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 Contents
UnityVSA Installation Guide.................................................................................................4

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EMC Confidential Information version: 1.0.5.25

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UnityVSA Installation Guide

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Dell EMC UnityVSA™
Version 5.x

Installation Guide
P/N 302-002-561
REV 05

Page 5 of 39
Copyright © 2016-2019 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.

Published June 2019

Dell believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS-IS.“ DELL MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND
WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. USE, COPYING, AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANY DELL SOFTWARE DESCRIBED
IN THIS PUBLICATION REQUIRES AN APPLICABLE SOFTWARE LICENSE.

Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
Published in the USA.

Dell EMC
Hopkinton, Massachusetts 01748-9103
1-508-435-1000 In North America 1-866-464-7381
www.DellEMC.com

2 UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA 5

Overview of UnityVSA..................................................................................6
Additional resources........................................................................ 6
General installation requirements and considerations................................... 7
Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA........................................ 8
Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA..................................................... 9
Requirements for installing a tie breaker node............................................ 10

Chapter 2 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA 13

Set up the VM environment for a single-SP UnityVSA................................ 14
Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA ....................................... 15
Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA directly to an ESXi host ............................... 15
Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server ............................. 17
Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment................................19

Chapter 3 Deploying UnityVSA HA 21

Set up the VM environment for UnityVSA HA............................................ 22
Download the UnityVSA HA files................................................................ 23
Deploy UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA Deployment Utility..................... 23
Deploy a UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI...... 25
Add virtual disks to a UnityVSA HA deployment......................................... 25

Chapter 4 Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA 27

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the GUI......... 28
Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the CLI.......... 28

Chapter 5 Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere 31

Launch UnityVSA Unisphere.......................................................................32
Configure UnityVSA in Unisphere............................................................... 32
Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA.......................... 33

UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide 3

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CONTENTS

4 UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide

Page 8 of 39
CHAPTER 1
Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

l Overview of UnityVSA......................................................................................... 6
l General installation requirements and considerations........................................... 7
l Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA................................................8
l Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA.............................................................9
l Requirements for installing a tie breaker node.................................................... 10

Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA 5

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Overview of UnityVSA
UnityVSA (Virtual Storage Appliance) is a software defined storage platform that
provides users with agility and flexibility. UnityVSA is deployed on a VMware ESXi host
and is available in two editions - Professional Edition (PE) and Community Edition
(CE). Professional Edition is a licensed product available at capacity levels of 10 TB,
25 TB, and 50 TB. Community Edition is a free downloadable 4 TB solution
recommended for non-production use.
UnityVSA HA is an enhanced version of single-SP UnityVSA. By adding dual-SP
functionality, UnityVSA HA can recover from one SP failure, which significantly
increases the system's applicable use case scenarios. Unlike the single-SP UnityVSA,
UnityVSA HA version is only available in Professional Edition (PE). It offers three
capacity choices: 10 TB, 25 TB, and 50 TB.
This document describes how to deploy UnityVSA, UnityVSA HA, and the Tie Breaker
Node (TBN) for UnityVSA HA. For information about using UnityVSA or UnityVSA HA,
see Dell EMC UnityVSA Frequently Asked Questions, which is available from the
UnityVSA Info Hub, and see the UnityVSA online help.

Additional resources
As part of an improvement effort, revisions of the software and hardware are
periodically released. Therefore, some functions described in this document might not
be supported by all versions of the software or hardware currently in use. The product
release notes provide the most up-to-date information on product features. Contact
your technical support professional if a product does not function properly or does not
function as described in this document.
Where to get help
Support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:
Product information
For product and feature documentation or release notes, go to Unity Technical
Documentation at: www.emc.com/en-us/documentation/unity-family.htm.
Troubleshooting
For information about products, software updates, licensing, and service, go to Online
Support (registration required) at: https://Support.EMC.com. After logging in, locate
the appropriate Support by Product page.
Technical support
For technical support and service requests, go to Online Support at: https://
Support.EMC.com. After logging in, locate Create a service request. To open a
service request, you must have a valid support agreement. Contact your Sales
Representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or to answer any
questions about your account.
Special notice conventions used in this document

DANGER

Indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, will result in death or

serious injury.

6 UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide

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 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

WARNING

Indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or

serious injury.

CAUTION

Indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or

moderate injury.

NOTICE

Addresses practices not related to personal injury.

Note

Presents information that is important, but not hazard-related.

