Tag: VMware

SmartFabric Services for VxRail latest Updates and Install Guide

Its been a little over a year since we launched SmartFabric Services for VxRail. This was initially a neat little solution for single rack deployments. We were the first in the industry to automate the entire HCI deployment. The vision was always to go beyond the Top of Rack and automate Leaf and Spine architectures as networking is still the challenge for HCI solutions. Now we have.

SmartFabric for VxRail New Features

  • Zero-Touch automated deployment of Leaf/Spine
  • Enhanced GUI for Leaf and Spine Personality Management
  • Single Rack or Multi Rack VxRail Cluster deployments in a single site
  • One or more VxRail Clusters connected to a single fabric
  • Ability to connect non VxRail devices to the fabric
  • Fabric expansion automation
  • Lifecycle management of Leaf/Spine from vSphere OMNI plugin
  • Switch replacement automation

I have been keeping a close eye on the release of this software as I wanted to get it setup to demo to customers at the Customer Solution Center. I also wanted to quickly get a out a new Blog series to replace the original one that was so popular with our Partners and the PreSales community.

So before we get started, lets review the latest supported versions of the new SmartFabric Services for Vxrail solution.

Supported Software versions

Link to InfoHub where the latest detail on supported versions and more!

Lets get started. Follow these Steps.

Getting SmartFabric for VxRail is now even easier than before and I am going to document the 4 Steps I followed to get it up and running in my lab.

Step 1 – Enable SmartFabric Services on OS10 Leaf switch

Note: This is not a guide for end user customers because a lot of what I write about is handled thru our automated deployment appliance by Partners or Services teams. So please proceed with caution.

Check that the OS10 version is EXACTLY 10.5.0.5

Login to the Leaf and Spine switches and check that they are running the correct supported version of OS10 for VxRail installs. If the version is not running OS10 version 10.5.0.5 (not older or newer) then please upgrade or downgrade. You can use this blog i wrote earlier to perform an upgrade or downgrade from the switch CLI.

Configure Leaf switch OOB Management.

Put an ip address on both of the Leaf switches before you enable the SmartFabric personality in the following step.

OS10# configure terminal
OS10(config)# interface mgmt 1/1/1
OS10 (conf-if-ma-1/1/1)# no ip address dhcp
OS10(conf-if-ma-1/1/1)# ip address 192.168.105.235/24
OS10 (conf-if-ma-1/1/1)# no shutdown
OS10(conf-if-ma-1/1/1)# exit
OS10(config)# management route 192.168.0.0/16 192.168.105.254
OS10(config)# end
OS10# write memory

Enable SmartFabric Services for VxRail on the Leaf and Spine.

OS10(config)# smartfabric l3fabric enable role LEAF vlti ethernet 1/1/14-1/1/15

We can also enable the Spine switches now. These are not required yet for the VxRail deployment so we will set them up later.

OS10(config)# smartfabric l3fabric enable role SPINE

When the SmartFabric Services for VxRail personality is applied, the switches will reload.

Verify SFS Cluster & verify the Master

OS10# show smartfabric personality

Personality :L3 Fabric
Role :LEAF
ICL :ethernet1/1/14, ethernet1/1/15

OS10# show smartfabric cluster

CLUSTER DOMAIN ID : 100
VIP : fde2:53ba:e9a0:cccc:0:5eff:fe00:1100
ROLE : MASTER
SERVICE-TAG : D21WNK2
MASTER-IPV4 : 192.168.105.235
PREFERRED-MASTER : true

Connect to SmartFabric GUI

Now we can connect to either Leaf OOB Management ip and access the GUI. If we know the Master IP – then use this URL to access GUI:

https://MASTER_IP_ADDRESS

The next blog will explain the new SmartFabric GUI and simplified VxRail deployment process. Stay Tuned.

VxRail ACE in Continuous Development

New VxRail ACE features arriving fast and often

Did you know that VxRail ACE dashboard has had 4 updates since the soft launch in May this year? As customers log into the Ace dashboard they are first presented with the latest updates that have been released since their last visit. So far there is roughly a monthly cadence between updates. This rapid development is down to the ACE solution being built on the Pivotal platform. Since the soft launch of VxRail ACE in I have been talking to customers about ACE and showing off this first phase of capabilities. Have you had the chance to check out ACE yet?

