OnCommand Automation - netapp.com · As discussed earlier, WFA workflows are available within WFA...

NetApp® OnCommand® Workflow Automation – Useful Workflows Cookbook SilvertonConsulting,Inc.StorInt™Briefing

Revision2.0–April2016

NETAPPONCOMMANDWFA–USEFULWORKFLOWSCOOKBOOK PAGE2OF13 REVISION2.0–April2016

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Introduction Storageadministrationhaschangedsignificantlyovertheyears.Firsttherewerestoragesystemop-panelswhereadministratorshadtositorstandatamachinetypingcommandsandpushingbuttonsonthestoragearray.Thencommandlineinterfaces(CLIs)camealongwherestorageadministratorscouldstayattheirdesksanddefineaggregates,volumesandfilesystems/logicalunitnumbers(LUNs)bytypingrequestsatcommandprompts.Next,web-basedGUIsallowedadministratorstodefineandupdatestorageobjectsbyselectingfrommultiplescreenordropdownmenuoptions.Inrecentyears,RepresentationalStateTransfer(REST)interfacesandAPIshaveemergedthatcanbeusedtoperformallofthesetasksinanautomatedfashion.Thenalittlewhileback,NetApp’sOnCommandsoftwaresuiteofferedanentirelynewcapabilitycalledWorkflowAutomation(WFA),whichprovidesanalmostvisual,moreintuitive,web-basedapproachtoautomatingstorageadministrationtasksalsosupportingRESTfulAPIs.NetApp® OnCommand Workflow Automation® overview WorkflowAutomation(WFA)isanOnCommandproductforcreatingconsistent,reliablestorageservices.WorkflowAutomationsuppliesNetAppstorageadministrativeandoperationalcommandstogetherwithadevelopmentenvironmentthatcanbeusedtodefinenewcombinationsofstoragecommandsandotherfunctionality.ItalsoprovidesanenvironmentforexecutingasequenceofthesestorageactivitieswhilepromptingWFAuserstosupplymandatoryoroptionalparametersfortheseservices.Essentially,OnCommandWorkflowAutomationconsistsofthreeseparateenvironments:theWFADesignerPortalusedbyadministratorstodesign,developanddebugnewworkflows;theWFAExecutionPortalusedbyauthorizeduserstoexecuteworkflowsandinteractwithworkflowstosupplymandatoryandoptionalparameters;andtheWFAAdministrationPortalusedtomonitorworkflowexecutionandestablishconnectionsbetweenWFAworkflowsandexternaldatabases,automationframeworksandotherdatasources,aswellastoestablishuserauthorizationtoaccessanduseWFAworkflows.Inaddition,awebservicesinterfacecanbeusedtoinvokeworkflowsfromexternalportalsandotherdatacenterorchestrationsolutions.

Figure1AsampleWFAExecutionPortal




Inessence,usersandotheradministratorscanbegivenaccesstoworkflowstopotentiallydefinetheirownfilesystems/LUNs,volumesandaggregates.Theoptionsusedforthesestorageentitiesarespecifiedbytheworkflowincombinationwithselecteduserinput.TheWFAworkflowdoesallthehardworktodefinethestorageandlinkitupwiththeuser’sapplicationenvironment.Toexecuteastorageservicerequest,usersonlyneedtoclickonaworkflowandprovideafewparameters

Workflowsthathavebeenpreviouslydevelopedaregenerallysuppliedaspackagesorpacks,whichcancontaindocumentation,datasources,schemes,templatesandoneormoreworkflowsorexternalscripts.OnCommandWorkflowAutomationmakestheseencapsulatedservicesorscriptsavailabletoanyauthorizeduseronNetApp’sAutomationstore1.WhenanauthorizeduserlogsintoNetApp’sStorageAutomationstore,thatuserispresentedwithalistofNetAppSupportedorCommunitySupportedworkflowsthatcanbedownloaded.AnyoftheseworkflowscanbeinstalledintoyourWFADesignerportaltobemodifiedandusedatwill.