General installation requirements and considerations

The following installation requirements and considerations apply to both the single-SP
UnityVSA and UnityVSA HA. For requirements specific to the single-SP models, see
Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA on page 8. For requirements
specific to the UnityVSA HA models, see Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA on
page 9.
ESXi host requirements
A 64-bit ESXi host running 6.0 or later is required for installing UnityVSA. However,
for UnityVSA HA, Dell EMC recommends having an ESXi host for SPA, a separate
ESXi host for SPB, and a third ESXi host if you are deploying a Tie Breaker Node
(TBN). The use of vCenter to manage ESXi hosts is optional for a single-SP
deployment and mandatory for a UnityVSA HA deployment.
Although you can use nested ESXi with a single-SP UnityVSA, deployment, it is not
recommended unless it guarantees the exclusive reservation of computing and
network resources. Do not use nested ESXi with a UnityVSA HA deployment, because
it does not work with HA.
Network configuration
To deploy and configure UnityVSA, you must provide network configuration
information. Contact your network administrator to gather network setting
information before you install UnityVSA.
UnityVSA can be configured to use:
l One IPv4 address (static or dynamic)
l One IPv6 address (static or dynamic)
l Both an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address
To use dynamic addressing, your network environment must include a DHCP server
(DHCPv4 for an IPv4 address and DHCPv6 or SLAAC for an IPv6 address). If the
network environment is not dynamic, you must assign the management IP address
manually.
If UnityVSA is configured with a single IP address, a DNS server is optional but highly
recommended. If UnityVSA is configured with both an IPv4 and IPv6 address, a DNS
configuration is required.

General installation requirements and considerations 7

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Considerations for server hardware platforms that do not support CPU

instruction set SSE 4.2
Starting in the UnityVSA 4.3 release, server hardware platforms that do not support
CPU instruction set SSE 4.2 are no longer supported. You might encounter an error
that prevents you from deploying your new 4.3 or later OVA under the following
circumstances:
l You are running in an ESXi cluster environment.
l The Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) settings are set to strict.
l There is a non-supported server in your cluster.
This error can occur even if the server on which you intend to install the UnityVSA
supports SSE 4.2. If you deploy a 4.3 or later UnityVSA on a single server and you
receive this error, choose a newer server platform on which to run ESXi. If you deploy
or upgrade a previously running 4.0, 4.1, or 4.2 version of UnityVSA within an ESXi
cluster, update your EVC settings so that the UnityVSA will run only on the servers in
the cluster whose CPUs support SSE 4.2. Otherwise, you must remove the older, non-
supported servers from your cluster environment.
For instructions on modifying the EVC setting within an ESXi cluster, see the VMware
documentation.

Note

Changes to your EVC control require you to power cycle UnityVSA within VMWare. A
shutdown, restart, or a reboot of UnityVSA is not sufficient to correct this issue after
modifying the EVC settings. Power cycling a UnityVSA is a disruptive operation that
should be scheduled in advance.

Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA

Installing and configuring a single-SP UnityVSA environment requires a 64-bit ESXi
host running version 6.0 or later. The use of vCenter to manage ESXi hosts is optional.
Single-SP UnityVSA deployment is also supported on VMware Cloud on AWS.
The following requirements also apply:

ESXi requirements
Hardware processor Xeon E5 Series Dual Core CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+ (or
equivalent)

Hardware memory l 18 GB minimum for ESXi 6.0

l 20 GB minimum for ESXi 6.5/6.7

Hardware network 4x1 GbE or 4x10 GbE (recommended)

Note

You can deploy the UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance that has 2

or 4 physical ports. VxRail uses a shared port architecture that
may result in lower performance during high traffic windows.

Hardware RAID RAID card 512 MB NV cache, battery backed (recommended)

UnityVSA SP requirements

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 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Virtual processor cores 2 (2GHz+)

Virtual system memory 12 GB

Virtual network adapters 6 (4 ports for I/O, 1 for Unisphere, 1 for support use)

Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA

Installing and configuring a UnityVSA HA requires a 64-bit ESXi host running version
6.0 or later and a VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus license. The use of vCenter to
manage ESXi hosts is mandatory. The hosts should have two unused vmnic ports per
ESXi host (if deploying on two different hosts and no existing distributed switch).
Dell EMC highly recommends that you deploy each UnityVSA HA SP on a separate
ESXi host. Single ESXi host configurations are allowed if high availability is not a
primary concern. Depending on your choice, the installation requirements are
different:

Both SPs on one ESXi Both SPs on separate

host ESXi hosts

ESXi requirements
Hardware processor Xeon E5 Series Dual Core Xeon E5 Series Dual Core
CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+ CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+
(or equivalent) (or equivalent)

Hardware memory l 30 GB minimum for ESXi l 18 GB minimum for ESXi

6.0 6.0 for each host
l 32 GB minimum for ESXi l 20 GB minimum for ESXi
6.5/6.7 6.5/6.7 for each host

Hardware network 4x1 GbE, 4x10 GbE, or higher 4 x 1 GbE, 10 GbE, or higher
if supported by ESX for I/O and 2 x 10 GbE or
(recommended) higher for the inter-SP
network (recommended )

Hardware RAID RAID card 512 MB NV cache, RAID card 512 MB NV cache,
battery backed recommended battery backed recommended

Switch requirements
Hardware switch VLAN support is not required. VLAN support is required.