Customers dont need to install ACE, the data lake is on our side.

A big advantage for customers is that the ACE Data lake sits on our infrastructure. The customer requires no resources to collect and process the data. This data lake is swelled by the 6200+ customers of VxRail. We want to enable as many customers to use ACE since more data gives better results. The next phases of ACE will begin to introduce AI technologies like machine learning. This will give customers options to have VxRail self-drive and auto-repair their clusters.

How do i setup VxRail ACE?

Getting connected to ACE is even easier with the 4.7.300 update for VXRail . We now can deploy SRS directly in vSphere with just a few clicks. Customers need a Dell EMC support logon and the plugin will auto deploy the srs appliance in seconds. Just provide the Support account credentials and an ip address for the SRS appliance(s). The new appliance will be deployed in the VxRail cluster. You can still point SRS at an existing external SRS appliance that is already running in your network.

Dell EMC Secure Remote Support SRS

Remind me. What is VxRail ACE?

How can customers take advantage of new technologies without requiring a heavy lift on their internal IT resources? Firstly offer an appliance rather then DIY build for infrastructure helps (VxRail). Then give customers a choice to subscribe to premium services that add value beyond the simplified HCI experience. “VxRail ACE (Analytical Consulting Engine) is a centralized data collection and analytics platform that streamlines monitoring of your VxRail clusters, improves serviceability, and helps you make better decisions to manage the performance and capacity of your pre-engineered hyperconverged infrastructure. ” – From the ACE overview.

Deleting a Workload Domain in VCF on VxRail

Warning: Check Solve before reading.

This Blog comes with a health warning! This is not to be consumed by customers directly. This is not a procedure for them to use in VCF on VxRail environments at this time. I wrote this as a reminder to myself and for other engineers that might need to perform the task in demo or POC environments. Always check Solve Online and download the current procedure for any tasks you might want to perform. If there isnt a procedure to perform the tasks in Solve then you may need to check if you are authorized to perform the task.

Always check Solve Online for the correct procedure for any tasks. If its not listed, you many not be authorized to perform the task!

VCF on VxRail is a white glove experience.

One of the advantages of using VxRail as the infrastructure for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF on VxRail) is the simplified and automated processes that the engineered appliance brings to bear. This solution is a white glove experience for customers as only qualified and experienced installers perform the Day Zero deployment activities. Configuration is automated and validated to remove the chance of human error. Once VCF is deployed, many of the manual tasks that could be difficult are automated by SDDC Manager. Deleting a Workload Domain is one of those workflows.

Once a Workload Domain is deployed, you will see the option to Delete the Workload Domain, ever wondered what this does?

Warning! Deleting a WLD is permanent.

Once you select the Delete Workload Domain workflow from the current inventory, you are presented with a popup warning. I highly recommend you read carefully exactly what this message says as the process is irreversible. As the warning suggests the entire Workload Domain will be removed and deleted. This includes VSAN as well as the vCenter and NSX Manager and NSX Controllers associated with this Workload Domain.

Don’t click past this warning message!

Kubernetes and Kommunity!

Ireland VMware User Group: Kubernetes, k8s, Kubernetes!

I will give you three guesses what the September Ireland VMware User Group meeting in Dublin was all about. The VMUG event was packed with updates on Kubernetes, vSphere, and VMworld. It was standing room only from the start. The VMUG organizers moved everyone to a bigger room after the first session! Cormac Hogan began his own session by reminding everyone that VMUG is all about the community, all about the users. He would rather see end-users on the VMUG stage presenting how they used VMware solutions to solve problems, rather than only vendors sales pitches. All of the VMware presenters sessions were excellent, but i have to agree, the best session of the day came from the vCommunity.

VMUG is about vCommunity

The VMUG community session was presented by two community members from AIB. It was the last session of the day and the room was still full. The presenter from AIB asked the room, “How many of you look after infrastructure?”. I think almost every hand in the room shot up. This was in contrast to an earlier VMware presenter that had asked, “How many people are using Kubernetes?”. Very few hands went up that time. The presenter acknowledged Kubernetes was like teenage sex, it seems like a lot of people are talking about it but few are implementing it. Yet!

