Chapter 1. Overview

Integration between Cisco UCS Director and Cisco HyperFlex System

Cisco UCS Director

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Systems

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System Documentation

Chapter 2. Setting Up a HyperFlex Pod

Prerequisites

Cisco HyperFlex System Prerequisites

Cisco UCS Director Prerequisites

HyerFlex Pod Configuration Wizard

Creating a HyperFlex Pod in Cisco UCS Director

Chapter 3. Provisioning VMs

VM Provisioning on HyperFlex Pods

Virtual Data Centers on HyperFlex Pods

ReadyClone VMs on HyperFlex Pods

Guidelines for VM Provisioning with ReadyClone VMs

Provisioning VMs with ReadyClone VMs

Chapter 4. Managing HyperFlex Pods

Reports for HyperFlex Pods

Summary Reports

Tabular Reports

Stack Views for VMs

Inventory Collection

HyperFlex Clusters

ESXi Hosts

Managing ESXi Hosts on a HyperFlex Pod

Moving ESXi Hosts into and out of ESXi Maintenance Mode

Managing HX Servers

Managing Datastores

Managing VMs

Chapter 5. Automating HyperFlex Provisioning and Management

Automation with Orchestration Workflows

Predefined Workflows for HyperFlex

Viewing Predefined Workflows in the Workflow Designer

Predefined Workflow Tasks for HyperFlex

Opening the Task Library

Preface

Audience

Conventions

Related Documentation

Documentation Feedback

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Copyright Page

Chapter 1. Overview

- Integration between Cisco UCS Director and Cisco HyperFlex System

- Cisco UCS Director

- Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Systems

Integration between Cisco UCS Director and Cisco HyperFlex System

The integration between Cisco UCS Director and Cisco HyperFlex System begins after you create the Cisco HX Data Platform clusters. After you have configured the integration, Cisco UCS Director can communicate with the components of a supported Cisco HyperFlex System, including the following:

- VMware vCenter

- Supported Cisco UCS servers that are managed by Cisco UCS Manager

- Cisco HX Data Platform

You can use Cisco UCS Director to manage the following for a supported and integrated Cisco HyperFlex System:

- Inventory collection

- Discovery of clusters, disks, datastores, and controller VMs

- Datastore provisioning and management

- Automation and orchestration of VM and application container provisioning

- Status reporting

Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director is a complete, highly secure, end-to-end management, orchestration, and automation solution for a wide array of Cisco and non-Cisco data infrastructure components, and for the industry's leading converged infrastructure solutions based on the Cisco UCS and Cisco Nexus platforms. For a complete list of supported infrastructure components and solutions, see the Cisco UCS Director Compatibility Matrix.

Cisco UCS Director is a 64-bit appliance that uses the following standard templates:

- Open Virtualization Format (OVF) for VMware vSphere

- Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) for Microsoft Hyper-V

Management through Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director extends the unification of computing and network layers through Cisco UCS to provide you with comprehensive visibility and management of your data center infrastructure components. You can use Cisco UCS Director to configure, administer, and monitor supported Cisco and non-Cisco components. The tasks you can perform include the following:

- Create, clone, and deploy service profiles and templates for all Cisco UCS servers and compute applications.

- Monitor organizational usage, trends, and capacity across a converged infrastructure on a continuous basis. For example, you can view heat maps that show virtual machine (VM) utilization across all your data centers.

- Deploy and add capacity to converged infrastructures in a consistent, repeatable manner.

- Manage, monitor, and report on data center components, such as Cisco UCS domains or Cisco Nexus network devices.

- Extend virtual service catalogs to include services for your physical infrastructure.

- Manage secure multi-tenant environments to accommodate virtualized workloads that run with non-virtualized workloads.

Automation and Orchestration with Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director enables you to build workflows that provide automation services, and to publish the workflows and extend their services to your users on demand. You can collaborate with other experts in your company to quickly and easily create policies. You can build Cisco UCS Director workflows to automate simple or complex provisioning and configuration processes.

Once built and validated, these workflows perform the same way every time, no matter who runs the workflows. An experienced data center administrator can run them, or you can implement role-based access control to enable your users and customers to run the workflows on a self-service, as needed, basis.

