HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager 6.2 User Guide Abstract This document is intended to be used by technical professionals who manage multiple HP BladeSystem enclosures and use HP Virtual Connect Manager to control network connectivity.
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Table of Contents 1 Introduction.............................................................................................11 Key features and benefits.........................................................................................................11 Key features......................................................................................................................11 Key benefits..........................................................................................................
Working with HP Virtual Connect 8Gb Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem................49 Adding or removing remote enclosures from a multienclosure domain in VC Domain Maintenance.....................................................................................................................50 Canceling a VC Domain Maintenance task................................................................................50 Resynchronizing a VC Domain with Configuration Mismatch...........................
Editing custom MAC address ranges.........................................................................................83 Removing custom MAC address ranges.....................................................................................83 WWN Addresses...................................................................................................................84 Tracking individual WWN addresses........................................................................................
Remove from VC Domain Group job is successful but with errors.................................................107 Resolving expired License status..............................................................................................108 Resolving database operation errors........................................................................................108 Errors occur while loading VCEM pages..................................................................................
Glossary..................................................................................................123 Index.......................................................................................................
List of Figures 1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4 3-5 3-6 3-7 3-8 3-9 3-10 3-11 3-12 3-13 4-1 5-1 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 6-3 7-1 7-2 7-3 8-1 9-1 8 Traditional network and Virtual Connect comparison............................................................14 Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager homepage...................................................................16 Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager architecture overview.....................................................
List of Tables 1-1 2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4 3-5 4-1 4-2 13-1 VCEM license options.......................................................................................................13 Hardware requirements.....................................................................................................19 Software requirements .....................................................................................................20 Virtual Connect requirements......................................
1 Introduction HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM) centralizes network connection management and workload mobility for HP BladeSystem servers that use Virtual Connect to access local area networks (LANs), storage area networks (SANs), and converged network environments. VCEM helps organizations increase productivity, respond faster to workload and infrastructure changes, and reduce operating costs.
Key benefits • • • • • • • Centrally manage connectivity and workloads for hundreds of Virtual Connect Domains and thousands of HP BladeSystem server blades.
Table 1-1 VCEM license options License type Part number Description Combination VC plus VCEM license options 591973-B21 HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Enterprise Edition for BL c-700011 VCEM software licenses 459864-B21 HP VCEM BL-c7000 Single enclosure license 459865-B21 HP VCEM BL-c7000 Single flexible quantity license—covers multiple enclosures 459866-B21 HP VCEM BL-c7000 Tracking license – quantity license used only with a current Activation Key Agreements (AKA) T9094AAE HP VCEM BL-c7000
• • Enables system administrators to be self-sufficient—Add, replace, or modify servers in minutes to meet changing workload and business requirements without impacting production networks. Relieves LAN and SAN administrators from server-centric maintenance.
server in each bay uses the MAC and WWN assignments in the associated server connection profile instead of its default burned-in network interface (NIC) or host bus adapter (HBA) addresses. Using this model, even if a server is replaced, the MAC and WWN assignments for the enclosure bay remain constant, and the change is invisible to the network.
• • Change, move, or automatically failover server profiles to spare servers. Rapidly install new bare-metal HP BladeSystem enclosures by assigning to a VC Domain Group.
Using VCEM, system administrators can quickly deploy, replace and recover servers and their associated workloads by simply assigning or reassigning the Virtual Connect server connection profile to an enclosure bay. The example in the following figure illustrates a server profile movement operation from “Server A” to “Server C” using VCEM.
VCEM home page features Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager uses a dedicated graphical user interface to access and control Virtual Connect operations, which includes the following core tasks: • • • • • • • • 18 Discovers and imports existing VC Domains without system downtime. Assigns and administers connection addresses for LANs (MAC) and SANs (WWN) from a central address repository. Creates VC Domain Groups. Assigns and unassigns VC Domains to VC Domain Groups.
2 Installing and configuring VCEM This chapter describes how to install and configure VCEM. IMPORTANT: This guide assumes that you have previously installed Virtual Connect using the integrated Virtual Connect Manager, have read the HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem User Guide, and understand its concepts. Preparing for a VCEM installation If you have VCEM 1.10 or earlier, you must first upgrade to VCEM 1.
Table 2-2 Software requirements Component Specification Operating Systems • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard and Enterprise Editions SP2 (x86 and x64) • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2, Standard and Enterprise Editions SP2 (x86 and x64) • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise Editions SP2 (x86 and x64) • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard and Enterprise Edition SP2 (x64) Hypervisor Guests • • • • • • Services • NET 3.
Table 2-4 Managed servers Component Specification HP ProLiant servers • • • • • • • • • HP BladeSystem Integrity server HP ProLiant BL260c HP ProLiant BL2x220c HP ProLiant BL460c HP ProLiant BL465c (G7 model supported only with Virtual Connect Flex-10) HP ProLiant BL480c HP ProLiant BL490c HP ProLiant BL495c HP ProLiant BL685c (G7 model supported only with Virtual Connect Flex-10) HP ProLiant xw460c Blade Workstation • HP Integrity BL860c / 860c i2 • HP Integrity BL870c / 870c i2 • HP Integrity BL890c
1. Choose from one of the following options: • Select Start→All Programs→ HP Insight Software→Uninstall HP Insight Software and select HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager. • From the Control panel, click Add or Remove Programs, select HP Insight Software, and click HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager. 2. Confirm the removal. After removing HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager, some files might not be removed. Manually removing such files might cause an access denied error message.