OnCommandWorkflowAutomationisapowerfultoolthatenablesuserstodefine,alterandmanageNetAppstoragewithouteverhavingtointeractwithstorageorserveradministrators.ManystoragevendorsarehopingtomakethislevelofautomationdirectlyavailabletoauthorizedusersbyprovidingRESTfulinterfaces.However,notalldatacentershavetheneededexpertisetocodetostoragesystemRESTAPIs.Incontrast,NetAppOnCommandWorkflowAutomationaddressesthischallengebyhidingmuchofthecomplexityofstorageadministration.Allusersoradministratorsneedtodoistofillinthestoragenames,networkingaddresses,mandatorystorageattributes,etc.,thatapplytotheirdatacenterenvironmentinordertoexecuteautomateddeliveryofstorageservices.WorkflowAutomationadministratorsspecifyinformationabouttheNetAppstorageconfiguration,thevirtualizationenvironmentandlinkagestoapplicationsandorchestrationexternalfunctionality.TherearetwousefulproductssuppliedbyNetApptoprovideinformationthatWorkflowAutomationcanuse:1Athttp://automationstore.netapp.com/pack-list.shtmlasof07Mar2016

Figure2NetAppAutomationStoreforWFAworkflows




1. OnCommandUnifiedManager(OCUM)canbeusedasadatasourceforsinglesitestoautomaticallysupplyinformationonNetAppstorageconfigurations.

2. OnCommandInsight(OCI)canbeusedasadatasourceformultiplesitestoautomaticallysupplyinformationonNetAppstorage,non-NetAppstorage,andVMwareconfigurations.

Wewilldiscussdatasourcesmorefullybelow,butforthemomentconsiderthemawaytoprovideobjectinformation,suchasstoragevolumenames,storageattributes,serverinformation,etc.thatwillbeusedbyWorkflowAutomationinitsscriptsduringworkflowexecutiontoautomatetheenvironment.BothOCIandOCUMsupplysimilarinformationaboutthedatacenter’sNetAppstorageenvironmentbutOCIalsosuppliesinformationaboutmultiplesites,non-NetAppstorageconfigurations,andVMwareVMs,ESXhosts,vCenterconfigurations,etc.,neededtoautomateVMwaredatacenterstorageadministration.EvenwithOCIorOCUMdatasources,otherinformationsuchasstorage,serversandapplicationconfigurationinformationnotavailablefromOCIorOCUMcanbeimportedintoOnCommandWorkflowAutomationusingstandardizedWFAfacilities,andlinkagestoexternalsoftwarefunctionalitycanalsobeestablished.WFAworkflowscanthentakeadvantageofalloftheseobjects,entitiesandexternalcapabilitiestoencapsulatestorageadministrativeactivitiesintoastandardsetofscriptedactionsthatalmostanyonecanuse.

Automation of storage service delivery Thesedays’organizationsaremovingapplicationsandotherfunctionalitytothecloudatarapidlyincreasingpace.SoftwareasaService(SaaS),StorageasaService(STaaS),InfrastructureasaService(IaaS),etc.,arebecomingevereasierandcheapertouse.ButtherearesomeimportantconsiderationstomovingITservicestothecloud,especiallyforlargerenterprises,whichcanincludediminisheddatagovernance,increasedsecurityexposureandpotentialincreasesinITexpenses.Some,butnotalloftheseconcernscanbemitigatedwithappropriateduediligenceandadditionalcontractualconstraints.Incontrast,NetAppOnCommandWorkflowAutomationprovidesmanyofthebenefitsofcloudautomationwithoutthechallengesassociatedwithusingAnything-as-a-Service(XaaS)solutions.WFAcansupplycloud-likeeaseofuseinsidethedatacenter.WithWFA,userscandefinetheirownstoragebysimplyclickingonaworkflow,andtheresttakesplacebehindthescenes,aswithcloudservices.Thus,WFAcansupplytheeaseofuseofcloudserviceswhiletakingadvantageoftheexistinginvestmentsindatagovernance,securitycontrols,andexpensemanagementalreadypresentinyourcurrentdatacenter.WFAcanevenbeusedtodeployandautomatetheuseofNetAppcloudstorageserviceswithinapubliccloudenvironment.Furthermore,WFAcanturnstorageintoaprogrammable,self-serviceenvironmentbymakingstorageservicesdirectlyavailabletoauthorizedusersandnothavingtorelyonstorage