With Cisco UCS Director, you can automate a wide array of tasks and use cases across a wide variety of supported Cisco and non-Cisco hardware and software data center components. A few examples of the use cases that you can automate include, but are not limited to:

- VM provisioning and lifecycle management

- Network resource configuration and lifecycle management

- Storage resource configuration and lifecycle management

- Tenant onboarding and infrastructure configuration

- Application infrastructure provisioning

- Self-service catalogs and VM provisioning

- Bare metal server provisioning, including installation of an operating system

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Systems

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Systems are hyperconverged systems, that combine all three layers of compute, storage, and network with the powerful Cisco HX Data Platform software tool resulting in a single point of connectivity for simplified management. The Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Systems are modular systems designed to scale out by adding HX-Series appliance nodes under one umbrella, instead of scaling up by adding drives or CPUs. This hyperconverged system provides a unified pool of resources based on your workload needs.

Overview of the HyperFlex System

- Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System Documentation

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System Documentation

See the listed Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System document for the associated tasks.

You can access links to all Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System documentation on the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Documentation Roadmap.

To perform the following

See the document

Review a list of new features, known issues, and workarounds.

Release Notes for Cisco HX Data Platform

Install and complete initial setup of your HX Data Platform.

HyperFlex Node Hardware Installation Guides

Cisco HyperFlex Systems Getting Started Guide

Administer, manage, and monitor your HX storage cluster using the HX Data Platform plug-in on your VMware vSphere Web Client.

Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide

Administer, manage, and monitor your HX storage cluster using the HX Data Platform command line interface on an HX controller VM.

Cisco HX Data Platform Command Line Interface Reference Guide

Chapter 2. Setting Up a HyperFlex Pod

- Prerequisites

- HyerFlex Pod Configuration Wizard

- Creating a HyperFlex Pod in Cisco UCS Director

Prerequisites

Before you configure this integration, you must complete the prerequisites in Cisco UCS Director and Cisco HyperFlex System.

- Cisco HyperFlex System Prerequisites

- Cisco UCS Director Prerequisites

Cisco HyperFlex System Prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be completed in your Cisco HyperFlex System before you integrate it with Cisco UCS Director:

Prerequisite

Link to Documentation

Install the Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series node.

Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series Install and Upgrade Guides

Install and configure the Cisco HyperFlex System software.

Cisco HyperFlex Systems Getting Started Guide

Create the Cisco HX Data Platform clusters in VMware vCenter.

Cisco HyperFlex Systems Getting Started Guide

Cisco UCS Director Prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be completed in Cisco UCS Director before you integrate your Cisco HyperFlex System:

Prerequisite

Link to Documentation

Install Cisco UCS Director.

Cisco UCS Director Installation Guides

(Optional) Install Cisco UCS Director Bare Metal Agent.

Cisco UCS Director Installation Guides

Install the Cisco UCS Director licenses.

Cisco UCS Director Installation Guides

Create the required groups and users.

Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide

HyerFlex Pod Configuration Wizard

The HyperFlex Pod Configuration wizard guides you through the creation of a pod in Cisco UCS Director for your Cisco HyperFlex System. Through this wizard, you will also add the following required accounts to the pod:

- VMware account

- Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM) account

- Cisco HX Data Platform account

After you complete the configuration in this wizard, your Cisco HyperFlex System is available for datastore configuration and management and for VM provisioning.

Creating a HyperFlex Pod in Cisco UCS Director

Before You Begin

You must complete all prerequisites in Prerequisites.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Guided Setup.

Step 2

Double-click HyperFlex Pod Configuration to launch the wizard.
If the Guided Setup screen launches when you open Cisco UCS Director, check the box for the HyperFlex Pod Configuration wizard and click Submit. You can then move to Step 4.

Step 3

On the Overview screen, review the content and click Next.

Step 4

On the Pod screen, do one of the following and then click Next.

- Click the Add button and complete the fields to create a new HyperFlex pod.

- From the Pod drop-down list, choose an existing HyperFlex pod.

