Creating vVOLS with Nimble Connection Manager

[spabramenko]

Have my array setup and connected to vcenter 6.5.  Installed Nimble Connection Manager and everything appears working.  My question, how do I created vVOLS from vCenter?  Do I need to do this directly through the web interface of the Nimble, or is there an option to perform this step directly from vCenter.  I see the option to create a datastore under the Nimble Connection Manager, but nothing related to vVOLS.  Thanks.

[Seenivasan-XP]

Hi @spabramenko,

Try this,

1. Discover the PE.
   • For an iSCSI array, add the discovery IP and rescan.
   • For a Fibre Channel array, rescan.
2. Right click on vCenter Server > Related Objects > Datastores > Create a new datastore to run the Create Datastore wizard.
3. On the Type screen, choose VVol. Click Next. You see the folders created on the Nimble array.
4. Select the folder you want to map to the VVol. Click Next. You see a list of accessible hosts.
5. Select the host you want to map to the VVol. Click Finish to complete the datastore creation process.

[mamatadesaiNim]

Hello spabramenko,

Yes, there are a few setup steps and they can be done via Nimble GUI or vCenter GUI.  Pre-requisites: please make sure all ESXi and vCenter are using NTP.  Here are the steps:

• Register the VP From Nimble GUI: Go to Administration --> VMware Integration --> Add a vCenter.  Make sure to check the "Vasa Provider" checkbox.  A username with admin privileges on the vCenter may be needed.   This will register the Nimble Vasa Provider to the vCenter.  You can visit the vCenter GUI --> Hosts and clusters --> select the vCenter --> Right pane --> Settings --> "Storage Providers" - make sure you can see the Nimble Array VP in this list.
• An alternative way of doing this would be just go to vCenter GUI --> Hosts and clusters --> select the vCenter --> Right pane --> Settings --> "Storage Providers" --> Add a new storage provider.  The URL will be https://array-ip:8443/vasa/version.xml An admin user for array is recommended.
• If the access protocol is iSCSI, go to each ESX server you want to mount VVol datastores to, Storage --> Storage Adapters --> iSCSI adapter --> Dynamic discovery --> Add the array's discovery IP here.
• For each VVol "datastore" you need on vCenter, you have to create a "folder" on the Nimble GUI.  Go ahead and do that: Manage --> Data Storage --> select the pool --> on the right pane, select "Folders" --> click the + to add a folder.  Make sure to select Management type to VVols and select the appropriate vCenter server from the drop-down.  How many folders do you need?  One should be plenty to get started.  Make sure to size it correctly.  Wait for a minute before proceeding.

After this is done, you can proceed from the vCenter UI to create a VVol datastore.  Make sure to select the "folder" you just created as a "storage container" on the vCenter side.

Please let us know if this works, or if you run into any issues.  If this works for you, a kudos is certainly appreciated :)

Thanks!

Mamata