Datastore requirements
Can be VMware NFS No shared datastore is At least 1 datastore shared by
datastores, VMware VMFS required. both ESXi hosts is required,
datastores, or both but it is recommended that
you configure 6 or more
datastores, as follows:
l 1 datastore for private
system data on SPA, with
a minimum free capacity
of 60GB.
l 1 datastore for private
system data on SPB, with

Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA 9

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Both SPs on one ESXi Both SPs on separate

host ESXi hosts

a minimum free capacity

of 60GB.
l 1 datastore for shared
system data, with a
minimum free capacity of
40GB.
l 2 datastores for the
storage heartbeat. Each
datastore needs to have
at least 2MB capacity.
l 1 or more datastores for
storage capacity. The
minimum supported
capacity is 10GB. For
more information, see
Add virtual disks to a
UnityVSA HA deployment
on page 25.

UnityVSA SP requirements
Virtual processor cores 2 (2GHz+) for each SP 2 (2GHz+) for each SP

Virtual system memory 12 GB for each SP 12 GB for each SP

Virtual network adapters 9 for each SP (4 ports for 9 for each SP (4 ports for
I/O, 1 for Unisphere, 1 for I/O, 1 for Unisphere, 1 for
system use, and 3 for internal system use, and 3 for internal
communication) communication)

vCenter Required Required

VLANs 3 (1 for Common Messaging 3 (1 for Common Messaging

Interface (CMI) SP-to-SP Interface (CMI) SP-to-SP
communication, 1 for communication, 1 for
Heartbeat 0, and 1 for Heartbeat 0, and 1 for
Heartbeat 1). Heartbeat 1).
The VLANs must be unique The VLANs must be unique
and not used elsewhere on and not used elsewhere on
the network. the network.

vmnic ports VM NIC ports are not 2 unused VM NIC ports if

required. deploying on two separate
ESXi hosts with no existing
distributed switch.

Requirements for installing a tie breaker node

Installing a Tie Breaker Node (TBN) on UnityVSA HA requires a host with at least:
l 2 GB memory
l 500 MHz x 2 cores CPU

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 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

l 12 GB disk space
l 2x1 GbE for the network with UnityVSA HA

Note

These requirements are in addition to those required by UnityVSA HA.

Dell EMC recommends that you deploy the TBN VM on a third ESXi host; that is, a
host that is not supporting the UnityVSA SPs.

Requirements for installing a tie breaker node 11

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

12 UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide

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CHAPTER 2
Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

l Set up the VM environment for a single-SP UnityVSA........................................14

l Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA ...............................................15
l Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA directly to an ESXi host .......................................15
l Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server .....................................17
l Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment....................................... 19

Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA 13

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

Set up the VM environment for a single-SP UnityVSA

The ESXi host provides the storage virtualization, which abstracts the physical
storage layer from the VM. Datastores are the logical containers created on physical
storage. Datastores contain the virtual disks used by a VM to store its operating
system, program files, and other data associated with its activities. You can configure
VMs with multiple virtual disks.
From the standpoint of the VM, each virtual disk appears as if it were a SCSI drive
connected to a SCSI controller. Whether the actual physical storage is being accessed
through local storage or network adapters on the host is typically transparent to the
VM.
A VM is connected to a virtual network by assigning the VM's network adapters to
that network's port group. A vSphere switch detects which virtual machines are
connected to each of its virtual ports and uses that information to forward traffic to
the correct VM.
For information on configuring and managing a VM environment, see the VMware
vSphere documentation.
Procedure
1. Verify that the selected ESXi host meets the required configuration, as outlined
in Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA on page 8.
2. Verify, and if necessary configure, the host network configuration.
3. Verify that a vSphere switch has been created.
a. Determine which port groups are associated with which subnets so you can
ensure that the VM's network adapters are assigned to the correct subnet.
l Ethernet port 0 is associated with network adapter 3.
l Ethernet port 1 is associated with network adapter 4.
l Ethernet port 2 is associated with network adapter 5.
l Ethernet port 3 is associated with network adapter 6.
You can verify which VM network adapter is mapped to which UnityVSA
Ethernet port by comparing the MAC address displayed for the network
adapter in the vSphere VM Hardware summary to the MAC address
displayed for the Ethernet port in Unisphere.
To display the MAC address in Unisphere, select System > System View >
Enclosures. Select the rear view of the Disk Processor Enclosure (DPE) and
click on an Ethernet port to display detailed information about the port,
including its MAC address. It is important to take note of the Ethernet port
name, for example, SPA Ethernet Port 3, since this is the port name used
when creating iSCSI and replication network interfaces.

b. If the network environment supports jumbo frames, verify that the MTU
value for the switch on the ESXi host is set to the same value as the
UnityVSA Ethernet ports.
If the UnityVSA VM sets an MTU value that is higher than the MTU value set
on ESXi, the UnityVSA VM MTU value defaults to the smaller value. In
vSphere, select Edit Settings on the Virtual switch to check the MTU value.
In Unisphere, select the Settings icon, and then select Access > Ethernet.
MTU is not displayed by default so you must select the Customize icon,
select Columns and then click on MTU.

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 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

The VMware Knowledge Base article, iSCSI and Jumbo Frames configuration
on VMware ESXi/ESX (1007654), provides more information.

