Installing the NetApp® NFS Plug-in 1.0.20 for VMware® VAAI

Installing the NetApp NFS Plug-in for VAAI (VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration) involves enabling VMware vStorage for NFS on the NetApp storage system, verifying that VAAI is enabled on the VMware host, downloading and installing the plug-in on the VMware ESXi host, and ensuring that the installation is successful.

1. Enable VMware vStorage for NFS by using one of the following methods:

   If you use...	Then...
   Clustered Data ONTAP CLI	Enable VMware vStorage for NFS on the SVM by using the following command: vserver nfs modify –vserver vserver_name -vstorage enabled vserver_name is the name of the SVM.
   7-Mode CLI	Enable VMware vStorage for NFS on the storage system by using the following command: options nfs.vstorage.enable on
   7-Mode CLI for vFiler units	Enable VMware vStorage for NFS on the MultiStore vFiler unit hosting VMware NFS datastores by using the following command: vfiler run vfiler_name options nfs.vstorage.enable on

2. Verify that VAAI is enabled on each ESXi host.

   In VMware vSphere 5.0 and later, VAAI is enabled by default.

   If you use...	Then...
   VMware ESXi CLI	Enter the following commands to verify that VAAI is enabled: esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit If VAAI is enabled, these commands produce the following output: ~ # esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove Value of HardwareAcceleratedMove is 1 ~ # esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit Value of HardwareAcceleratedInit is 1 If VAAI is not enabled, enter the following commands to enable VAAI: esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove These commands produce the following output: ~ # esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit Value of HardwareAcceleratedInit is 1 ~ # esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove Value of HardwareAcceleratedMove is 1
   vSphere Client	Using the vSphere client, log in to the vCenter server. For each ESXi server, click the server name. In the Software section of the Configuration tab, click Advanced Settings. Select DataMover, and ensure that the DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedMove and DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedInit parameters are set to 1.

3. Download the NetApp NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI:
   1. Go to the Software Download page at support.netapp.com/NOW/cgi-bin/software.
   2. Scroll down and click NetApp NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI.
   3. Select the ESXi platform.
   4. Download either the offline bundle (.zip) or online bundle (.vib) of the most recent plug-in.
4. Install the plug-in on the ESXi host by using one of the following three methods:

   To...	Then...
   Install the online bundle using the ESXi CLI	Enter the following command: ~ # esxcli software vib install -v http_path http_path is the path to the online bundle (.vib), which must be available online.
   Install the offline bundle using the ESXi CLI	Copy the offline bundle to the ESXi host, or to a common datastore accessible by all ESXi hosts. Enter the following command to list the contents of the offline bundle and verify the plug-in version: ~ # esxcli software sources vib list –d file:///path_offline_bundle.zip In the following output examples, the version and release date of the plug-in are for illustration purposes. The most recent version and release date of the plug-in might be different from what is shown. path_offline_bundle is the file name and full path of the offline bundle, and plugin_name is the name of the NFS plug-in. The following output is displayed when you enter this command: ~ # esxcli software sources vib list -d file:///NetAppNasPlugin.v20.zip Name Version Vendor Rel Date Acceptance Level --------------- ------- ------ ---------- ---------------- NetAppNasPlugin 1.0-020 NetApp 2013-02-21 VMwareAccepted Enter the following command to install the plug-in from the offline bundle: esxcli software vib install -n plugin_name -d file:///path_offline_bundle.zip The following output is displayed when you enter this command: ~ # esxcli software vib install -n NetAppNasPlugin -d file:///NetAppNasPlugin.v20.zip Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective. Reboot Required: true VIBs Installed: NetApp_bootbank_NetAppNasPlugin_1.0-020 VIBs Removed: VIBs Skipped: ~ #
   Use VSC to install the plug-in	Extract the offline bundle in .zip format. Copy the plug-in .vib file, NetAppNasPlugin.vib, to the VSC installation directory. The path name is VSC_installation_directory\etc\vsc\web, where VSC_installation_directory is the directory where you installed VSC. The default directory path is C:\Program Files\NetApp\Virtual Storage Console\. For example, if you are using the default installation directory, the path to the NetAppNasPlugin.vib file is C:\Program Files\Virtual Storage Console\etc\vsc\web\NetAppNasPlugin.vib. However, VSC lets you change that directory. Check that the file name of the .vib file that you downloaded matches the predefined name that VSC uses: NetAppNasPlugin.vib If the file name does not match the predefined name, rename the .vib file. You do not need to restart the VSC client or the NetApp vSphere Plug-in Framework (NVPF) service. Go to the NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI section of the Tools panel of Monitoring and Host Configuration, and then click Install to Host. In the dialog box, specify the ESXi hosts on which you want to install the plug-in. Click OK. The Monitoring and Host Configuration capability automatically installs the plug-in on the hosts that you specified.