Ireland VMUG VMware User Group

The presenter from AIB went on to describe how they had considered many different vendors and solutions on their digital transformation journey. AIB needed a new modern infrastructure strategy that worked for both Developers and Operators. They would need to maintain legacy applications they had and be able to pivot to new app development methods. They had decided that HCI was the answer for their infrastructure and they choose VxRack powered by VxRail. The best part of the session covered how they sold this new vision back to the business and were able to convince the board to make the new investment needed. It was very interesting to see how a business oriented session drew as much engagement as technology deep-dive one.

@edhoppitt says #RunAllTheThings

Ed Hoppitt from VMware kicked off the opening keynote. Ed works on the Modern Apss & Cloud Native Platforms team. He began by talking about innovation and how companies need different skillsets to innovate. He detailed the Pioneers, Settlers and Town Planners concept very well. I had read about this originally from the great Simon Wardley.

consistent infrastructure vS[here VMware

Ed had an excellent one-slide that illustrated how VMware is enabling customers Digital Transformation journey from traditional to cloud native applications. The slide described how vSphere and Consistent Infrastructure could cover everything from traditional to micro-services and cloud native. Ed talked about how a UK Finance company was using multi-cloud to satisfy governance rules. They needed to leverage multiple clouds and be able to shift from one cloud to another in less than 30 days. This is the true multi-cloud nirvana and a really great use case.

VMworld 2019 Recap by @rsudding

Project Pacific and VMware Tanzu
Build ! Run! Manage!

Ryan Sudding from Vmware was up next. He is a regular Ireland VMware User Group advocate and supporter. Ryan had the mammoth task of breaking down everything that was announced at VMworld in San Francisco. Ryan talked about VMware’s strategy to transform how customers Build, Run and Manage software on Kubernetes. He talked about the new acquisitions that complement this strategy including Bitnami, Pivotal and Heptio and the announcements around Project Pacific and Tanzu.

At VMUG if you aren’t networking your doing it wrong.

At the break I got the chance to sit down with Cormac Hogan for lunch. We were joined by Jason Pearse and Dean Lewis from VMware. We are all in the Dell Technologies family now so its great to chat about what is going on in VMware and Dell EMC. Dean is active on twitter and has an excellent blog running here.  The conversation at lunch was really all about Project Pacific, Kubernetes, and VCF on VxRail. The future is bright! I also met up with Rob from Asystec as well as a friend I had not met up with my Y2K IT days. Small world, small vCommunity.

@CormacJHogan vSAN and Kubernetes

VMware User Group Dublin

Cormac Hogan continued the trend of the day by talking about Kubernetes in his session. Cormac is a well known speaker and expert on vSAN. He started by covering the What’s New in VSAN 6.7u3. This included new features for Enhanced Performance, Intelligent Operations and Unified Management. The second part of the session was a high-level explanation of using vSAN as persistent storage for Kubernetes. He pointed out that everything in his session can be accessed on Storage Hub which is a great resource.

Cormac continued to give an update on vSphere Cloud Native Storage (CNS). He was sporting a CNS t-shirt therefore he must know his stuff. The content of this session is covered here in a blog. He finished up with a demo of CNS and briefly covered vSAN Native File Services. Cormac asked the audience what protocols they would like to see made available for vNFS next. The audience answers fell roughly inline with expectaions; NFS v3 then SMB followed by S3.

@opowero Kubernetes: Smooth Operators

Kubernetes Operators

Olive Power worked formerly at Heptio and now works at VMware. She presented the last session which was titled Smooth Operators: A rough guide to Kubernetes Operators. Olive blogs a bit about Kubernetes and Operators here. Olives session covered why we use Kubernetes; to reduce complexity, shorten release and test cycles. This is done by breaking up monolithic application architectures into micro-services and requires different/better tooling. The role of Kubernetes is to maintain the desired state. That way it can be self-healing for Containers and Applications running on K8s. Olive explained how Kubernetes is extensible and the role that Operators have on making it easier to deploy applications. She referenced a couple places to learn more about this topic: Awesome Operators and OperatorHub.io.

I was rejected (again) for vExpert, should i just give up?

To all future vExperts…Never give up! the vCommunity wants to help you succeed. Here are some application tips. Click To Tweet

My rocky road to vExpert

vexpert advice
Rejected this time for vExpert? Don’t give up!