Step 5

On the VMware screen, do the following:

1. From the Accounts drop-down list, choose one of the following:

- An existing VMware cloud account

- Select to create a new VMware cloud account

2. If you chose Select, complete the fields in the Create New Account area.
To create a new account, you need the following:

- Cloud name

- vCenter or host address

- Credential policy or the user ID and password for a valid vCenter account with administrative or root privileges

- Port used to access the vCenter address

- Access URL

The remaining fields on the screen are optional.

3. Click Next.

Step 6

On the Cisco UCS Manager screen, do the following:

1. From the Accounts drop-down list, choose one of the following:

- An existing Cisco UCS Manager account.

- Select to create a new Cisco UCS Manager account

2. If you chose Select, complete the fields in the Create New Account area.
To create a new account, you need the following:

- IP address or FQDN of Cisco UCS Manager

- Username and password for a valid Cisco UCS Manager account with administrative privileges

- Transport type

- Port used to access that address

The remaining fields on the screen are optional.

3. Click Next.

Step 7

On the Cisco HyperFlex screen, complete the fields to create a Cisco HX Data Platform account for the pod.
To create a new account, you need the following:

- Cluster management IP address

- Username and password for a valid HyperFlex account with administrative privileges

- Transport type

- Port used to access the cluster address

- HTTPS port and SSH port that use the same HyperFlex credentials

Step 8

On the Summary screen, review the status of each item that you configured in the wizard.

Step 9

Click Close if all items on the Summary screen are acceptable. To update your configuration, click Back.

Chapter 3. Provisioning VMs

- VM Provisioning on HyperFlex Pods

- Virtual Data Centers on HyperFlex Pods

- ReadyClone VMs on HyperFlex Pods

VM Provisioning on HyperFlex Pods

You have two options for provisioning VMs on a HyperFlex pod. The option you choose depends upon how many VMs you want to provision at one time and whether you want your end users to be able to provision VMs on a HyperFlex pod.

- VDC-based VMs enable a user with administrative permissions or your end users to create one VM at a time. Some HyperFlex-specific confguration is required in the VDC and its related policies.

- ReadyClone VMs enable a user with administrative permissions to provision multiple VMs at one time. ReadyClone VMs perform rapid cloning of many VMs through HyperFlex technology, rather than the one and many VMware technology. All of these VMs must be based on the same VM template. See the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide for more information about ReadyClone VMs on Cisco HX Data Platform.

Virtual Data Centers on HyperFlex Pods

You can use a Virtual Data Center (VDC) to provision a VM on a HyperFlex pod through the standard Cisco UCS Director VM provisioning process. If you provision VMs with VDCs, you must ensure that all HyperFlex VDCs have the recommended configuration.

See the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide for more information about VDCs and how to provision VMs.

ReadyClone VMs on HyperFlex Pods

ReadyClone VMs enable you to rapidly create and customize multiple cloned VMs from the same VM template. When the cloning operation is complete, the ReadyClone VM is a separate guest VM with its own operating system.

Changes made to a ReadyClone VM do not affect the VM template. A ReadyClone VM's MAC address and UUID are different from those of the VM template.

For more information about the features, benefits, best practices, and guidelines for ReadyClone VMs, see the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide.

- Guidelines for VM Provisioning with ReadyClone VMs

- Provisioning VMs with ReadyClone VMs

Guidelines for VM Provisioning with ReadyClone VMs

Before you provision one or more ReadyClone VMs, review the following guidelines. For more information about ReadyClone VMs, see the Using HX Data Platform ReadyClones chapter of the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide.

Required User Permissions

You must have Cisco UCS Director administrative privileges to provision ReadyClone VMs in the Cisco UCS Director Admin Portal.

VM Template Must Meet HyperFlex Guidelines

The VM template that you use to create ReadyClone VMs must meet the guidelines provided in the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide.

Maximum Number of VMs to be Provisioned at One Time

You can simultaneously provision between 1 and 256 ReadyClone VMs from a single VM template.

Guest Operating System Restrictions

All ReadyClone VMs that you provision at the same time must use the same customization specification in VMware vCenter for the guest operating system (OS) settings in all VMs. The guest OS can be either Linux or Windows.