5. Reboot the ESXi host to complete the installation.

   However, the storage system does not need to be rebooted.

6. Verify that the plug-in was successfully installed on the host by entering the following command at the VMware ESXi command line:
   ~ # esxcli software vib list | more

   The plug-in works automatically following the installation and reboot.

   The following output is displayed when you enter this command:

   Name             Version  Vendor  Acceptance Level    Install Date
   ---------------  -------- ------  ------------------  ------------
   NetAppNasPlugin  1.0-020  NetApp  VMwareAccepted      2013-06-13
   ~ # esxcli software vib get|more
   
   NetApp_bootbank_NetAppNasPlugin_1.0-020
      Name: NetAppNasPlugin
      Version: 1.0-020
      Type: bootbank
      Vendor: NetApp
      Acceptance Level: VMwareAccepted
      Summary: NAS VAAI NetApp Plugin
      Description: NetApp NAS VAAI Module for ESX Server
      ReferenceURLs:
      Creation Date: 2013-02-21
      Depends:
      Conflicts:
      Replaces:
      Provides:
      Maintenance Mode Required: False
      Hardware Platforms Required:
      Live Install Allowed: False
      Live Remove Allowed: False
      Stateless Ready: False
      Overlay: False
      Tags:
      Payloads: NetAppNasPlugin
   ~ #

7. If you are using clustered Data ONTAP, either create or modify export policy rules for ESXi servers that use VAAI.

   Skip this step if you are using Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode.

   You can use export policies to restrict access to volumes to specific clients. NFSv4 is required in the export policy for VAAI copy offloading to work, so you might need to modify the export policy rules for datastore volumes on SVMs. If you are using protocols other than NFS on a datastore, verify that setting NFS in the export rule does not remove those other protocols.

   If you use...	Then...
   Clustered Data ONTAP CLI	Enter the following command to set nfs as the access protocol for each export policy rule for ESXi servers that use VAAI: vserver export-policy rule modify -vserver vserver_name -policyname policy ‑ruleindex index -protocol nfs In the following example: vs1 is the name of the SVM. mypolicy is the name of the export policy. 1 is the index number of the rule. nfs includes the NFSv3 and NFSv4 protocols. cluster1::> vserver export-policy rule modify -vserver vs1 -policyname mypolicy -ruleindex 1 -protocol nfs
   OnCommand System Manager	From the Home tab, double-click the appropriate cluster. Expand the Storage Virtual Machines (SVMs) hierarchy in the left navigation pane. In the navigation pane, select the Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) with VAAI-enabled datastores, and then click Policies > Export Policies. In the Export Policies window, expand the export policy, and then select the rule index. The user interface does not specify that the datastore is VAAI enabled. Click Modify Rule to display the Modify Export Rule dialog box. Under Access Protocols, select NFS to enable all versions of NFS. Click OK.

   If you are starting with a new system, you need to create export policies and rules for the root volume and for each NFS datastore volume. For more information about creating export policy rules, see the Clustered Data ONTAP File Access and Protocols Management Guide and Technical Report 4068: VMware vSphere 5 on NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP 8.1.

