Ent Cloud Platform Admin 50 Courseware Labmanual Ahv PDF

Administration Course Lab Exercises
Administration Course Lab Exercises
Acropolis 5.0
Contents
Copyright.................................................................................................................. 7
License....................................................................................................................................... 7
Conventions............................................................................................................................... 7
Default Cluster Credentials........................................................................................................7
Version....................................................................................................................................... 8
Module 1: Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform...... 9

Exercises..................................................................................................................................10
One-Click Upgrade....................................................................................................... 10
Module 2: Administering the Nutanix Cluster................................. 35

Exercises..................................................................................................................................36
Installing the Nutanix Cluster........................................................................................36
Module 3: Configuring the Cluster................................................... 39

Exercises..................................................................................................................................40
Configuring an NTP Server.......................................................................................... 40
Module 4: User Interfaces................................................................. 43

Exercises..................................................................................................................................44
Using Nutanix User Interfaces......................................................................................44
Module 5: Networking........................................................................ 65
Exercises..................................................................................................................................66
Networking.....................................................................................................................66
Module 6: VM Management............................................................... 69
Exercises..................................................................................................................................70
Creating a VM...............................................................................................................70
Exercises..................................................................................................................................84
Enabling NGT............................................................................................................... 84
Exercises..................................................................................................................................88
VM Network Management............................................................................................ 88
Module 7: Health Monitoring and Alerts........................................ 109

Exercises................................................................................................................................110
Performance Monitoring..............................................................................................110
Exercises................................................................................................................................114
Health Alerts............................................................................................................... 114
Module 8: Distributed Storage Fabric............................................ 121

Exercises................................................................................................................................122
Storage........................................................................................................................ 122
5
Exercises................................................................................................................................141
Hypervisor Integration................................................................................................. 141
Module 9: AHV Workload Migration............................................... 147

Exercises................................................................................................................................148
Migrating a VM........................................................................................................... 148
Module 10: Services......................................................................... 159

Exercises................................................................................................................................160
Acropolis Block Services............................................................................................ 160
Module 11: Business Continuity..................................................... 179

Exercises................................................................................................................................180
VM High Availability.................................................................................................... 180
Module 12: Data Protection............................................................. 189

Exercises................................................................................................................................190
Data Protection........................................................................................................... 190
Module 13: Prism Central................................................................ 207

Exercises................................................................................................................................208
Prism Central.............................................................................................................. 208
Module 14: Concluding the Installation......................................... 221

Exercises................................................................................................................................222
Running Nutanix Cluster Check................................................................................. 222
Module 15: Lifecycle Operations.................................................... 229

Exercises................................................................................................................................230
Lifecycle Operations................................................................................................... 230
6
Copyright
Copyright 2017 Nutanix, Inc.
Nutanix, Inc.
1740 Technology Drive, Suite 150
San Jose, CA 95110
All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual
property laws. Nutanix is a trademark of Nutanix, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.
All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
License
The provision of this software to you does not grant any licenses or other rights under any Microsoft
patents with respect to anything other than the file server implementation portion of the binaries for
this software, including no licenses or any other rights in any hardware or any devices or software
that are used to communicate with or in connection with this software.
Conventions
Convention Description
variable_value The action depends on a value that is unique to your environment.
ncli> command The commands are executed in the Nutanix nCLI.
user@host$ command The commands are executed as a non-privileged user (such as

nutanix) in the system shell.
root@host# command The commands are executed as the root user in the vSphere or
Acropolis host shell.
> command The commands are executed in the Hyper-V host shell.
output The information is displayed as output from a command or in a log

file.
Default Cluster Credentials

Interface Target Username Password
Nutanix web console Nutanix Controller VM admin admin
vSphere Web Client ESXi host root nutanix/4u
vSphere client ESXi host root nutanix/4u
SSH client or console ESXi host root nutanix/4u
SSH client or console AHV host root nutanix/4u
Administration Course Lab Exercises | 7

Interface Target Username Password
SSH client or console Hyper-V host Administrator nutanix/4u
SSH client Nutanix Controller VM nutanix nutanix/4u
SSH client or console Acropolis OpenStack root admin

Services VM (Nutanix
OVM)
Version
Last modified: January 2, 2017 (2017-01-02 19:02:00 GMT-5)
8 | Copyright
Module 1
Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform
Topics: This module describes Nutanix Acropolis and Nutanix Prism,
which comprise the Nutanix product family. Nutanix Acropolis
• Exercises consists of Distributed Storage Fabric (DSF), App Mobility Fabric
(AMF), and the native Nutanix hypervisor, AHV. Additionally,
this module introduces Prism Element and Prism Central and
describes their functionality. Finally, this module introduces the
Nutanix cluster components.
Duration
Objectives
After completing this module, you will be able to

• Define the Nutanix product family: Nutanix Acropolis and
Nutanix Prism.
• Define the App Mobility Fabric (AMF) architecture.
• Explain the functionality of Prism Element and Prism Central
and how they differ from one another.
• State where to find information on the hardware platform
specifications and product mixing restrictions.
• Identify the foundational unit for the Nutanix cluster.
• Define a Nutanix block.
• List and define the components of a Nutanix cluster within the
hypervisor client.
• Describe the types of AOS licenses.

Exercises
One-Click Upgrade
In this exercise, you perform a one-click upgrade of the NCC utility on your lab cluster. If time allows,
your instructor will also have you perform a one-click upgrade of the AOS on your lab cluster.
One Click Upgrade
In this exercise, you perform a one-click upgrade of the NCC utility on your lab cluster.
1. Open a web browser. Into the browser’s URL bar, enter your assigned cluster’s external virtual IP
address provided to you on your exercise handout. If you receive a certificate warning window,
click through to accept the self-signed certificate so that you get to the Prism login window.
Figure: Login Screen
2. Log in using the credentials provided on your exercise handout.
Figure: Login Admin
3. From the gear pull-down menu, select Upgrade Software.
10 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

Figure: Select Upgrade Software
4. In the Upgrade Software window, click the NCC link in the row of links along the top of the
window.
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Figure: NCC Link
5. At this point, your cluster will attempt to contact the software update server at Nutanix to see if
there is an update available for your cluster’s NCC utility. On your exercise handout, write down
the version number of NCC that your cluster is running. In the following example, the cluster is
running NCC version 2.2.5.

Figure: Version Number of NCC Running on the Cluster
6. What you do next depends on your cluster’s Internet connectivity. If your cluster can contact the
software update server at Nutanix, you would see the most current version of NCC available
for download/update after a few seconds. At that point, you could simply select that version
and proceed. On the other hand, if your cluster cannot contact the Nutanix software update
server, you will have to perform a manual upload of the current NCC binary update file and its
corresponding JSON descriptor file to your cluster before performing the update. This second
option, performing a manual upgrade, is what you will do in this exercise. To begin, click upload
the NCC binary to upload the NCC binary.
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Figure: Click on the Upload the NCC Binary Link
7. When you click on the upload the NCC binary link, two buttons appear. Click the first button
(labeled as button #1 in the following image) to select the NCC upgrade JSON metadata file from
your local computer, which you have previously downloaded from the Nutanix software update
web page.
8. Click the second button (labeled as button #2 in the following image). This button enables you to
select the NCC update binary file, which you have also previously downloaded from the Nutanix
software update web page. In this exercise, the location of both of these files will either be
provided to you by your instructor or will be on the exercise handout sheet.

Figure: Selecting the JSON and Binary Files
9. Click Upload Now to upload these files to your cluster. Your files would have automatically been
uploaded if your cluster were connected to the Internet.
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Figure: Upload the Files to the Your Cluster
10. Wait for the NCC files to upload to your cluster. As the files upload, a message and progress bar
appear to indicate that the upload is in progress.

Figure: A Progress Bar and Message Appear
11. When the update files have successfully uploaded to your cluster, click Upgrade.
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Figure: Click the Upgrade Button
12. Click Yes to confirm the update to the new version of NCC. Although the NCC update completes
in a short period of time, you will most likely see a progress bar.

Figure: Confirm the Update
13. When the update has completed, click Close.
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Figure: Close the Window
14. Using the PuTTY client on your desktop, log in to your assigned cluster using the cluster external
virtual IP address in your exercise handout, accepting any security alert warnings that may pop
up. For the login credentials, enter nutanix for the user and use the password specified in your
exercise handout.
15. Verify the version of NCC from the command line by entering the following command (notice the
double dash characters): ncc --version
Figure: Verify the Version of NCC from the Command Line
16. Check the version of NCC on which your cluster is now running. Is it different from the version
number you recorded earlier? In the following screen, you can see the cluster's NCC has been
updated to version 2.2.8.

Figure: Check version
One Click Upgrade (contd)
In this task, you perform a one-click upgrade of the AOS on your assigned lab cluster. The
exercise begins with the assumption that you are logged into a desktop that has access to your lab
environment.
1. If you do not have a browser window open and logged into your assigned cluster’s Prism UI,
you need to open a web browser from your assigned desktop and enter your assigned cluster’s
external virtual IP address provided to you on your exercise handout into the browser’s URL
bar. If you receive any sort of certificate warning window, click through to accept the self-signed
certificate so that you get to the cluster login as displayed in the following screen.
2. Log in to your cluster with the credentials provided to you in your exercise handout.
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Figure: Login Admin
3. From the gear pull-down menu, select Upgrade Software.
Figure: Upgrade Software
4. In the Upgrade Software window, click the Acropolis link in the row of links along the top of the
window.

Figure: Upgrade Software Acropolis
5. At this point, your cluster will attempt to contact the software update server at Nutanix to see
if there is an AOS update available. Make a note of the AOS version number your cluster is
running. In the following screen, you can see that the example cluster was running AOS version
4.7.
My cluster's version of AOS is:
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Figure: Acropolis Version
6. You will perform a manual upgrade in which your cluster does not require Internet connectivity. To
begin, find the blue link as shown in the following screen.

Figure: Acropolis Base Software Binary Upload
7. Click on the upload the Acropolis base software binary link to upload the Acropolis base
software binary. You are presented with two buttons. The first (labeled in the following image
as button #1) lets you select the AOS upgrade JSON metadata file from your local computer
(which you have previously downloaded from the Nutanix software update web page). The
second (labeled in the following image at button #2) lets you select the AOS update binary file
(which you have also previously downloaded from the Nutanix software update web page). In this
exercise, the location of both of these files will be provided to you by your instructor or will be on
the exercise handout.
| 25
Figure: Upgrade JSON and AOS
8. After you have selected the AOS update JSON and binary files (shown in the following screen),
click the Upload Now button to upload these files to your cluster. This step would have been
automatically performed if your cluster were connected to the Internet.

Figure: Upload Now
9. After you have clicked the Upload Now button, wait for the AOS files to be uploaded to your
cluster. As the files are uploaded, a message and a progress bar appear.
| 27
Figure: Upload Now Progress
10. When the update files have successfully been uploaded to your cluster, click the Upgrade button,
and then select Upgrade Now in the pop-up menu.
Note: As this update takes some time (45 minutes or more), your instructor may decide to
proceed with the class while you wait for the update to complete.

Figure: Upgrade Now Button
11. Click Yes to confirm the update to the new version of AOS. A progress bar appears as the update
progresses.
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Figure: Confirm Upgrade
12. You can also click the Open link (circled in the previous screen) to expand the dialog box and get
additional per-node details about the update’s progress.

Figure: Open Link
13. As part of updating AOS, each CVM will be rebooted in turn. At some point, the CVM you have
been accessing via your web browser will reboot and you will lose the connection in your browser
window. When that happens, wait a few minutes and reconnect after the CVM has rebooted.
Note: CVM reboots typically take 5-7 minutes each.
14. When you log in to the cluster again in your web browser, you are asked whether you want to
enable Pulse notifications. Click the No Thanks button.
Figure: No Thanks
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15. Verify the version of AOS by clicking on the Admin menu in the upper right corner of your
browser window and select About Nutanix.
Figure: Verify Version
16. What version of AOS is your cluster running now?

Figure: Nutanix AOS Version
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Module 2
Administering the Nutanix Cluster
Topics: In this module, you learn how to install a Nutanix block, including
rack mounting. You learn to determine the power and network
• Exercises requirements for your block, and how Nutanix assigns a name to
each node in a block according to product type.
Objectives
After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Discuss requirements for installing a Nutanix block, including
power and networking.
• List the considerations for mounting a Nutanix block in a rack.