NOTE: VCEM 6.2 does not support VC firmware 1.3x , 1.2x or 2.0x. If you have these versions of VC firmware, an incompatible firmware icon is displayed and VCEM may prevent some VC Domain, VC Domain group, and server profile operations. You must upgrade to at least 2.1x. See “Upgrading incompatible firmware modes and versions” for more information.
9. Click the VC Domains tab. VC Domains appear as the following: • Unconfigured VC Domains—Appear as VCD_name, where name is the temporary name automatically given to the VC Domain. • Configured VC Domains—Appear with the VC Domain name. 10. Select a VC Domain, and then click License to license the domain. For more information on licensing, see “VCEM cabinet licensing”. 11. Create a new VC Domain Group, and then add one or more already licensed VC Domains to it.
3 Managing VC Domains This chapter describes how to use VCEM to manage VC Domains. On the VC Domains page, you can filter the VC Domain list by VC Domain Group. The default filter shows all VC Domains. Figure 3-1 VC Domains page Table 3-1 “VC Domains page” lists the columns on the VC Domains page.
Table 3-2 Status icons (continued) Status Icon Description Connectivity failure Failed to connect to the VC Domain. Possible causes include: • Connection times out. • Ethernet VC Module is physically not available. • Virtual Connect Manager is failing. • VC Domain firmware is updating. • HP Virtual Connect Ethernet IP address has changed (through DHCP or EBIPA configuration). Missing external manager lock VCEM is unable to obtain the necessary permissions for External Manager user.
Requirements for adding a VC Domain to a VC Domain Group To add a configured VC Domain to a VC Domain Group, the following requirements must be met: • • • • • The VC Domain must have the minimum number of enclosures required by the VC Domain Group. For more information, see “Working with multienclosure VC Domains” (page 42). VC Domain names must not already exist in VCEM. Server profile names must not already exist in VCEM.
Table 3-3 MAC or WWN address and serial number range compatibility (continued) VC Domain server profiles with MAC or WWN addresses or serial number allocated as: MAC or WWN or serial number in VC Domain Group VCEM-supported VCEM-defined, HP-predefined, or user-defined VCEM-defined or user-defined Yes VCEM-Defined, HP-predefined, or user-defined Factory No The VC Domain configuration must be identical to the VC Domain Group configuration.
— — — — — — Speed/duplex mode Connection mode Preferred Link Connection Preferred Link Connection Speed Maximum Link Connection Maximum Link Connection Speed • • Number of networks configured in the VC Domain For each shared network uplink: — Uplink set name — Network port location — Speed/duplex mode — Connection mode — Number of VLANs tagged associated to the shared network uplinks • • Number of shared networks configured in the VC Domain For each VLAN-tagged associated to the shared network uplink:
Table 3-4 Supported VC firmware VC Domain/Group VC Domain Group firmware mode 3.10 VC Domain Group VC Domain Group VC Domain Group firmware mode 3.0x firmware mode 2.3x firmware mode 2.1x VC firmware 3.10 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes VC firmware 3.0x No Yes Yes2 Yes 2 VC Domain firmware No 2.3x No Yes3 Yes3 VC Domain firmware No 2.1x No No Yes 1 2 3 • VC 3.10 features must be disabled from VC Domains to be in the same group as VC 3.0x, 2.3x or 2.1x. Virtual Connect 3.
Virtual Connect 3.10 features that must be disabled in a VC Domain to be part of the VC Domain Group with Virtual Connect firmware 3.0x, 2.3x and 2.1x NOTE: To disable any of the FC SAN or Flex-10 iSCSI features, the last connection in the feature table must be deleted first. • Flex-10 iSCSI Connections are not supported. To disable this feature: 1. 2. 3. Log on to HP Virtual Connect Manager. Expand Server Profiles in the navigation pane and select the server profile with Flex-10 iSCSI connections.
additional FC SAN Connections Connected To column displays duplicate bays as shown in the following figure: Figure 3-3 Server Profile configured with a FC multi-blade server To disable this feature: 1. 2. 3. • Log on to HP Virtual Connect Manager. Expand Server Profiles in the navigation pane and select the server profile with the additional FC SAN Connections that you want to delete. Right-click and select Delete Connection. More than 32 Ethernet network connections in a server profile is not supported.
Figure 3-4 Server profiles with more than 32 Ethernet network connections 4. Continue selecting and deleting the last connection until you have a maximum of 32 Ethernet connections. Virtual Connect 2.3x features that must be disabled in a VC Domain to be part of the VC Domain Group with Virtual Connect firmware 2.1x • Enhanced SNMP configuration is not supported.
Figure 3-5 Enhanced SNMP configuration Do not configure the VC Domain using the enhanced SNMP configuration. If necessary, disable the enhanced SNMP configuration by following these steps: 1. 2. Do not configure more than five SNMP trap destinations. Verify that all SNMP trap destinations follow these rules: a. The Destination Name must be in the following format: __<0 for VC-Enet and 1 for VC-FC> (for example, 192.168.1.1_public_1) b. c.