administrators.Self-servicecustomerscanimmediatelyuseworkflowstodefinenewstorage,retireoldstorageorevenmigratestoragefromonestoragesystemtoanother.WFAalsomakesitmucheasiertostandardizestorageprocesses.Namingconventionsandotherstoragestandardscanbebuiltintoworkflows,makingthemmoreeasilyenforcedorchangedasneeded.Forexample,ifyouusenon-deduplicatedstorageandlaterdecidethatdeduplicationisneeded,thenasimplechangetoaworkflowtemplateortwocanmakeallnewstorageprovisioningusededuplication.Finally,encapsulationofstoragedefinition,retirement,migration,etc.,intoworkflowsenablestheseactivitiestoautomaticallyinterfacewithconfigurationmanagementdatabase(CMDB)functionalityandautomationframeworksfromMicrosoft,VMwareandothers.WFAprovidessomepackageswithabuilt-incapabilitytointegrateworkflowswiththeseexternalservices.Inthepast,administratorshadtologintootherCMDBservicesorautomationframeworksormanuallymodifyExcelspreadsheets,whichmeantthepotentialforerrorwassignificant.ButwithWFA,changestoNetAppstoragecanautomaticallyupdateexternalservicesaswell,keepingfunctionalityandframeworkscurrentandconnected.

OnCommand Workflow Automation workflows Afterdescribingsomeofwhatcanbeaccomplishedwithworkflowsabove,wewillnextdiscusswhataworkflowconsistsof,whereworkflowinformationcanbefound,whatworkflowvariablescanbeusedandsomeoftheotherentitieswhichcanbemanipulatedbyworkflows.Workflowsareascriptedseriesofexecutionstepsthatperformvariousstorageconfiguration,CMDBorexternalfunctionalityusingcommandsorprimitivessuppliedwithinWFA,suppliedbyNetAppWFAEngineeringortheWFAwebcommunityviatheAutomationStore,ordevelopedbyastorageadminorarchitectwithinthedatacenter.Thesescriptscancombinemultipleworkflowprimitiveswithvariouscontroloptions.Forexample,thiscapabilitycanbeusedtoselectwhichprimitiveexecutesnextandindicatehowmanytimeseachprimitiveshouldbeexecuted.Workflowprimitivescansupplydefaultoptionsforstorageconfigurationactivitiesoraskuserstospecifyoptionsbeforetheycanproceed.Oncedefined,workflowsareprovidedtodifferentusersoradministratorsinthedatacenterthroughtheWFAExecutionportal.Forexample,applicationownerscouldbeauthorizedtouseworkflowsthatdefinefilesystems,LUNsorotherstorageentities.Applicationorserveradministratorscouldbegivenaccesstotheseandotherworkflowsthatallowthemtolinkapplicationstostorage,createaggregatesordecommissionstorage.Storageadministratorscouldbegivenaccesstoalloftheseworkflowsandothersthatallowthemtodefinenewstorageclusters.Workflowadministrators,inturn,cancreatenewworkflows,linkworkflowstoorchestrationpackagesorauthorizecustomersandadministratorstouseworkflows.