Exercises
Installing the Nutanix Cluster

In this exercise, you perform a pen and paper task to review the requirements for installing a Nutanix
cluster.
Installation Exercise
In this exercise, you use your course manual and/or online documentation to review the
requirements for installing a Nutanix cluster.
In this exercise, you:
• Review network and environment.
• Review node naming.
Answer the following:
1. In order to provide power redundancy, a ___________ volt power source is recommended.
2. Given 6 nodes in two blocks, how many IP addresses are required? ____________
3. Given 5 nodes in two blocks, how many subnets are required for the proper communication of the
Controller VMs and the hypervisor? _______________
4. By default, what TCP port must be open to use Prism Central in an AHV hypervisor cluster?
_____________
5. Your company has a policy of placing all hardware management addresses

on a specific class 3 subnet. The Nutanix cluster IPMI interface falls under this
requirement. However, the management subnet is not part of the Controller VM
and hypervisor subnet given to you. Can you make this work and if so – how?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Prism Central (contd)
Answer the following
1. Refer to the following picture. Identify the power buttons for Node A, B, C, and D.
Figure: Node Naming One
2. Refer to the following picture. Identify nodes A, B, C, and D.
36 | Administering the Nutanix Cluster

Figure: Node Naming Two
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38 | Administering the Nutanix Cluster
Module 3
Configuring the Cluster
Topics: This module covers how to configure a Nutanix cluster, including
how to set up a name server and configure network connections.
• Exercises You learn how to set up filesystem whitelists as well as NTP,
SMTP, and SNMP servers. The module also goes over how
to change the language settings in Prism. There is a thorough
discussion of how Nutanix provides cluster security. You learn
how to configure user authentication, install an SSL Certificate,
and control access to the cluster. Finally, this module explains the
Data-at-Rest Encryption schema used to protect data stored on
disks and how to configure it.
Objectives

• Configure a Nutanix cluster, including name servers, network
connections, filesystem whitelists, NTP and SMTP Servers,
and SNMP.
• Change Prism language settings.
• Describe the mechanisms Nutanix provides to maintain cluster
security.
• Configure user authentication methods.
• Install an SSL Certificate.
• Control cluster access using key-based SSH access.
• Explain how data-at-rest encryption secures data stored on
disk.
• Prepare for and configure data-at-rest encryption for drives in a
Nutanix cluster.

Exercises
Configuring an NTP Server

In this exercise, you configure an NTP time server for your Nutanix cluster.
NTP Server Configuration Exercise
In this exercise, you configure an NTP time server for your Nutanix cluster.
1. If you are not already logged into your cluster’s Prism interface, do so now.
2. Click the gear pull-down menu and select NTP Servers.
Figure: NTP Servers
3. In the NTP Servers window, enter the IP address of the NTP server specified on your exercise
handout. Then click the Add button.
40 | Configuring the Cluster

Figure: Enter IP Address
4. Click the Close button.
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42 | Configuring the Cluster
Module 4
User Interfaces
Topics: In this module, you learn how to manage Nutanix clusters using
the web console (Prism Element). You learn how to use the
• Exercises various menus to monitor the health of your clusters and how
to respond to events and alerts, as well as how to configure
and manage multiple clusters using Prism Central. This module
covers how to register clusters with Prism Central and how to
use the Nutanix Command Line Interface (nCLI) to perform other
administrative operations. This module also covers the Nutanix
REST API and how to use Nutanix PowerShell cmdlets to help
manage clusters.
Objectives

• List the four Nutanix user interfaces you can use to manage
your cluster.
• Register a cluster with Prism Central and use the console to
manage the cluster.
• State the purpose of the Acropolis self-service portal.
• Assign IP addresses to all cluster components.
• Create a cluster.
• Install a Nutanix Platform License on a cluster.

Exercises
Using Nutanix User Interfaces

In these exercises, you first familiarize yourself with Prism Element, the Nutanix management GUI.
You then explore the Nutanix Command Line Interface (nCLI), learn how to obtain help inside nCLI,
and how to use nCLI to read and create objects in the cluster. Finally, you add a local (i.e. non-
domain) user account to your Nutanix cluster. This user can then login an perform cluster tasks
based on the level of access you have granted them.
Prism Element Exercises
In this exercise, you familiarize yourself with Prism Element, the Nutanix management GUI.
In this exercise, you perform the following tasks:
• Connect to Prism.
• Explore Prism features.
• Explore Prism views.
In this task, you register a cluster with Prism Central.
1. From a browser on your student desktop, refer to the exercise handout and enter the IP address
of your cluster virtual IP or a Controller VM.
2. In the login screen, enter the credentials as provided in your exercise handout sheet.
3. Select the Admin icon on the upper right, and then click the About Nutanix link.
44 | User Interfaces
Figure: About Nutanix
4. What version of Acropolis (AOS) are you running? _____________
5. Click the OK button to close the About Nutanix dialog box.
Prism Element (contd)
In this task, you explore some of the basic features of Prism.
1. Select the Health page from the dashboard selection pull-down menu.
| 45
Figure: Select Health Page
2. Take a moment to click through the Welcome to Health Page tutorial.
Figure: Welcome to Health Page
If the Health Page Tutorial does not automatically launch, it can be found under the ? (Help)
menu in the upper right.
Figure: Health Page Tutorial
3. Select the VM menu dashboard.
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Figure: Select VM Dashboard
4. According to the VM Overview page, how many VMs are in the cluster? ________
5. Select Table view by clicking on the Table link.
Figure: Select Table View
6. Why are there no VMs listed here, when the Overview page said that there were VMs in the
cluster? _____________________________________________
7. Select the Include Controller VMs checkbox.
8. How many VCPU Cores are allocated to each CVM? _______________
9. How much RAM is allocated to each VM? _______________________
Prism Element (contd)
1. Take a few minutes to explore each of the following:

1. For each of the pages available in the Page pull-down menu, note which pages have Table
views, and which have Diagram views.
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Figure: Pull-Down Menu
2. Also, explore the features available under the gear icon.
Figure: Gear Icon
3. Explore the functions available under the Admin menu.
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Figure: Admin Menu
4. Enter some text in the Search box and click the magnifying glass icon.
Figure: Search Box
2. When you have a familiarity with the Prism management interface, return to the Home page by
clicking on the large N in the middle of the page.
Figure: N Box
nCLI Exercise
In this exercise, you explore Nutanix Command Line Interface (nCLI), learn how to obtain help inside
nCLI, and how to use nCLI to read and create objects in the cluster.
• Use basic nCLI commands and get help.
• Perform read operations.
• Build a container.
In this task, you access the nCLI shell and perform some basic commands.
1. Open PuTTY and connect to your training cluster IP address using the credentials supplied on
your exercise handout.
Figure: The PuTTY Window
2. From the command prompt, display a list of the SSD disks in the cluster by entering the
command ncli disk list | grep SSD.
3. From the command prompt, display a list of the HDD disks in the cluster by entering the
command ncli disk list | grep HDD.
4. From the command prompt, enter the nCLI shell by entering the command ncli .
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Figure: nCLI Shell
5. Display nCLI general help by entering the command help.
6. To display help for the datastore entity, enter the command datastore help.
Figure: nCLI Datastore Help
7. To get help on the container entity, use the command container help.
8. What command would you enter to get nCLI help for user accounts?
9. Based on the previous step, what command would you enter to list user accounts?
10. Exit the nCLI shell by entering the command exit.
Figure: Exit the nCLI Shell
nCLI (contd)
In this task, you use the nCLI shell to answer the following questions.
1. Enter the nCLI shell by typing the command ncli.
2. List all the storage pools in the cluster by entering the following command storagepool list.
How many storage pools does the cluster have?
3. List all the storage containers in the cluster by entering the command container list. How many
storage containers does the cluster have?
4. Referring to the storage container named default-container-nnnnnn, answer the following

questions.
1. How much free space is available in the storage container?
2. How much space has been used in the storage container?
3. What is the compression setting?
5. List all virtual machines on the cluster by entering the command virtualmachine list. How many
virtual machines are there in the cluster?
6. Display information about the cluster by entering the command cluster info.
1. What software version is running on the cluster?
2. How many nodes and blocks are in the cluster?
3. What is the cluster time zone?
7. Exit the nCLI shell by entering the command exit.
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Figure: Exit nCLI Shell
8. You can combine bash shell commands and nCLI commands to filter and format nCLI output. To
count the number of SSDs in the cluster, enter the command ncli disk list | grep SSD | wc –
l.
1. How many SSDs are in the cluster?

2. How many HDDs are in the cluster?
nCLI (contd)
In this task, you create and delete a storage container using nCLI.
1. From the command prompt, enter the nCLI shell by entering the command ncli.
Figure: nCLI Shell
2. To list the parameters for the container create command, enter the command container
create. Then press the Tab key.
Figure: Container Create <TAB>
3. To get help with the container create command, enter the following command: container
create help
4. The name of the storage pool is a required argument to the container create command. Use the
storagepool list command and note the unique name of the default-storage-pool-nnnnn on
the cluster using the command storagepool list.
| 57
5. Create a container named cli-container1 by entering the command container create
name=”cli-container1” sp-name=“default-storage-pool-nnnnn”.
6. Use the same container create command to create a second container named cli-container2
on the default storage pool.
7. Verify that these two containers were created by using the command container list.
8. Log in to the cluster Prism interface using your web browser.
9. Select the Storage tab in the Prism interface, then the Table link, and then click the Storage
Container button. Verify that the two containers cli-container1 and cli-container2 were created.
Figure: Verify that the Two Containers Were Created
10. Delete cli-container1 by highlighting cli-container1 and selecting the Delete link.
Figure: Delete Container
11. Confirm the deletion by clicking the OK button.
Figure: Verify that Container Was Deleted
12. Verify that the cli-container1 has been deleted, and that the cli-container2 remains.
| 59
Figure: Confirm Container Remains
13. Return to your PuTTY terminal session.
14. Delete cli-container2 by running the command container remove name=”cli-container2”.
15. Use the container list command to verify that both cli-container1 and cli-container2 have
been deleted from the cluster by issuing the container list name=”cli-container1” and
container list name=”cli-container2” commands.
Add User
In this exercise, you add a local (i.e. non-domain) user account to your Nutanix cluster. This user can
then log in and perform cluster tasks based on the level of access they have been granted.
• Add a user to your cluster.
• Test the new user by logging into their account.
2. Click the gear icon and select User Management.
Figure: User Management
3. In the User Management window, click the + New User button.
Figure: Add User
4. Complete the fields in the Create User window as follows:

1. Username: <enter your first and last name initials>
2. First name: <enter your first name>
3. Last name: <enter your last name>
4. Email: bogus@bogus.net
5. Password: nutanix/4u
6. Roles: check Cluster Admin only
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5. Click Save.
Figure: Click Save
6. Log out of the Prism interface by clicking the Admin menu and select Sign Out.
Figure: Sign Out
7. Log in to the Prism interface using the credentials of the account you just created earlier.
8. After you have logged back in, click the gear icon and see if you can see or access User
Management. What did you notice? Are you allowed to administer user accounts?
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Figure: Access User Management
Module 5
Networking
Topics: In this module, you learn about network management in Acropolis,
including how Acropolis uses Open vSwitch (OVS) for network
• Exercises management. Additionally, you learn how to configure bridges,
bonds, and VLANs so that you can change the default network
configuration based on networking best practices. You also learn
how to change the IP address, netmask, and the default gateway
of the nodes during the imaging process.
Objectives

• Discuss Open vSwitch.
• Discuss the default network factory configuration.
• List best practices for configuring network.
• View network configuration.
• Discuss virtual network segmentation.

Exercises
Networking
In this exercise, you apply the Nutanix recommended configuration in which 10g and 1g interfaces
are separated and added to unique bonds. This ensures that Controller VM and user VM traffic
remain separated with access to like infrastructure in the event of a link failure. In this exercise, you
create a new bridge on each AHV host and create bonds.
Host Network Configuration Exercise
In this exercise, you apply the Nutanix recommended configuration in which 10g and 1g interfaces
are separated and added to unique bonds. This ensures that Controller VM and user VM traffic
remain separated with access to like infrastructure in the event of a link failure. Note: It is a Nutanix
Best Practice to manage the AHV environment through Prism or by using SSH to access the
Controller VM. In your environment, avoid connecting directly to the AHV hosts unless you have
specific configuration tasks that require it.
• Create a new bridge on each AHV host.
• Create bonds.
In this task, you create a new bridge on each AHV host where, in a subsequent task, you will move
the 1GbE NICs.
1. Log in to any Controller VM in the cluster with SSH.

1. Double-click to open the PuTTY client on the desktop.
2. Enter the IP Address of a Controller VM and select the SSH radio button.
3. Click Open.
4. Log in with the credentials provided in your exercise handout.
2. List the existing bridges for each Nutanix node in the cluster. nutanix@cvm$ allssh ssh
root@192.168.5.1 "ovs-vsctl show"
You should see a single bridge named “br0”.
3. To view additional network interface information, type the following command: nutanix@cvm$
allssh manage_ovs show_interfaces
4. Create bridge “br1” on each Acropolis host in the cluster. nutanix@cvm$ allssh ssh
root@192.168.5.1 "ovs-vsctl add-br br1"
Host Network Configuration (Contd)
In this task, you create a new bond and move the 1GbE NICs on your clusters nodes to that bond.
1. Create new bonds.