Figure 3-7 Disabling trap severities e. Trap categories must equal Other for either VC-Enet traps or VC-FC traps. Do not select both. From the Add a SNMP Trap Destination page, click Advanced, click More, and then select either of the following: — On the VC-Enet Traps box, select Other, as shown in the following figure. — On the VC-FC Traps box, select Other. Figure 3-8 Selecting trap categories f.
3. • Do not modify the SNMP configuration for VC Domain level. The default SNMP configuration for VC Domain level is Enabled with the Community String equaling Public. This is only available through the Virtual Connect Manager Command line interface. Fibre Channel Port Speed cannot be set to 8Gb for a HP Virtual Connect 8-Gb 20-Port Fibre Channel Module. Select any value other than 8Gb as the uplink configuration speed when defining a SAN Fabric for a HP Virtual Connect 8 Gb 20 Port Fibre Channel Module.
NOTE: 3. 4. 5. 6. • Add Key is always enabled. Click one or more unlicensed VC Domains. Click Apply License. Click OK to validate the key string. If the key string or format is valid, the key is added to HP Insight Software. Click Next to provide VC Domain credentials. For existing VC Domain groups: 1. Select the VC Domain from the VC Domain page and click License. The License Enclosure page is displayed. 2. Click Add Key. 3. Enter the license key string, and then click OK.
• • If HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC modules and HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules share the same I/O bay slice. (For example, a HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC module in I/O Bay 3 and a HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC module in I/O Bay 4). In a multienclosure VC Domain, if there are mixed HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules and HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC modules in the same I/O bay from different enclosures.
Table 3-5 Role-based privileges Privileges Description VCEM User (read only) This role provides only view-only access to VCEM pages and is based on the previous VCEM Read Only role. VCEM Group Limited Operator This role enables you to perform some of the tasks of the VCEM Domain Group Operator except for creating, editing, or deleting a server profile. VCEM Domain Group Operator This role enables you to manage server profiles within one or more specific VC Domain Groups.
• • If HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC modules and HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules share the same I/O bay slice. (For example, a HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC module in I/O Bay 3 and a HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC module in I/O Bay 4). In a multienclosure VC Domain, if there are mixed HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules and HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC modules in the same I/O bay from different enclosures.
IMPORTANT: VCEM has detected you may be using other products, such as HP Insight Dynamics – VSE. Removing this VC Domain from its VC Domain Group will make it and any Server Profiles in this VC Domain unmanageable by this upper level manager. Type YES to proceed with this operation. To proceed, you must type YES, and then click OK. VCEM does not proceed if you cut and paste YES into the field.
3. Perform the following actions for each VC Domain that uses HP-predefined or user-defined ranges that you want to remove from the VC Domain Group. Factory-default MAC, WWN, and serial number ranges are released back to Virtual Connect Manager as Factory-default. If factory-default MAC or WWN addresses or Serial Numbers are not being used, address ranges must be specified for each removed VC Domain. These address ranges must be unique and distinct to avoid assignment of duplicate addresses.
the minimum number of enclosures. The Ethernet uplinks define the minimum number of enclosures. The enclosure with a defined Ethernet uplink port defines the minimum number of enclosures. In this example, the minimum number of enclosures is two. The second enclosure is the last enclosure that contains Ethernet uplink ports.
Figure 3-12 VC Domain Group with VC Domains that have different numbers of enclosures A multienclosure domain can only be configured as follows: • • • The enclosure must be a c7000 enclosure. Primary and secondary Virtual Connect Ethernet modules must be either the HP 1/10Gb-F Virtual Connect Ethernet Module or the HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet Module running VC firmware 2.1x or later. FC modules in every enclosure must match the model and disposition.
VC Domain Maintenance VC Domain Maintenance is a useful way to perform updates on a particular VC Domain without removing it from a VC Domain Group, and apply the common domain, network and storage configuration changes automatically to all other VC Domains that belong to the same VC Domain Group. VCEM accomplishes this task by temporarily enabling domain, network, and storage changes through the local Virtual Connect Manager for the selected domain.
VCEM detects the presence of logical server managers or upper level managers. When performing selected tasks, a prompt dialog message appears and explains the impact of performing that task from outside the logical server manager or upper level manager. The following message appears: IMPORTANT: VCEM has detected you may be using other products, such as HP Insight Dynamics – VSE.
• Fibre Channel SAN fabric settings: — Enable SMI-S — Fibre Channel SNMP settings: Enable SNMP Read Community System Contact Each SNMP trap Community and IP address • For each Fibre Channel fabric: — Fabric name • For — — — — — — — — — — — — — — each network uplink: Name State Connection mode Smart link Private network Enable VLAN tunneling States Network port location Speed/duplex mode Connection mode Preferred link connection Preferred link connection speed Maximum link connection Maximum link conne
4. 5. 6. 7. Using Virtual Connect Manager, log in with full user rights at Virtual Connect Manager, perform the necessary changes, and save the changes. VCEM blocks all operations related to the VC Domain and to its respective VC Domain Group while VC Domain is under VC Domain Maintenance. Close the Virtual Connect Manager web browser and return to the VC Domain Maintenance page in VCEM. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to confirm the changes in VCEM. To apply the changes, click Complete VC Domain Maintenance.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Select the VC Domain upon which you want to restore the configuration. Click VC Domain Maintenance. The VC Domain Maintenance page appears. Click Make changes via VC Manager to unlock Virtual Connect Manager for domain, network, and storage changes. Virtual Connect Manager web interface appears in a separate browser window. The Under Maintenance status indicates that the VC Domain is temporarily unlocked for domain, network, and storage changes. Using Virtual Connect Manager: a.