NOTICE

Do not make any changes to the VM, such as changing the virtual hardware
configuration (CPU, memory, NICs, and so on), as this causes UnityVSA to boot
in service mode in order to prevent invalid configurations.

Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA

Before you begin
To download the UnityVSA Professional Edition, you must set up a product support
account. If you do not already have an account, go to your product support site to set
one up. To download the UnityVSA Community Edition, go to the EMC Community
Network website.
Procedure
1. Using a web browser, go to your product support or community site.
2. Select UnityVSA.
3. Locate the available downloads.
4. Select the UnityVSA Open Virtualization Appliance (OVA) file.
5. Save the OVA file to your computer.

Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA directly to an ESXi host

Procedure
1. Access the ESXi server by using its IP address.
2. Select Virtual Machines > Create / Register VM to launch the wizard. Using
the wizard, complete the following steps.
3. Select Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file.
4. Enter a name for the new VM and select the OVA file to deploy.
5. Verify the OVF template details, including that the OVA image is signed by Dell
EMC.
6. Select a datastore from the list of datastores accessible from the resource you
selected in which to create the virtual disks used to store the VM configuration
files.
For optimal performance, if you are not deploying UnityVSA on a VxRail
appliance, deploy the UnityVSA VM on a datastore comprised of different
physical disks than the datastore that will contain the virtual disks that provide
user data storage to UnityVSA. Failure to follow this recommendation can lead
to system and I/O performance degradation. If you are deploying UnityVSA on a
VxRail appliance, vSAN selects the physical disks.
7. Select the network mapping, disk provision type, and power on option for the
VM.
8. Enter the system name and configure the management IP (IPv4 or IPv6).

Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA 15

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

9. Review the deployment settings and finish the wizard.

10. Select the UnityVSA VM. Select the Summary tab to view information about
the VM.
11. To determine when the UnityVSA VM is fully up and running, monitor the DNS
Name field on the Summary tab. When the DNS Name field displays a system
name, the UnityVSA VM is ready.

Note

The system name displayed is either the name you specified during deployment
or the serial number of the system (format is VIRTXXXXXXXXXX).

12. If you are running the UnityVSA VM on a dynamic network using DHCP or
SLAAC, the management IP address is assigned automatically.
You can find the assigned IP by logging into the UnityVSA.
13. If you are not running the UnityVSA VM on a dynamic network using DHCP or
SLAAC and you did not configure the management interface when you deployed
the OVF template, you must do the following:
a. Open the vSphere Console.
b. Log in using the service account username and password service/service
c. Run the svc_initial_config command to assign an IP address.

For an IPv4 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -4 "<ipv4_address> <ipv4_netmask>

<ipv4_gateway>"

For an IPv6 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -6 "<ipv6_address> <ipv6_prefix_length>

<ipv6_default_gateway>"

For full usage, enter:

svc_initial_config -h

Note

Alternatively, you can run the svc_diag command from the vSphere Console
and identify the UnityVSA system serial number from the output. Then you can
use the Connection Utility to discover a list of systems, find the UnityVSA serial
number in the list, and assign an IP address.

14. Enter the UnityVSA management IP address in your browser to open Unisphere.

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 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server

Procedure
1. Access vCenter using this URL: https://<vCenter_address>/ui.
2. Select the host, select Actions and select Deploy OVF template to launch the
Deploy OVF Template wizard. Using the wizard, complete the following steps.
3. To select the source from which to deploy, select Local File and then click the
Choose Files.
4. Select a folder or datacenter location for the new VM.
5. Optionally, change the compute resource to a different host. By default, the
host on which you invoked the wizard is selected.
6. Verify the OVF template details, including that the OVA image is signed by Dell
EMC.
7. Select a datastore from the list of datastores accessible from the resource you
selected in which to create the virtual disks used to store the VM configuration
files.
For optimal performance, if you are not deploying UnityVSA on a VxRail
appliance, deploy the UnityVSA VM on a datastore comprised of different
physical disks than the datastore that will contain the virtual disks that provide
user data storage to UnityVSA. Failure to follow this recommendation can lead
to system and I/O performance degradation. If you are deploying UnityVSA on a
VxRail appliance, vSAN selects the physical disks.
8. Select a disk format for provisioning the VM's virtual disks.

Note

For better performance, it is recommended that you select Thick Provision

Eager Zeroed.

9. Select a VM storage policy, if applicable.

10. Configure the networks the deployed VM should use, making sure that:
l The management network is on a network accessible by the workstation
used to access Unisphere.
l The data networks are on networks accessible by the host that will attach to
the UnityVSA.

Note

If you are deploying the UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance, it is recommended that

you deploy the UnityVSA on the same port group used by the client VMs that
reside on the VxRail appliance.

11. Customize the settings for the UnityVSA VM, including the system name and
the network:
a. Enter a user friendly name for the UnityVSA. Leave this field blank to use the
default name: an automatically generated serial number for UnityVSA.

Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server 17

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

b. If you want to use static IP addresses, enter the IPv4 and IPv6 management
settings.
c. If you want to use dynamic IP addresses, leave these fields blank for
automatic configuration using DHCP.
d. If you do not have a dynamic network and you do not specify a static IP
address, you must specify the IP address after the OVF template is
deployed.
12. Confirm the settings, and then click Finish to deploy the OVF template.
13. Select the UnityVSA VM. Select the Summary tab to view information about
the VM. If it is not already powered on, select Power On to start the VM.
14. To determine when the UnityVSA VM is fully up and running log in to UnityVSA
to check.

Note

The system name displayed is either the name you specified during deployment
or the serial number of the system (format is VIRTXXXXXXXXXX).

15. If you are not running the UnityVSA VM on a dynamic network using DHCP or
SLAAC and you did not configure the management interface when you deployed
the OVF template, you must open the vSphere Console and login using the
service account service/service and run the svc_initial_config command to
assign an IP address.
For an IPv4 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -4 "<ipv4_address> <ipv4_netmask>

<ipv4_gateway>"

For an IPv6 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -6 "<ipv6_address> <ipv6_prefix_length>

<ipv6_default_gateway>"

For full usage, enter:

svc_initial_config -h

Note

Alternatively, you can run the svc_diag command from the vSphere Console
and, from the output, identify the UnityVSA system serial number. Then use the
EMC Connection Utility to discover a list of systems, find the UnityVSA serial
number in the list, and assign an IP address.

16. Enter the UnityVSA management IP address in your browser to open Unisphere.

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 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment

When you create the UnityVSA VM, three virtual disks (vmdks) are automatically
created for the VM's system data. These are the virtual disks identified as 1-3. Do not
modify or delete these disks.
You must add at least one virtual disk for user data. You can add more virtual disks, up
to the system limit (16), when additional storage for user data is needed. The minimum
virtual disk size is 10 GB. A disk appears as faulted if it is smaller than 10 GB and larger
than the storage size allowed by the UnityVSA edition and version. To view your
system's limits, in Unisphere select the Settings icon, and then select Software and
Licenses > System Limits
The following considerations apply to virtual disks in a single-SP UnityVSA
deployment:
l For optimal performance, it is recommended that you create the virtual disks used
to provide user data on a different datastore than the one where UnityVSA is
deployed. Failure to follow this recommendation can lead to system and I/O
performance degradation.
l You can only connect 12 virtual disks for user data to the first VMware paravirtual
SCSI controller provided with the UnityVSA. If you add a 13th virtual disk, select
the second controller. Make sure this controller is of type VMware paravirtual. If
the SCSI controller is a different type, UnityVSA can have boot problems and can
fail to recognize the new virtual disks attached to it.
l Allow up to 60 seconds for UnityVSA to recognize and display the newly attached
virtual disks.
l Using vSphere to modify the physical configuration of a UnityVSA VM (such as
adding or removing network interfaces or modifying the VM's cache size) is not
supported, except for adding virtual disks to store user data.
Procedure
1. In vSphere, right-click on the UnityVSA SPA VM, and select Edit > Settings.
2. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add New Device > Hard Disk.
3. Enter the size and provisioning method of the disk you want to add.
4. Finish stepping through the wizard, and select Finish.
After you finish

Note

Resizing a virtual disk through VMware is not supported in UnityVSA. However, if the
virtual disk is not part of a storage pool, you can remove it from UnityVSA and add a
new one of the preferred size. Resizing virtual disks that are already part of a storage
pool can result in a failed, unrecoverable pool.

Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment 19

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

20 UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide

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CHAPTER 3
Deploying UnityVSA HA

l Set up the VM environment for UnityVSA HA.................................................... 22

l Download the UnityVSA HA files........................................................................ 23
l Deploy UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA Deployment Utility.............................23
l Deploy a UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI.............. 25
l Add virtual disks to a UnityVSA HA deployment.................................................25

Deploying UnityVSA HA 21

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Deploying UnityVSA HA

Set up the VM environment for UnityVSA HA

The ESXi host provides the storage virtualization, which abstracts the physical
storage layer from the VM. Datastores are the logical containers created on physical
storage. Datastores contain the virtual disks used by a VM to store its operating
system, program files, and other data associated with its activities. You can configure
VMs with multiple virtual disks.
From the standpoint of the VM, each virtual disk appears as if it were a SCSI drive
connected to a SCSI controller. Whether the actual physical storage is being accessed
through local storage or network adapters on the host is typically transparent to the
VM.
A VM is connected to a virtual network by assigning the VM's network adapters to
that network's port group. A vSphere switch detects which virtual machines are
connected to each of its virtual ports and uses that information to forward traffic to
the correct VM.
For information on configuring and managing a VM environment, see the VMware
vSphere documentation.
Procedure
1. Log into vCenter as a user with administrative privileges.
2. Verify that the selected ESXi host meets the required configuration, as outlined
in Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA on page 9.
3. Verify, and if necessary configure, the host network configuration.
4. Check whether there are three available, unused VLANs in the network
environment to use for deploying the CMI, HB0, and HB1 networks.
5. Verify that a vSphere switch has been created.
a. Determine which port groups are associated with which subnets so you can
ensure that the VM's network adapters are assigned to the correct subnet.
l Ethernet port 0 is associated with network adapter 6.
l Ethernet port 1 is associated with network adapter 7.
l Ethernet port 2 is associated with network adapter 8.
l Ethernet port 3 is associated with network adapter 9.
You can verify which VM network adapter is mapped to which UnityVSA
Ethernet port by comparing the MAC address displayed for the network
adapter in the vSphere VM Hardware summary to the MAC address
displayed for the Ethernet port in Unisphere.
To display the MAC address in Unisphere, select System > System View >
Enclosures. Select the rear view of the Disk Processor Enclosure (DPE) and
click on an Ethernet port to display detailed information about the port,
including its MAC address. It is important to take note of the Ethernet port
name, for example, SPA Ethernet Port 3, since this is the port name used
when creating iSCSI and replication network interfaces.