1. Remove the 1GbE interfaces from the default bridge br0 on all Controller VMs (the actual
interface names will vary depending on your node’s hardware model and configuration,
but are typically in the set eth0, eth1, eth2, and/or eth3). These interfaces are removed
by specifying that only the 10g interfaces will remain in the bridge. The 10g shortcut lets
you include all 10g interfaces without having to explicitly specify the interfaces by name.
66 | Networking
nutanix@cvm$ allssh manage_ovs --bridge_name br0 --bond_name bond0 --interfaces 10g
update_uplinks
2. Verify that this operation has succeeded using the following command. nutanix@cvm$ allssh
manage_ovs --bridge_name br0 show_uplinks
You should see the following response: Uplink ports: bond0 Uplink ifaces: eth3 eth2
Note: The actual interface names displayed will depend on your host NIC
configuration. You should see all 10GbE interfaces listed.
3. Add only the 1GbE uplinks to br1 in the Controller VM using the 1g interface shortcut.
nutanix@cvm$ allssh manage_ovs --bridge_name br1 --bond_name bond1 --interfaces 1g
update_uplinks
4. Verify that this operation has succeeded using the following command. nutanix@cvm$ allssh
manage_ovs --bridge_name br1 show_uplinks
You should see the following response: Uplink ports: bond1 Uplink ifaces: eth0 eth1
Note: The actual interface names displayed will depend on your host NIC
configuration. You should see all 1GbE interfaces listed.
2. Verify connectivity to the cluster using the following command where CVM-IP is the IP address of
one of the Controller VMs in your cluster: ssh nutanix@CVM-IP ping CVM-IP
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68 | Networking
Module 6
VM Management
Topics: In this module, you learn about VM management in Acropolis.
You learn how to create a guest VM in Acropolis and how to use
• Exercises the Nutanix Image Service to import and then apply a new image
• Exercises to a guest VM. You also learn how to create a Windows VM.
• Exercises Next, you install Nutanix guest tools (NGT), a software bundle
that enables the advanced functionality provided by Nutanix.
After you have deployed NGT, you can use the self-service
restore feature to do a self-service recovery from the Nutanix data
protection snapshots. You then learn to customize VMs using
Cloud-Init and Sysprep. Finally, this module illustrates important
VM management terminology: MapReduce Tiering, live migration,
High Availability, and Data Path Redundancy.
Objectives

• Create an image using the Nutanix Image Service.
• Create a VM (Windows and AHV).
• Install Nutanix guest tools.
• Perform a self-service restore from Nutanix data protection
snapshots.
• Manage a VM (AHV).
• Customize VMs using Cloud-Init and SysPrep.
• Define MapReduce Tiering.
• Define live migration.
• Define High Availability.
• Define Data Path Redundancy.

Exercises
Creating a VM
In these exercises, you create a Windows VM. First, you create three networks: one unmanaged
VLAN network, one managed VLAN network, and an unmanaged network on the native VLAN
(VLAN 0). Then you upload ISO images, create a VM, power on the VM, and install Windows.
Create Managed and Unmanaged Networks Exercise
In this exercise, you create three networks: one unmanaged VLAN network, one managed VLAN
network, and an unmanaged network on the native VLAN (VLAN 0).
• Create an unmanaged network.
• Create a managed network.
• Create VLAN 0.
In this task, you create an unmanaged network.
1. Log on to your cluster Prism interface.
2. From the gear menu, select Network Configuration.
Figure: Network Configuration
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3. In the Network Configuration dialog box, select the +Create Network button.
Figure: Create Network
4. In the Create Network dialog box, fill out the fields as follows:
• Name: Unmanaged Network
• VLAN ID: <see your exercise handout>
• Enable IP Address Management: NOT checked
Figure: Create Network Enter Details
5. Click the Save button to create the network.
6. Click the Close button to exit the Create Network dialog box.
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Create Managed and Unmanaged Networks (contd)
In this task, you create an iPAM managed network.
1. From the Prism interface gear pull-down menu, select Network Configuration.
2. In the Network Configuration dialog box, select the +Create Network button.
3. In the Create Network dialog box, fill out the fields as follows:
• Name: Managed Network
• VLAN ID: <see your exercise handout>
• Enable IP Address Management: CHECKED
• Network IP Address/Prefix Length: <see your exercise handout>
• Gateway IP Address: <see your exercise handout>
Figure: Managed Network Enter Details
4. Click the +Create Pool button.
5. In the Add IP Pool dialog box, fill out the fields as follows:
• Start Address: <see your exercise handout>
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• End Address: <see your exercise handout>
Figure: Add IP Pool
6. Click the Submit button.
7. Click the next Submit button.
8. Click the Close button.
Figure: Close Button
Create Managed and Unmanaged Networks (contd)
In this task, you create an unmanaged network on VLAN 0.
Using the first two tasks in this exercise as your guide, create a third network named VLAN 0 as
an unmanaged network.
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Creating a Windows VM Exercise
In this exercise, you create a Windows VM, including installing Virt-IO drivers using the AHV image
service. You will use the VM created in this exercise as a template in other exercises, where you will
clone it for use in each respective exercise. This way you always have the original VM image in case
something goes wrong.
In this exercise, you perform several tasks. You:
• Upload ISO images.
• Create a VM.
• Power on the VM and install Windows.
In this task, you upload the Windows and Nutanix Virt-IO ISO images. Note: If you have previously
uploaded the Windows ISO image, you may skip this task, and move on to the next task.
1. Create a storage container to receive the Windows ISO image:

1. From the Home page pull-down menu, select the Storage page.
Figure: Create Storage Container

2. Click the + Storage Container button.
Figure: Click Storage Container
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3. In the Create Storage Container dialog box, create a container named ISOs.
Figure: Create Container Named ISOs

4. Click the Save button.
2. Upload the Windows ISO file into the ISO container.

1. From the gear icon pull-down menu, select Image Configuration.
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Figure: Image Configuration
2. In the Image Configuration dialog box, click the +Upload Image button.
Figure: Upload Image

3. In the Create Image dialog box, complete the fields as shown in the following image.
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Figure: Create Image Completed Fields
4. Click the Choose File button.
5. Select the Windows ISO file from the location specified on your exercise handout.
Note: The Windows ISO upload may take a few minutes to complete.
3. Repeat the previous steps to upload the Nutanix-VirtIO drivers.
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Figure: Upload Nutanix Virtual I/O Drivers
4. When the image has completed uploading, click the Close button in the Image Configuration
dialog box.
Figure: Close Image Configuration
Create Windows VM (contd)
In this task, you create a Windows VM and connect it to the unmanaged network.
1. From the Home page pull-down menu, select the VM page.
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Figure: Select VM
2. Select the + Create VM button.
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Figure: Complete Create VM Dialog Box
3. Complete the Create VM dialog box with the following information. If a field is not specified, leave
it with the default value.
1. Name: Windows-nnn where nnn is your training cluster number
2. VCPU(s): 1
3. Number of Cores per VCPU: 2
4. Memory: 4
4. Connect the Windows ISO Disks:

1. Select the edit (pencil) icon next to the CDROM.
2. In the Update Disk dialog box, select Clone from Image Service in the Operation pull-down
menu.
3. In the Image pull-down menu, select Windows 2012 Server ISO.
4. Click the Update button.
5. Create a hard disk.

1. Click the +Add New Disk link.
2. In the Size field, enter 40.
3. Click the Add button, returning to the Create VM dialog box.
6. Attach the Nutanix VirtIO ISO.

1. Click the +Add New Disk link.
2. In the Type pull-down menu, select CDROM.
3. In the Operation pull-down menu, select Clone from Image Service.
4. In the Image pull-down menu, select Nutanix VirtIO.
5. Click the Add button.
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Figure: Add Disk Dialog Box
7. Create a virtual NIC and connect it to the unmanaged network.

1. In the Create VM dialog box, select the Add New NIC button in the Network Adapters section.
2. In the VLAN Name pull-down menu, select Unmanaged Network and leave the IP Address
field blank.
3. Click the Add button, returning to the Create VM dialog box.
Create Windows VM (contd)
In this task, you power on the new VM, and install the Windows Server 2012 operating system.
1. In the pull-down menu, select VM.
2. Select the Table view and highlight the Windows VM.
Figure: Table View
3. Click the Power On link.
4. After the machine powers on, select the Launch Console link.
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Figure: Launch Console
5. In the console of the Windows VM, install the Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard (Server with a
GUI)
1. In the Windows Setup dialog, click the Next button and then click the Install now button.
2. In the Windows Setup dialog, highlight Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard (Server with a
GUI), then click the Next button.
3. Accept the license terms and click the Next button.
4. Select Custom Install Windows only (advanced).
Figure: Custom Install

5. Select Load Driver.
Figure: Select Load Driver

6. In the Load Driver dialog box, click the Browse button.
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Figure: Click Browse
7. Navigate to the E: Nutanix VirtIO drive, Windows Server 2012 R2 folder, and click the OK
button.
Figure: Navigate to drive

8. Use SHIFT-Left Click to select all the available drivers, and then click the Next button.
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Figure: Select Available Driver
9. Select the 40GB Drive 0 and then click the Next button.
Figure: Select 40 GB Drive

10.The Windows installation continues normally. When prompted for an Administrator password,
enter nutanix/4u.
Exercises
Enabling NGT
In this exercise, you enable Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) in a VM.
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Enabling NGT
In this exercise, you enable Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) in a VM.

• Add a user to your cluster.
• Test the new user by logging into their account.
2. Click the dashboard menu and select the VM dashboard.
3. Click the Table tab.
4. Select a VM in your table of VMs.
5. Click the Clone link below the table of VMs so that you are operating on a copy of the original
VM.
Figure: Clone Link
6. In the Clone VM window, enter NGT Test VM in the Name field. Leave all other fields at their
default values.
8. Select the NGT Test VM in the table of VMs.
9. Click the Update link below the table of VMs.

Note: The Update link is just to the right of the Clone link you selected earlier in this task.
10. Scroll down in the Update VM window until you get to the VM’s CDROM drive(s). For any
CDROM drive present, click the up-arrow eject button to eject any media still possibly in the drive.
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Figure: Eject Button
11. Click the Save button to close the Update VM window.
12. Click the Manage NGT link below the table of VMs.
Figure: Manage NGT
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13. In the Manage Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) window, click the Enable Nutanix Guest Tools check
box.
14. In the same window, make sure both of the following check boxes are selected:
• Self Service Restore (SSR)
• Volume Snapshot Service (VSS)
Figure: VSS
15. Click the Submit button.
16. Click the Power on link in the row of links below the table of VMs.
17. After the VM has powered on, click the Launch Console link in the row of links below the table of
VMs.
18. Click the ctl-alt-del icon in the row of icons in the upper left corner of the VM Console window.
Figure: Ctrl-Alt-Del Icon
19. Log in to the Windows VM as the user administrator with the password nutanix/4u.
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20. In the Windows VM, bring up a Windows File Explorer window by clicking the folder icon in the
taskbar.
Figure: Folder Icon
21. Double-click the Nutanix Guest Tools CD drive to open it.
22. Double-click the Setup application to begin the installation process.
23. In the Nutanix Guest Tools Setup window, click the check box to agree to the license terms and
then click the Install button.
Figure: Nutanix Guest Tools Setup
24. The installation of the Nutanix Guest Tools takes a minute or two. When the installation has
completed, click the Close button.
Exercises
VM Network Management
In these exercises, you perform VM network management tasks. First, you upload a CentOS ISO
to a container called ISO and provision a CentOS VM. Then you clone your Windows VM on one
network and move it to another network.
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Provisioning a CentOS VM Exercise
In this exercise, you learn how to install a CentOS VM on a Nutanix cluster.

• Upload a CentOS ISO to a container called ISO.
• Provision a CentOS VM.
In this task, you upload a CentOS ISO to the ISO container. The exercise begins with the
assumption that you are logged into your lab environment.
1. From your assigned desktop, open a web browser, enter your assigned cluster’s external virtual
IP address provided to you on your exercise handout. If you receive any sort of certificate
warning window(s), click through to accept the self-signed certificate so that you get to the cluster
login as displayed in the following screen.
Figure: Login Admin
3. Click Image Configuration from the gear pull-down menu.
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Figure: Image Configuration
4. Click +Upload Image in the Image Configuration dialog box.
Figure: Upload Image
5. Upload the CentOS ISO to the ISO container.
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Figure: Create Image
Fill in these Create Image window fields with the following values:
• NAME: CentOS_ISO
• IMAGE TYPE: ISO
• CONTAINER: default-container-<NNNNN>
6. Select Upload a file and click Choose File.
7. Click Save.
8. Consult with your instructor to find out where the ISO repository resides.
Provisioning a CentOS VM (contd)
In this task, you create a VM and install CentOS 7. This task begins with the assumption that you are
logged into your lab environment.
1. Select VM dashboard and click the Table tab. Click the +Create VM button.
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Figure: Create VM
Fill in these Create VM window fields with the following values:

• NAME: MyCentOS7
• VCPUS: 2
• NUMBER of CORES PER VCPU: 1
• MEMORY: 4
2. Scroll down the window and click the pencil icon next to the CD-ROM to select the CentOS ISO
for OS installation.
Figure: Create VM
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3. Select CentOS_ISO for the CDROM.
Figure: Update Disk
Fill in these Update Disk window fields with the following values:
• TYPE: CDROM
• OPERATION: Clone from Image Service
• IMAGE: CentOS_ISO
4. Click Update.
5. Click Add New Disk to create a vDisk for the VM.
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Figure: Add New Disk
Fill in these Add New Disk window fields with the following values:
• TYPE: DISK
• OPERATION: Allocate on Storage Container
• BUS TYPE: SCSI
• STORAGE CONTAINER: default-container-<NNNNN>
• SIZE (GB): 40
6. Click Add.
7. Select Add New NIC.
8. Select vlan.0 and click Add.
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Figure: Add New NIC
9. Click Save.
10. At the VM dashboard, select the Table tab. Select the CentOS VM and click Power on. Click
Launch Console.
11. Select English (United States) for installation. Click Continue.
12. Click Installation Destination.
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Figure: Installation Destination
13. Click Done.
Figure: Click Done
14. Click Begin Installation.
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Figure: Begin Installation
15. Click ROOT PASSWORD to configure the password for root user.
Figure: Root Password
16. Enter nutanix/4u as the root password. Click Done.
Figure: Root Password Done
17. Click USER CREATION. Create a user named student and set his password as nutanix/4u.
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Figure: User Creation
18. Click Finish Configuration.
19. Click Reboot.
Figure: Click Reboot
20. At the VM dashboard, select the Table tab. Select the CentOS VM and click Power Off.
21. Select the CentOS VM and click Update.
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Figure: Update VM
22. Click the pencil icon on the same line as CDROM.
Figure: Update Disk
23. Click Update and then click Save.
24. Select the CentOS VM and click Power On. At the CentOS VM console, log in as student.
Figure: Cent OS Vm Power On
25. At the command prompt, run the ip addr sh command to display the IP address on the VM NIC.
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Figure: Run ipaddr shr
The CentOS VM does not receive an IP address from the DHCP address pool. This is an
expected outcome because CentOS 7 minimal has its network adapter disabled by default.
26. Run the nmcli d command at the command prompt to confirm eth0 is disconnected.
Figure: Run the nmcli d Command
27. Run the nmtui command to launch the network management user interface.
Figure: Run the nmtui Command
28. Enter Edit a connection and navigate to <Edit …>. Press Enter.
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Figure: Edit Connection
29. Press the Tab key to move the cursor and select Automatically connect.
Figure: Automatically Connect
30. Press the Tab key to move the cursor to OK and press Enter.
31. At the command prompt, run the service network restart command.
Figure: Service Request Restart
32. At the command prompt, run the ip addr sh command to verify that the VM has an IP address.
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Figure: Run ip addr sh
33. At the command prompt, run the ping 10.30.0.1 command to verify connectivity to the default
gateway.
Figure: Ping IP
VM Network Management Exercises
In this exercise, you clone your Windows VM on one network and move it to another network. This
exercise assumes you have previously created a Windows VM. If you have not yet done so, please
complete the Create a Windows VM exercise now.
In this exercise. you perform the following tasks:
• Observe a VM on an unmanaged network
• Move the VM to a managed network
In this task, you observe the behavior of a VM attached to an unmanaged network.
1. In the Prism UI, switch to the VM dashboard.
3. Select your Windows VM in the table of VMs.
4. In the row of links below the table of VMs, select the Clone link.
5. In the Name text field of the Clone VM window, enter Network VM Test.
7. Click the Power On link in the row of links below the table of VMs.
8. Open a console window to the Windows VM you cloned in the previous steps.
9. Click on the ctrl-alt-del icon and log in to the Windows VM.
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Figure: Ctrl Alt Del icon
10. Right-click on the network icon in the system tray and select Open Network and Sharing
Center.
11. Select the Ethernet link.
Figure: Select Ethernet Link
12. In the Ethernet Status dialog box, click the Properties button.
13. In the Ethernet Properties dialog box, highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click
the Properties button.
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Figure: Ethernet Properties
14. Verify that the Obtain an IP address automatically field is selected.
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Figure: Obtain IP Addresses
15. Cancel and close all Network and Sharing Center dialog boxes.
16. On the Windows VM, open a command prompt.
17. In the Command Prompt window, run the ipconfig command.
18. What is the IPv4 address assigned to the Ethernet adapter?

__________________________________________________
19. What does this tell you about the state of DHCP services available to the Windows VM?
___________________________________________________
VM Network Management (Contd)
In this task, you add and remove virtual NICs attached to the managed and unmanaged networks.
1. On the Prism management interface for your cluster, select the VM dashboard. Select the Table
view.
2. Highlight the Windows VM and select the update link (pencil icon).
3. In the Update VM dialog box, scroll down to the Network Adapters (NIC) area and click the +Add
New NIC link.
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Figure: Add New NIC
4. In the Create NIC dialog box, select Managed Network from the VLAN Name pull down list.
Then click the Add button.
Figure: Create NIC Add
5. When complete, click the Save button in the Update VM dialog box.
6. In the VM Table view of the Prism management interface, hover your mouse over the IP address
cell for the Windows VM.
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Figure: Mouse Over IP
7. What IP addresses are assigned to the Windows VM?

__________________________________________________________________
8. Return to the remote console of the Windows VM and issue the ipconfig command in the
Command Prompt window.
9. How many interfaces do you see? _________________________________
10. What are the IPv4 addresses reported from the ipconfig command?
___________________________________________________________
11. Return to the Prism management interface, VM page, Table view.
12. Highlight the Windows VM and click the update link (pencil icon).
13. In the Update VM dialog box, scroll down to the Network Adapters (NIC) area, and delete the
virtual NIC on the unmanaged network by clicking the X adjacent to it.
14. When asked, “Are you sure you want to delete the NIC?”, click the Yes button.
15. When the operation completes, click the Save button in the Update VM dialog box.
16. When the operation completes, hover over the IP address cell for the Windows VM.
a. What IP address(es) is/are shown? _________________________________________
17. Return to the command prompt on the Windows VM and issue the ipconfig command.
a. Does the information returned from the ipconfig command agree with what was shown in the
Prism management interface? __________________________________
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108 | VM Management
Module 7
Health Monitoring and Alerts
Topics: In this module, you learn how to use the Health Dashboard
to monitor cluster health and how to configure health checks
• Exercises for various components. You also learn how to monitor cluster
• Exercises performance and how to handle system alerts and events. In
addition, this module covers how to customize email alerts.
Objectives

• Explain how to monitor the health of a Nutanix cluster.
• Describe the Health dashboard and its major components.
• Configure a health check.
• Explain how to monitor alerts and events.
• Configure the alert email settings for a cluster.

Exercises
Performance Monitoring
In this exercise, you use the Analysis dashboard to monitor write IOPS on a performance chart. You
to configure a performance chart using the Analysis dashboard. By generating write I/Os from a
CentOS VM, you see a real time performance graph on the performance chart.
Performance Monitoring Exercise
In this exercise, you begin by deploying a CentOS VM on your cluster. You then set up a
performance chart on the Prism web console for monitoring VM disk write I/O. Finally, you configure
the VM to write zero to its local disk and monitor its write IOPS on the performance chart.
In this task, you create a CentOS VM from the Prism web console. The exercise begins with the
Note: Skip this task if a CentOS VM has been provisioned in the cluster.
Figure: Login Admin
3. From the main menu, select VM dashboard and then select Table tab. If a CentOS VM already
exists, skip the remaining steps in the task.
4. Otherwise, create a CentOS 7 VM by following the Provisioning a CentOS VM Exercise in

Module 7 of this lab manual.
110 | Health Monitoring and Alerts

Performance Monitoring (contd)
In this task, you create a performance chart to monitor VM disk I/O. This exercise begins with the
Figure: Login Admin
3. Select Analysis dashboard and click New Entity Chart where an entity can be a host, a VM, a
container, and so on.
Figure: New Entity Chart
4. Fill in the New Entity Chart fields with the following values:
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1. Chart title: VM disk write I/O
2. Entity type: Virtual Machine
3. Entity: CentOS VM Name
4. Metric: Storage Controller IOPS-Write
Figure: New Entity Chart
5. Click Save.
6. Set the scale to 3 hours.

Figure: Set Scale for 3 hrs
Performance Monitoring (contd)
In this task, you configure the CentOS VM to write data to its local disk using Linux command dd and
then monitor its write IOPS on the performance chart. The exercise begins with the assumption that
you are logged into your lab environment.
Figure: Login Admin
3. Run the dd command as follows:
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dd if=/dev/zero of=/root/bigfile bs=64k count=500000 oflag=direct
This command will write 500,000 64k blocks to the root directory.
Figure: Run dd command
4. Refresh the URL link to see the updated chart.
Figure: Refresh URL
Exercises
Health Alerts
In this exercise, you manage alerts on the Alert dashboard. You begin by generating an alert
on the Alert dashboard, and then you use the Alert dashboard for alert viewing, filtering,
acknowledgement, and resolution.
Health Alert Exercises
In this exercise, you use the Alert dashboard to manage alerts. You generate an alert and
subsequently view the alert, create a filter, acknowledge the alert, and resolve it.
In this task, you generate an alert by stopping the Stargate service. This exercise begins with the
IP address provided to you on your exercise handout into the browser’s URL bar. If you receive
any sort of certificate warning window(s), click through to accept the self-signed certificate so that
you get to the cluster login.

Figure: Login Admin
3. PuTTY to one of the CVM IP addresses and run genesis stop stargate on nCLI.
4. Confirm that the Stargate service is down by running the cluster status command on nCLI.
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Figure: Confirm Stargate Service is Down
5. PuTTY to the underlying AHV host by running the ssh root@192.168.5.1 command on nCLI.
6. Run the route command to display the routing table. Confirm that the host route 192.168.5.2/32
appears in the routing table.
Figure: Display the Routing Table
7. Select the Alert dashboard and set the filter to the Warning level. It may take several minutes for
the Stargate alert to appear.

Figure: Stargate Alert
8. Select the Stargate alert, and click the Acknowledge button.
Figure: Click Acknowledge
9. PuTTY to the same CVM and run the genesis restart stargate command on nCLI. Confirm that
the Stargate service is UP by running the cluster status command. It may take a few minutes
for the Stargate service to come back up.
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Figure: Stargate Service Up
10. PuTTY to the underlying AHV host by running ssh root@192.168.5.1 on nCLI.
11. Run the route command on nCLI. Confirm that the host route 192.168.5.2/32 has been deleted
from the routing table.
Figure: Run Route Command
12. Select the Stargate alert on the Alert dashboard and click the Resolved button.

Figure: Click Resolved
13. Confirm that the alert has been deleted.
Figure: Confirm Alert Deleted
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Module 8
Distributed Storage Fabric
Topics: This module covers how Nutanix manages storage to protect
data and optimize cluster capacity. It explains how to use the
• Exercises Storage Dashboard to monitor storage space for performance
• Exercises and reliability to prevent problems. You learn about compression,
erasure coding, and deduplication to get the most out of existing
storage capacity. This module also covers how to create a storage
container and a storage pool. You also learn about in-place
hypervisor conversion, hypervisor integration with existing storage,
and networking, including vLANs.
Objectives

• Explain how Nutanix manages storage.
• List and explain some of the various storage components,
including storage tiers, storage pools, containers, volume
groups, vDisks, and data stores.
• Navigate the Storage dashboard.
• Discuss how deduplication allows for sharing of guest VM data
in storage tiers.
• Explain how erasure coding works to increase cluster capacity.
• Create a storage pool.
• Create a storage container.
• Perform an in-place hypervisor conversion.
• Define hypervisor integration.
• Explain how vLANs work.

Exercises
Storage
In this exercise, you add two additional drives to a VM populating each of the two drives with a large
text file. You place one of the added drives onto a container with compression enabled and place the
other added drive onto a container that does not have compression enabled. You then compare the
two drives in the VM and in the Prism interface to see how their storage use compares.
Storage Exercises
In these exercises, you add two additional drives to a VM populating each of the two drives with a
large text file. You place one of the drives onto a container with compression enabled, and place the
other added drive onto a container that does not have compression enabled. You then compare the
two drives in the VM and in the Prism interface to see how their storage use compares.
This exercise consists of the following tasks:
1. Create a new container with compression enabled.
2. Add two additional virtual disks to your VM.
3. Format the new disks in Windows.
4. Create a large file in each of the VMs new virtual disks.
5. Observe the result of compression savings.
In this task, you create a new storage container with compression enabled.
1. If you are not already logged into the Prism web interface, log in to your cluster using the IP
address and login credentials provided on your exercise handout now.
2. Switch to the Storage dashboard.
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Figure: Storage Dashboard
3. Before you create a new container, examine the Capacity Optimization box in the lower-left
corner of the browser window. Does it indicate any savings due to compression? (It should not,
as we have not yet enabled compression on any containers).
4. Click the + Storage Container button.
Figure: Storage Container
5. In the Create Storage Container window, enter Compressed-Container in the Name text box.
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Figure: Compressed Container
6. Click the Advanced Settings button. The advanced container settings are displayed.
Figure: Advanced Settings
7. Select the Compression check box, leave the Delay in Minutes field at 0 to enable compression
on write.

Figure: Select Compression Check Box
8. Click the Save button to complete the creation of the storage container.
Storage (contd)
In this task, you add two additional virtual disks to your VM. One of these drives will be placed
onto the uncompressed default-container while the other drive will be placed onto the compressed
container that you just created in the previous task. In a subsequent task, you populate both of these
virtual disks with a large compressible file so that you can compare them.
1. If you are not already in the VM dashboard, switch to the VM dashboard now.
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Figure: Select VM Dashboard

Figure: Select Table Tab
3. Click to select the VM you are using for this exercise (your VM name will likely differ from the one
in the screens shown).
Figure: Select VM
4. If the VM is powered on, click the Power Off Actions button (below the table of VMs) and select
Power off.
Figure: Power Off
5. Click the Update link in the links below the table of VMs.
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Figure: Update
6. In the Update VM dialog box, click the + Add New Disk link.
Figure: Add New Disk
7. Enter the following values into the Add Disk box (leaving all other fields at their default values):
1. Storage Container: Compressed-Container
2. Size (GiB): 10
8. Click the Add button to add this second disk to your VM.

Figure: Add Disk
9. Repeat the previous steps to add a second additional 10GB drive to the VM with the second
added disk placed into the default-container. Make sure you add this second drive to the default-
container.
Figure: Add Second Disk
10. Click Save to close the Update VM window.
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Storage (contd)
In this task, you format the second drive in your Windows VM so that you can then populate the new
drive with a large file.
1. Click the Power on link in the row of links below the VM table.
Figure: Power On Link
2. When the VM has powered on, click the Launch Console link in the same row of links.
3. In the upper-right corner of the VM console window, click the ctl-alt-del link to log in to your VM.
The credentials should have been set when you created the VM. If you do not know the login
credentials, ask your instructor.
Figure: Click Ctrl-Alt-Del Icon
4. If it is not already running, start the Windows Server Manager by clicking Start Menu > Server
Manager.