• • If HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC modules and HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules share the same I/O bay slice. (For example, a HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC module in I/O Bay 3 and a HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC module in I/O Bay 4). In a multienclosure VC Domain, if there are mixed HP Virtual Connect 4Gb FC modules and HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-port FC modules in the same I/O bay from different enclosures.
4 Managing VC Domain groups This section describes the management of Virtual Connect (VC) Domain Groups using VCEM. A VC Domain consists of an HP BladeSystem enclosure, a set of associated Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre Channel interconnect modules, and server blades that are managed together by a single instance of Virtual Connect Manager. The VC Domain contains specified networks, server profiles, and user accounts that simplify the setup and administration of server connections.
Table 4-1 VC Domain Groups page Item Description Status Describes Virtual Connect Domain Group status Name Lists Virtual Connect Domain Group name Number of domains Identifies the number of domains in the group Table 4-2 “Group icons and status” describes VC Domain Group icons and status on the page.
Creating a VC Domain Group IMPORTANT: This VCEM operation does not provide a reference to the VC Domain from Systems Insight Manager. To access this reference, you must correlate the Systems Insight Manager and Virtual Connect logs. For more information, see “Correlating VCEM operations in Systems Insight Manager and Virtual Connect logs” (page 58).
4. Enter the user name and password for the Onboard Administrator of each unconfigured VC Domain. Ensure that you provide the Onboard Administrator credentials with full privileges if the Virtual Connect Module is not configured. (Optional) In some cases you might wish to overwrite the existing VC Domain configuration for selected VC Domains.
6. 7. Click the Restore configuration check box to enable VCEM to automatically restore the original VC Domain configuration in case changes cannot be applied to the VC Domain Group. Select from one of the following options: • Click Complete VC Domain Maintenance to apply the changes.
Deleting a VC Domain Group IMPORTANT: If you delete a VC Domain Group, then all unassigned server profiles within that VC Domain Group will be posted to one of the VC Domains that were part of the deleted VC Domain Group. To verify which VC Domain contains the unassigned server profiles after the VC Domain Group deletion job is completed, look at the report generated by the related job in the VCEM event.
4. Perform the following actions for each VC Domain that uses HP-predefined or user-defined ranges within the VC Domain Group that you want to remove. Factory-default MAC and WWN ranges are released back to Virtual Connect Manager as Factory-default. If factory-default MAC or WWN addresses or serial numbers are not being used, address ranges must be specified for each removed VC Domain. These address ranges must be unique and distinct to prevent assignment of duplicate addresses.
2. Select the desired VC Domain Group where you want to add or remove VC modules, and then click Delete. For more information, see “Deleting a VC Domain Group” (page 56). 3. For each VC Domain released from the VC Domain Group, insert or remove VC modules in the corresponding enclosure, and perform the necessary domain, network, and storage configuration changes in the VC Manager user interface.
4. 5. Look for VC Domain system log in Virtual Connect Manager by clicking Tools→System Log. Search for the log entries based on timestamp. Be sure to take the time difference between the CMS and VC Domain into account. There is no specific marker for VCEM operations. VCEM operations usually are encompassed by “VCM user login” and “VCM user logout” entries for the user name “A@.” For example, CMS IP 16.84.195.136 appears in the VC log entry as a reference to “(A1684195136@16.84.195.
5 Managing server profiles This section describes how to create and manage server profiles for use with VCEM. A Virtual Connect server profile is a logical grouping of attributes related to server connectivity that can be assigned to a server bay. A server profile can be assigned to any server bay within the VC Domain Group. VCEM requires the server to power down for any server profile operations such as create, delete, unassign, copy, move, and edit. For more information on this procedure, see "Bays.
Item Description Cabinet Identifies the cabinet type Bay Bay number A server profile defines connections for a blade server.
From the managing server profiles screen, you can perform the following tasks: • • • • • • • • • Create a server profile Delete one or more server profiles Edit a server profile Assign a server profile Unassign a server profile Copy a server profile to a bay Move a server profile View network and Fibre Channel information for a server profile Perform a VC Server Profile Failover operation NOTE: If the server profile has Flex-10 connections enabled, and server blade NICs (onboard or mezzanine card) are con
Figure 5-2 iSCSI boot settings If you enter an incorrect field format, an error message with the appropriate format is displayed. The following table describes iSCSI boot setting attributes and field formatting. Setting Description iSCSI Boot Configuration Initiator Name (required) Name used for the iSCSI initiator boot system. The initiator name length is maximum of 223 characters. If the initiator name contains nonalphanumeric characters, it must be enclosed in double quotes. See http:// docs.hp.