b. If the network environment supports jumbo frames, verify that the MTU
value for the switch on the ESXi host is set to the same value as the
UnityVSA Ethernet ports.

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 Deploying UnityVSA HA

If the UnityVSA VM sets an MTU value that is higher than the MTU value set
on ESXi, the UnityVSA VM MTU value defaults to the smaller value. In
vSphere, select Edit Settings on the Virtual switch to check the MTU value.
In Unisphere, select the Settings icon, and then select Access > Ethernet.
MTU is not displayed by default so you must select the Customize icon,
select Columns and then click on MTU.
The VMware Knowledge Base article, iSCSI and Jumbo Frames configuration
on VMware ESXi/ESX (1007654), provides more information.

NOTICE

Do not make any changes to the VM, such as changing the virtual hardware
configuration (CPU, memory, NICs, and so on), as this causes UnityVSA to boot
in service mode in order to prevent invalid configurations.

Download the UnityVSA HA files

Before you begin
To download UnityVSA HA files, you must set up a product support account. If you do
not already have an account, go to your product support site to set one up.
Procedure
1. Using a web browser, go to your product support site.
2. Select UnityVSA.
3. Locate the available downloads.
4. Select each of these files and save them to your computer: UnityVSA OVA file,
TBN OVA file (as necessary), and the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility.

Deploy UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA Deployment Utility

When you deploy UnityVSA HA, you can choose whether to deploy with or without a
Tie Breaker Node (TBN). A TBN provides increased protection from network failures,
because it resolves situations where one SP cannot detect the other SP. For
UnityVSA HA, the TBN is a minimal VM running a network heartbeat client, which
exchanges heartbeat messages with both SPA and SPB.
Procedure
1. Follow the directions for setting up the VM environment in Set up the VM
environment for UnityVSA HA on page 22.
2. Download and install the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility from the support
website.
3. Launch the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility.
4. Select whether to deploy the new UnityVSA with or without a TBN. If you
choose not to deploy the new UnityVSA with a TBN now, you can add a TBN to
the UnityVSA after it is created. For information, see Deploy a tie breaker node
to an existing UnityVSA HA using the GUI on page 28.
5. Provide the login credentials and IP details for the vCenter service. To deploy
UnityVSA with HA, the hosts must be managed under the same vCenter
datacenter.

Download the UnityVSA HA files 23

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Deploying UnityVSA HA

6. Select the UnityVSA OVA file to use for the deployment.

7. Select a separate ESXi host for each SP deployment. For high availability
reasons, Dell EMC does not recommend deploying both SPs to a single ESXi
host.
8. On the System Datastores page, select:
l One datastore for each SP to create its private system drive. Each SP needs
at least 60GB space for private system data.
l One shared datastore for a shared system drive between both SPs. The
shared datastore needs at least 40GB free space.

Note

It is a best practice to select three different datastores in this step.

9. Select two additional shared datastores for storage-based heartbeats between

the two SPs.

Note

The virtual disks created from the heartbeat datastores are only 2MB in size.

10. Select the network mappings for the management and data networks, making
sure that:
l The management network is on a network accessible by the workstation
used to access Unisphere.
l The data networks are on networks accessible by the host that will attach to
the UnityVSA.

11. Configure the internal network. To deploy UnityVSA HA, both SPs need to
communicate over a distributed switch. You can either create a new switch, or
select an existing one: :
l If creating a new switch, you must provide two uplink ports for each ESXi
host for redundancy. In addition, each uplink port should connect to a
different network infrastructure switch. Enter the VLAN IDs for the HBO,
HBI, and CMI networks.
l If selecting an existing switch, each ESXi host must provide for two uplink
ports for redundancy. Enter the VLAN IDs for the HB0, HB1, and CMI
networks.
No matter whether you use an existing switch or create a new one, there will be
three port groups created, which are for HB0 (Heartbeat 0), HB1 (Heartbeart 1)
and the Common Messaging Interface (CMI). Each of them needs a non-zero
unique VLAN ID. If you leave the VLAN input empty, the deployment utility
automatically chooses an unused VLAN ID for each port group.
If you deploy the SPs on different ESXi hosts, the physical switches must
support VLAN and be configured as trunking mode instead of access mode.
Access mode allows only specific VLANs to pass.