I wanted to tell my vExpert story. It is not a nice story about how I submitted the perfect application and nailed it first try. Its about how I was rejected on my first and my second attempt. Its how i kept that rejection secret and told no one, instead of getting vExpert advice. I really felt i had let myself down. The story has a nice ending for me. Because after getting a lot of help from the vCommunity, i was finally successful on my third try! I figured it was a good time to write this blog on the anniversary of my first (or was it my second?) failed submission.

Attend a local VMUG

What I learned was that being a vExpert meant you should be party of the community. If you aren’t participating in the community then why would you want to be a vExpert in the first place? I had not attended a VMUG before my first application. Seriously, what was i thinking? I had plenty pf excuses for why I had not gone to one. Its too far away. I don’t know anyone going. I have a meeting scheduled that day. Stop. These are terrible excuses. Go to a VMUG. Speak at a VMUG. Help out at a VMUG. Join the community and play a part in it. No matter how small, there is something you can do. The best part of attending the VMUG is the people you meet. This leads on to the next bit of advice.

Look for a Sponsor

I started my vExpert journey in total secret for fear of rejection and public humiliation. I look back on my first pitiful application and realize i would have rejected me too. Although I had friends in VMware I refused to ask them for help at first. When I was trying for the third time I finally decided to ask for help from a sponsor and get a reference. I waited for the reply nervously and was over the moon when i got back a positive response.

Contact a local vExpert Pro.

On my third attempt, I also reached out to one of the vExpert Pro’s for my country (Ireland). I asked them to review my draft vExpert application. They gave me really great vExpert advice and encouragement. Leave this task until after you have put together the final submission. Do not expect the vExpert PRO to write your application for you. The best advice he shared was make sure my focus was on helping the community.

Study the example vExpert Application.

There is a great example vExpert application up on the vExpert portal. Read this application and think about how your own application might look. Obviously do not try and copy this content word for word. Anything you write about will be “checked out” so stick to the facts. The example is a good guide for the level of detail that you should include. I realized that my bullet point list was too short, and i needed to expand on the impact of things i was claiming credit for. The advice i still remember was to focus on the community. You can always be doing more, you just need to find your niche and what way you are naturally good at helping others. Then tell them about it in the application!

Read Blogs. Listen to Podcasts.

What I didn’t realize is vExperts want to help you out. They really want you to succeed. It doesn’t take much searching in the blogsphere to find great tips and advice to get you started from these people. One of my best bits of vExpert advice when you starting out your application is to listen to the VMware Communities Roundtable Podcast. Episode #451 is literally “How to do a great vExpert application” with Corey Romero. This is well worth a listen as it gives specific detail into the voting process and how much weight they assign to different content. Speaking about content…

Create a Blog. Join a Podcast.

I chose to start a blog. Well this blog actually. I wrote my first few blogs as part of the #BlogtoberTEch challenge. This was just the kickstart I needed just before my third application. You might not be a blogger, that’s OK too. You might not be a blogger, that’s OK too. Have you made any podcast recordings yet? You don’t have to start your own Podcast. It is easy to get invited as a guest to a podcast if you try. I have been lucky to have made a few podcast friends and been able to go on as a guest. One of the best ways to do this easily is to volunteer to present a topic you are an expert at. They can only say no!

More options for content.

There are lots of options for content creation. I cannot list them all. You may even think of a new and unique way to create something that the community is lacking. Seek out opportunities to join in the community and help out in other ways. You could always contribute to public forums. Slack channels are another way you could potentially be active. There is of course twitter and social media options. But as the podcast above will tell you, you don’t get a lot of points for retweeting other vExpert advice. Talk about your own opinion based on your experience. If you have content that is not public you can always submit offline content example’s, agendas, etc. If you think you have enough content already, then start that vExpert application.

Apply again and improve it.

My final word of advice should be obvious. If you are rejected do not give up. Take pause and look back objectively on your contribution to the community. Could you have done more? Keep track of your past applications. Start a list of goals and look back monthly. What more did you do since last month? Can you do more next month? Write your application offline, keep a copy of the online application, improve it every time you submit. Best of luck to you and hit me up with a tweet or a comment if this blog helped you at all.