Setting Description CHAP or CHAPM user names and passwords Click CHAP or CHAPM to enable the following: • CHAP or CHAPM user name—Required if the authentication method is CHAP or CHAPM. This is the user name for authentication. The user name length is a maximum of 223 characters. If the user name contains nonalphanumeric characters, it must be enclosed in double quotes. • CHAP or CHAPM Secret—Required if the authentication method is CHAP or CHAPM.
10. Click OK. The Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager is executing the request message appears. 11. Click OK to go to the Jobs page and monitor job progress. NOTE: To create server profiles for Integrity Blades that boot from SAN, you must manually configure the SAN boot entries in the blade server EFI console. Configuring the target boot LUN When creating or editing server profiles, you can specify a target boot LUN for the FC SAN connections designated as Primary and Secondary in the boot priority column.
Figure 5-5 Copying a server profile using the Copy from button 5. (Optional) You can create vNet mappings based on a shared uplink set. To perform this task, select Force same VLAN mappings as shared uplink sets. Figure 5-6 Force same VLAN mappings as Shared Uplink Sets check box Configuring Network Port Speed When creating or editing a server profile, you can configure the network speed of an Ethernet network connection. You can select network speeds of 1Gb, 2Gb, 4Gb, and 8Gb, or Auto. 1. 2.
Deleting a server profile VCEM detects the presence of logical server managers or upper level managers. When performing this task, a prompt dialog message appears and explains the impact of performing that task from outside the logical server manager or upper level manager. The following message appears: IMPORTANT: VCEM has detected you may be using other products, such as HP Insight Dynamics – VSE.
11. Click OK to go to the Jobs page and monitor job progress. Assigning a server profile VCEM detects the presence of logical server managers or upper level managers. When performing this task, a prompt dialog message appears and explains the impact of performing that task from outside the logical server manager or upper level manager. The following message appears: IMPORTANT: VCEM has detected you may be using other products, such as HP Insight Dynamics – VSE.
NOTE: Boot Settings for Flex-10 iSCSI Connections are displayed if the VC Domain Group contains VC Domains with the required firmware version (3.0x or later) and VC interconnect modules with enabled iSCSI features. 6. 7. Click OK. The message Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager (VCEM) is executing the request appears. Click OK to go to the Jobs page and monitor job progress. Moving a server profile VCEM detects the presence of logical server managers or upper level managers.
IMPORTANT: When you perform a VC Server Profile Failover, no reference is provided to the VC Domain from Systems Insight Manager. To access this reference, you must correlate the Systems Insight Manager and Virtual Connect logs. For more information, see “Correlating VCEM operations in Systems Insight Manager and Virtual Connect logs” (page 58). VCEM detects the presence of logical server managers or upper level managers.
Initiating VC Server Profile Failover using Systems Insight Manager Automatic Event Handling The VCEM CLI can be used to automatically trigger VC Server Profile Failovers using Systems Insight Manager automatic event handling. A collection of sample failover SNMP traps exists in the "Profile Failover Trigger Events” collection under “VCEM Events” in the VCEM user interface. VCEM also provides two custom tools to facilitate automated VC Server Profile Failover.
6 Managing enclosure bay assignments Only the bays that are inside a VC Domain Group appear on the Bays page. Bays can be filtered by selecting one of the following entries in the Filter list: • • • All—Select this option to display all bays. VC Domain—Select this option to display all bays that exist in a specified VC Domain. The second list can be used to select a specific VC Domain to use as a filter. VC Domain Group—Select this option to display all bays that exist in a specific VC Domain Group.
To see more information about bays, select the Show more info check box. The following table lists the additional information that appears on the screen. Item Description Server model Model of server Power Server is powered-up or powered-down UID Reports if the identification light on the device is powered-up or powered-down To see server bay status and blade server information in case there is a server in a selected bay, click the bay number, then a status window appears.
Powering down a bay To view a window displaying the power status of a bay, click the number in the Bay# column. You can power down and power up the server inside that bay by clicking the buttons. Figure 6-2 Window displaying the power status of a bay To remotely power down a bay: 1. 2. Click the Bays tab. To determine the power status of the bay, click the bay number. A status window appears.
3. Depending on the power status of the bay, perform one of the following steps: • If the bay is currently powered down, then proceed to the Assigning a server profile to a bay procedure section. • If the bay is currently powered up, then click Momentary Press, which automatically powers down the bay. • If the bay is currently powered up and clicking Momentary Press does not power down the bay, then click Press and Hold.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. (Optional) From the Filter list, select VC Domain or VC Domain Group. Select the bay for which you want to unassign a server profile. Click Unassign server profile. You are prompted to confirm the unassignment. Click OK. The Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager is executing the request message appears. Click OK to go to the Jobs page and monitor job progress. Designating spare bays 1. 2. Select one or more Spares check box for bays that do not have a server profile applied.
to a designated spare blade may make it inconsistent with the upper level manager. It is recommended to use the upper level manager to edit this Server Profile. Type YES to proceed with this operation. To proceed, you must type YES, and then click OK. VCEM does not proceed if you cut and paste YES into the field. Preconditions for VC Server Profile Failover • • • • Source and designated spare servers must be part of the same VC Domain Group.