Asdiscussedearlier,WFAworkflowsareavailablewithinWFAandfromNetApp’sStorageAutomationStorewheretheycanbedownloadedandinstalledintothedatacenter’sWFADesignerportal.WithintheWFADesignerportal,administratorscanmodifyworkflowsorcreatetheirownworkflows.WFAworkflowsusecommandsorexecutionprimitivestoperformwork.Executionprimitivesareusedtoretrievedatafromexternalinformationresources,externallyvalidateinformation,executeexternalscripts/procedures,executeadministrativeactionsorcanbecombinedwithotherprimitivesintoaworkflow.Workflowsmostlydependonprimitivesorcommandsthatexecutestoragecommands.ThesecanincludeNetAppCLIcommandssuchascreatingNetworkFileSystem(NFS)exports,addingqualityofservice(QoS)servicestovolumesandunprovisioningaggregatestofreestorage.OnCommandWFAusesMicrosoftWindows®PowerShellorPerl®ProgrammingLanguageforworkflowexecution.Workflowcommandsoperateonobjects.Commandscanbeusedtocreate,update,andremoveobjectsaswellasupdatetheassociationbetweenobjectsanddealwithoptionalparentandchildobjectrelationships.ObjectsgenerallyrefertoNetAppstorageentitiesbutcanincludeentitiesoutsidethestoragesystemtoincludehostobjects.Workflowcommandscanberepeatedwherenecessaryafixednumberoftimesoravariablenumberoftimesbasedonsearchresults.Moreover,workflowscommandscanbeconditionallyexecutedbasedonaruntimesetofsearchresults,i.e.,commandscanexecuteornotbasedontheresultsofasearchorotherconditionscheckedwhenthecommandisactuallyexecuted.Workflowscanuseapprovalpointstopauseexecutionandwaitforusergo-ahead.MandatoryandoptionaluserinputparametersforworkflowcommandscanbereadilydefinedandidentifiedundertheUserInputstabfortheworkflow.Workflowinputparameterattributescanalsobespecifiedsuchastype,defaultsandvalidationparameters.WorkflowconstantscanbedefinedthatareavailablethroughoutworkflowcommandexecutionandaredisplayedintheConstantsTab.Workflowreturnparameterscanalsobespecifiedthatmaybeusefulfordebuggingworkflows,whicharedisplayedintheReturnParameterstab.Inaddition,workflowscanretrieveoroutputinformationtodatasourcesordatabases.Asdiscussedpreviously,OCUMandOCIcanprovideimportantdatasourcesformostworkflows.OCUMandOCIauto-discoversNetAppstorageandforOCI,non-NetAppstorage,switchandVMwareobjects,allofwhichcanbeimporteddirectlyintoaWFAdatasources.Onceavailableinadatasource,workflowscanreadilyreferenceoraccessthisinformation.Moreover,entitiesorotherobjectsmanipulatedbyorusedinworkflowcommandscanbescriptvariablescreatedbythescriptitselforsearchobjectswhereWFAsearchesforinformationinitsdatasources.Theseobjectsorentitiescanbepassedfromonecommandtoanotherandconsequentlyreferencedthroughouttheexecutionofaworkflow.




Incontrasttodatasourcesthatsupplyinternalinformation,WFAschemesareusedtodefineexternalenvironmentattributesandcanuseSQLqueriesorscriptstoacquiredata.Forinstance,a“vc”schemewouldbeusedtodescribeavirtualmachineenvironment,suchasvirtualmachines,hostsanddatastores.WFAcomeswithstorage(“storage”&“cm_storage”)andperformance(“performance”&“cm_performance”)schemesforboth7-modeandclustered-modeDataONTAPstorage.OCIcanbeuseddirectlytopopulatethevcscheme,butwithoutOCI,vCenterpluginscanbeusedtogatherthisinformation.WFAtemplatesareusedasablueprintforobjectdefinition.Forinstance,onecanuseatemplatetospecifythetypesofstorageefficiencycharacteristicsusedforaggregatecreationintheirshop.Inaddition,WFAcategoriesareusedtoassignusergroupstoauthorizedworkflowsontheWFAExecutionportal.Thus,ontheWFAExecutionportal,userswillonlybeabletoaccessandusetheworkflowstheyareauthorizedforbasedonthecategoryoftheworkflowandtheuser’sauthorization.EachWFAentity,suchascommandsandworkflowsareversionedusingamajor.minor.revisionformatandWFAentitiescanhaveparent-childrelationshipswithotherWFAentities.WFAversionnumbersareusedtokeeptrackofchangestoWFAentitiesandassuch,versionnumbersareautomaticallyincrementedwhenanupdateoccurstoachildentityinacascadingfashion.Thatis,whenupdatingthemajorversionofachildentity,theminorportionofitsparententityisalsoupdated.Furthermore,WFAcommandscanalsotakeadvantageofpowerfultoolssuchasregularexpressions,filtersandfinderstoextractormanipulateinformationfromdatasources,schemes,ortemplates.Regularexpressionscanbeusedtohelpdefineandvalidatenamingconventionsoranyotherworkflowtextfields.FiltersareSQL-basedqueriestoWFAdatabasesordatasourcesthatcanreturnlistsofobjectsorentitiesthatsatisfysomeparticularselectioncriteriaforfurtherworkflowcommandprocessing.Findersarecombinationsofoneormorefiltersthatcanbeusedtoselecttheoneentityorobjectthatwillbeusedforfollow-onworkflowexecution.WFAcantakeadvantageofspecializedfunctionswritteninMVFLEXExpressionLanguage(MVEL)inordertoreuselogicandfunctionalitythathasalreadybeendeveloped.WorkflowscanalsopausewhileexecutingexternalPowershellorPerlscripts,whichcanbeespeciallyusefulwhenperformingfunctionsneededtoconnectstoragetootherapplications.Atthestartofaworkflowprocess,WFAplanstheexecutionandvalidatesthattheworkflowcanbeexecutedwiththeinputprovidedandthecommandsusedintheworkflow.Thisexecutionplanisusedasaguideforworkflowexecutionwhichthenreservesallrequiredresourcesandstartsexecutingeachstepoftheworkflowinsequence.