Figure: Server Manager
Note: Server Manager may take a minute to completely start up.
5. In Server Manager, click File and Storage Services.
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Figure: Click File and Storage Services
6. Click Disks.
Figure: Click Disks
7. In the list of disks, click to select either of the two offline 10GB drives in the list.

Figure: Click Drive 1
8. Right-click the drive and select Bring Online. Click Yes in the Bring Disk Online window.
9. Bring the second 10GB disk online by repeating the previous steps.
10. Right-click the drive again, this time selecting New Volume…
Figure: New Volume
11. In the New Volume Wizard… do the following in the following windows:
1. In the Before You Begin window, click Next .
2. In the Server and Disk window, click Next .
3. Click OK to confirm the Offline or Uninitialized Disk dialog box.
4. Click Next in the Size window.
5. In the Drive Letter or Folder window, note the drive letter used and then click Next. The drive
letter used is: _____
6. In the File System Settings window, click Next .
7. In the Confirmation window, click Create and wait for the drive to be formatted and brought
online.
8. Click Close.
12. Repeat the previous New Volume Wizard steps for the second 10GB virtual disk drive and note
the drive letter assigned to that disk drive here: _____
13. When you have created new volumes on the two drives, the Server Manager window should look
something like the following screen:
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Figure: Server Manager
14. Close the Server Manager window.
Storage (contd)
In this task, you create a large file with some compressible content in your VM.
1. Upload CubicDesign tools into the Image Service.

Note: The specific steps for installing the CubicDesign tools into your VM can be obtained from
your instructor. The process in a Nutanix training environment, at a high level, is outlined in the
following sub-steps:
1. From the gear menu, select Image Configuration.
2. Click the Upload Image button.
3. Fill out the Create Image window as follows:
a. Name: CubicDesignTools
b. Image Type: ISO
c. Storage Container: ISOs
d. Check the Upload a file radio button and navigate to the location of the CubicDesignTools
as specified on your exercise handout or as specified by your instructor.
e. Click Save.

Figure: Create Image
2. Switch to the VM dashboard, click the Table tab, and select your VM.
3. Click the Update link below the VM table.
4. Scroll down until you see the (first) CDROM device and click the pencil icon. Fill out the Update
Disk window as follows:
1. Operation: Clone from Image Service
2. Image: CubicDesignTools
3. Click the Update link.
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Figure: Update Disk
5. Click the Launch Console link in the row of links below the table of VMs and log in to your VM as
administrator.
6. Open a Windows File Explorer window, double-click the CD Drive, and then double-click the
CubicDesign-tools installer.
Figure: CubicDesign
7. Click the Extract button to install the tools.

Figure: Extract
8. In the Windows File Explorer window, click the C: drive and then open the folder System tools
package. Scroll down and double-click Disk Tools.
9. In the File Generator window, make sure the File Generator tab is selected and fill out the fields
as follows (any field not mentioned should be left at its default value):
• Number of files > Generate: 1
• File size: Click the GBytes radio button and enter 5 into the number box
• File name > Output folder (text box): E:\. Note: It’s OK to leave Random name selected.
• File content: Select the Fill the files with the content radio button. Note: When you are
finished, the File Generator window should look something like the following screen.
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Figure: File Generator
10. Click the Create button to create the large file. This may take up to a minute to complete.
Note: If you want, you can use a Windows File Browser window to monitor the progress of the file
creation.
11. Repeat the File Generator step, generating a large file on the second virtual disk drive you added
to your VM. When the second file has been created, you can close the File Generator window
12. When you have generated your two large files, examine the drives in the Windows File Explorer
to see how much space these files have consumed.

Figure: Space Consumed
Storage (contd)
In this task, you enable the compression feature in your storage container, then clone the VM with
the large file and observe the result of the container’s compression.
1. Switch back to the Storage dashboard and click the Overview tab.
2. Examine the Capacity Optimization box in the lower-left corner of the browser window. Does it
show any savings due to compression?
Note: The capacity savings may take some time to realize and display in the Prism interface, but
you should be seeing some level of savings right away.
4. Click the Storage Container tab
5. In the list of containers, click to select the Compressed-Container.
6. Look below the table of containers in the Storage Container Details box.
• Is Compression on?
• What is the value for Compression Delay?
• How much space has been saved due to compression?
• What is the current compression ratio?
7. Use the following screen to locate the values asked for in the previous step.
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Figure: Locate Values

Exercises
Hypervisor Integration
In this exercise, you investigate Nutanix integration with vSphere.
Hypervisor Integration Exercise
In this exercise, you integrate Nutanix nodes running ESXi to vCenter environment. You add
Nutanix nodes running ESXi to a vCenter and present a storage container to the hosts as their NFS
datastore.
In this task, you verify CVM network connectivity in a vSphere environment. You also present a
container to ESXi hosts. This exercise begins with the assumption that you are logged into a desktop
that has access to your lab environment.
1. `From your assigned desktop, open a web browser and enter your assigned cluster’s external
virtual IP address provided to you on your exercise handout. If you receive a certificate warning
window, click through to accept the self-signed certificate so that you get to the cluster log in as
displayed in the following screen.
Figure: Prism Login Screen
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Figure: Login Admin
3. Log in to vCenter from the vSphere client on the virtual desktop. Locate your datacenter in the
vCenter.
4. If your datacenter does not have your Nutanix nodes added, right click your datacenter and select
Add Host. Otherwise, go to step 7.
Figure: Add Host
5. Enter the IP address of an ESXi host (one of your Nutanix nodes) and its root credential as
provided in your exercise handout.

Figure: Add Host Wizard
6. Repeat step 5 for the other hosts in your cluster.
7. Click the + beside an ESXi host in your datacenter. A VM will appear under the host. This VM
is the CVM that has a name such as NTNX-<cluster name>-<block serial num>-<node
position>.
8. Select an ESXi host in your datacenter. On the Configuration tab, click the Storage link. You
should see a local datastore with a name such as NTNX-<block serial num>-<node position>.
No other datastore is seen by the ESXi host.
Figure: Configuration Tab
9. Click the Networking link. You should see two vSphere standard switches (VSS): vSwitch0 and
vSwitchNutanix.
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Figure: Two vSphere Standard Switches
Note that the CVM has two vNICs with one vNIC sitting on vSwitch0 and another vNIC sitting on
vSwitchNutanix.
vSwitchNutanix is an internal-only vSwitch, serving communication between the CVM and a
VMKernel port (vmk1).
vSwitch0 is connected to the physical network via the host network adapters. CVMs
communicate with each other via their vSwitch0.
10. In the Prism web console, select the Storage dashboard. Go to the Storage Container tab,
select the default container and click Update.
By default, a container is unmounted on all ESXi hosts. Select Mount on all ESXi hosts and
click Save.
Figure: Update Container

11. Confirm that this container appears as an NFS datastore on the ESXi hosts.
Figure: NFS Datastore
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Module 9
AHV Workload Migration
Topics: In this module, you learn about workload migration in AHV. You
learn to migrate VM disks created in ESXi to AHV.
• Exercises
Objectives

• List prerequisites for Windows VM migration.
• Migrate Windows VM from ESXi to AHV cluster.
• List prerequisites for Linux VM migration.
• Migrate Linux VM from ESXi to AHV cluster.

Exercises
Migrating a VM
In this exercise, you use the Nutanix Image Service to migrate an ESXi VM workload to AHV. To
accomplish this task, you:
• Prepare an ESXi VM for migration
• Migrate the VM disks from ESXi and convert them to AHV format
• Create a new VM in AHV and bring the disks online
Migrating a VM Exercises
In these exercises, you migrate a VM to AHV.

In this exercise, you use the Nutanix Image Service to migrate an ESXi VM workload to AHV. To
accomplish this task, you:
• Prepare an ESXi VM for migration
• Migrate the VM disks from ESXi and convert them to AHV Format
• Create a new VM in AHV and bring the disks online
1. In the AHV cluster, create a container called VM_Migrate-<your initials>. Note: your-initials are
your name’s initials and are used so that if you are sharing a cluster with a lab partner, you each
have a uniquely named container to use for this in exercise.
1. Select Storage from the drop-down list.
2. Click Table view.
Figure: Table View

3. Click + Container.
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Figure: Click +Container
4. Enter VM_Migrate-<your initials> in the Name field. Select the default Storage Pool. Click
Save.
Figure: Storage Pool
2. Select the VM to migrate.

1. Log in to the vCenter Server using the IP address and login credentials provided to you in
your exercise handout sheet.
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Figure: Log In to the VCenter Server
2. Click Hosts and Clusters.
Figure: Hosts and Clusters

3. Expand the cluster specified by either your exercise handout or your instructor.
4. Select the host on which the VM is created.
5. Select and power on the VM assigned to you as specified by either your exercise handout or
your instructor.
6. Note here the following configuration information about the VM you have selected (this
information will be used later in the exercise when you build a new VM in your AHV cluster):

• Number of vCPUs: __________
• Amount of RAM: __________
• Size of system virtual disk in GB: __________
7. Log in to the VM using the following credentials:
• Username: administrator
• Password: nutanix/4u
8. Right-click anywhere on the Windows desktop and select New > Folder. Name the new folder
anything you like. When the VM has been migrated to AHV, you will check to verify that this
folder has migrated with the VM. The folder here represents any system or user data present
in the VM.
3. In the Prism browser window, click the gear icon and select Filesystem Whitelist.
Figure: Gear Icon
4. Enter the IP address of one of the cluster’s CVMs where the container you created earlier
resides, using the format of nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn/ xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (IP address/subnet mask). The
system will not accept CIDR notation for this entry.
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Figure: Enter IP Address
5. Click Add to save the entry, and then click Close to close the window.
Migrating a VM (contd)
In this task, you migrate the VM from the ESXi cluster to your AHV cluster.
1. In vCenter, select the host on which the VM is running.
Figure: Select Host
2. Click the Configuration tab.
Figure: Click Configuration
3. Click the Storage link.

Figure: Click Storage Link
4. Click the Add Storage link.
Figure: Add Storage Link
5. The Add Storage dialog box is displayed. Select Network File System and click Next.
Figure: Network File System
6. Enter the required details in the Network File Systems page:

• Server: Enter the CVM IP address.
• Folder: Enter a forward slash followed by the container name datastore.
• Datastore Name: Enter an appropriate name and then click Next when done.
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Figure: Enter Network File System Details
7. Click Finish.
Figure: Click Finish
8. Right-click the VM and select Migrate.

Figure: Migrate
9. In the Migrate Virtual Machine dialog box, select Change datastore and click Next.
Figure: Change Datastore
10. Select the VM_Migrate-<your initials> datastore that you created earlier. Ensure that the
Compatibility shows as Validation succeeded. Click Next.
11. Click Finish.

Note: The storage migration may take a few minutes.
12. When the VM’s storage has completed migration to the AHV cluster storage container, power off
the VM.
Migrating a VM (contd)
In this task, you create a new VM in AHV cluster using the data from the VM you migrated in the
previous task and power the VM on to verify a successful migration.
1. If you are not already logged into Prism, log in to Prism now.
2. From the dashboard drop-down list, select VM.
3. Click the Create VM button. The Create VM dialog box is displayed.
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4. Enter the VM details (same as you entered in the ESXi cluster). Enter the Name, VCPU(s),
Number of cores per VCPU and Memory fields.
5. Click the Add new disk button. The Add Disk dialog box is displayed. In the Add Disk window,
enter the following:
1. TYPE: DISK.
2. From the Operation drop-down list, select Clone From ADFS File.
3. From the Bus Type drop-down list, select SCSI.
4. In the Path field, enter a forward slash and then select the container in which the VM is
migrated (e.g. VM_Migrate-<your initials>). Again enter a slash and select the VM name.
Once again, enter a slash and select the flat.vmdk file for the VM.
5. Enter the size of the disk in the Size (GIB) field.
6. Click Add.
Figure: Add Disk
Note: The previous screen (particularly the disk path field) will vary from your lab environment.
6. Click the Add new NIC button. Click Add.

Figure: Add New NIC
7. Click Save.
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Figure: Click Save
8. Click the Table tab, then select the VM and click Power On.
9. Click Launch Console to verify if the VM is migrated successfully.
10. Log in to the VM and check the desktop. Do you see the folder you created earlier in the
exercise?

Module 10
Services
Topics: Acropolis Block Services (ABS) provides highly available and high
performance block storage as iSCSI LUNs to clients with simple
• Exercises client configuration. Clients can be non-Nutanix servers external to
the cluster or guest VMs internal or external to the cluster, with the
cluster block storage configured as one or more volume groups.
Acropolis File Services (AFS) enables you to share files across
user work stations or VMs in a centralized protected location to
help eliminate the requirement for a third-party file server. This
module describes all of these services, and teaches you how to
use them.
Objectives

• Define Acropolis Block Services.
• Define block relationships.
• List steps to enable ABS.
• Define Acropolis File Services.
• Discuss quotas, notifications, and policies.
• Discuss AFS load balancing.