IMPORTANT: Enabling automated failover actions can impact other operations in a data center. Before using this feature, you must fully review potential implications to other system resources and data center services, and ensure compatibility with any other applications designed to perform automatic event handling. Unintended failover scan results in the loss of data and unnecessary system downtime. To set up automated VC Server Profile Failover, complete the following steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
7 Managing MAC and WWN addresses MAC Addresses NOTE: A "VCEM-defined” range has been reserved, from which VCEM allocates MAC addresses. VCEM no longer uses the “HP Pre-defined” range for MAC address allocation. However, server profiles created before VCEM 1.40 will continue to use the HP Pre-defined addresses already assigned to them. When using VCEM-assigned MAC addresses, you can choose between VCEM-defined MAC address ranges or user-defined MAC address ranges.
The following table lists and describes the MAC address status at Individual address page. Item Description Free Address available to use in VCEM. In use Address currently used by a server profile in VCEM. External Address Addresses used by server profiles in a VC Domain that have been released back to Virtual Connect Manager and no longer managed by VCEM. Excluded Addresses Addresses that reside in a VCEM Exclusion range list. VCEM will not allocate any address that is marked as excluded.
associated with it, VCEM identifies these addresses as external. Addresses identified as external are reserved for VC Domains outside of VCEM and will not be used by VCEM. To change the status of an address from External to Free, use the Reclaim External button. Before freeing an address, verify that the address is no longer used by a VC Domain outside of VCEM. To reclaim MAC addresses: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. From the VCEM home page, under the Administration heading, click the MAC addresses hyperlink.
3. 4. 5. Select the custom MAC address range. Click Delete. You are prompted to confirm your choice. Click OK. WWN Addresses NOTE: In VCEM 1.40 and later, a new “VCEM-defined” range has been reserved, from which VCEM allocates WWN addresses. VCEM no longer uses the “HP Pre-defined” range for WWN address allocation. However, server profiles created before VCEM 1.40 will continue to use the HP Pre-defined addresses already assigned to them.
Creating WWN exclusion ranges VCEM requires that you define exclusion ranges for both MAC and WWN address ranges that are in use by VC Domains outside VCEM management. Exclusion ranges are used to set aside addresses that might be in use for other purposes within your data center. Excluded address ranges are not assigned for use by VCEM. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. From the VCEM home page, under the Administration heading, click the World Wide Names hyperlink. From the Select ranges to configure list, select WWN.
Figure 7-3 WWN Ranges List page 3. 4. 5. Select a WWN address range. The exclusion range must be contained within the address range to which the exclusion range belongs. Valid WWN ranges cannot contain all 0s or all Fs and cannot have an F within either of the first two octets. Click the Exclusion ranges tab. To create the exclusion range, click New. Reclaiming external WWN addresses External WWN addresses are generated when a VC Domain containing server profiles is removed from a VC Domain Group.
Adding custom WWN address ranges Because the maximum range size is 131,072, a large range might take a few minutes to create. You can create one custom range. To add WWN custom address ranges: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. From the Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager home page, under the Administration heading, click the World Wide Names hyperlink. From the Select ranges to configure link, select WWN. Click Add custom. The Add Custom WWN Address Range information appears. Enter the custom WWN address range. Click OK.
8 Working with Logical Serial Numbers This section describes how to view logical serial numbers that exist in server profiles being managed by VCEM. These numbers are displayed for informational purposes. Logical serial numbers move with a server profile. The virtual serial number is a 10-character string.
9 Tracking VCEM job status Jobs The Jobs list provides detailed information about jobs that have occurred and are related to VCEM. To view these jobs, click the Jobs tab. The Jobs list appears. From this list, you can perform the following tasks: • • • Review a summary of jobs Select and review details of jobs Select and delete jobs Figure 9-1 Jobs list The following table lists and describes the job item columns in the Jobs list.
Details of the job can be viewed in the Jobs tab. When jobs are created, events might also be created in Systems Insight Manager. VCEM limits the number of jobs that it displays to 65,000. If the limit is reached, then only the most recent 65,000 jobs are viewable. To keep the list smaller, you can select the jobs to be deleted, and then click Delete. Reviewing job details To review the details of a particular job, click the hyperlink of the appropriate job name. The Job Details window appears.
10 Upgrading Virtual Connect firmware after VCEM is managing VC Domains The process for upgrading Virtual Connect (VC) firmware requires extra steps when VCEM is managing the VC Domain. VCEM gains exclusive access to managed domains. However, using the VC Domain Maintenance capability, the Virtual Connect Manager can be used to upgrade VC firmware while the VC Domain is being managed by VCEM.
11 Removing an external manager account For VCEM to manage VC Domains (using the Virtual Connect Manager, the embedded software in a Virtual Connect Ethernet module) VCEM uses programmatic interfaces with each Virtual Connect Manager. VCEM automatically creates an external manager account in each Virtual Connect Manager for subsequent authentication. NOTE: VCEM uses a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection provided by Systems Insight Manager.
3. To disable the account, from the Virtual Connect Manager command prompt, enter set external-manager Username=xyz Enabled=false If the VC Domain firmware is 2.