Asingleworkfloworsetofworkflowscanbescheduled.Workflowschedulescanbeaone-timeeventinthefutureorbearecurringevent.Recurringworkflowschedulescanbeusedtoexecuteworkflowsonaperiodicorrepeatingbasis.Tomodifyexistingworkflowsorcreatenewones,ithelpstohaveageneralfamiliaritywithNetAppstorageCLIandwithWFAschemes,OCIorOCUMdatasourcesandexecutioncontrolcapabilities.TheOnCommandWorkflowAutomation3.1RC1WorkflowDevelopersGuide2providesmoreinformationabouthowtodevelopworkflows.

OnCommand Workflow Automation use cases TogivetheusermoreofanunderstandingforwhatcanbeaccomplishedwithWorkflowAutomationwewilldiscusssometypicalusecasesofOnCommandWFA.Therearemorethan50out-of-the-boxWFAworkflowsavailablefromNetApp,includingthefollowing:

• CreateclusteredDataONTAP®(cDOT)SnapMirror™relationships,NFSvolume(s),QtreeCommonInternetFileSystem(CIFS)share(s),volumewithQoSpolicygroups,VMwaredatastores,andabasicvolume;

• MoveorremoveacDOTvolume;and• CreateandconfigureaNASStorageVirtualMachine,astorageareanetwork(SAN)Storage

VirtualMachineoraCloudONTAPinstance.Similarsetsofworkflowsexistfor7-modestorage,alongwithspecificworkflowsforSnapVault®,SnapMirrorandInfiniteVolumesupport.AlloftheseworkflowscomestandardwithOnCommandWFAoraredownloadablefromtheaforementionedAutomationStore.WehaveselectedthreespecificWFAworkflowpackagesthathavebeendevelopedbysubjectmatterexpertsorNetApppersonneltobedescribedindetailbecauseoftheirbroadapplicabilityandasgoodexamplesofwhatcanbedonewithworkflows.Thethreeworkflowsinclude:

• WorkflowsforStorageServicesCatalogwithServiceLevelObjectivesandAdaptiveQualityofService(QoS)

• WorkflowsforCloudManager• WorkflowsforNetAppSoftware-DefinedStorageintheVMwareSoftwareDefinedData

Center

2DocumentationavailableatSupport.NetApp.com




Workflows for Storage Services Catalog with Service Level Objectives and Adaptive QoS ThispackageofworkflowsusesNetApp’sadaptivequalityofservice(QoS)capabilitiestolimitorratherconstraintheperformanceofanapplicationsIOactivitywithindefinedservicelevelobjectives(SLO).NetAppQoScanbedefinedasMBspersecond(MB/sec)orIOoperationspersecond(IO/sec)limitandbeappliedtostorageaggregateentities.NetAppQoSlimitscanbefixedoradaptive.

• FixedQoSreferstoNetApp’sabilitytosupplyafixedamountofIOperformance(IO/secorMB/sec)toavolumeofstorageregardlessofitssize.

• AdaptiveQoSreferstoNetApp’sabilitytosupplystorageperformancelevelsbasedonIOoperationspersecondperTB(IOPS/TB).

However,thelogicalvs.physicalTBsizeofavolumecanvarydependingonitsNetAppspaceefficiencycharacteristics.Forexample,a“thick”volumeisassignedallofitscapacityatdefinitiontime,a“thin”volumeisassignedcapacityasdataiswrittentoit,anda“deduplicated”volumecanhaveitscapacitysharedwithothervolumesthathavethesamedata.SoAdaptiveQoScanbeconfiguredasthick,thinoreffective(dedupesupport).TousetheStorageServicesCatalogwithAdaptiveQoSworkflowsonemustuseaServiceLevelClass(SLC)thatismadeupoftwocomponentsaStorageServiceLevelandaProtectionServiceLevel.