Provisioning VMs with ReadyClone VMs

Before You Begin

- Create the desired VM templates in VMware vSphere.

- (Optional) Create a customization specification in VMware vSphere to specify the guest OS settings for all VMs.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose HyperConverged > HyperFlex.

Step 2

in the Navigation pane, choose the HyperFlex pod where you want to provision the VMs.

Step 3

Click the Clusters tab.

Step 4

Choose the cluster where you want to provision the VMs and click View Details.

Step 5

Click the VM Templates tab.

Step 6

Choose the VM template on which you want to base the ReadyClone VMs and click Create ReadyClone VMs.

Step 7

In the Create HyperFlex ReadyClone VMs dialog box, complete the following fields:

1. In the Number of Clones field, enter the number of VMs that you want to provision from this template.
You can provision a minimum of one VM and a maximum of 256 VMs.

2. (Optional) In the Customization Spec Name field, enter the name of the customization specification that you want to use for the cloned VMs.
The customization specification can include either Linux or Windows guest OS settings. See the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide.

3. (Optional) In the Resource Pool Name field, click Select and choose the resource pool that you want to use for the VMs.

4. In the VM Name Prefix field, enter the prefix that you want to use for the VM names.

5. In the Guest Name Prefix field, enter the prefix that you want to use for the guest host VM names.

6. In the Start Clone Number field, enter the number that you want to use for the first VM created.
The system appends this number to the name prefix of the first VM clone. For example, if you choose clone for the VM name prefix and 1 for the start clone number, the first VM will be named clone1.

7. In the Increment Clone Number field, enter the number by which you want to increment all subsequent clones.
For example, if the first VM is named clone1 and you enter 1 in this field, all subsequent VM names are incremented by 1, such as clone2, clone3, and so on.

8. Check the Power ON After Deploy checkbox if you want the guest VMs to automatically turn on after the cloning process is completed.

Step 8

Click Submit.

What to Do Next

You can view the following:

- Status of the service request for the VM provisioning in Organizations > Service Requests.

- Provisioned VMs on the VMs tab for the HyperFlex pod.

Chapter 4. Managing HyperFlex Pods

- Reports for HyperFlex Pods

- HyperFlex Clusters

- ESXi Hosts

- Managing HX Servers

- Managing Datastores

- Managing VMs

Reports for HyperFlex Pods

Cisco UCS Director provides several different kinds of reports that you can use to view the current status of a pod and its components or to see how the pod or its component have performed over time. All of these reports can be manually refreshed for real-time data and exported to PDF, CSV, or XLS format for you to share with others.

The available reports include:

- Summary reports for comparison data and other information about the pod or its components. These reports display in bar, pie, and tabular chart widgets on Summary tabs.

- Tabular reports for detailed information about specific components. These reports display in tabs.

- Trend graphs for information about the performance of pod resources over time. These reports display in tabs.

- Stack views for a graphical bar view of the infrastructure in a VM. These reports display in a pop-up window.

- More reports include top 5 reports and other reports for detailed information about high-performing pod resources. These reports display in tabs. You can customize some of these reports.

- Summary Reports

- Tabular Reports

- Stack Views for VMs

- Inventory Collection

Summary Reports

Summary reports allow you to view the status of your HyperFlex pods and to manage inventory lifecycle actions for the pods and their components. Each report is displayed as a widget on a Summary tab at the pod level and the cluster level.

You can customize your Summary tabs to hide one or more reports. You can export the content of these reports in PDF, CSV, or XLS format. You can also add some or all of these reports to your Cisco UCS Director dashboard for quick access.

The summary reports for a HyperFlex pod include the following in graphical and tabular formats:

- Storage capacity of the pod

- Cluster nodes in active vs maintenance/failed state

- Active VMs vs inactive VMs

- Summary of the pod components, including software versions and cluster status

- ESXi host versions

For more information about summary reports and reporting in Cisco UCS Director, see the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide.