12. Enter the UnityVSA system name and IP address information.

13. (Applies to deploying UnityVSA HA with a TBN) On the Configure Tie Breaker
Node Properties page, enter the name of the TBN VM, and then select the
OVA file, host, and datastore to use for the TBN. You must also select two ports
for the TBN.

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 Deploying UnityVSA HA

Note

It is a best practice to select a host for the TBN that has not been used for
other purposes. It is also recommended that you choose two separate ports for
the TBN.

14. Review the settings, and select Deploy.

15. If you deployed the UnityVSA HA with a TBN, use the Unisphere GUI to enable
the TBN function. You can do this in the Initial Configuration Wizard or by
accessing the Tie Braker Node page in the Management settings. For
information, see Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA on
page 33.

Deploy a UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA HA Deployment

Utility CLI
You can deploy a UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI instead
of the GUI. To access the CLI:
1. Follow the directions for setting up the VM environment in Set up the VM
environment for a single-SP UnityVSA on page 14.
2. Download the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI from your support website.
3. Perform the following based on your operating system:
l On Windows, double-click the installer executable and follow the prompts. The
default installation location is as follows:
n For the x86-64 package, C:\Program Files\EMC\UnityVSA Deploy
Utility CLI.
n For the i586 package, C:\Program Files (x86)\EMC\UnityVSA
Deploy Utility CLI.
l On Linux, type: rpm -ihv <filename>, where filename is the name of the
installer executable. The default installation location is:
/opt/EMC/UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI/
4. To launch the UnityVSA client and see the options and examples, perform the
following in a command prompt based on your operating system:
l From a Windows operating system, type:

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI-<arch>-<version>.exe --h

where <version> is the version of the client installed.

l From a Unix operating system, type:

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI --h

Add virtual disks to a UnityVSA HA deployment

When you create the UnityVSA VM, five virtual disks (vmdks) are automatically
created for the VM's system data. These are the virtual disks identified as 1-5. Do not
modify or delete these disks.

Deploy a UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI 25

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Deploying UnityVSA HA

You must add at least one virtual disk for user data. You can add more virtual disks, up
to the system limit (16), when additional storage for user data is needed. The minimum
virtual disk size is 10 GB. A disk appears as faulted if it is smaller than 10 GB and larger
than the storage size allowed by the UnityVSA edition and version. To view your
system's limits, in Unisphere select the Settings icon, and then select Software and
Licenses > System Limits.
The following considerations apply to virtual disks in a UnityVSA HA deployment:
l For optimal performance, it is recommended that you create the virtual disks used
to provide user data on a different datastore than the one where UnityVSA is
deployed. Failure to follow this recommendation can lead to system and I/O
performance degradation.
l When you add a virtual disk, you must add it to both SPA and SPB.
l You can only connect ten virtual disks for user data to the first VMware paravirtual
SCSI controller provided with the UnityVSA. If you add an 11th virtual disk, select
the second controller. Make sure this controller is of type VMware paravirtual. If
the SCSI controller is a different type, UnityVSA can have boot problems and can
fail to recognize the new virtual disks attached to it.
l Allow up to 60 seconds for UnityVSA to recognize and display the newly attached
virtual disks.
l Using vSphere to modify the physical configuration of a UnityVSA VM (such as
adding or removing network interfaces or modifying the VM's cache size) is not
supported, except for adding virtual disks to store user data.
l Although resizing a virtual disk through VMware is not supported in UnityVSA, if
the virtual disk is not part of a storage pool, you can remove it from UnityVSA and
add a new one of the preferred size. Resizing virtual disks that are already part of
a storage pool can result in a failed, unrecoverable pool.
l Important: Never add a virtual disk to an SP VM that already has a disk with the
same UUID. This can happen when a virtual disk has been added to a SP VM and
you mistakenly trying to add it again. This will make the SP VM hang and have
undetermined consequences, such as an SP panic and data unavailability.
Procedure
1. In vSphere, right-click on the UnityVSA SPA VM, and select Edit > Settings.
2. In the New Device field on the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add New Device,
and then select Hard Disk.
3. Enter the size of the disk you want to add, and select Thick Provision Eager
Zeroed as the provisioning method.
4. Finish stepping through the wizard, and select Finish.
5. When the disk creation process completes, return to the home page.
6. Right-click on the UnityVSA SPB VM, and select Edit > Settings
7. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add New Device > Existing Hard Disk.
8. Select the existing vmdk file created in step 5.
9. Finish stepping through the wizard, and select Finish.

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CHAPTER 4
Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing
UnityVSA HA

l Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the GUI................. 28

l Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the CLI..................28

Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA 27

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Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using

the GUI
Procedure
1. Launch the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility, and select Deploy a new Tie
Breaker Node to an existing Dual-SP UnityVSA deployment.
2. Provide the IP address and login credentials for the vCenter service.
The deployment utility automatically discovers the UnityVSA HA managed by
the specified vCenter.
3. Select the UnityVSA for which to deploy a Tie Breaker Node (TBN).
4. Enter the name of the TBN VM, and then select the template, host, and
datastore to use for the TBN.
5. Review your choices and click Deploy.