• StorageServiceLevel(SSL)–describesaperformancelevel,spaceefficiencylevel,andavailabilitylevelforstorage.Forexample,anEXTREME-PERFORMANCEStorageServiceLevelcouldbedefinedasaminimumof600IOPS/TBtoamaximumof3072IOPS/TBinIOperformance,nospaceefficiency,andhighlyavailablestorage.

• ProtectionServiceLevel(PSL)–describesthesecondaryandtertiarydataprotectionlevels,RPO(recoverypointobjective)andprotectiontechnologyattributesforstorage.Forexample,aHIGHLY-PROTECTEDProtectionServiceLevelcouldbedefinedasusingsecondarydestinationstorage,withnotertiarystoragewitha15minuteRPOandincludesMetroClusterforClustereddata.

TheSLOworkflowpackagewithitsKitchenPolice(adaptive)QoSservicescomeswithtemplatesfor7differentSSLperformanceclassesrangingfrom6144IOPS/TBdownto128IOPS/TB.Theseshouldbechangedbythecustomertoreflectperformanceavailabilityandrequirementswithintheirdatacenterenvironment.NetApphasaServiceDesignWorkshopthatcustomerscanattendtohelpchooseappropriateSSLsandPSLsfortheirapplicationandstorageenvironment.TheSLOworkflowpackageconsistsof9workflows:




1. Servicecataloginitialization–thisworkflowinitializesthedatacenterservicecatalogandpreparestheenvironmentforcreatingSLOandbuildsthedatamodeltosaveSLOdetails

2. ManageSSLclass–thisworkflowcreates,modifies,ordeletesaStorageServiceLevelandmapsorunmapsaggregatestoaservicelevel.

3. ManagePSLclass–thisworkflowcreates,modifiesorremovesaprotectiontopologyusedinProtectionServiceLevelsandcanbeusedtocreate,modifyorremoveaprotectiontopology’sassociatededge(protection)storage.

4. ManageSLC–thisworkflowadds,modifies,orremovesaservicelevelclass.5. ManageadaptiveQOSpolicyconfiguration–thisworkflowaddsordeletesclustersto

adaptiveQoSservicesandcanbeusedtofine-tuneadaptiveQoSpolicyconfigurations.6. AdaptiveQoSmanager–thisworkflowcanbeusedtostartorstopadaptiveQoSpolicy

activity.7. Servicebasedvolumeprovisioning–thisworkflowcanbeusedtoprovisionvolumes

basedonservicelevelrequirements.8. ServicebasedLUNprovisioning–thisworkflowcanbeusedtoprovisionLUNsbasedon

servicelevelrequirementsincurrentvolumesorcanbeusedtocreateanewvolumefortheLUN.

9. Movevolumestonewstorageservicelevel–thisworkflowcanbeusedtomoveexistingvolumesfromoneserviceclasstoanewserviceclass.

TheaboveworkflowscanbeusedtodefineSSLsandPSLswhichcanthenbeusedtocreateSLCs.Oncethisisdone,otherworkflowscanbeinvokedbyauthorizeduserstoprovisionvolumesorLUNsinaspecifiedSLCautomaticallyjustbyselectingtheclassofservice.Forinstance,onecouldcreateGOLD,SILVERandBRONZESLCsthathavedifferingperformanceandprotectioncharacteristicsandoncedefined,userscanemploysomeoftheseworkflowstoprovisionstoragevolumesjustbyspecifyingSLClevels.AdministratorscanusetheaboveworkflowstofinetuneIOperformanceandprotectioncharacteristicsoftheirstorageclustersbymodifyingSSLandPSLclassdefinitionsasneeded.Also,AdaptiveQoScanbedefined,activatedorterminatedonaclusterbasiswiththeaboveworkflows.WorkflowsforCloudManagerThispackageisforthosecustomersusingCloudONTAPstorageservicesforAmazonWebServices(AWS).Withtheseworkflowsauthorizedusersoradministratorscancreate,start,stopanddeleteaswellaspopulatedataschemasforCloudONTAPinstances,inaprogrammablefashion,usingNetApp’sOnCommandCloudManager(OCCM)andOCUMWFA.TheseCloudManagerworkflowsarecommunitysupportedandonlytouchonsomeofthemanyCloudManagerservicesthatcanbeautomatedthroughWFA.Tousetheseworkflows,OCCMmustbeinstalledandCloudManagerAdmin,TennantAdminorWorkingEnvironmentcredentials,andOCCMservercredentialsmustbeprovided.AllCloudManagerworkflowsusethe“CloudManager”dataschema,populatedduringtheexecutionoftheworkflows.




