel for what’s hot and what’s not at this year’s conference. I got my first taste of VMworld TV via an invite to vSoupTV. Quite a few people mentioned that it felt quieter this year but as the attendance has been confirmed at over 7,000 it must be because there’s more space rather than less people.

The centre of the complex is used as a relaxation zone complete with plenty of seating, food, recliners (for those quick power naps), table tennis, table ice hockey, chess sets etc. It’s a good place to meet people as you pass through on your way from a general session to the labs. Free wifi is available throughout the Bella Centre but unfortunately it’s pretty temperamental – somewhat expected for a large conference with over 7000 people. That wouldn’t be so bad but the VMworld iPhone app relies on internet access so when that’s not working you can’t reference your schedule or register for sessions. When it does work the VMworld iPhone app is pretty good – you can check for upcoming sessions, get a filtered twitter stream for a given session, and even check site maps. Continue reading VMworld Copenhagen – Day one summary

Netapp certification – the NCDA

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I’ve been asked by a few people over the last few weeks about the Netapp Certified Data Administrator certification, better known as the NCDA. I was only exposed to Netapp technology a few years ago so definitely don’t claim any real expertise – I don’t know if these requests are due to an increased demand for engineers with Netapp knowledge or whether I’ve just surrounded myself with like minded people pursuing similar goals. Hopefully both!

When I took my exams a couple of years ago I considered putting together a study guide as there wasn’t much available and it suits the way I learn new material. Hanging out on the Netapp forums I picked up quite a few hints and tips along with some great links to example questions, web based learning and some documents produced by Netapp which summarise the knowledge you need for the exams. I never found the time (or motivation if truth be told) to put together my own study notes but maybe there’s still enough demand to make a collection of resources useful. As always real world, hands on experience is invaluable but the below are worth your time;

NOTE: I took two exams (ns0-153 and ns0-163) whereas you can now take a single exam (ns0-154) instead which covers ONTAP 8 – 7 mode.

In terms of difficulty the NCDA is an entry level exam – I’d put these exams nearer the VCP standard than the VCAP, more like an MCP than an MCSE. They’re multiple choice and while some questions require enterprise design knowledge (I got one on Metrocluster cabling) most are much more basic. Like the Cisco exams your certification expires after two years so I should be retaking the exams if I want to stay current but as not much has changed (ONTAP v8 is out but running in cluster mode means it’s almost the same as v7) it would be a paper exercise only and hence not worth it. Besides there’s SRM, vSphere5, vCD 1.5, Chef, Puppet and more to learn should I find any free time…