Exercises
Acropolis Block Services

In this exercise, you configure Acropolis Block Services (ABS). This exercise is comprised of several
tasks. You:
1. Configure a volume group in your cluster.
2. Enable iSCSI initiator function on a windows 2012 VM in your cluster.
3. Configure your volume group to permit access from your windows 2012 VM created in task 2.
4. Investigate how vDisks in a volume group are distributed for load balancing across the CVMs in
the cluster.
Configuring Acropolis Block Services Exercises
Acropolis Block Services (ABS) enables a Nutanix cluster to present volumes or LUNs to external
physical servers or virtual machines. Along with Nutanix web scale architecture, ABS provides a
scaled out SAN solution for enterprise IT.
In this exercise, you configure Acropolis Block Services.
These exercises requires two clusters: your own cluster and your peer cluster. Consult with your
instructor if you are unsure of who your peer cluster is.
These exercises are composed of several tasks. You:
• Configure a volume group in your own cluster.
• Enable iSCSI initiator function on a Windows 2012 VM in your peer cluster.
• Configure your volume group to permit access from your peer Windows 2012 VM.
• Investigate how vDisks in a volume group are distributed for load balancing across the CVMs in
the cluster.
In this task, you learn how to create a volume group in your own cluster. The task begins with the
you get to the cluster login as displayed in the following screen.
160 | Services
Figure: Login Admin
3. Click on the gear icon and click Cluster Details.
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Figure: Cluster Details
Enter the External Data Services IP address as provided in your exercise handout for your cluster
and click Save.
External physical servers or VMs will be pointing to this external data services IP address as their
iSCSI discovery portal.
4. At the Prism storage dashboard, select +Volume Group.
5. Create a volume group named trainingXX-vg where XX = <01, 02, 03, … your cluster
number>.
6. Add three vdisks of 10G each to the volume group in the default-container-nnnnn.
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Figure: Create Volume Group
7. Select Share across multiple iscsi initiators or multiple VMs. Click Save.
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Figure: Click Save
Configuring Acropolis Block Services (contd)
In this exercise, you configure a Windows 2012 VM as an iSCSI initiator. You configure a Windows
2012 VM in your peer cluster as an iSCSI initiator. The exercise begins with the assumption that you
are logged in to your peer cluster.
1. At the VM dashboard, select the Windows 2012 VM and click Launch Console.
164 | Services
2. At the Windows 2012 VM command prompt, enter services.msc.
Figure: Enter Miscellaneous Services
3. Select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service. Start the service and set the startup type as
automatic.
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Figure: Automatic
4. At the Windows 2012 VM command prompt, enter firewall.cpl to bring up the firewall control
panel.
Figure: Bring Up Firewall
166 | Services
5. Click Allow an app or feature through Windows firewall.
Figure: Allow an App
6. Select iSCSI Service on the Public network and click OK.
7. At the Windows 2012 VM command prompt, enter iscsicpl.exe to bring up iSCSI control panel.
8. Click the Configuration tab.
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Figure: Select Configuration Tab
9. Click the Change button to modify the initiator name. Rename the initiator name to
iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:win-1 and click OK.
In this task, you configure your volume group to permit your peer Windows 2012 VM access. You
configure your peer Windows 2012 VM to point to your external data services IP address as its
iSCSI discovery portal. You then confirm that three new disks appear in your peer Windows 2012
VM and the Windows 2012 VM iSCSI initiator name appear on your volume group. The task begins
with the assumption that you are logged in to your own cluster.
1. Return to the Prism interface.
2. At the Storage page, Table view, select Volume Group and highlight the volume group you
created in task 1. Click Update.
168 | Services
Figure: Update Volume Group
3. Click the Access Control check box then click the Add New Client button.
Figure: Access Control
4. Enter the peer Windows 2012 VM IP address that will connect to the iSCI. Click Add button.
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Figure: Enter IP
5. In the Update Volume Group dialog box, click the Save button
6. Access the Console of your Windows 2012 VM. If it was previously closed, bring up the iSCSI
Control panel by entering the command iscsicpl.exe.
170 | Services
Figure: Bring Up iSCSI Control Panel
7. Click on the Discovery tab and click Discover Portal to add a target portal.
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Figure: Add Target Portal
8. Enter your cluster External Data Services IP address and click OK.
9. Go to the Targets tab and click Refresh. It should discover three targets.
172 | Services
Figure: Discover Targets
10. Select each of the targets and click Connect. You should have the targets connected.
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Figure: Connect Targets
Note their IQNs, which should be end with tgt0, tgt1, and tgt2 respectively.
11. At the Windows 2012 VM command prompt, enter diskmgmt.msc to bring up disk management
utility.
174 | Services
Figure: Bring up Disk Management
You should see three disks of 10G each.
12. Go to the Storage dashboard in Prism, and select the Volume Group tab. You will see that the
Windows 2012 VM IQN appears as an iSCSI initiator being connected to the volume group.
Figure: Select Volume Groups
13. Before proceeding to the next task, close out all windows you have opened in this task.
In this task, you investigate how vDisks in a volume group are distributed for load balancing across
the CVMs in the cluster.
1. The following commands are used in this investigation:
a. pithos_cli -lookup iscsi_client_params -iscsi_initiator_name=<Initiator IQN>
b. acli vg.get <volume group name>
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c. vdisk_config_printer -nfs_file_name <vdisk UUID>
When a volume group is created, 32 virtual targets are created and associated with it. The existence
of a virtual target is backed by a vDisk in the volume group. A virtual target without the backing of a
vDisk does not exist.
The command in (a) demonstrates virtual target distribution among the CVMs.
The command in (b) identifies the UUID of the vDisks in the volume group.
The command in (c) associates a vDisk with a virtual target.
1. Use PuTTY to SSH into your cluster IP address and enter the command pithos_cli -lookup
iscsi_client_params -iscsi_initiator_name=<Initiator IQN>. By default, 32 virtual targets are
created for a volume group. Their target number will correspond to the LUN ID of their backing
vDisk. They are distributed across the CVMs in the cluster. For instance, 10 targets are owned by
CVM ID 2, and 11 targets are owned by CVM ID 3 and 4 respectively. These virtual targets do not
exist unless they are backed by a vDisk in the volume group.
Figure: Backup vDisk
2. To identify the vDisks and their UUIDs in the volume group, enter the command: acli vg.get
<volume group name>
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Figure: Identity vDisks
3. To identify the virtual target that is backed by a given vDisk enter the command
vdisk_config_printer . Remember that target number corresponds to the LUN ID of the vDisk.
Figure: Identify Virtual Target
4. In this example, the following targets are backed by the vDisks in the volume group:
1. iqn.2010-06.com.nutanix:<volume group name>…-tgt0
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178 | Services
Module 11
Business Continuity
Topics: Nutanix offers data protection solutions for virtual datacenters.
Nutanix provides data protection functions at the VM, file, and
• Exercises volume group level, so VMs and data remain safe in a crash-
consistent environment.
In this module, you learn the various failure scenarios. You learn
the strategies that Nutanix provides to protect your data against
such failures.
Objectives

• List failure scenarios.
• Discuss redundancy factor 3.
• Discuss protection strategies.

Exercises
VM High Availability
In this exercise, you observe how a Nutanix cluster responds and manages guest virtual machines
when a host fails. You manage VM High Availability and observe how enabling this feature effects
the creation of guest virtual machines.
In this exercise. you:
1. Fail a node
2. Configure VM High Availability
High Availability Exercise
In this exercise, you observe how a Nutanix cluster responds and manages guest VMs when a host
fails. You manage VM high availability and observe how enabling this feature effects the creation of
guest VMs.
• Fail a node
• Configure VM high availability
In this task, you fail a node where a guest VM resides and observe the cluster response and guest
VM status.
1. Log in to the Prism interface for your training cluster.
2. Create a VM using the following parameters (no OS installation is needed):

Name HA Exercise
VCPU(s) 1
Number of cores per CPU 1
Memory 64G
Add a Disk All defaults, size=40GB
All other VM parameters are default settings
Figure: Create a VM Using Specified Parameters
3. Click Power on to power on the HA-Lab VM.
180 | Business Continuity

Figure: Power On the VM
4. Observe on which host the HA-Lab VM is running (yours may be different)
Figure: On Which Host is the VM Running?
5. Refer to the exercise handout, and using your web browser, connect to the IPMI interface for the
node on which the HA-Lab is running.
6. Refer to the exercise handout and log in to the node IPMI interface.
Figure: Log In to the IPMI Interface
7. Click the Power Down button.
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Figure: Power Down the VM
Note: You may need to refresh your browser page to observe the node status change to
Host is currently off.
8. Return to the browser window or tab where you connected to the Prism interface. NOTE: If you
are connected to Prism Element on the node that you powered down, you must connect your web
browser to either the Cluster IP address, another CVM, or Prism Central to manage the cluster.
9. What is the status of the HA-Lab VM?
10. On which host is it running?
11. Is this different than the host on which it was originally running?
12. What is the status of the cluster?
13. Return to the browser window or tab for the host IPMI interface Click the Power On button .

Figure: Click Power On
14. After a few moments, observe the status of the cluster. Once the Data Resiliency Status
displays OK, continue the next step of this task.
15. Return to the Prism VM page and select the Table view.
16. Observe the status of the HA-Lab guest VM. On which node is the VM running?
17. How does this compare to the node on which it was running before and after the node was
powered down?
18. Why?
High Availability (contd)
In this task, you observe the impact and benefits of the VM high availability feature.
1. Verify that you have created and powered on the HA-Lab VM from the previous task.
Figure: Verify that You Have Created and Powered On VM
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2. From the gear menu, select Manage VM High Availability.
Figure: Select Manage VM High Availability
3. Read the text in the Manage VM High Availability dialog box. Note that with VM high availability
disabled, AOS will not reserve and guarantee memory to start VMs in the event of a node failure.
Figure: Manage VM High Availability Dialog Box
4. Enable VM high availability by selecting the Enable HA check box. Note that AOS is now
reserving memory to guarantee that VMs will be started in the event of a node failure.
Figure: Enable HA

5. Click the Save button to set VM high availability as Enabled.
6. When the dialog box appears to advise that some VMs might need to be migrated, click OK.
Figure: Some VMs Might Need to be Migrated
7. Proceed to create clones of the HA-Lab VM.

1. With the HA-Lab VM highlighted, select the Clone link.
Figure: Select the Clone Link

2. In the Clone VM dialog box, accept all defaults and click Save.
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Figure: Accept Defaults in the Clone VM Dialog Box
3. When the clone is complete and appears in the VM Table, the clone is complete. Highlight the
new clone in the VM Table view and select the Power On link.
Figure: Power On the New Clone

4. Repeat the previous three steps to create HA-Lab-2, HA-Lab-3, etc. until Prism no longer
allows you to create and power on a new clone.
8. When the Power On Action fails, view the task on the Prism Task page.

9. Hover your cursor over Failed to see a message about why the task failed.
Figure: View Failure Message
10. Return to the gear menu and select Manage VM High Availability.
Figure: Select Manage VM High Availability
11. In the Manage VM High Availability dialog box, clear the Enable HA check box and click the
Save button to disable VM high availability.
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Figure: Disable HA
12. Return to the VM page, Table view.
13. Highlight the last VM created (the one that failed to power on).
14. Select the Power On link and attempt to power on the VM.
Figure: Power On
15. Were you able to power on the VM this time?
16. Why?
17. What does this tell you about using the VM high availability feature?
18. Delete all instances of the HA-Lab VM you created in this task.

Module 12
Data Protection
Topics: In this module, you learn to create a remote site and a protection
domain using the Prism web console.
• Exercises
Objectives

• Create a remote site.
• Create and modify a protection domain.
• Discuss the protection domain failover process.
• Explain the cloud connect feature.
• List best practices and guidelines for configuring data
protection.
• List limitations for configuring data protection.

Exercises
Data Protection
In this exercise, you learn how to configure a protection domain for protecting VMs in your cluster.
This exercise involves several tasks. You:
1. Configure a protection domain and perform VM snapshot and restore.
2. Configure a remote site for asynchronous replication.
3. Initiate failover from your cluster to the remote site.
4. Initiate failback from the remote site.
Data Protection Exercises
In this exercise, you configure a protection domain for protecting VMs in your cluster.
In this task, you configure a protection domain to protect your Windows 2012 VM. You then use this
protection domain for taking a snapshot of the VM. The task begins with the assumption that you are
logged into your lab environment.
There are four tasks in this exercise. In these tasks, you:
1. Configure a protection domain and perform VM snapshot and restore.
2. Configure a remote site for asynchronous replication.
3. Initiate failover from your cluster to the remote site.
4. Initiate failback from the remote site.
In this exercise, you will work with another cluster (your peer cluster). Consult with your instructor
who your peer cluster is.
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Figure: Login Admin
3. From the main menu, select the VM dashboard. Select the Table tab and locate your Windows
2012 VM in the table.
4. If no Windows 2012 VM exists in your cluster, follow the Create windows VM exercise to create
a windows 2012 VM . Otherwise, select Windows 2012 VM and click Update.
Figure: Update VM
5. At the Update VM window, scroll down to the Disks section. If the parameter EMPTY is set to
true for a CDROM, go to the next CDROM.
Figure: Update VM Screen
6. If the parameter EMPTY is set to false, click the pencil icon.
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Figure: Update Disk
7. Verify that the OPERATION field is set to Empty CDROM. Click Update.
Figure: Click Update
8. Repeat steps 6-7 to make sure all CDROMs are empty.
9. From the main menu, select the Data Protection dashboard. Click the +Protection Domain
button. Select Async DR under +Protection Domain.
Figure: Data Protection
10. In the Data Protection window, click the +Protection Domain button. Select Async DR under
+Protection Domain. Enter trainingXX-PD where XX is your initials. . Click Create to create the
protection domain.