VxRail SmartFabric networking for Day 2 Ops

Step 1: Enable SmartFabric Services on the ToR Switch

Step 2: Deploy VxRail Cluster incl. ToR with VxRail Manager

Step 3: Deploy the SmartFabric OMNI plugin in VMware vSphere

Step 4: Virtualization engineer controls Day 2 Ops for the Full Stack

Network Admins calm down and look here.

The network admins are not usually in favor of anything that replaces their day to day jobs. If you can show them the finished solution, you may be able to sway them in favour. Make sure to give them a demo of the OMNI plugin running inside vSphere using VxRail SmartFabric enabled switches.

Click into the Omni dashboard.

The OMNI dashboard displays the current information on the VxRail SmartFabric enabled Switches. Here the Virtualization engineer has visibility to the OS10 version and the VLANS currently setup. That’s it? Not sure what NetAdmin Ned was expecting but there is no Network-Chaos-Now button!

Lets give Ned a use-case for SmartFabrics

You can describe a scenario to Ned that is common. It’s time to add a new host to the existing cluster. Normally you would ask Ned to prepare the host network ports. He would label them add all the required VLANS and to make sure the settings match with the existing host ports.

New Hosts detected with VxRail SmartFabric

With SmartFabrics no need to bother Ned

Adding hosts to HCI clusters are now done solely by the Virtualization Admin without any need to ask the NetAdmin to prepare host ports. It is all taken care of automatically by the VxRail SmartFabric services and the OMNI plugin.

Choose the discovered host.

Choose the discovered VxRail host

Enter vCenter credentials.

vCenter credentials

Add the Ip address information.

configure ip address

Run validation.

Validate the VxRail SmartFabric hosts

Validation must pass first.

validation can catch human errors

Once passed, host is added automatically.

new hosts added automatically to VxRail SmartFabric cluster

Watch quick Ned! Ports are configured.

hosts connected to VxRail SmartFabric are automatically configured

Hands free with VxRail SmartFabric services.

vSphere automation for VxRail SmartFabric

Vegas Tips and Tricks, Dell Tech World 2019

Are you going to @DellTechWorld ? Interested in #VxRail or SmartFabric networking? Register for a session and we can have a chat! https://buff.ly/2DnzECu 

Its vendor conference season again, are your ready? Accommodation booked, event ticket snagged and you have your aisle seat reserved on the flight, now what else do you need…

Preparing before you go.

Don’t keep it a secret that you are going to the conference! OK you don’t have to brag about it on social, especially if your security conscious and your home is going to be empty, but make sure your network knows you are going. This is a chance to plan ahead and make appointments with people you want to target for face time. You may only see some of these people at events once or twice a year, make the most of it. Don’t just ask them to visit you at a booth, make the effort to seek them out.

Set yourself reminders of lists of people you want to meet, seek out their sessions if they are speakers or find out where they will be and doorstep them! I always keep an ear out for recommended sessions or good speakers and try and see them. Support others that are going to the event, they will support you back.

Events like VMworld or DTW always have intimate sessions with smaller audiences. These are a great opportunity to get to make eye contact or even speak with a presenter after the session. This is much harder to do at a keynote. In Barcelona after VMworld I blogged about the Expert Sessions that were bookable. Amazing presenters and tiny audiences. I even found myself in a session where I was the only person that turned up!

Hang around the Podcast tables and see if you can get a spot. Step out of your comfort zone and show everyone you have something to say. If you are worried about content, try something easy like a Tech Confession style podcast, the content is you!

What’s in the phone?

Make sure you have loaded up the essential phone apps for the event, you will not want to lug around a laptop just to check a schedule or confirm a flight.

  • Dell Tech World app is up, be sure to install it and nail down your schedule.
  • Google Maps. This is a must IMHO. Visiting a new city for the event? Download the offline map and get tips and advice from locals on the best places to visit before or after the event kicks into high gear.
  • Travel Apps. All major airlines, Uber or Lyft or a local service. I use TripIt linked to my gmail, handy for itinerary and travel planning. I am trying out Google Trips for the first time this event, good so far!
  • Expenses? Amex and Concur have good apps. Nothing worse than having to dig thru a pile of receipts when you get home. Concur has gotten really smart at creating entries directly from images of receipts.
  • Communications. Nothing worse than being on your own at an event when you want to meet up with friends or contacts. Plan ahead and create WhatsApp groups or use Slack/Teams to reconnect with people. This year we are trying out WhenIWork app that looks pretty powerful, and includes a scheduler for team members.
  • Podcast! No better place to collect new podcasts in your catcher, I use Podcast Addict. You can also try and start your own one using the Anchor app, maybe a roving reporter style?

