Discover how together is better now that HPE has combined previously separate SAN Storage PowerShell toolkits into a single toolkit. Enjoy a unified experience when automating with PowerShell scripts across HPE 3PAR, HPE Nimble Storage, HPE Primera, or HPE Alletra systems. Blog details downloading, usage, and where to find demo videos.
– By Chris Lionetti, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer, HPE
The Microsoft solution team at HPE has gotten it together – with an all-new unified HPE Storage PowerShell Toolkit. PowerShell is the popular task automation and configuration program from Microsoft. It consists of a command-line shell and the associated scripting language. And it's been the go-to means for Windows and
The new toolkit pulls together previously separate SAN Storage PowerShell toolkits into a single, combined toolkit with a consistent look and feel across a range of automation scripts. The toolkit can be used with a broad range of HPE storage platforms including HPE 3PAR, HPE Nimble Storage, HPE MSA, HPE Primera, and HPE Alletra 6000 and HPE Alletra 9000 systems.
Why together is better
To enhance your ability to manage HPE SAN Storage and give a similar look-and-feel to all of the tools, we have adopted the approach to combine the many toolkits that are used to manage the various HPE SAN devices in a single download package.
The following individual toolkits have been packaged into a single downloadable kit:
- HPE Storage PowerShell Toolkit 3.2.0 which supports the HPE Alletra 9000, Primera, and 3Par Platforms
- HPE Alletra 6000 and Nimble Storage PowerShell Toolkit 3.4.1 which supports the HPE Alletra 6000 and Nimble Storage Platforms
- HPE MSA PowerShell Toolkit (Prototype) 1.0
The first step is to locate and download the Toolkit and install it in your environment.
This process can be done from the GitHub site directly or from the PowerShell Gallery once the Code has been signed and uploaded. Please watch the following video on this process.
The toolkit is intended to be loaded using the following PowerShell Command:
PS:> Import-Module .\HPEStorage.psd1
Once the basic toolkit is loaded, you will see that running the Get-Command option will show that only a very small number of commands exist. This is intended to help those confused about how to connect to the array. In previous versions of these toolkits people would spend time and effort even finding the connectivity command among the hundreds of other commands.
To connect to the array of your choice, you simply use the command as follows, and insert the array type as the option. In the example below, I use the A:
PS:> Connect-HPESAN -ArrayNameOrIPAddress 192.168.1.50 -arrayType Nimble
It will prompt you for your credentials; This entire process can be seen in the following videos:
- Connecting to an HPE Alletra 9000, Primera, and 3PAR type array
- Connecting to an HPE Alletra 6000 or Nimble Storage type array
- Connecting to an HPE MSA type array
There are situations where a connection may be denied if your array’s Certificate is not yet trusted by your host. An additional command lets your host download and trust the certificate from the array. Wath this video to learn more.
Once connected to the correct array type, the Module will load the additional commands appropriate for that device type.
- If the Array type is 3Par/Primera/Alletra9000 the command will load additional commands from the HPEAlletra9000andPrimeraand3Par_* modules.
- If the Array type is Nimble/Alletra6000 the command will load the additional commands from the HPEALLETRA6000AndNimbleStorage module.
- If the Array type is MSA the command will load the additional commands from the HPEMSA module.
Additionally, to get the command list for each array type run the following commands.
Once connected to a Alletra9000/Primera/3Par type array, run the following command:
PS:> Get-Command -Module (Get-Module HPEAlletra9000andPrimeraand3Par_*)
Once connected to a Alletra6000/Nimble type array, run the following command:
PS:> Get-Command -Module (Get-Module HPEAlletra6000andNimbleStorage)
Once connected to a Alletra6000/Nimble type array, run the following command:
PS:> Get-Command -Module (Get-Module HPEMSA)
Together we can do so much more
Each of these toolkits is being upgraded to remove duplicate or depreciated commands, fix bugs, and streamline operations. These new versions are called out below. The changes to the existing toolkits are outlined in the file called Changes with the prefix depending on the class of array.
- For the Changes to the Alletra9000/Primera/3PAR class of array is the file called 'Changes_A9.md'
- For the Changes to the Alletra6000/Nimble class of array is the file called 'Changes_A6.md'
- For the Changes to the MSA class of array is the file called 'Changes_MSA.md'
These commands were tested against PowerShell version 7.x. If you run into problems, please consider downloading PowerShell 7.x and run the commands in that version. To obtain PowerShell 7.x please use the following PowerShell Command:
PS:> iex "& { $(irm https://aka.ms/install-powershell.ps1) } -UseMSI"
All together now
PowerShell is a popular automation program for your IT environment. The team at HPE just made our HPE Storage PowerShell Toolkit a single set of scripts that will ease your ability to manage most of your HPE Storage infrastructure regardless of the platform brand. Download the new combined toolkit today to start benefitting from the upgraded and streamlined code. And check out the series of demo videos to learn how to download, connect and use the new toolkit.
Download the HPE Storage PowerShell Toolkit
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