Figure: Create Protection Domain
11. Select your Windows 2012 VM under the Unprotected Entities and click Protect Selected
Entities by clicking the Protect Selected Entities link in the lower-left corner of the window.
Figure: Protect Entity
12. You should see your Windows VM being moved to the Protected Entities section. Click Next.
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Figure: Click Next
13. Click New Schedule.
Figure: Click New Schedule
14. Configure your local schedule to repeat every 60 minutes and the retention policy to keep the last
one snapshot. Click Create Schedule.
Figure: Configure Protection Schedule
15. Click Close.

16. Select your protection domain in the table and observe that your protection domain has become
active. Select the Schedules tab and observe that a schedule has been set.
Figure: Create Snapshot
17. Select Local Snapshots tab. You should see a snapshot. Select the snapshot and click Restore.
Figure: Local Snapshot
18. In the Remote Snapshot window, select your Windows VM and click OK.
Figure: Restore Snapshot
19. Go to the VM dashboard and select the Table tab. You should see the VM restored from the
snapshot. This VM should be powered off.
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Figure: Restored VM Powered Off
Data Protection (contd)
In this task, you configure your peer cluster as a remote site and take a remote snapshot. You also
verify your VM has been successfully replicated to the peer cluster. Do consult with your instructor if
you are not sure who your peer cluster is. The exercise begins with the assumption that you logged
into your lab environment.
IP address provided to you on your exercise handout in to the browser’s URL bar. If you receive
Figure: Admin Login
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to log in to the peer cluster. Do consult with your instructor if you are not
sure who your peer cluster is.
4. Select the gear icon and click Network Configuration. Verify that a VM network has been
created for VLAN 0 in your peer cluster .

Figure: Create VM network Configuration
5. Select the Storage dashboard and click the Table tab. Verify that a storage container named
VM_Migrate has been created in your peer cluster.
Figure: Storage Dashboard
6. In your Data Protection dashboard, select Physical Cluster under +Remote Site.
Figure: Select Physical Cluster
7. In the Remote Site window, enter the following information: REMOTE SITE NAME: <Your peer
cluster name>-RS ADDRESSES: <Your peer cluster IP address>
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Figure: Remote Site
8. Configure NETWORK MAPPING between your cluster and your peer cluster (you may have to
scroll down in the Remote Site window to see the NETWORK MAPPING section). Select your
VM network for VLAN 0 in the Source Cluster field and your peer VM network for VLAN 0 in the
Destination Cluster field.
Figure: Network Mapping
9. Configure VSTORE NAME MAPPING between your cluster and your peer cluster. Two mappings
should be created: one from your default container to your peer VM_Migrate container, and a
second one from your VM_Migrate container to your peer default container.

Figure: Configure Remote Site Mapping
10. Click the Save button to save your remote site configuration.
11. Log in to your peer cluster. Select the Data Protection dashboard and click the Table tab. Select
the Remote Site tab. Verify your peer cluster has configured your cluster as their remote site.
Also verify there are two Vstore mappings: one from their default container to your VM_Migrate
container and another one from their VM_Migrate container to your default container.
Figure: Configure Cluster to Remote Site
12. At your cluster, select your protection domain and click Take Snapshot. Select the check box
beside your remote site and click Save.
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Figure: Replicate Protection Domain
13. Select your protection domain and select the Replications tab. You should see an outgoing
replication.
Figure: Confirm Outgoing Replicate Initiated
14. Go to your peer’s Data Protection dashboard. Your protection domain should now appear, and it
also should be in the inactive mode. You should also see an incoming replication when you select
the Replications tab.

Figure: Protection Domain Inactive
In this task, you initiate protection domain failover to the peer cluster. You verify that the Windows
VM (in this example, My2012R2) appears as a VM in the peer cluster. You further verify the
protection becomes active in the peer cluster and inactive in the local cluster. The exercise begins
with the assumption that you are logged into your lab environment.
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Figure: Prism Admin Login
3. In yourData Protection dashboard, select the Table tab and then select the Async DR tab.
Select your protection domain and click Migrate.
Figure: Migrate Protection Domain
4. Select your peer cluster as the remote site.
Figure: Select Peer Cluster
5. Go to the VM dashboard, select the Table tab. Confirm that the Windows VM is gone.
6. Confirm that the protection domain became inactive in the local cluster.

Figure: Confirm Protection Domain Inactive
7. At the peer cluster main menu, select VM dashboard and select Table tab. Confirm that your
Windows VM is seen in the table and it should be in the powered off state.
Figure: Confirm VM Appearance in Protection Domain
8. Verify that the protection domain becomes active in the peer cluster.
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Figure: Protection Domain Active
9. Power on the VM at the peer cluster.
In this task, you initiate protection domain failback to the local cluster. Failback can be achieved
by initiating failover at the peer cluster. Prior to this action, verify that the windows VM does not
exist in the local cluster and that the protection domain is inactive in the local cluster. After failover
is initiated at the peer cluster, the windows VM will fail back to the local cluster. Verify that the
protection domain is active in the local cluster and that the Windows VM can be powered back on.
This exercise begins with the assumption that you are logged in to your lab environment.
IP address provided to you on your lab handout into the browser’s URL bar. If you receive any

sort of certificate warning window(s), click through to accept the self-signed certificate so that you
get to the cluster login as displayed in the following screen.
Figure: Prism Admin Login
3. At your peer cluster’s Data Protection dashboard, select the Table tab and then the Async DR
tab. Select your protection domain and click Migrate. Select your cluster in the Migrate Protection
Domain window and click Save.
Figure: Confirm VM Existence in Local Cluster
4. In your cluster’s VM dashboard, select the Table tab. Your Windows VM should have failed back
to your cluster.
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Figure: Confirm Protection Domain is Inactive

Module 13
Prism Central
Topics: This module describes the many tasks you can accomplish
in Prism Central, such as reviewing and analyzing resource
• Exercises needs and creating "what if" scenarios to assess future resource
requirements for specified workloads. You then learn how to
use Prism Central to monitor and manage a number of activities
across a set of clusters.
Objectives

• Review and analyze resource to assess future resource.
• Create "what if" scenarios to assess future resource
requirements.
• View information about VMs, clusters, hosts, disks, containers,
and storage containers.
• Create and monitor performance graphs for selected entities.
• Address potential capacity issues.
• View and monitor alerts.
• View statistics about a range of entities across clusters and
organize that information.
• Provision and manage VMs in a self-service manner
• Add Prism Central and its managed/registered clusters to a
whitelist
• Translate the dashboard and menus to a selected language

Exercises
Prism Central
In this exercise, you register your cluster with a Prism Central server and explore the features and
benefits of Prism Central.
Prism Central Exercises
In this exercise, you register your cluster with a Prism Central server and explore the features and
benefits of Prism Central.
• Register a cluster with Prism Central.
• Explore Prism Central features and benefits.
• Take a deeper dive into cluster planning.
1. Log in to the Prism Element interface on your cluster.
2. From the gear menu, select Prism Central Registration.
Figure: Prism Central Registration
3. Complete the Prism Central Registration form with the information provided in the exercise
handout.
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Figure: Prism Central Registration Form
4. Open a new browser window.
5. Log in to the Prism Central server using the address and credentials provided in the exercise
handout.
6. From the Prism Central home dashboard, verify your cluster has been registered with Prism
Central. You should see your cluster listed in the Impacted Clusters box in the upper-left corner
of your browser window.
Note: It may take a minute or two for your cluster appear in the Impacted Clusters box.
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Figure: Impacted Clusters
7. Click on your cluster name to select your cluster.
8. Click the Launch Prism Element button in the upper-right corner of your browser window.
Figure: Launch Prism Element
9. Verify that you are taken to the Prism Element page for your training cluster.
In this task, you explore some of the features and benefits of Prism Central.
1. Log in to the Prism Central server using the IP address and credentials provided in the exercise
handout.
210 | Prism Central

2. How many clusters are registered with this Prism Central server?
3. Click to select your cluster in the Impacted Cluster box. In the cluster information page, examine
the recent historical CPU usage, memory usage, IOPs, bandwidth, and latency use of your
cluster. Do all of the values displayed appear to be in a normal range (e.g. is your cluster
experiencing any heavy or anomalous behavior)?
Figure: Select Your Cluster
4. Click the Alerts link to see if your cluster has any current outstanding alerts. Note: If your cluster
does have any outstanding alerts, you will not be addressing them in this exercise at this time.
Figure: Click Alerts
5. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the browser to close the cluster overview.
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Figure: Click Close
6. Back in the Prism Central Home dashboard, click the Explore link.
Figure: Explore Link
7. By default, you should be taken to an Entities browser window that displays VM entities.
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Figure: Entities Browser
8. Are the VMs being displayed only for your cluster or for all clusters registered with Prism Central?
Note: If you cannot tell from your lab environment, you can answer this question from the screen
from the previous exercise step.
9. Click to select the first VM in the list of VMs.
Figure: Select First VM
10. For the selected VM, examine the CPU usage, memory usage, and other displayed fields.
1. Is the VM experiencing any sort of load that might cause concern?
2. Can you determine from this display how many VDPUs have been assigned to the VM?
3. Can you determine from this display how much RAM has been assigned to the VM?
11. Notice the row of buttons in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
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Figure: Notice Row of Buttons
12. Click on the … More button. What other VM-related options do you see?
13. Click on the links VM NICs, Snapshots, Virtual Disks, and Alerts to see what information is
displayed for each of these links.
Figure: Click on Links
14. Click on the VM name pull down menu in the upper-right corner of the browser window. Do you
see all of the other VMs listed in the pull down menu?
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Figure: Click VM Pull Down Menu
15. Click to select one of the other VMs. You should be switched to the overview dashboard for that
VM.
16. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the browser window to return to the Entities window.
17. Click the Clusters link.
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Figure: Click Clusters
18. How many clusters have been registered with your Prism Central?
Note: The number may vary depending on your lab environment and how many students have
registered their clusters with this Prism Central server.
19. Click on the Hosts, Disks, and Storage Containers links to examine the information they
present to you.
Figure: Click Hosts, Disks, and Storage Containers
20. Click the Analysis link. Notice the form presented pretty much mimics the same Analysis
dashboard you would see when managing a single cluster via Prism Element.
216 | Prism Central

Figure: Click Analysis Link
21. Click the gear icon.
Figure: Click Gear Icon
22. What are the similarities and differences you see here, when comparing to the items displayed in
Prism Element on the individual cluster?
23. Explore Prism Central for a few minutes.
24. What benefits do you see in using Prism Central in a multi-cluster environment?
1. Click the Planning link.
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Figure: Click Planning Link
2. Click the Get Started button to explore the effects of future cluster use and/or growth.
Figure: Click Get Started
3. From the information presented in the New Scenario window answer the following questions:
1. What is the target length in months?
2. Are there any workloads assigned to the scenario?
3. Does the overall runway indicate the cluster will experience any problems during the scenario
target window?
4. Let’s explore how your cluster would react to the adding of a VDI workload. Click the + Add
Workload link.
218 | Prism Central

Figure: Add Workload Link
5. Fill out the Add workload window as follows:

1. Workload: VDI
2. Vendor: XenDesktop
3. User Type: Knowledge worker
4. Provision type: Linked clones
5. Number of users: 250
6. On: Leave this field at the default value
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Figure: Add Workload Complete
6. Click the Add Workload button to add this workload to your cluster scenario.
7. According to Prism Central’s scenario planner, will your cluster be able to handle this load for the
next six months? Hint: Examine the Overall Runway and look for any bars that are red.
8. If your cluster will not be able to handle the new scenario, what could you do to ensure that it can
handle the new scenario before your deploy the new VDI desktops?
9. Click the X in the upper-right corner of the browser window to close the New Scenario window
(we are not going to save this scenario in this exercise). Click No to confirm you do not want to
save this scenario.
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Module 14
Concluding the Installation
Topics: Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) is a framework of scripts that can
help diagnose cluster health. In this module, you learn to use NCC
• Exercises to run health checks on the cluster and to verify that it is set up
correctly after installation. In addition, you learn how to verify that
all services are up and running on the cluster. Finally, this module
covers how to access Nutanix support resources.
Objectives

• Describe Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC).
• Describe NCC usage.
• Install NCC from an installer File.
• List usage examples.
• Discuss support options.
• Discuss remote connections.
• Configure HTTP proxy.
• Analyze log files.

Exercises
Running Nutanix Cluster Check

In this exercise, you explore the features of Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC).
Running Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) Exercise
In this exercise, you Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC). NCC enables you to perform cluster health
checks, collect cluster logs to send to Nutanix support, clean up old core files, and several other
functions. In this exercise, you explore a few of these features.
In this task, you use the NCC utility’s built-in help. The task begins with the assumption that you are
logged into a desktop that has access to your lab environment.
Note: This exercise was written using NCC version 2.2.8. If your cluster is running a
different version of NCC, your output may vary from the example outputs shown in this
exercise document.
1. Using the PuTTY utility on your desktop, log in to a CVM in your assigned cluster. Fill out the
Host Name (or IP address) field in the PuTTY Configuration window using the cluster external
virtual IP address specified in your exercise handout.
Figure: PuTTY Configuration
2. Fill out the PuTTY window’s login fields as follows:

1. Login: nutanix
2. Password: use the password in your exercise handout
222 | Concluding the Installation

Figure: PuTTY Details
3. The NCC utility provides you with a lot of built-in help. To get the top-level help displayed, enter
the command ncc. The output should look something like the following screen. Note: Any row
with the letter M in the Type column indicates a module that consists of multiple sub-entities. You
explore one of those next.
Figure: NCC Output
4. Explore the health_checks module by entering the command: ncc health_checks. Notice the
majority of the health checks themselves consist of additional sub-modules.
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Figure: NCC Health Checks Output
5. Dig one level deeper into the built-in help NCC offers. Type the command ncc health_checks
network_checks. Notice that as you dive deeper into the help screens, you will begin to see the
letter P under the Type column. Entries labeled P (for Plugin) represent individual checks NCC
performs. Also notice that at most levels, there is a special Plugin labeled run_all that allows you
to run all of the various checks at that level.
Figure: NCC Health Checks Network Checks Output
6. Explore NCC’s built-in help until you are satisfied in your understanding of its functionality.