12 Command Line Interface usage in VCEM VCEM provides support for a command line interface (CLI) to perform several failover-related functions. These same functions are also available in the VCEM GUI. Perform VC Server Profile failover on specified VC Domain bay server This CLI command initiates a VC server profile failover operation.
List details for specified VCEM job This CLI command can be used to list the details and status for a particular VCEM job and can be used to determine the status of a CLI failover job. >vcem –list –details –job JobNumber If the CLI List Job Details command is successful, the exit code from the CLI is zero, and the following example output appears (through stdout) on the screen. >vcem –list –details –job 1 Listing details for specified VCEM Job...
Several CLI option keywords provide for abbreviated alternatives – that is, {-failover | -fo}.
13 Troubleshooting VCEM IMPORTANT: VCEM 6.2 supports the Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) browser, but the underlying Virtual Connect Manager does not currently provide the same level of support. Using IE8 to perform VCEM Domain Maintenance tasks that access Virtual Connect Manager might result in failed or incomplete operations. HP recommends Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) or Firefox 3.0 or 3.5 as the preferred browsers for use with VCEM.
NOTE: Existing profiles cannot see new FC SAN connections added using these steps. For more information, see the HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager User Guide. Unauthorized error when trying to access the VCEM home page VCEM requires the CMS to be correctly registered in the DNS. Make sure Systems Insight Manager can correctly discover the CMS. You might experience an unauthorized error page when trying to access the VCEM home page if the CMS is incorrectly registered in the DNS.
When Onboard Administrator credentials are provided, an error message appears stating that the credentials are not valid. This situation can occur when: • • • Onboard Administrator is replaced or reset to factory default settings. The clear vcmmode command was executed in the Onboard Administrator CLI. The VC Ethernet modules were temporarily replaced by another BladeSystem c-Class interconnect module. To resolve this issue: 1. 2. Select the affected VC Domain, and put it into VC Domain Maintenance.
Cannot access VC Domain from Virtual Connect Manager after a data migration has been performed If, after performing data migration, you are running Virtual Connect Manager and try to access a VCEM-managed VC Domain, the following error message appears: VC Domain locked by Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager . To resolve this issue: 1. 2. 3. Go to the CMS and invoke the MS-DOS command window. Change directory into the \.
• To remove the account and release the VC Domain from VCEM control, from the Virtual Connect Manager command prompt, enter remove external-manager Username=xyz mactype= MacStart=<> MacEnd=<> wwnType= WwnStart=<> WwnEnd=<> serverIdType= serverIdStart=<> serverIdEnd=<> NOTE: The “-quiet” option is used to suppress user confirmation prompts. This option is useful for scripting operations.
• Verify firmware update is in progress and wait a few minutes until the update is completed. Log into the Virtual Connect Manager (https://), and verify the VC Domain firmware status, click Domain Settings→Firmware Management. • Run an Systems Insight Manager discovery to identify the new VC Domain IP address and perform the operation again.
To resolve this issue: 1. 2. Access Virtual Connect Manager for the VC Domain that is in Mismatch Configuration state. Verify the server profiles inside the VC Domain searching for MAC, WWN, or VSN (Virtual Server Number) addresses that are: • Already in use by VCEM—In this case, delete the server profiles that have addresses that are reported as in use by VCEM.
If the VC firmware is version 2.0x remove the account and release the VC Domain from VCEM control by entering the following from the Virtual Connect Manager command prompt: remove external-manager Username=xyz mactype=MacStart=<> MacEnt=<> wwnType= WwnStart=<> WwnEnd=<> serverIDType= serverIDStart=<> serverIdEnd=<> NOTE: The option “-quiet” is available to suppress user confirmation prompts.
Failed to execute VCEM operation because VC firmware not supported If the VC firmware version you have is not supported, then VCEM operations might fail to execute. For more information about supported Virtual Connect firmware, see http://www.hp.com/go/ vcem.
To uninstall VCEM: • Select Start→All Programs→Insight Software→Uninstall HP Insight Software. NOTE: • Depending on your operating system, the following menu options might slightly vary. From the Control Panel: 1. Double-click Add or Remove Programs. 2. Click Insight Software. 3. Click Remove. IMPORTANT: The uninstall operation does not remove a VCEM folder from installation directory, such as C:\Program Files\HP\Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager\.
Cannot change the MAC/WWN/Serial Number ranges in Virtual Connect Manager when there are server profiles After removing the VC Domain from a VC Domain Group, you might not be able to modify the MAC, WWN, or Serial Number ranges in Virtual Connect Manager even after removing all server profiles from the VC Domain. This situation occurs because the MAC, WWN, and Serial Number ranges you entered when releasing the VC Domain from VCEM have addresses externally in use by server profiles under VCEM control.
NOTE: If the previous configuration used custom MAC, WWN, and Serial Number ranges, then add the same ranges to the new setup before proceeding. 4. Create new VC Domain Groups mirroring the prefail configuration specifying the currently working credentials. NOTE: Unassigned server profiles, external MAC and WWN addresses, and serial numbers are not recovered with this procedure.
