You can add hosts and install SnapCenter plug-in packages, add a verification server, remove hosts, migrate backup jobs, and update host to upgrade plug-in packages or add new plug-in packages. Depending on the plug-in you are using, you can also provision disks, manage SMB shares, manage initiator groups (igroups), manage iSCSI sessions, and migrate data.

You can perform these tasks…	For Microsoft Exchange Server	For Microsoft SQL Server	For Microsoft Windows	For Oracle Database	For SAP HANA Database	For Custom Plug-ins
Add hosts and install plug-in package	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Update ESXi information for a host	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Suspend schedules and place hosts in maintenance mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Modify hosts by adding, upgrading, or removing plug-ins	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remove hosts from SnapCenter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Start plug-in services	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Provision disks	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Manage SMB shares	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Manage iGroups	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Manage iSCSI sessions	No	No	Yes	No	No

You can perform these tasks…

For Microsoft Exchange Server

For Microsoft SQL Server

For Microsoft Windows

For Oracle Database

For SAP HANA Database

For Custom Plug-ins

Add hosts and install plug-in package

Yes

Update ESXi information for a host

Yes

Suspend schedules and place hosts in maintenance mode

Yes

Modify hosts by adding, upgrading, or removing plug-ins

Yes

Remove hosts from SnapCenter

Yes

Start plug-in services

Yes

Provision disks

Yes

Manage SMB shares

Yes

Manage iGroups

Yes

Manage iSCSI sessions

Yes

Refresh virtual machine information

You should refresh your virtual machine information when VMware vCenter credentials change or the database or file system host restarts. Refreshing your virtual machine information in SnapCenter initiates communication with the VMware vSphere vCenter and obtains vCenter credentials.

RDM-based disks are managed by the SnapCenter Plug-in for Microsoft Windows, which is installed on the database host. To manage RDMs, the SnapCenter Plug-in for Microsoft Windows communicates with the vCenter server that manages the database host.

Steps

In the SnapCenter left navigation pane, click Hosts.
In the Hosts page, click Managed Hosts.
In the Managed Hosts page, select the host you want to update.
Click Refresh VM.

Modify plug-in hosts

After installing a plug-in, you can modify the plug-in hosts details if required. You can modify credentials, installation path, plug-ins, log directory details for SnapCenter Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server, group Managed Service Account (gMSA), and the plug-in port.

Ensure that the plug-in version is the same as that of the SnapCenter Server version.

About this task

You can modify a plug-in port only after the plug-in is installed.

You cannot modify the plug-in port while upgrade operations are in progress.
While modifying a plug-in port, you should be aware of the following port rollback scenarios:
- In a standalone setup, if SnapCenter fails to change the port of one of the components, the operation fails and the old port is retained for all of the components.
  
  If the port was changed for all of the components but one of the components fails to start with the new port, then the old port is retained for all of the components. For example, if you want to change the port for two plug-ins on the stand-alone host and SnapCenter fails to apply the new port to one of the plug-ins, the operation fails (with an appropriate error message) and the old port is retained for both the plug-ins.
- In a clustered setup, if SnapCenter fails to change the port of the plug-in that is installed on one of the nodes, the operation fails and the old port is retained for all of the nodes.
  
  For example, if the plug-in is installed on four nodes in a clustered setup, and if the port is not changed for one of the nodes, the old port is retained for all of the nodes.

When plug-ins are installed with gMSA, you can modify in the More Options windows. When plug-ins are installed without gMSA, you can specify the gMSA account to use it as the plug-in service account.

Steps

In the left navigation pane, click Hosts.
Verify that Managed Hosts is selected at the top.
Select the host for which you want to modify and modify any one field.

Only one field can be modified at a time.
Click Submit.

Result

The host is validated and added to SnapCenter Server.

Start or restart plug-in services

Starting the SnapCenter plug-in services enable you to start services if they are not running or restart them if they are running. You might want to restart services after maintenance has been performed.

You should ensure that no jobs are running when restarting the services.

Steps

In the left navigation pane, click Hosts.
In the Hosts page, click Managed Hosts.
In the Managed Hosts page, select the host you want to start.
Click icon and click Start Service or Restart Service.

You can start or restart service of multiple hosts simultaneously.

Suspend schedules for host maintenance

When you want to prevent the host from running any SnapCenter scheduled jobs, you can place your host in maintenance mode. You should do this before you upgrade the plug-ins or if you are performing maintenance tasks on hosts.

You cannot suspend the schedules on a host that is down because SnapCenter cannot communicate with that host.

Steps

In the left navigation pane, click Hosts.
In the Hosts page, click Managed Hosts.
In the Managed Hosts page, select the host that you want to suspend.
Click the icon, and then click Suspend Schedule to place the host for this plug-in in maintenance mode.

You can suspend the schedule of multiple hosts simultaneously.

You do not have to stop the plug-in service first. The plug-in service can be in a running or stopped state.

Result

After you suspend the schedules on the host, the Managed Hosts page shows Suspended in the Overall status field for the host.

After you complete host maintenance, you can bring the host out of maintenance mode by clicking Activate Schedule. You can activate the schedule of multiple hosts simultaneously.