TheCloudManagerWFApackageconsistsoffiveworkflows:

1. CreateCloudONTAPinstance–thisworkflowwillcreateaCloudONTAPSVMinyourAWSenvironmentandwaitfortheinstantiationtocomplete.OncecompletedtheCloudONTAPSVMcanthenbestartedandusedby/connectedtoanycomputeinstancesinthesameAWSregiontoprovidestorageservices.ThisworkflowwillautomaticallyacquireAWSpremiumstorageservicesasneededtosupplybackingstoragefortheCloudONTAPSVM.

2. StartCloudONTAPinstance–thisworkflowcanbeusedtostartalreadyexistingCloudONTAPinstancesinyourAWSenvironments.Note,CloudONTAPstorageinstancesmustbestartedtobeconnectedtoandusedbyAWScomputeinstances

3. StopCloudONTAPinstance–thisworkflowcanbeusedtostopanalreadyoperatingCloudONTAPinstancewhenitisnolongerneededbyyourAWSapplications.StoppingCloudONTAPservicewillnotfreeupAWSpremiumstorageassociatedwiththeinstancebutwillhaltanysubsequentIOactivitytothestorage.

4. DeleteCloudONTAPinstance–thisworkflowcanbeusedtostoparunningCloudONTAPinstanceanddeleteittofreeupAWSresourcesusedbytheCloudONTAPinstance.Oncecompleted,thedeletedCloudONTAPstoragewillnolongerbeavailabletoyourAWSenvironment.

5. AcquireandwaitforCloudONTAPinstance–thisworkflowisachildworkflow,usedinalltheaboveworkflowsandpopulatestheCloudManagerdataschemawithinformationaboutrunningCloudONTAPinstancesinyourAWSenvironment.

CloudONTAPrunsasanAWScomputeinstanceandwhenstartingandstoppingCloudONTAPinstances,oneisstartingandstoppingtheAWScomputeinstancewheretheCloudONTAPcodeisexecuting.Moreover,theAWSpremiumstorageusedtobacktheCloudONTAPstorageisconnectedtotheCloudONTAPcomputeinstance.JustCREATINGorSTARTINGaCloudONTAPinstancedoesn’tprovisionCloudONTAPvolumes/LUNsorconnectCloudONTAPstoragetoAWScomputeinstances.ToprovisionCloudONTAPstorageuseOCCMconsoleandtoconnectCloudONTAPstoragetoEC2applicationsuseAWSEC2instanceservicesortheAWSEC2managementconsole.Note,beforeyouSTOPaCloudONTAPinstance,allAWScomputeinstancesusingthatstoragewillneedtobe“disconnected”fromtheCloudONTAPstorageorAWScomputeinstancesusingthatstorageshouldbeina“stopped”state.Also,whentheDELETEworkflowisissued,allEC2instanceswillbe“forcedisconnected”fromtheCloudONTAPstorage,regardlessofwhetherarestoppedorrunning.




WorkflowsforNetAppSoftware-DefinedStorageintheVMwareSoftwareDefinedDataCenter(SDDC)TheOnCommandWFApackageforVMwarevRealizeOrchestratorcanbeusedtohelpoperatetheNetAppsoftware-definedstorageinVMware’sSDDC.ThispackagewilltakeadvantageofVMwarevCloudorvRealizeSuitecomponentssuchasvRealizeAutomation,vRealizeOperationsManagementandvRealizeOrchestrator(vRO)tomakeuseofNetAppWFAandNetAppOnCommandUnifiedManagerorOnCommandInsight.ThispackageintegratesvRealizeserviceswithNetAppWFAsothatvCloudadministratorscanuseNetAppworkflowsdirectlytoprovision,migrateanddecommissionstorage;setupnewvirtualizationenvironments;andsetupstoragefornewapplications.ForOCUM,theworkflowsdependonthreedatasources:avROdatasource,avClouddatasourceandanOnCommandUnifiedManagerdatasource.ForOCI,oneonlyneedstheOCIdatasource.Alldatasource(s)willperiodicallyquerytheirservicesforinformationand,assuch,requirelogincredentials,hostIPaddressesandinformationregardinghowoftentheyshouldbeupdated.Thedatasource(s)willbeusedtopopulateschemesforvc,vCloud,cm_storageandcm_performance.Theseschemeswillbefilteredtosupplyobjectsandotherentitiesforthepackage’sworkflows.Afterestablishingtheabovedatasource(s),usersmustprovidecredentialstogainWFAaccesstovRealizeservicesandthenconfigurevRO.vROwillbetheplacewherevSphereinfrastructureand

