Data Domain: How to use the Data Domain cloud provider verification tool

DD-CLI Command:

cloud provider verify

Overview

Data Domain Long-Term Retention (LTR) and Cloud Tier (CT) features rely on external third-party cloud storage providers, accessed using the industry-standard S3 protocol. For successful integration, the cloud provider and associated customer account must support the required operations and provide sufficient access permissions.

Also, depending on the cloud provider and endpoint configuration, SSL certificate validation may be required before Data Domain can establish a secure connection to the cloud storage.

Cloud Provider Verification Utility

To simplify preconfiguration validation, DDOS provides a cloud provider verify command, available using both the CLI and UI. This utility performs a series of checks to ensure that the cloud provider and credentials are compatible with DD Cloud Tier.

Verification Steps:

1. Cloud Enablement Check
   Confirms that:

   • Cloud Tier is enabled on the system
   • Dedicated storage is available for local metadata
   • Required license, passphrase, and configuration are in place

2. Connectivity Check
   Verifies:

   • Network connectivity to the cloud provider endpoint
   • SSL certificate validation (if applicable)
   • Proxy configuration (if used) is functional for cloud access

3. User Account Validation
   Creates a temporary cloud profile and bucket using the provided credentials and configuration.

4. Cloud Provider Validation
   Ensures that the cloud provider supports required S3 operations: PUT, GET, LIST, and DELETE.

5. Cleanup
   Automatically deletes all temporary test data, including the bucket, objects, and cloud profile.

Important Note

The cloud provider verify command may fail under certain conditions when using a proxy, depending on the cloud provider. 

If you encounter issues during verification or configuration while using a proxy, contact your support provider for assistance.

Cloud Provider Verification Wizard

The 'cloud provider verify' process, prompts the administrator to enter specific details about the cloud provider, account credentials, and proxy settings (if applicable).
This interactive flow helps validate access and configuration before adding a Cloud Tier storage unit.

Example using DD-CLI:
'Verify' logs are written to: "/ddr/var/log/debug/verify_logs/"

# cloud provider verify
This operation will perform test data movement after creating a temporary profile and bucket. 
Do you want to continue? (yes|no) [yes]: 
Enter provider name (alibabacloud|aws|azure|ecs|google|virtustream|s3_flexible): aws 
Enter the access key: 
Enter the secret key: 
Enter the storage class (STANDARD|STANDARD_IA|ONEZONE_IA) [STANDARD]: 
Enter the region (us-east-1|us-west-1|us-west-2|eu-west-1|ap-northeast-1| ap-southeast-1|ap-southeast-2|sa-east-1|ap-south-1| ap-northeast-2|eu-central-1|eu-west-2): eu-west-1 
Do you want to enter proxy details? (yes|no) [no]: 
Verifying cloud provider ... 
This process may take a few minutes. 
Cloud Enablement Check: 
Checking Cloud feature enabled: PASSED C
hecking Cloud volume: PASSED 
Connectivity Check: 
Validating certificate: PASSED 
Checking network access: PASSED 
Account Validation: 
Creating temporary profile: PASSED 
Creating temporary bucket: PASSED 
S3 API Validation: Validating Put Bucket: PASSED 
Validating List Bucket: PASSED 
Validating Put Object: PASSED 
Validating Get Object: PASSED 
Validating List Object: PASSED 
Validating Delete Object: PASSED 
Validating Bulk Delete: PASSED 
Cleaning Up: Deleting temporary bucket: PASSED 
Deleting temporary profile: PASSED Provider verification passed.

 From UI, verification had been added as a single click option in the 'cloud unit add' workflow (see "Verify" in the screenshot below). 
To access this verification tool, log in to the DD UI (System Manager) as per the instructions in Data Domain: How To Connect to a Data Domain System for Administration, then:

1. Go to Data Management >  File System >  Cloud Units
2. Click  '+Add' and enter the required details like name of cloud unit, cloud provider, storage region, access, and secret key and proxy if needed.
3. Once all information is added, click verify under cloud verification.

4. If verification fails, then logs can be verified under a subdirectory in "/ddr/var/log/debug/verify_logs/."