Tabular Reports

Tabular reports provide the status of the components in a HyperFlex pod. You can export the data from any tabular report in PDF, CSV, or XLS format. If you have scheduled inventory collection, the status is updated regularly. Otherwise, you can click Refresh on the tabular report to get real-time status.

You can access tabular reports on any tab after you choose the HyperFlex pod. Reports are available for the following components:

- Clusters

- ESXi hosts

- VM templates

- HX servers

- Controller nodes

- Datastores

- Disks

- VMs

For some components, such as clusters, you can click on a row in the tabular report and access more detailed information through View Details.

Stack Views for VMs

Stack views provide information about a HyperFlex VM in a graphical format, including the compute, network, and storage configuration and resources available to that VM.

The stack view data includes:

Compute

Network

Storage

OS

OS installed on the VM

OS installed on the VM

OS installed on the VM

VM

VM name

VM name

VM name

Network adapter and port

Virtual disk

Hypervisor

Hypervisor version, IP address, and cluster

Hypervisor version, IP address, and cluster

Hypervisor version, IP address, and cluster

Port group and VLAN

Datastore

VSwitch

Infrastructure

Server where the VM is located

HyperFlex storage cluster where the VM is located

To access the stack view, choose the VM on the VMs tab and then click Stack View.

Inventory Collection

When you add a HyperFlex pod, Cisco UCS Director discovers and collects the inventory of that pod. You can view the collected inventory and the status of the HyperFlex pod and its components in the summary reports and on the report pages. This status can be updated on a regular schedule through system tasks and manually by component.

Scheduled Refresh of Inventory Collection Through System Tasks

The HyperFlex system tasks allow you to schedule inventory collection for each HyperFlex pod. Depending on your business needs, you can set the same schedule for all HyperFlex pods or you can set a different schedule for some pods. You can specify the number of hours or minutes to automatically run the inventory collection and update the status of the HyperFlex pod.

For more information about scheduling system tasks, see the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide.

Manual Refresh of Inventory Collection

Even if you have scheduled inventory collection with system tasks, you can manually perform an inventory collection for a HyperFlex pod or its components. For example, you can manually refresh the inventory and status in the following ways:

- Refresh button—Updates the data in summary reports and tabular reports. This action is available for a HyperFlex pod and its components, such as clusters, controller nodes, datastores, disks, and VMs.

- Inventory Collection button—Performs an inventory collection for a component of a pod. This action is available for individual components, such as a VM, an ESXi host, or an HX server.

HyperFlex Clusters

A HyperFlex (HX) cluster is a group of Cisco HX-Series Servers. Each Cisco HX-Series Server in the cluster is referred to as a node or host. You can use Cisco UCS Director to view and manage the following components of your HX clusters:

- ESXi hosts

- VM templates

- HX servers

ESXi Hosts

Cisco UCS Director supports all ESXi host operations on HyperFlex as it does for converged infrastructure, such as FlexPod. In addition, it supports the following additional ESXi host operations for HyperFlex only:

- Enter Maintenance Mode

- Exit Maintenance Mode

- Reboot Host

- Collect Inventory

- Managing ESXi Hosts on a HyperFlex Pod

- Moving ESXi Hosts into and out of ESXi Maintenance Mode

Managing ESXi Hosts on a HyperFlex Pod

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose HyperConverged > HyperFlex.

Step 2

in the Navigation pane, choose the HyperFlex pod with the ESXi hosts that you want to manage.

Step 3

Click the Clusters tab.

Step 4

Choose the cluster where the ESXi hosts are located and click View Details.

Step 5

Click the ESXi Hosts tab.

Step 6

Choose an ESXi host and click one of the following:

- Enter Maintenance Mode

- Exit Maintenance Mode

- Reboot Host

- Collect Inventory

Moving ESXi Hosts into and out of ESXi Maintenance Mode

See the Cisco HyperFlex Systems Administration Guide for information about ESXi maintenance mode for ESXi hosts on HyperFlex.

Note

Cisco UCS Director supports only ESXi maintenance mode for ESXi hosts on HyperFlex. Cisco UCS Director does not support Cisco HX maintenance mode. To use Cisco HX maintenance, right-click on the ESXi host in VMware vCenter and follow the prompts.