What’s in the suitcase?

Before you pack you have checked the local weather right? Use YR app and make sure you are covered for all possible seasons as well as a flexible wardrobe for business and casual events. Have you got the right shoes? If you don’t have a comfortable pair, rush out now and buy some. You still have time to get them broken in BEFORE you put them on in Vegas. Dress shoes for the customer dinners, black shoes for booth duty and runners for downtime. I over-pack underwear and socks, never want to run out. Day Shirt and Evening shirt please, let the event dictate the style. Don’t forget to pack a big enough bag for the return trip, especially if you are into collecting swag.

When in Vegas…

It gets harder and harder to snag a ticket if you don’t have a job to do, so more than likely you have some sort of responsibility while you are at the vent. Hopefully in your busy schedule you have been allowed some free time, use it wisely. Don’t just swag hunt, make sure you network, seek out new technology, use the creative space to bounce ideas off others.

There are other things you can do, other than work and attend some sessions. Get a headshot. There is always at least one stand setup to offer free headshots. Plan ahead and where or bring a suitable shirt/jacket/tie/dress combo that will look good. If you fancy something different and are a little shy, try and find a caricature artist that will cartoonize your headshot.

Have you planned for some alone time? Big conferences can be overwhelming, especially for an introvert. Make sure you get some time to empty the head, go for run or hit the gym or just lie down for 20 minutes. Recharge the mind so you can get back in the game.

Go on be social.

There is a temptation to try and attend every social gathering scheduled. Sometimes you will find yourself triple booked as all the evening events seem to be on at the same time. Stick to water and make as many appearances as you can, build that network. But in this section I am not talking about pubs or clubs, I mean of course social media. Even if you aren’t a social ninja and the thoughts of tweeting selfies makes you breakout in hives, i want you to step out of your comfort zone and leverage at least some of these apps.

Buffer. There are multiple tools out there now that will allow you to schedule tweets. Take time to plan ahead and write some before the event. You don’t want to have your head in a phone app when you could be meeting and greeting.

Twitter. This can be a great way to find people as well as let people find you. Find out your conference official hashtags and include them in your tweets. It doesnt take much effort to get up on the Social Media wall of fame and its great for exposure as people walk past. Threaded tweets are great for events, consider using them when you have a lot to say.

LinkedIn. If you have neglected your profile here, now is the time to polish it up. You will be looked up, you will be added by people you meet. Do you have a good title? A clear elevator pitch? LinkedIn is never finished, you can always improve areas of your profile.

The key to surviving Vegas.

Stay hydrated is the most obvious one. Bring a reusable water bottle. Dell Technologies is again this year providing water stations to get a fill up and to conserve plastic waste. The air is so dry there you will literally get Vegas throat or conference cough. Every morning, when you shower, plug the drain and fill up the tub with water, leave it humidify while you are out! At night, take a towel, soak it in the tub and hang it over the air-con vent. Trust me you will sleep better. (credit to @lost_signal for this tip, saved my 1st Vegas).

Even if you don’t make a conscious effort to hit the gym or go for an early morning run, you will do enough walking to burn a LOT of calories. Be smart when you eat the free food provided. There is ALWAYS a healthier option to choose, don’t just fill up on sweets and meat!

Every step you take, and every glass of water you drink will mean you can safely enjoy at least one great meal each day. Do like my good friends @Josephcorreia @livfitz and @VDIallStar  … ignore the travelators and elevators and take the stairs!

How to deploy the SmartFabric OMNI plugin in VMware vSphere Step 3

Step 1: Enable SmartFabric Services on the ToR Switch

Step 2: Deploy VxRail Cluster incl. ToR with VxRail Manager

Step 3: Deploy the SmartFabric OMNI plugin in VMware vSphere

EXTRA STEP Added Feb. 2020. See Below in yellow.