8. If you are using Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode, use the exportfs command for exporting volume paths.

   Skip this step if you are using clustered Data ONTAP.

   For more information about the exportfs command, see the Data ONTAP File Access and Protocols Management Guide for 7-Mode or the man pages.

   Example

   When exporting the volume, you can specify a host by name or IP address, a subnet, or a netgroup. You need to specify IP address, subnet, or hosts for both the rw and root options. For example:

   sys1> exportfs -p root=192.168.42.227 /vol/VAAI

   You also can have a list separated by colons. For example:

   sys1> exportfs -p root=192.168.42.227:192.168.42.228 /vol/VAAI

   If you export the volume with the actual flag, the export path should have a single component for copy offload to work properly. For example:

   sys1> exportfs -p actual=/vol/VAAI,root=192.168.42.227 /VAAI-ALIAS

   Note: Copy offload does not work for multi-component export paths.

9. If you have not already done so, mount the NFS datastore on the ESXi host by performing the following steps:
   1. Enter the following command:
      ~ # esxcfg-nas -a mount_point_name -o 192.168.42.80 -s /volume_path

      Example

      The following example shows the command to be run on clustered Data ONTAP for mounting the datastore and the resulting output:

      ~ # esxcfg-nas -a onc_src -o 192.168.42.80 -s /onc_src
      Connecting to NAS volume: onc_src
      /onc_src created and connected.

      For 7-Mode systems, the /vol prefix precedes the NFS volume name. The following example shows the 7-Mode command for mounting the datastore and the resulting output:

      ~ # esxcfg-nas -a vms_7m -o 192.168.42.69 -s /vol/vms_7m
      Connecting to NAS volume: /vol/vms_7m
      /vol/vms_7m created and connected.

   2. Enter the following command:
      ~ # esxcfg-nas -l

      The following output is displayed:

      VMS_vol103 is /VMS_vol103 from 192.168.42.81 mounted available
      VMS_vol104 is VMS_vol104 from 192.168.42.82 mounted available
      dbench1 is /dbench1 from 192.168.42.83 mounted available
      dbench2 is /dbench2 from 192.168.42.84 mounted available
      onc_src is /onc_src from 192.168.42.80 mounted available

   Upon completion, the volume is mounted and available in the /vmfs/volumes directory.

10. Verify that the mounted datastore supports VAAI by using one of the following methods:

    If you use...	Then...
    ESXi CLI	Enter the following command: ~ # vmkfstools -Ph /vmfs/volumes/onc_src/ The following output is displayed: NFS-1.00 file system spanning 1 partitions. File system label (if any): onc_src Mode: public Capacity 760 MB, 36.0 MB available, file block size 4 KB UUID: fb9cccc8-320a99a6-0000-000000000000 Partitions spanned (on "notDCS"): nfs:onc_src NAS VAAI Supported: YES Is Native Snapshot Capable: YES ~ #
    vSphere client	Click ESXi Server > Configuration > Storage. Look in the Hardware Acceleration column for an NFS datastore with VAAI enabled.

    For more information about VMware vStorage over NFS, see the Clustered Data ONTAP File Access and Protocols Management Guide or Data ONTAP File Access and Protocols Management Guide for 7-Mode.

    For details about configuring volumes and space in the volumes, see the Clustered Data ONTAP Logical Storage Management Guide or Data ONTAP Storage Management Guide for 7-Mode.

    For information about using VSC to provision NFS datastores and create clones of virtual machines in the VMware environment, see the Virtual Storage Console for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide.

    For more information about working with NFS datastores and performing cloning operations, see the VMware vSphere Storage guide at pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-storage-guide.pdf and Technical Report 4068: VMware vSphere 5 on NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP 8.1.

11. If you are using Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode, use the sis on command to enable the datastore volume for copy offloading and deduplication.

    This step does not apply to clustered Data ONTAP. Enabling SIS allows the copy offload operation to perform a fast and space-efficient copy. When you create a volume with VSC, by default it enables SIS on datastore volumes.