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose HyperConverged > HyperFlex.

Step 2

in the Navigation pane, choose the HyperFlex pod where you want to provision the VMs.

Step 3

Click the Clusters tab.

Step 4

Choose the cluster where you want to provision the VMs and click View Details.

Step 5

Click the ESXi Hosts tab.

Step 6

Choose the ESXi host that you want to move into or out of maintenance mode and click one of the following:

- Enter Maintenance Mode

- Exit Maintenance Mode

Step 7

If you chose to enter maintenance mode, complete the following fields in the Enter Maintenance Mode dialog box:

1. From the Maintenance Mode drop-down list, choose one of the following:

- Ensure accessibility -- This is the default host maintenance mode. All accessible virtual machines on the host remain accessible when the host is either powered off or removed from the cluster. Partial data migration is performed.

- Full data migration -- This host maintenance mode consumes the most time and resources. VMware moves all data to other hosts in the cluster and fixes availability compliance for the affected components in the cluster. This option can be used to permanently migrate a host. The host cannot enter maintenance mode if a virtual machine object has data on the host, and is not accessible and cannot be fully migrated. When migrating data from the last host in the cluster, you must make sure that you migrate the virtual machines to another datastore, and then put the host in maintenance mode.

- No data migration -- This host maintenance mode does not migrate any data from the host. If the host is powered off or removed from the cluster, some virtual machines may become inaccessible.

2. Check Remove from vCenter if you want to remove the host from VMware vCenter.

3. Click Submit.

Managing HX Servers

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose HyperConverged > HyperFlex.

Step 2

in the Navigation pane, choose the HyperFlex pod where you want to manage the HX servers.

Step 3

Click the Clusters tab.

Step 4

Choose the cluster where the HX servers are located and click View Details.

Step 5

Click the HX Servers tab.

Step 6

Choose the HX server that you want to manage and click one of the following:

- Power ON

- Power OFF

- Reset

- Launch KVM Console

- KVM Direct Access

- Request Inventory Collection

Managing Datastores

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose HyperConverged > HyperFlex.

Step 2

in the Navigation pane, choose the HyperFlex pod where you want to manage the datastores.

Step 3

Click the Clusters tab.

Step 4

Choose the cluster where the datastores are located and click View Details.

Step 5

Click the Datastores tab.

Step 6

Choose the datastore that you want to manage and click one of the following:

- Create

- Delete

- Edit

- Mount

- Unmount

You can also click View Details on the datastore to access additional information and service request details for that datastore.

Managing VMs

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose HyperConverged > HyperFlex.

Step 2

in the Navigation pane, choose the HyperFlex pod with the VMs that you want to manage.

Step 3

Click the VMs tab.

Step 4

Choose the cluster where the VMs are located and click View Details.

Step 5

Click the VMs tab.

Step 6

Choose the VM that you want to manage and click one of the following options:
Some of these options are available only if you click the drop-down list on the right of the menu bar.

- Access VM Credentials

- Launch VM Client

- Assign VM

- Configure Lease Time

- Resize VM

- Power ON

- Power OFF

- Delete VM

- Suspend

- Shutdown Guest

- Standby

- Reset

- Reboot

- Create Snapshot

- Mount ISO Image

- Revert Snapshot

- Mark Golden Snapshot

- Delete Snapshot

- Delete All Snapshots

- VM Disk Resize

- Inventory Collection

- Create VM Disk

- Delete VM Disk

- Add vNICs

- Delete vNICs

- Configure VNC

- Unconfigure VNC

- Test VNC

- Clone

- VM Resync

- Move VM to VDC

- Migrate VM

- Clone VM as Image

- Convert VM as Image

- Enable/Disable VMRC Console Access

- Assign VMs to VDC

You can also click View Details on the VM to access trend reports and details about service requests, VM action requests, events, VM snapshots, vNICs, disks, CD ROMs, VM access data, and linked clone VMs.

For detailed information about features and actions related to VMware VMs in Cisco UCS Director, see the Cisco UCS Director VMware vSphere Management Guide.

