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Dell PowerStore Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide

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Configure a non-disruptive import

Prerequisites

Ensure the following conditions exist on the PowerStore cluster before running import:

  • The global storage IP address for the PowerStore cluster is configured.
  • The PowerStore cluster and its nodes are in a healthy state.

Ensure that the following connections exist:

  • For a Dell Peer Storage (PS) Series or Dell Storage Center (SC) Series source system, an iSCSI connection between the source system and each associated host system, and a matching iSCSI connection between each associated host system and the PowerStore cluster.
  • For a Dell PS Series or Dell SC Series source system, only an iSCSI connection is supported between the source system and the PowerStore cluster.
  • For a Dell Unity Series or Dell VNX2 Series source system, a Fibre Channel (FC) or iSCSI connection between the source system and each associated host system, and a matching FC or iSCSI connection between each associated host system and the PowerStore cluster. Also, all host initiators that are connected to the source system should also be connected to the PowerStore cluster.
    NOTE:These connections to each host system should be of the same type, either all FC or all iSCSI.
  • For a Dell Unity Series or Dell VNX2 Series source system, a FC or iSCSI connection between the source system and the PowerStore cluster.
    NOTE:Either an iSCSI connections or a FC connection is supported between a Dell Unity Series or Dell VNX2 Series source system and the PowerStore cluster. However, the connection between the Dell Unity Series or Dell VNX2 Series source system and the PowerStore cluster, and the connections between the hosts and the Dell Unity Series or Dell VNX2 Series source system and between the hosts and the PowerStore cluster must be either all over iSCSI or all over FC.
  • Importing data from an external source system into PowerStore with FC connectivity requires that ports 0 and 1 of PowerStore I/O Module0 are enabled as Dual (as both initiator and target).
    NOTE:To view the list of FC import capable ports on a PowerStore appliance in PowerStore Manager, select the appliance under Hardware, and then select Fibre Channel on the Ports card.
  • For FC connections, it is recommended to configure FC zoning in such a way that PowerStore can connect to at least to 2 distinct targets on each remote system controller from a PowerStore node. .

Ensure the following conditions exist on the hosts before running import:

  • The applicable host multipath input/output (MPIO) software and host plugin are installed on each host that accesses the storage to be imported. See Non-disruptive import of external storage to PowerStore overview.
  • For RHEL version 8.x, the current Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) status for enforcing is set to disabled. To determine the SELinux status, do the following on the host:
    1. Run getenforce.
      NOTE: If it is set to permissive or enforced, disable it in /etc/selinux/config. Change SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=disabled.
    2. Reboot the host. SELinux will be disable persistently.
      NOTE: If you do not want to reboot the host, the configuration will clear after reboot setenforce 0.

It is recommended that the same NTP server is used on the source system, which hosts the source storage resource, and the destination PowerStore cluster. This configuration should provide the proper time synchronization between the source system and the destination PowerStore cluster.

Determine the following for the source system:

NOTE:The operation to add either a Dell Unity Series or a Dell VNX2 Series remote system may fail if the health of that source system is not OK. Ensure that the health of the remote system is OK before adding it.
  • The type of source system for the import
  • The management cluster IP address or FQDN, which is one of the following:
    • For the Dell PS Series, it is the group management IP address, if the management network is configured. Otherwise, it is the group IP address.
    • For the Dell SC Series and Dell Unity Series, it is the management IP address of the system.
    • For Dell VNX2 Series, it is the IP address of either SPA or SPB, however, the IP address of SPA is recommended.
  • The data connection type, iSCSI or Fibre Channel.
  • The iSCSI IP address of the source system, which is one of the following:
    • For Dell PS Series, it is the group IP address.
    • For Dell SC Series, it is the IP address of the fault domain.
    • For Dell Unity Series or Dell VNX2 Series , it is one of the IP addresses of the iSCSI front-end ports.
  • The administrative username and password credentials to access the source system
  • The session CHAP mode
  • The names of the volumes or consistency groups, or both
    NOTE:A volume group is automatically created for each consistency group that is selected for import. They cannot be combined with any other volumes or volume group.
  • Which protection policy to use for the volume or volume group, or both.
NOTE:PowerStore automatically creates the host and its initiator records on the remote system as part of the import operation. However, PowerStore cannot differentiate whether the initiator records created on a Unity system are created by the user or the import operation. Addition of a Unity system always fails if the PowerStore initiators already exist in the Unity system. For example, during the delete operation of a Unity remote system, the connections from PowerStore to Unity are logged out and an attempt is made to remove the host/initiator that was automatically created. Since Unity is dual mode, the connection from PowerStore to Unity is logged out, but the connection from Unity to PowerStore is not logged out. Unity does not log out the connection to PowerStore. Only those PowerStore initiators used for import must be manually removed from the FC zone by doing the following:
  1. Temporarily remove the PowerStore appliance from the FC zone.
  2. Remove the initiator on the Unity side.
  3. Add PowerStore back into the FC zone.
  4. Add the Unity remote system to PowerStore.

Determine the following for the hosts connected to the PowerStore cluster:

  • The management IP address of the hosts
  • Host plugin port configured for import
  • The operating system type of the hosts
  • The administrative username and password credentials to access the VMware hosts.
    NOTE:Username and password credentials are not required to access the Windows and Linux hosts.

Determine the schedule of the import:

  • Immediately or set a time and date
  • Whether to automatically cutover to the destination after import

Determine which protection policy to assign to the import session.

About this task

To configure an import, do the following:

Steps

  1. Log in to PowerStore Manager.
  2. Under Migration, select Import External Storage.
    The Import External Storage page appears.
  3. If the intended source system does not appear in the list of remote systems, select Add Remote System and specify the relevant information for the remote system. Otherwise, go to the next step.
    NOTE:When an invalid, unreachable, or down group management IP address is added to a PowerStore cluster for any Dell PS Series remote system, the following error notification appears: Addition of PS remote system failed due to error in connecting PS Group as Unknown error 0 returned by the server.

    Verify that the IP address is correct and reachable.

    NOTE:Also, after you attempt to add a Dell PS Series remote system to the PowerStore cluster, the initial data connection state will appear as No Targets Discovered. However, you can proceed to create the import session and the state will be updated to OK after the import session moves to the In Progress state. This behavior is only specific to a Dell PS Series remote system and it is expected.
    NOTE: While adding a remote system to PowerStore, you must provide the iSCSI IP address of the remote system along with other details. As part of the operation, PowerStore discovers the iSCSI portal of the remote system and tries to log in to all the targets listed in that portal. If anyone of those targets are unreachable, the associated Data Connection status appears as Partial Data Connections Loss in PowerStore Manager.
  4. To configure an import session, select a source system from the list of remote systems on your network that you have previously entered manually in to PowerStore Manager.
  5. Select Import Volume.
    The Import Volumes from Source Array wizard appears.
  6. Step through the wizard and specify the relevant information.
    NOTE:Only volumes and consistency groups that have a status of Ready for import, System cannot determine cluster type, or Host or Hosts have not been added can be selected for import. However for a status of Host or Hosts have not been added, you must add all hosts in the Add Hosts step in the import wizard before beginning an import session. You cannot begin an import session when the volume or consistency group has a status of Import is in progress or Import has completed.
    NOTE:Consistency Group is not supported in the Dell PS Series systems; therefore, consistency group import from these systems is not possible.
    Once you have specified the necessary information, the system generates a summary of the import session information.
  7. Verify that the import session information in the summary is accurate and complete.
  8. Click Begin Import to create and start the import session.
    The Import External Storage page appears and shows the Imports information once the operation is started.
  9. To view the progress of ongoing import sessions, under Migration, select Block Imports.
  10. To view the progress details of a specific ongoing import session, click the state of that import session.
    The Import Session Details slide out for that import session appears.

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