Initial Storage Preparation

Lab 1

Learning objectives
After completing this lab, you should be able to:
• Provision and present storage on a Nimble array
• Connect a volume to ESXi, create a new datastore, and migrate VMs to it from vSphere Web Client

Overview
This lab prepares the initial configuration for further exercises.

H9TJ6AAE | © Copyright 2020 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

Initial Storage Preparation

Exercise 1: Provision and present storage on a Nimble array

1. Open Chrome by using its desktop icon.

2. Click the nimble-01.edu.lab bookmark.

3. Accept the certificate warning if it appears (Advanced → Proceed to nimble-01.edu.lab (unsafe)).

4. When the array login screen appears, log in to the array GUI using the following credentials:
– User name: admin

– Password: Nimble01! (The password is case sensitive.)

Click Log In to log in to the array as administrator.

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5. Upon logging in to the array, you might be presented with a usage warning. Click OK to proceed.

6. From the top menu, click Manage → Data Access. Then click the + sign to add a new Initiator Group.

7. Name it ESXi. Press the Add button to add a new initiator row port as seen below.

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8. You can use any initiator name, but the IQN identifier is something that must be checked within your VMware
environment. Open a new browser tab in Chrome and, this time, use the vSphere Web Client bookmark.

9. Accept the certificate warning if it appears (Advanced → Proceed to vcenter.edu.lab (unsafe)).

10. Enter the login information for the vCenter server and click Login.
– User name: administrator@vsphere.local
– Password: VMware01! (The password is case sensitive.)

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11. Make sure the Hosts and Clusters tab is selected. Then select your esxi.edu.lab host from the Navigator tree, press the
Configure tab, and select Storage Adapters. Highlight the iSCSI Software Adapter and, under Properties, find the iSCSI
Name section that includes the IQN identifier we were looking for. Copy it.

12. Move back to the previous tab with the Nimble GUI still opened. Still in the Initiator Group wizard, add your initiator’s
name (anything, you can repeat ESXi) and IQN copied in the previous step. Press Create.

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13. You should see a message that confirms your Initiator Group has been created. The group should be visible, too.

14. You can click the group to view its properties and double-check that the IQN is correct.

15. From the top menu, click Manage → Data Storage. Then click the + sign to add a new volume.

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16. Name the volume VMware-Disk1. Use the default location, VMware ESX performance policy, 100GB size, and Not
protected data protection. For access, choose the Initiator Group created in previous steps (ESXi in our example) and
the Unrestricted Access CHAP account. Press Create.

17. You should now see that a new volume has been created. It is also presented to your ESXi host.

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Exercise 2: Connecting the volume to ESXi, creating a new datastore, and

migrating VMs to it from vSphere Web Client
1. Go back to your vSphere Web Client. Log in again as shown below if session has timed out.

2. Use the vSphere Web Client bookmark.

3. Enter the login information for the vCenter server and click Login:
– User name: administrator@vsphere.local
– Password: VMware01! (The password is case sensitive.)

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4. Make sure Hosts and Clusters tab is selected. Then select your esxi.edu.lab host from the Navigator tree, press the
Configure tab, and select Storage Adapters. Highlight the iSCSI Software Adapter and, this time, click the Dynamic
Discovery tab and then the Add button.

5. Here we need to provide the Discovery IP of your Nimble storage array.

If you do not know it, you will find it in the config.txt file located on your desktop. Make sure you copy it for the Local
Nimble AF array. Copy the Management/Discovery IP.

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6. Go back to the still opened vSphere Web Client. Provide the Discovery IP as iSCSI Server IP and press OK.

7. Now rescan the host’s storage adapter by pressing the Rescan Adapter button.

8. Wait for it to finish and switch to the Devices tab. The presented volume should become visible.

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9. On the left side, select your data center (HPE). Press Actions → Storage → New datastore.

10. Keep the default VMFS datastore type and press Next.

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11. Call your datastore “Datastore,” select your esxi.edu.lab host, and then select Nimble iSCSI Disk[…]. Press Next.

12. Accept the default VMFS version (VMFS 6) and press Next.

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13. Leave the default partition layout and press Next.

14. Review the summary and press Finish.

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15. Wait for a new datastore to be created. Validate that it is now displayed on the Storage tab.

16. Move to Hosts and Clusters. Open your ESXi host. You should see two VMs under your ESXi host.

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17. For each one of them follow the steps listed below. Right-click it and select Migrate… .

18. Select the Change storage only option and press Next.

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19. Select your newly created, array-based datastore (in this example Datastore) and press Next.

20. Review the summary and press Finish.

21. Repeat that for the second VM. Check Recent Tasks to verify that they both finished the migration. It will take around 15
minutes in total, so it might be a good chance to take a break.

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22. Right-click each one of them and select Power → Power On.

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