In some cases, such as certain MetroCluster deployments or clusters that require IPv6 network addressing, you might need to use the ONTAP CLI to set up a new cluster. Click here for more details about these requirements, as well as steps for cluster setup with the ONTAP CLI.

Before you begin

You should have installed, cabled and powered on your new storage system according to the installation and setup instructions for your platform model.
See the ETERNUS AX and ETERNUS HX documentation.
Cluster network interfaces should be configured on each node of the cluster for intra-cluster communication.
You should be aware of the following ONTAP System Manager support requirements:
- When you set up node management manually using the CLI, ONTAP System Manager supports only IPv4 and does not support IPv6. However, if you launch ONTAP System Manager after completing your hardware setup using DHCP with an auto assigned IP address and with Windows discovery, ONTAP System Manager can configure an IPv6 management address.
- MetroCluster setup support is for MetroCluster IP configurations with two nodes at each site.
  
  In ONTAP 9.7, ONTAP System Manager does not support new cluster setup for MetroCluster configurations.

workflow of task to configure ONTAP on a new cluster

Assign a node-management IP address

Windows System

You should connect your Windows computer to the same subnet as the controllers. This will automatically assign a node-management IP address to your system.

Step

From the Windows system, open the Network drive to discover the nodes.
Double-click the node to launch the cluster setup wizard.

Other systems

You should configure the node-management IP address for one of the nodes in your cluster. You can use this node-management IP address to launch the cluster set up wizard.

See Creating the cluster on the first node for information about assigning a node-management IP address.

Initialize the cluster

You initialize the cluster by setting an administrative password for the cluster and setting up the cluster management and node management networks. You can also configure services like a DNS server to resolve host names and an NTP server to synchronize time.

Steps

On a web browser, enter the node-management IP address that you have configured: "https://node-management-IP"

ONTAP System Manager automatically discovers the remaining nodes in the cluster.
Initialize the storage system by configuring the cluster management network and node management IP addresses for all the nodes.

Create your local tier

Create local tiers from the available disks or SSDs in your nodes. ONTAP System Manager automatically calculates the best tier configuration based on your hardware.

Steps

Click Dashboard and then click Prepare Storage.

Accept the storage recommendation for your local tier.

Configure protocols

Depending on the licenses enabled on your cluster, you can enable the desired protocols on your cluster. You then create network interfaces using which you can access the storage.

Steps

Click Dashboard and then click Configure Protocols.
- Enable iSCSI or FC for SAN access.
- Enable NFS or SMB for NAS access.
- Enable NVMe for FC-NVMe access.

Provision Storage

After configuring protocols, you can provision storage. The options you see depend on the licenses that are installed.

Steps

Click Dashboard and then click Provision Storage.
- To provision SAN access, click Add LUNs.
- To provision NAS access, click Add Volumes.
- To provision NVMe storage, click Add Namespaces.