Chapter 5. Automating HyperFlex Provisioning and Management

- Automation with Orchestration Workflows

- Predefined Workflows for HyperFlex

- Viewing Predefined Workflows in the Workflow Designer

- Predefined Workflow Tasks for HyperFlex

- Opening the Task Library

Automation with Orchestration Workflows

Cisco UCS Director includes orchestration workflows and tasks that allow you to automate common VM provisioning and HyperFlex management tasks in one or more workflows. You can create a workflow that combines HyperFlex tasks with VMware host tasks and Cisco UCS tasks for Cisco UCS Manager.

Depending upon the permissions required to perform a task, you can create workflows to be executed in Cisco UCS Director by an administrator or in the End User Portal by a user. For example, a workflow to provision ReadyClone VMs requires administrator permissions and cannot be executed by an end user.

See the Cisco UCS Director Orchestration Guide for details about orchestration workflows, tasks, and other orchestration and automation concepts.

Predefined Workflows for HyperFlex

Cisco UCS Director provides a set of simple, predefined workflows for HyperFlex. These workflows are designed to perform a single task, such as creating ReadyClone VMs or creating a datastore.

If you want to automate more complex provisioning or management tasks, you can make a copy of a predefined workflow and add tasks to the copy of that workflow. You can also create your own custom workflows that include HyperFlex tasks.

Note

If you want to modify a predefined workflow, we recommend that you create a new version of that workflow before making the changes. If you modify a default predefined workflow, you can impact what happens in Cisco UCS Director when you click an action button. Actions that you take in Cisco UCS Director for a HyperFlex System, such as creating or mounting a datastore, use the default predefined workflows.

For example, when you click the Mount button for a datastore, Cisco UCS Director runs the Mount HyperFlex Datastore workflow and creates a service request for the action.

Location of Predefined HyperFlex Workflows

All predefined HyperFlex workflows are available in the HyperFlex folder on the Workflows tab.

List of Predefined HyperFlex Workflows

The predefined HyperFlex workflows include the following:

- Create HyperFlex ReadyClones—Creates the specified number of ReadyClones from a given VM template.

- Create HyperFlex Datastore—Creates a datastore with the specified name and size in TB, GB, or MB.

- Delete HyperFlex Datastore—Deletes the specified datastore.

- Edit HyperFlex Datastore—Changes the size of the specified datastore.

- Mount HyperFlex Datastore—Mounts the specified datastore.

- Unmount HyperFlex Datastore—Unmounts the specified datastore.

Viewing Predefined Workflows in the Workflow Designer

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Orchestration.

Step 2

In the Workflows column, expand the HyperFlex folder.

Step 3

Double-click one of the workflows to open it in the Workflow Designer.

Step 4

Double-click on the workflow task to view the properties of that task.
You can drag and drop additional tasks into the workflow. You can also execute or validate the workflow.

Predefined Workflow Tasks for HyperFlex

Cisco UCS Director provides a set of predefined workflow tasks that you can use to create workflows to provision VMs and manage datastores. These tasks are configured with a set of inputs and outputs that mirror the settings you must configure if you perform the tasks manually.

The Cisco UCS Director task library provides a list of the available HyperFlex tasks. The task library includes a description of each task's function and its inputs and outputs.

Location of the Predefined HyperFlex Tasks

All predefined HyperFlex tasks are available in the left pane of the Workflow Designer when you have a workflow open. The tasks are in the following folder: Physical Storage Tasks > HyperFlex Tasks.

List of Predefined HyperFlex Tasks

The predefined HyperFlex tasks include the following:

- Create HyperFlex ReadyClones of a VM—Creates the specified number of ReadyClones from a given VM template.

- Create HyperFlex Datastore—Creates a datastore with the specified name and size in TB, GB, or MB.

- Delete HyperFlex Datastore—Deletes the specified datastore.

- Edit HyperFlex Datastore—Changes the size of the specified datastore.

- Mount HyperFlex Datastore—Mounts the specified datastore.

- Unmount HyperFlex Datastore—Unmounts the specified datastore.