otherVMwareautomationprocessesexecuteandintegratedirectlywithNetAppOnCommandWFA.vROhasitsownworkflowsandwillcallOnCommandWFAtoautomateNetAppstorageactivities.vROmustsupportthevRONetAppIntegrationPackageforOnCommandWFAthattalksdirectlywithWFA.vRealizeAutomationisacentralizedoperationalportalthatenablesusersandadministratorstorequestservicesinvCloud.vRealizeAutomationwillcallvROandusevROworkflowstoperformorchestrationtasksinsidethevCloud

environment.Similarly,vRealizeAutomationallowscloudadministratorstoinvokevROservices.TheWFAworkflowsdescribedbelowassumevRealizeAutomationandvRealizeOperationsManagementareproperlyconnectedtovRO,vRealizeserver,andNetAppWFA.




TheNetAppWFAvRealizeOrchestratorpackageconsistsof16vROworkflows,14vROactionsand2configurationworkflows.Essentially,theseworkflowslinkvROtoNetAppWFAsothatWFAworkflowscanbeexecutedandmonitoredtocompletion.Thispackageincludesthefollowing:

• ConnectandDisconnectNetAppWFAandNetAppStorageServiceCatalogtovRealizeAutomation,vRealizeOperationsManagemnt,vROandvCenter;

• VerifyWFAworkflowinputs,RunWFAworkflow,GetWFAjobexecutiondetails,WaitforWFAjobtocompleteandReturnWFAworkflowoutputs;and

• GenerateWFAe-mailmessageandFindWFAworkflowID.Thepackagesuppliesthedatasource(s)withlinkageinformation;populatestheWFAdataschemes;suppliesinformationtosetupandconnectvRealizeAutomation,vRealizeOperationsManagement,andvRO;andestablishesthevRORESTconnectiontoOnCommandWFA.Mostworkflowinputparameterscomefromthedatasourcesanddataschemes.ThesevROinstallation,deploymentandworkflowsaredescribedinmoredetailinaNetApptechnicalreportonSoftware-DefinedStoragewithNetAppandVMware3,WFAvideos4andtheVMwarevRealizeOrchestratorPackageforOnCommandWorkflowAutomationthatincludestheactualvROworkflows,vRealizeconnectors,datasourcesandotherinformation,whichcanbedownloadedfromtheNetAppCommunitySupportpages5.Summary OnCommandWFAenablesstoragearchitects,administratorsandsolutiondesignerstoencapsulateandscriptstandard,everydayNetAppstorageactivitiesinawaythatnon-storageadministratorscanperformwiththeclickofabutton.Notalldatacentersmaywishtodesign,developanddebugtheirownWFAworkflows,butjustaboutanyonecandownloadthepackagesidentifiedherefromtheNetAppAutomationstoreandusethemtosupportNetAppstorageactivities.WithWFA,NetApphastakenthenextstepinstorageserviceautomationbyprovidinganalmostvisualscriptingsolutiontoautomatethesestorageactivities.UsingWFAworkflows,NetAppstorageadministrationcanbeaccomplishedwithminimaleffortandstorageexpertise.WFAmakesusingNetAppstorageassimpleaspossibleforapplication,serverandstorageadministrators.

Silverton Consulting, Inc., is a U.S.-based Storage, Strategy & Systems consulting firm offering products and services to the data storage community.

3Availableathttp://www.netapp.com/us/media/tr-4308.pdf4Availableathttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz8oZ16K48c.5Availableathttp://mysupport.netapp.com/tools/download/ECMLP2412683DT.html?productID=62116

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