Next Blog : Step 4: Virtualization engineer controls Day 2 Ops for the Full Stack

Installing the SmartFabric OMNI plugin

At this point we have already run the first two steps to get SmartFabric installed, our Switches have SmartFabric services enabled and the VxRail Manager Gui deployment has automatically configured the switch and disabled the CLI. Now we will add the Open Manage Network Integration or SmartFabric OMNI plugin to vSphere, giving the virtualization engineer full visibility and control of the dedicated HCI switch fabric.

Download the OMNI plugin VM

We begin by deploying the OMNI VM ova, which is available from VMware Solution Exchange here. It seems to bounce you now to the Dell Support site where you can get the latest version here. As of June 2019 the latest version is 1.1.18.

Deploy the OVA

These steps are straightforward. Isn’t great that we can do the OVA deployment thru the HTML5 interface? Be sure to match up the source and destination networks correctly at Step 7 in the process. Later on we will configure an ipv4 address on vCenter network and enable ipv6 on the MGMT network.

Power on the VM and connect to a console on the OMNI vm. You need to establish a password here for the admin user. The default username and default password is setup as admin / admin.

Configure the OMNI appliance

Since this is a first run deployment, we are going to select option “0. Full Setup” at the Menu. As you can see you can re-run and do other admin tasks later if required from this interface.

Before we active the first connection, we will setup the Profile name “vCenter Server Network” and assign a valid ipv4 address for the OMNI VM here.

The second connection is for ipv6 discovery on the VxRail Management network, no ipv4 address needed here, set to disabled.

Set IPv6 Config to “Link-Local”.

EXTRA STEP Added Feb. 2020.

Navigate to Routing and select Edit. Select Add.

For “Destination/Prefix” enter “fde1:53ba:e9a0:cccc::/64”.

Leave “Next Hop” empty, Leave”Metric” default of 0. Click OK

Be sure to activate both networks on the last screen.

You will be prompted at the CLI again for NTP, SSL Cert, the appliance ip address, FQDN for VCSA, VC Username and Password, and finally the OMNI ip for REST and REST username and password.

Log in and out of vSphere and the OMNI plugin will appear.

VMware vExpert 2019. Thank You to my vCommunity

VMware vExpert 2019
VMware vExpert is an award for members of the vCommunity

I am delighted to get the news today (on my Birthday-eve) that I was accepted into the VMware vExpert program for the first time. A very Big Thanks to a bunch of people that helped and encouraged me along the way. Firstly my friend and colleague @vdiAllStar. There are too many friends to name where I work every day @DellEMCSolCtrs . The team at @DellEMCHol that are amazing like @Josephcorreia and @jensklasen and a load more on and off Twitter.

Thanks to my sponsor and all around gent @jasemccarty as well as @GarethEdwards who gave me some @vExpertPRO tips. Thanks also to the legends of #DellEMCElect @Dathbrun @victorforde @amitpanchal76 and @reddogmarc. Shout out to @VirtualisedReal and @BizTechMeg who gave me a shot. Also to @vmpete @lost_signal @aaronbuley @jeremymerril who inspired me without evening knowing it. I hope I can give back to the vCommunity as much as these people do.

Update! I have decided to pay it forward and written a blog on my experience trying to apply and failing to achieve VMware vExpert the first two times I applied! I hope you find some of my advice useful and don’t give up even if you are denied access at first.

How to enable SmartFabric for VxRail Step 1

I decided to document the steps I used to enable SmartFabric Services on VxRail.  These are partly notes for myself and Customer Solution Centre engineers that will likely need to showcase this capability very soon.  The demand for this solution is very high and the customers I have met are impressed by what is now possible (wait until you see the roadmap!). 

Note: This is not a guide for end user customers because a lot of what I write about is handled thru our automated deployment appliance; VxRail. A note of thanks to Allan Scott from New York CSC that helped with the first SFS deployment and documentation.

