NFS Plugin 2.0 for VMware VAAI Installation Guide ( CA08871-038 )

Install NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI

Installing the NFS Plug-in involves enabling VMware vStorage for NFS on the ETERNUS AX/AC/HX series, verifying that VAAI (VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration) is enabled on the VMware host, downloading and installing the plug-in on the VMware ESXi host, and verifying that the installation is successful.

Before you begin

  • NFSv3 or NFSv4.1 must be enabled on the storage system.

  • VMware vSphere 7.0U1 must be available.

For additional information about enabling NFS and using VMware vSphere, see the manuals listed in Step 8.

About this task

  • If you are using the VMware ESXi CLI to install the plug-in, start with Step 1.

  • If you are using Virtual Storage Console for VMware vSphere (VSC) to install the plug-in, start with Step 3.

    VSC enables VMware vStorage for NFS on the storage controller and enables VAAI on the ESXi host, which are steps 1 through 2 of this procedure.

  • If you are using ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere to install the plug-in, start with Step 3.

  • IP address conventions used:

    • IP addresses of the form 192.168.42.2xx refer to ESXi server VMkernel ports.

    • IP addresses of the form 192.168.42.6x refer to systems running Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode.

    • IP addresses of the form 192.168.42.8x refer to storage virtual machines (SVMs, formerly known as Vservers) on ONTAP systems.

Steps

  1. Enable VMware vStorage for NFS:

    If you use the…​ Then…​

    ONTAP CLI

    Enable VMware vStorage for NFS on the SVM:
    vserver nfs modify –vserver vserver_name -vstorage enabled
    <vserver_name> is the name of the SVM.

  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 the…​ Then…​

    VMware ESXi CLI

    1. Verify that VAAI is enabled:

      esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove

      esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit

      If VAAI is enabled, these commands display the following output:

      ~ #  esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove
Value of HardwareAcceleratedMove is 1
~ # esxcfg-advcfg -g /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit
Value of HardwareAcceleratedInit is 1

    2. If VAAI is not enabled, enable VAAI:

      esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedInit

      esxcfg-advcfg -s 1 /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove

      These commands display 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

    1. Log in to the vCenter Server.

    2. For each ESXi server, click the server name.

    3. In the Software section of the Configuration tab, click Advanced Settings.

    4. Select DataMover, and then verify that the DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedMove and DataMover.HardwareAcceleratedInit parameters are set to 1.

  3. Download the NFS Plug-in for VMware VAAI from the DVD that came with the product.

  4. Install the plug-in on the ESXi host by running the following commands:

    /etc/init.d/vaai-nasd stop

    esxcli software component apply -d /<some_path>/<downloaded-plugin-file-version>.zip

    /etc/init.d/vaai-nasd start

    • <some_path> is the path to the location of the downloaded file

    • <downloaded-plugin-file-version>.zip is contained in the downloaded zip

  5. Verify that the plug-in was successfully installed on the host at the VMware ESXi command line:

    esxcli software component list

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

    Using these commands ensures that the component remains compatible with the new vLCM feature of vSphere, available from 7.0x and later.

  6. If you are installing the plug-in on a new host system, or the server running ONTAP has been newly configured, either create or modify export policy rules for the root volumes and for each NFS datastore volume on the ESXi servers that use VAAI at Configure export policies for ONTAP to allow VAAI over NFS.

    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…​

    ONTAP CLI

    Set nfs as the access protocol for each export policy rule for ESXi servers that use VAAI:
    vserver export-policy rule modify -vserver vs1 -policyname mypolicy -ruleindex 1 -protocol nfs -rwrule krb5|krb5i|any -rorule krb5|krb5i|any

    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.

    • The security style for RO (read-only) and RW (read-write) is either krb5, krb5i, or any.

      cluster1::> vserver export-policy rule modify -vserver vs1
-policyname mypolicy -ruleindex 1 -protocol nfs -rwrule krb5|krb5i|any -rorule krb5|krb5i|any

    ONTAP System Manager

    1. From the Home tab, double-click the appropriate cluster.

    2. Expand the storage virtual machines (SVMs) hierarchy in the left navigation pane.

      If you are using a version of System Manager prior to 3.1, the term Vservers is used instead of Storage Virtual Machines in the hierarchy.

    3. In the navigation pane, select the storage virtual machine (SVM) with VAAI-enabled datastores, and then click Policies > Export Policies.

    4. 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.

    5. Click Modify Rule to display the Modify Export Rule dialog box.

    6. Under Access Protocols, select NFS to enable all versions of NFS.

    7. Click OK.

  7. Mount the NFSv4.1 datastore on the ESXi host:

    1. To manage NAS mounts:

      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.

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

    If you use…​ Then…​

    ESXi CLI

    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

    1. Click ESXi Server > Configuration > Storage.

    2. View the Hardware Acceleration column for an NFS datastore with VAAI enabled.

    For more information about VMware vStorage over NFS, see the following:

    ONTAP 9 NFS reference overview

    For details about configuring volumes and space in the volumes, see the following:

    Logical storage management overview with the CLI

    For information about using VSC to provision NFS datastores and create clones of virtual machines in the VMware environment, see the following:

    Virtual Storage Console 6.2.1 for VMware vSphere Installation and Administration Guide

    For more information about using ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere to provision NFS datastores and create clones of virtual machines in the VMware environment, see the following:

    ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere Documentation

    For more information about working with NFS datastores and performing cloning operations, see the following:

    VMware vSphere Storage

  9. For ONTAP, view the efficiency details for a volume:

    volume efficiency show -vserver vserver_name -volume volume_name

    For ETERNUS AX series, volume efficiency is enabled by default.

    If the command output does not display any volumes with storage efficiency enabled, then enable efficiency:

    volume efficiency on -vserver vserver_name -volume volume_name

    Skip this step if you are using VSC or ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere to set up the volumes because volume efficiency is enabled on the datastores by default.

    sys1> volume efficiency show
This table is currently empty.

sys1> volume efficiency on -volume  testvol1
Efficiency for volume "testvol1" of Vserver "vs1" is enabled.

sys1> volume efficiency show
Vserver    Volume           State    Status       Progress           Policy
---------- ---------------- -------- ------------ ------------------ ----------
vs1        testvol1         Enabled  Idle         Idle for 00:00:06  -

    For details about enabling deduplication on the datastore volumes, see the following:

    Logical storage management overview with the CLI

After you finish

Use the NFS plug-in space reservation and copy offload features to make routine tasks more efficient:

  • Create virtual machines in the thick virtual machine disk (VMDK) format on our company traditional volumes or FlexVol volumes, and reserve space for the file when you create it.

  • Clone existing virtual machines within or across our company volumes:

    • Datastores that are volumes on the same SVM on the same node.

    • Datastores that are volumes on the same SVM on different nodes.

  • Perform cloning operations that finish faster than non-VAAI clone operations because they do not need to go through the ESXi host.

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