If these tasks do not include the functionality you need, you can customize your tasks with advanced scripting capabilities. You can also create your own custom tasks.

Opening the Task Library

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Policies > Orchestration.

Step 2

Click Task Library.

Step 3

Check Regenerate Document to update the task library with any new tasks, including custom and open automation tasks.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Step 5

Scroll down to the HyperFlex Tasks section and click on one of the hyperlinked tasks to view its details.

Preface

- Audience

- Conventions

- Related Documentation

- Documentation Feedback

- Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Audience

This guide is intended primarily for data center administrators who use Cisco UCS Director and who have responsibilities and expertise in one or more of the following:

- Server administration

- Storage administration

- Network administration

- Network security

- Virtualization and virtual machines

Conventions

Text Type

Indication

GUI elements

GUI elements such as tab titles, area names, and field labels appear in this font.

Main titles such as window, dialog box, and wizard titles appear in this font.

Document titles

Document titles appear in this font.

TUI elements

In a Text-based User Interface, text the system displays appears in this font.

System output

Terminal sessions and information that the system displays appear in this font.

CLI commands

CLI command keywords appear in this font.

Variables in a CLI command appear in this font.

[ ]

Elements in square brackets are optional.

{x | y | z}

Required alternative keywords are grouped in braces and separated by vertical bars.

[x | y | z]

Optional alternative keywords are grouped in brackets and separated by vertical bars.

string

A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the string or the string will include the quotation marks.

< >

Nonprinting characters such as passwords are in angle brackets.

[ ]

Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.

!, #

An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line of code indicates a comment line.

Note

Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the document.

Caution

Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might perform an action that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

Tip

Means the following information will help you solve a problem. The tips information might not be troubleshooting or even an action, but could be useful information, similar to a Timesaver.

Timesaver

Means the described action saves time. You can save time by performing the action described in the paragraph.

Warning

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

This warning symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily injury. Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with electrical circuitry and be familiar with standard practices for preventing accidents. Use the statement number provided at the end of each warning to locate its translation in the translated safety warnings that accompanied this device.

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

Related Documentation

Cisco UCS Director Documentation Roadmap

For a complete list of Cisco UCS Director documentation, see the Cisco UCS Director Documentation Roadmap available at the following URL: Click Here .

Cisco UCS Documentation Roadmaps

For a complete list of all B-Series documentation, see the Cisco UCS B-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap available at the following URL: Click Here .

For a complete list of all C-Series documentation, see the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap available at the following URL: Click Here .

Note

The Cisco UCS B-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap includes links to documentation for Cisco UCS Manager and Cisco UCS Central. The Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap includes links to documentation for Cisco Integrated Management Controller.

Documentation Feedback

To provide technical feedback on this document, or to report an error or omission, please send your comments to ucs-director-docfeedback@cisco.com. We appreciate your feedback.

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

For information on obtaining documentation, using the Cisco Bug Search Tool (BST), submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see What's New in Cisco Product Documentation.

To receive new and revised Cisco technical content directly to your desktop, you can subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation RSS feed. RSS feeds are a free service.

THE SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRODUCTS IN THIS MANUAL ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL STATEMENTS, INFORMATION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS MANUAL ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE BUT ARE PRESENTED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USERS MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR APPLICATION OF ANY PRODUCTS.

THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR THE ACCOMPANYING PRODUCT ARE SET FORTH IN THE INFORMATION PACKET THAT SHIPPED WITH THE PRODUCT AND ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY THIS REFERENCE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE SOFTWARE LICENSE OR LIMITED WARRANTY, CONTACT YOUR CISCO REPRESENTATIVE FOR A COPY.

The Cisco implementation of TCP header compression is an adaptation of a program developed by the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) as part of UCB's public domain version of the UNIX operating system. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1981, Regents of the University of California.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER WARRANTY HEREIN, ALL DOCUMENT FILES AND SOFTWARE OF THESE SUPPLIERS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS" WITH ALL FAULTS. CISCO AND THE ABOVE-NAMED SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR LOSS OR DAMAGE TO DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS MANUAL, EVEN IF CISCO OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: Click Here . Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)