Step 1: Enable SmartFabric Services on the ToR Switch

  • Cabling the ToR Switches
  • Installing/Upgrading OS10 on Dell EMC Switch
  • Enable the VxRail Personality on OS10
  • Ready for Part2 – Deploying VxRail with Smart Fabric Services

Next Blog: Step 2: Deploy VxRail Cluster incl. ToR with VxRail Manager

Step 3: Deploy the SmartFabric OMNI plugin in VMware vSphere

Step 4: Virtualization engineer controls Day 2 Ops for the Full Stack


Getting Started :


How to enable SmartFabric Services on the ToRs

SmartFabric is supported on the 4100 series from Dell EMC. Current models are 10G – S4112 F/T, S4128 F/T or S4148 F/T  (25G coming soon). Sales can order these switches to be delivered from factory with OS10 and licenses already applied.

If you need the latest version of OS10 – get it here: force10networks.com , request login thru support page and download 10.4.1.x. Put OS10 .bin file and licence .xml file in a USB drive – insert USB drive into switch.

Cabling the TORs

First cable up ports 29 and 30 – 100GB cables for ISL (VLT).

Next cable up ports 25 and 26 – 100GB cables for Uplink.

Plug laptop into port 1 on switch.

Connect new VxRail appliances in any other port starting at port 2.

Installing or Upgrading OS10 on switch:

This is an optional step. The switches can be ordered and configured in factory, and so should arrive ready to begin at Step 2.

Connect the laptop to the serial port on one of the switches and start putty. Putty settings are 115200, 8, stop, none, none. I used a USB serial port so my COM port was COM3.

Powerup the serial connected switch – and break into ONIE mode by hitting ESC during bootup.

Choose “onie-discovery-stop” from the menu.

At prompt type: fdisk -l

USB Thumbdrive should be /dev/sdb1

mkdir /mnt/usb

mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb

Install OS10:

cd /mnt/usb

onie-nos-install /mnt/usb/XXXXXXXXXX.bin

Check IOS10 Version & Install License:

show version

show license status (skip next step if already installed)

license install usb://xxxxxxxx-NOSEnterprise-License.xml

Configure mgmt interface if required:

conf

int mgmt 1/1/1

no ip address dhcp

ip address 10.204.86.250/24

no shut

exit

management route 10.204.86.0/24 managementethernet

exit

Repeat these steps for the second ToR switch.

Optional step. Configure 40GB uplinks:

My showcase lab is using 40GB uplinks rather than 100GB so I needed to change the profile of the uplinks before applying the VxRail SFS personality. You can skip this step if you are using 100GB links.

OS10(config)# switch-port-profile 1/1 profile-2

Warning: Switch port profile will be applied only after a save and reload. All management port configurations will be retained but all other configurations will be wiped out after the reload.

OS10(config)# exit

OS10# write memory

OS10# reload

Enable the VxRail personality:

The SFS personality script is included in OS10. Once applied to each ToR switch, the switches will reboot with SmartFabric Mode enabled and you are now ready to perform a VxRail deployment from the VxRail Manager.

system bash

sudo sfs_enable_vxrail_personality.py -d 20 -a-m 2002

‘-d 20’ is a unique Domain ID that you assign to each cluster

‘-m 2002’ is a non-routed vlan used to do the initial build, local to the ToR switches only (Internal management network)

‘-a’ indicates that the port-channel on the upstream switches is configured with LACP

VxRail personality profile script options :


  
Domain -d <id> Required numeric value unique to data center (1 to 254) applied to ToR switch configuration settings Default: 1
Uplink -u <port,port> Override default 100Gb uplink ports Default: ports 25& 26
ISL -I <port,port> Override default 100Gb ISL ports Default: ports 29 & 30
Uplink tagging -t Whether external management VLAN is tagged or untagged when passed through uplinks. Default: untagged
Uplink LACP -a Whether LACP is active on uplink port channel (dynamic) or not (static). Default: static
Uplink breakout -b <2X50GE, 4X25GE, 4X10GE> Breakout 100Gb uplinks. Used to support connectivity to upstream switches without 100Gb ports
Management VLAN -m <VLAN> VxRail Cluster Build Network VLAN.
Default: 1

Validate Personality:

system bash

sudo sfs_validate_vxrail_personality.py

Links to useful guides that helped us document this build:

VxRail Fabric Automation SmartFabric Services User Guide

Dell EMC OpenManage Network Integration for VMware vCenter

How to Install Dell Networking FTOS on Dell Open Networking (ON) Switches


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