DHSM configuration problems for the Celerra and the Unified plugin

This thread is meant to be a one stop shop summarizing errors, and fixes to common issues that we are seeing when trying to configure the DHSM for use by the EMC Unified Storage Plugin v2.0. The approach here isn't exactly steps in order to setup DHSM (find those in README and RELEASE NOTES), it is more meant to be a cookbook of the commands I've used to remedy problems.

Common Errors

You are probably turning to this thread because you are having problems setting up the DHSM user.  See the lines below for common errors.

• Exclamation point next to items means duplicate or invalid
  
• Configure DHSM User: Error occurred while adding the DHSM user. Reboot the control station and try again. == 1) See below for reboot control station, see notes about waiting for control station to be ready and try from the GUI again
  
• Configure DHSM user: Error occurred while configuring
  
• Add Celerra: The DHSM username or password is invalid
  
• Error contacting celerra = wrong IP of control station, or bad username and password
  
• Using root account for control station login can cause failure for adding DHSM
  
• Your client does not have access to DHSM on the Celerra == either remove IP restrictions, or add the appropriate IP addresses of vSphere clients that have the plugin installed and are performing Celerra based cloning/compression operations.  Also, check the station running the VM, are there multiple network cards? Which one is listed first under Network Connections -> Advanced -> Advanced Settings?
  

This thread will be a work in progress and will be updated based on new issues and fixes that come out.

What is the DHSM?

I’m going to simplify this too much, but DHSM gives you access to sub datastore and datastore advanced features (compression and cloning) for NAS from an API perspective.

Is DHSM required?

It is only required under NFS configurations where you would like to take advantage of advanced compression and cloning features.  Provisioning has no dependencies on DHSM configuration.

So how do I setup this up?

There are a few ways to go about setting up the DHSM access.

The different methods to configure DHSM and make sure its ready to go

The “GUI Method”

In the v2.0 version of the plugin there is a GUI that assists during this process for the most part when you have not set DHSM up before.  This can be accessed from a “Setup DHSM” button from the plugin configuration screen (vSphere Client -> Home -> EMC Unified Plugin).  This is new to this version, and we are working on perfecting it.  I have seen issues with it specifically on Windows Server 2008 64-bit (the vCenter server), so utilize the manual methods if this is the case or install on XP/2003.  I will work my darndest to push to make this extra smooth in the next rev.

The "GUI didn't work but I am not sure how to fix or what to do next Method"

If the GUI errored out for any reason you have a few options.  The first is to log into the control station via SSH and review the DHSM configuration (see commands below).  The most surefire way to get the GUI working (2003/XP is the best use case I've found) is to review the list of users, make note of what users are being taken, and remove unneccessary users that might have been added by the gui (see command below).  Once you know you don't have any users that have been created, reboot the control station.  Once the control station comes up, SSH into it and verify you don't see any warning messages about it waiting for services to come up.  Once you have a normal control station, go through the GUI dhsm add process.  For testing purposes, I will be specific with options to put in the GUI, but this is only because I know these settings will work.  Once you actually get it working you can change at a later time.  cs ip: , Username: nasadmin, password: , username: dhsmuser, password: dhsmuser, ip: , uid: 600, gid: 600.  If successful then you can remove that user and try the plugin again.  If the plugin fails on this, you want to look through the logs below, and try going through the commands manually to get DHSM configured, and we would like to hear about it.

The “I’ve Already Configured DHSM Method”

Review your configuration under the “Reviewing DHSM Configuration” area below.  If you are comfortable with the configuration as is (pay attention to section under ACCESS CONTROL), then proceed to the (vSphere Client -> Home -> EMC Unified Plugin) “Add” and then select the Celerra during the wizard.

The “GUI isn’t working for me, let's do it manual method”

During my initial tests of the plugin I ran into challenges with using the GUI under Server 2008 64-bit (the vCenter server).  If you are having the same challenes (Cannot contact Celerra errors, etc) then you might want to consider setting the DHSM access up manually.  There is a README and RELEASE NOTES that detail how to do the following.

I will give you the steps, from there you can look them up in the below cookbook of commands.

Create the DHSM user, Enable digest authentication, Start the DHSM service, (optional) Add vSphere clients to the access list, review the configuration.

There is also a method to SCP a perl file to the control station and run a simple command to get it up and going.  Not exactly, wizard driven but works.  The command line method I outline in the sections below work.  Either way, make sure when you reviewed the configuration under the “Reviewing DHSM configuration” section.

What next?

Once you feel you have the DHSM access properly configured, you can now go to “Add” instead of setup from (vSphere Client -> Home -> EMC Unified Plugin).   From there enter the DHSM user and all should be good for compressing and performing cloning operations.

Optional: Managing DHSM by way of the CLI

These steps are for the most part to rectify any problems that may occur when using the plugin to setup DHSM or change IP access or passwords.

Rebooting the Celerra control station

1)      Login to the Celerra Control station as root

2)      Enter “/sbin/reboot”

3)      Make sure when it reboots that when you login there is not a dialog that specifies that the Control Station is still starting up services.  This means you may have to wait a few minutes after the control station has booted up.

Reviewing DHSM configuration

1)  Login to the Celerra Control Station as nasadmin

2)  Enter “/nas/bin/server_http server_2 -info”

3)      Pay attention to the ACCESS CONTROL section.  Allowed IPs will restrict access for advanced DHSM functionality to only vSphere Client IPs.  Allowed user will restrict only those users listed to DHSM functionality.

Modifying DHSM user configuration

1)  Login to the Celerra Control Station as nasadmin

          a.  Adding a DHSM user

                i.  Enter “/nas/sbin/server_user server_2 -add -md5 -passwd dhsmuser”

                ii.  Enter an unused User ID, ie. 600, and the same for GID

                iii.  Do not enter a home directory

                iv.  Enter the desired password (6 chars minimum)

          b.  Removing a DHSM user

                i.      Enter “/nas/sbin/server_user server_2 -delete  dhsmuser”

          c.   List DHSM users already created

                i.      Enter “/nas/sbin/server_user server_2 -list”

          d.  Change the password of a DHSM user

                i.      Enter “/nas/sbin/server_user server_2 -passwd”

Allowing access for the configured DHSM users

1)  Login to the Celerra Control Station as nasadmin

          Enabling digest authentication for configured user

                i.      Enter “/nas/bin/server_http server_2 -modify dhsm -authentication digest -users dhsmuser” (comma separated for multiple users)

          Adding IP addresses of vSphere Clients

                i.      Append new IP – “/nas/bin/server_http server_2 -append dhsm -hosts client1,client2”

                ii.      Remove IP restrictions

                         “/nas/bin/server_http server_2 -info dhsm”

                         See Allowed IPs and enter after hosts - “/nas/bin/server_http server_2 -remove dhsm -hosts client1,client2”

Review the logs—search for directories if you can’t find them

Feel free to post any questions if this document doesn’t fix your problem to Everything VMware at EMC.  If you are posting a question and have an error please obfuscate any information you don’t want included in the forum and post to https://community.emc.com/community/connect/everything_vmware

C:\Users\kitsoc\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Plugins\EMC Virtual Storage Integrator\Logs

C:\Users\kitsoc\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Plugins\EMC Unified Storage\log

Message was edited by: clintonskitson -changed information regarding deleting all dhsm accounts