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using

the CLI
You can deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the deployment
tool CLI instead of the GUI.
Format

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI --hypervisor <value> --username <value>

--password value --tbnfile value --tbnname <value> --hosttbn value
---datastoreprivatetbn value --hb0net value --hb1net value

Action qualifiers
Qualifier Description
--hypervisor IP address or hostname of the vCenter service.

--username Username used to log in to the vCenter service.

--password Password used to log in to the vCenter service.

--file Path to the OVA or OVF file to deploy.

--tbnfile Path to the TBN file to deploy.

--tbnname Name of the TBN file to deploy.

--hosttbn Host on which to deploy the TBN.

--datastoreprivatetbn Datastore that the TBN will reside on. The SPA and SPB
hosts must be able to access this datastore.

--hb0net Heartbeat 0 port group to which the TBN will connect.

--hb1net Heartbeat 1 port group to which the TBN will connect.

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 Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA

Deploying a TBN on an existing UnityVSA HA using an existing switch

The following example deploys a TBN called tbn1 on an existing UnityVSA:

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI
--hypervisor 10.244.236.244
--username admin
--password admin123
--file unityvsa/tbn.ova
--tbnfile tbn1
--tbnname vvnx-dual-test
--hostspa vvnx-esx1.usd.lab.emc.com
--hostspb vvnx-esx3.usd.lab.emc.com
--hosttbn vvnx-esx1.usd.lab.emc.com
--datastoreprivatespa datastore3_esx1
--datastoreprivatespb datastore3_esx3
--datastoreshared obsim_nfs_ds
--datastoreprivatetbn datastore3_esx1
--hb0net vsa-hb0-pg
--hb1net vsa-hb1-pg

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the CLI 29

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Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA

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CHAPTER 5
Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere

l Launch UnityVSA Unisphere.............................................................................. 32

l Configure UnityVSA in Unisphere.......................................................................32
l Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA..................................33

Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere 31

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Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere

Launch UnityVSA Unisphere

Procedure
1. Launch Unisphere. To do so, enter the management IP address in your browser.
2. Log in with the default username and password.

Note

UnityVSA ships with a default username, admin, and password. You must
change the administrator password during this first login. You can also change
the service password at this time, either making it the same as the
administrator password or creating a separate service password.

Configure UnityVSA in Unisphere

Configure initial settings
The Initial Configuration Wizard runs when you log in to Unisphere for the first time.
For the UnityVSA Professional Edition, obtain your license file online using the System
UUID.
For the UnityVSA Community Edition license, see the Obtaining a license for UnityVSA
Community Edition post on the Dell EMC Community Network website for instructions
on how to obtain and activate the license.

Note

You must use the License Activation Key instead of the UUID to configure ESRS and
obtain customer support (professional editions).

The Unisphere online help describes the Configuration Wizard and the initial settings
you need to configure, including pools and DNS and NTP servers. You must create at
least one pool before you can create storage resources or NAS servers.

Note

You can also create pools on the Unisphere Pools page.

Unisphere scans for the virtual disks available to the UnityVSA VM that can be used in
a pool. You add virtual disks to the UnityVSA VM using vSphere.
When you create a pool, you must specify pool tiering information (Capacity,
Performance, or Extreme Performance). Contact your storage system environment
administrator to learn what tier should be assigned to each virtual disk pool since this
information is hidden by the virtualized environment. UnityVSA supports the Fully
Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pool (FAST VP) feature for both block and file
data. FAST VP optimizes storage utilization by automatically moving data between and
within the storage tiers.
The maximum space available for all pools is 4, 10, 25, or 50 TB depending on the
UnityVSA edition and version. The maximum number of pools per system is 16. To view
your system's limits, select the Settings icon, and then select Software and
Licenses > System Limits.
If your environment uses DHCP, typically the DNS servers are populated
automatically. If not, configure the DNS servers.

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 Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere

The accuracy of the time on your UnityVSA server is important to the proper function
of UnityVSA. If you do not configure NTP, UnityVSA gets its time from the ESXi host.
Further configuration
The Unisphere online help describes additional configuration procedures as well as the
tasks to manage your UnityVSA.

Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA

If you deployed a UnityVSA HA with a TBN or added a TBN to an existing UnityVSA
HA deployment, you must enable it in Unisphere to make it active. Enable a TBN by
using the Unisphere Initial Confguration wizard or the Tie Breaker Node page in the
Unisphere settings.
To enable a TBN using the Tie Breaker Node page:
1. Select the Settings icon, and then select Management > Tie Breaker Node.
2. Select Enable TBN, and select the TBN to enable.
You can also change the active TBN on this page.
You can verify the UUID of the TBN VM in vCenter by browsing to the Virtual
Machines tab and locating the VM.

Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA 33

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Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere

34 UnityVSA 5.x Installation Guide

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EMC Confidential Information version: 1.0.5.25

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