6. 7. 8. 9. Access the Onboard Administrator web interface for the enclosure to verify that the VC Domain link in the bottom left portion of the screen correctly points to the VC Domain Manager IP address. Perform an Systems Insight Manager discovery against the Onboard Administrator IP address. From the VCEM home page, click the VC Domains tab. Select the same VC Domain, and then click Add to VC Domain Group. Wait for the job to complete successfully.
make changes to such server profiles, you must bring the VC Domain under VCEM control and then update the server profile through the VCEM profile editor.
The following bay operations might also be affected: • • Incorrect information might be displayed for power status, the server model, and serial number Power buttons might not perform the expected operations In addition, after logging in to the Virtual Connect Manager user interface, the following warning message might appear: The HP Virtual Connect has lost its login credentials for HP Onboard Administrator (OA). OA may have been replaced or reset to factory defaults.
Server profiles are not displaying physical port mapping and allocated bandwidth information VCEM does not display physical port mapping and allocated bandwidth information for the Ethernet network connection in a server profile. To correct this information, perform the following: 1. 2. 3. Go to Virtual Connect Manager user interface. Expand the Server Profiles Assigned Server Profiles left navigation panel and click the desired server profile.
To resolve this issue, use the Virtual Connect Manager to correct the Boot LUN value in the server profiles. A valid value is either a three–digit decimal between 0–255 or a 16-digit hexadecimal between 0 and FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. To determine the correct value, access the storage management software or ask the storage administrator. After entering the correct value, try the operation again. NOTE: VCEM validates the format of the target LUN but does not verify that it is actually bootable.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 118 In the Virtual Connect Manager user interface, delete the Ethernet networks (VLANs tagged) that were moved from the deleted shared uplink set to another shared uplink set. Go back to VCEM, and complete VC Domain Maintenance by clicking Complete VC Domain Maintenance. Click the VC Domains tab, for each VC Domain with "Configuration Mismatch" status, click VC Domain Maintenance.
14 Support and other resources Contacting HP Before you contact HP Be sure to have the following information available before you call contact HP: • • • • • • • • Technical support registration number (if applicable) Product serial number Product model name and number Product identification number Applicable error message Add-on boards or hardware Third-party hardware or software Operating system type and revision level HP contact information For the name of the nearest HP authorized reseller: • • In the
• software updates. For more information about this service, see http://www.hp.com/services/ insight Registration for Software Technical Support and Update Service—There are two methods for registering: — If you received a license entitlement certificate, automated registration for this service will take place upon online redemption of the license certificate/key.
Documents • • • HP Insight Software Quick Installation Guide HP Insight Software Support Matrix HP Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager Release Notes For more information about Virtual Connect Manager see: • • • BladeSystem c-Class Solution Overview HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem User Guide HP Virtual Connect Manager Release Notes Websites For more VCEM resources see: http://www.hp.
Glossary bays A device bay where the server blade is connected. HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure has a total of 16 device bays and HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure has a total of 8 device bays. blade server A server that is located in a rack or enclosure. See also enclosure, racks. central management server (CMS) A system in the management domain that executes the Systems Insight Manager software. All central operations within HP Insight Control are initiated from this system.
hardware status The operating state of SNMP-based systems. A hardware status is determined by polling SNMP information from the system. Status is defined as: • Critical. HP Insight Control can no longer communicate with the system. The system was previously discovered, but cannot be pinged. The system might be down, powered off, or no longer accessible on the network because of network problems. • Major. A problem exists. • Minor. The system is functioning but with errors. • Normal. • Unknown.
Smart Link A feature that, when enabled, configures a Virtual Connect network so that if all external uplinks lose link to external switches, Virtual Connect will drop the Ethernet link on all local server blade Ethernet ports connected to that network. stacking port A VC-Enet module external port used to connect to other VC-Enet modules within an active VC Domain. Stacking ports are automatically identified by the VC-Enet modules. The port number (port ID) is illuminated amber.
Index A adding a VC Domain to a VC Domain Group, 39 adding custom MAC address ranges, 83 adding custom WWN address range, 87 adding or removing VC modules to VC Domain Group configuration, 57 allocating WWN addresses, 85 assigning a profile, 69 assigning a server profile, 69 assigning a server profile to a bay, 76 B bays assigning a server profile to a bay, 76 performing a VC Server Profile Failover, 77 powering down a bay, 75 unassigning a server profile from a bay, 76 benefits key, 12 key, 11 H HP Virt
configuring the target boot LUN, 66 copying and assigning a server profile to a bay, 69 creating a server profile, 63 deleting a server profile, 68 editing a server profile, 68 moving a server profile, 70 performing a VC server Profile Failover, 70 unassigning a server profile, 69 server profile edit operation fails when target server is powered on, 114 Server profiles are not displaying physical port mapping and allocated bandwidth information, 116 Systems Insight Manager customizations for VCEM have not
correlating VCEM operations in Systems Insight Manager and Virtual Connect logs, 58 moving Ethernet networks (VLANs tagged) from one shared uplink to another, 58 VC Domain in VC Domain Maintenance, 45 VC Domain tasks, 36 VC Domains adding a VC Domain to a VC Domain Group, 39 cancelling a VC Domain Maintenance task, 50 creating a VC Domain Group, 37 licensing an enclosure for VCEM, 36 removing a VC Domain from a VC Domain Group, 40 requirements for adding a VC Domain to a VC Domain Group, 27 VC Domain in VC