Running Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) (contd)
In this task, you have the NCC utility find and remove any old core dump files that have been taking
up disk space on your CVMs. Core files are typically used by Nutanix support to debug particular
issues that you may have been experiencing on your cluster. Once the problem has been resolved,
core files are not needed, and you can reclaim the space that they are using.
1. Examine what file-level capabilities NCC has built-in. Enter the command ncc file_utils. The
output should look something like the following screen. You will now remove any old core files.
Of the various options available to you, can you figure out what command you should enter to
remove old core files?
Figure: NCC File Utils
2. If you guessed the command: ncc file_utils remove_old_cores to remove old core files,
congratulations! Enter the command now to remove old core files.
3. Similarly, you may have noticed the NCC file utilities can also remove old fatal log files. Like core
files, fatal logs are generally used in debugging specific problems and once the problem has
been resolved, the old fatal log files may not be needed. Enter the command now to remove old
fatal log files (yes, we’re leaving this as an exercise for you to figure out on your own!).
In addition to cleaning up old cores and log files, you can have NCC collect your cluster’s log files (or
various sub-groups of log files) for transmission to support staff in assisting with resolving any issues
you may be experiencing.
1. Run the command ncc. Determine what module you would use to collect log files. Enter the name
of the module here: _____________________________________________________
2. Run the appropriate NCC command to get help with the log collector module. What command
would you use to get help with the NCC log collector module? ________________________
3. To begin, you will collect only the alerts logs. To collect alerts only, run the command ncc
log_collector alerts. The tail end of the output should look something like the following screen.
Note: The output includes a line indicating the path to the tar file created that contains all of the
alert logs from all of the cluster’s CVMs.
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Figure: NCC log Collector Alerts
4. Now run the appropriate NCC command to collect all of the log files on all of your CVMs. Feel
free to ask your instructor if you need help determining the exact NCC command that you will
need to use. What is the path to the resultant log bundle created from the command you just
entered? _____________________________________________________________________
Note: This command may take several minutes to run to completion.
Perhaps the most common use of the NCC utility is to check the health of a Nutanix cluster,
hardware, hypervisor, and other configuration settings. In this task, you explore NCC health checks.
1. Examine the health of your inter-CVM connections. To do this, enter the command ncc
health_checks network_checks inter_cvm_connections_check. The tail end of the output will look
something like the following screen. Note that in this case, the check passed successfully.
Figure: NCC inter-CVM Connections Output
2. Run the entire battery of NCC health checks by running the command ncc
health_checks_run_all. The tail end of the output will look something like the following screen.

Most likely, some tests will not pass with at least some returning a status of INFO. As you learned
in the lecture, each test that does not pass returns a summary error message and a reference to
a Knowledge Base (KB) article that should be helpful in resolving the issue.
Figure: Health Checks All Output
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Module 15
Lifecycle Operations
Topics: In these exercises, you perform a number of lifecycle operations.
The first task simulates adding a node to an existing cluster.
• Exercises This is accomplished by taking one of the student clusters,
destroying it (effectively making its nodes look "new"), then
adding nodes to one ore more of the remaining clusters in the lab
environment. WARNING: As it is likely that you will be working in
multiple pairs of teams doing this exercise in parallel, with some
teams destroying their clusters while other teams re-use nodes
from those same destroyed clusters (adding them to their non-
destroyed clusters), it is important that you add nodes from your
partner team's cluster and not nodes from some other randomly-
selected (i.e. not your lab partner team's) cluster. Please follow the
exercise steps closely to ensure that you are using the right nodes
when you are performing the add node operation.
In the second task, you remove a node from an existing Nutanix
cluster. Removing a node is typically done in several situations,
such as when you want to:
• retire old hardware
• move a node from one cluster to another
• split a larger cluster into two smaller clusters.

Exercises
Lifecycle Operations
In these exercises, you perform a number of lifecycle operations. The first task simulates adding a
node to an existing cluster. This is accomplished by taking one of the student clusters, destroying
it (effectively making its nodes look "new"), then adding nodes to one ore more of the remaining
clusters in the lab environment. WARNING: As it is likely that you will be working in multiple pairs of
teams doing this exercise in parallel, with some teams destroying their clusters while other teams
re-use nodes from those same destroyed clusters (adding them to their non-destroyed clusters), it
is important that you add nodes from your partner team's cluster and not nodes from some other
randomly-selected (i.e. not your lab partner team's) cluster. Please follow the exercise steps closely
to ensure that you are using the right nodes when you are performing the add node operation.
In the second task, you remove a node from an existing Nutanix cluster. Removing a node is
typically done in several situations, such as when you want to:
• retire old hardware
• move a node from one cluster to another
• split a larger cluster into two smaller clusters.
Lifecycle Operations Exercises
In these exercises, you perform a variety of lifecycle operations exercises. The first task simulates
adding a node to an existing cluster. You also remove a node from an exisiting Nutanix cluster.
1. Add a node to an existing cluster
2. Remove a node from an exisiting Nutanix cluster
Add Node
This exercise simulates adding a node to an existing cluster. This is accomplished by taking one
of the student clusters, destroying it (effectively making its nodes look “new”), then adding those
nodes to one or more of the remaining clusters in the lab environment. WARNING: It is likely that
you will be working in a lab environment with multiple pairs of teams doing this exercise in parallel.
Some teams will be destroying their clusters while other teams will re-use nodes from those same
destroyed clusters (adding them to their non-destroyed clusters). It is important that you add nodes
from your partner team’s cluster and not nodes from some other randomly selected (i.e. not your
lab partner team’s) cluster. Please follow the exercise steps closely to ensure that you are using the
right nodes when you are performing the add node operation.
Before you can begin to add a new node to your cluster, your team must choose a cluster to destroy
and a cluster to which you will add the nodes. In this exercise, we refer to the former as Team
Destroy and the latter as Team AddNode. Team Destroy will destroy their cluster, adding the nodes
in that cluster to a pool of available nodes to be added to other clusters. Team AddNode will then
use one or more of the nodes from their partner team’s destroyed cluster (again be careful in that
you select the right nodes in a large lab environment) to add to their Team AddNode's cluster.
Task 1: Preparing to Add a Node
Working in teams of two clusters, choose one cluster to be Team Destroy and one cluster to be
Team AddNode.
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Add Node (contd)
In this task, Team Destroy will destroy their cluster in preparation for adding its nodes to their partner
Team AddNode’s cluster. All of the steps in this task are to be performed by Team Destroy only. This
is important! We do not want to destroy clusters unnecessarily.
1. In the next task, it is important that your partner team, Team AddNode, adds nodes from your
cluster only. To maximize the chance of success we will have you make a note of the block ID of
your cluster.
1. Using a browser, log in to your cluster using its external virtual IP address from your exercise
handout and login credentials from your exercise handout.
2. Click the dashboard pull-down list and select the VM dashboard.
Figure: VM Dashboard
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Figure: Table Tab
4. Click to select the Include Controller VMs check box.
Figure: Include Controller VMs

5. Extract, from one of the CVM names, the cluster block ID. For Nutanix hardware, this is the
string immediately following NTNX-.

Figure: Extract Cluster Block ID
2. Using PuTTY on your VDI desktop, have one member of Team Destroy log in to one of the CVMs
in your cluster. Fill out the Host Name (or IP Address) field in the PuTTY Configuration window
using the IP address of one of your cluster CVMs specified in your exercise handout.
3. Fill out the PuTTY window’s login fields as follows:

• Login: nutanix
• Password: use the password in your exercise handout
4. If your cluster has any powered on VMs, you need to power them off now. If your cluster does not
have any powered on VMs, you can continue to the next step.
5. From the PuTTY command line, stop your cluster by entering the command cluster stop. Enter
Y when asked to confirm the operation. This command will take a minute or two to run.
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Figure: Cluster Stop
6. From the PuTTY command line, destroy your cluster by entering the command cluster destroy.
Enter Y when asked to confirm the operation. This command will take a minute or two to run.
Figure: Cluster Destroy
7. Exit the PuTTY window. Your cluster’s nodes are now in a state where they can be added to
another cluster as if they were new nodes.
Add Node (contd)
In this task, you use one (or more) of the nodes from the cluster destroyed in the previous task,
adding it (them) to the Team AddNode cluster. All of the steps in this task are to be performed by
Team AddNode only. Note: It is possible that there may be several teams performing this exercise in
parallel. Therefore, it is important that you add the correct nodes to the correct clusters. Be mindful
of the steps in this exercise and you should be OK.
1. Team AddNode, using a browser on your VDI desktop, log in to the Prism UI for your cluster
using your cluster’s external virtual IP address specified in your exercise handout. Log in using
the credentials provided on your exercise handout.
2. Click the gear icon and select Expand Cluster.

Figure: Expand Cluster
3. In the Expand Cluster window, find the nodes that you will be adding to your cluster. Notice the
nodes are organized by block ID (but labeled as Serial Number). The following screen shows a
single cluster with the nodes available for adding organized in groups by block ID/Serial Number.
WARNING: You may have more than one block displayed in your lab environment. Be careful
that you select only nodes from the correct block.
Figure: Expand Cluster Serial
4. Select the node or nodes that you will be adding to Team AddNode’s custer. It is very important
you select only nodes from the block ID corresponding to nodes from your partner team’s cluster.
You noted this block ID in the previous task. Make sure no nodes from any other blocks are
selected before you proceed. The following screen shows the check box you would check to
select all of the nodes in the desired block.
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Figure: Select Node
5. Click the desired check box to select the nodes to be added to Team AddNode’s cluster.
When you have done this, you are presented with fields for specifying the node’s names and
IP addresses. In our lab environment, because we are essentially recycling nodes from a
previously existing cluster, all the fields will be filled in for your with correct values. In a production
environment, where these nodes would be factory new, you would have to fill out the IP address
fields as appropriate for your management network environment. Give the Expand Cluster
window a look over, including scrolling down as necessary before proceeding. When you are
ready to proceed, scroll down to the bottom of the Expand Cluster window and click Next.

Figure: Add Node Expand Cluster
6. You are now at the Host Configuration page in the Expand Cluster window. As the node has an
installed hypervisor, Expand Cluster will not image (install a hypervisor and CVM into) the node,
but instead will only add the nodes to your cluster. Click the Expand Cluster button in the lower-
right corner of the window to add the nodes to your cluster.
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Figure: Host Node Expand Cluster
7. The expand cluster operation may take a few minutes to complete during which time you will see
a progress bar as shown in the following screen.

Figure: Exand Cluster Progress
8. After a minute or two, you should see a completed progress bar indicating cluster expansion has
successfully completed.
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Figure: Expand Cluster Completed
9. Click Close to close the Expand Cluster window.
10. If you are not on the Prism Home dashboard, click Home in the dashboard pull-down list now
to switch to the Home dashboard. Note how many nodes are now in the cluster. In the following
screen, you can see the cluster has expanded from its original three nodes.

Figure: Home Dashboard
Remove Node
In this exercise, you remove a node from an existing Nutanix cluster. Removing a node is typically
done in one of several situations: when retiring old hardware, moving node from one cluster to
another, and splitting a larger cluster into two smaller clusters.
In this exercise, you are removing a single node from a cluster.
Before you remove a node from your cluster, verify that the cluster contains a minimum of four
nodes.
1. Using either the Firefox or Chrome browser, log in to the Prism web console for your cluster using
the IP address of any of the cluster’s CVMs as specified in your exercise handout. Log in using
the credentials specified in your exercise handout.
2. Make sure you are in the Home dashboard. If you are not, click the Nutanix logo in the top center
of the menu bar to return to the Home dashboard.
| 241
Figure: Home Dashboard
3. Look in the lower-left corner of the Home dashboard and verify the number of nodes in your
cluster is at least four. In the following screen, the cluster has six nodes.
Figure: Node Status
4. Record the number of nodes in your cluster here:

Remove Node (contd)
In this task, you identify which node you will remove from the cluster. In terms of our lab
environment, it does not really matter which node you remove, but, to keep things simple, we will
have you remove the node with the highest IP address.
1. Double click the PuTTY client on your VDI desktop and log in to one of your cluster’s CVMs using
the IP address of any of your cluster’s CVMs specified in your exercise handout. Log in using the
user credentials nutanix and the password specified in your exercise handout.
2. Generate a list of the nodes in your cluster along with their node IDs (you will need the node ID
of the node you will be removing in a subsequent exercise task). At the PuTTY command prompt,
enter the command ncli host list. Hint: The node ID is actually in the output line labeled Uuid.
3. Identify the node with the highest IP address (you may have to press the space bar to page
through the output from the previous command). Note here the node’s ID value from the Uuid
output line for the appropriate node. Host Id: ______________________
Figure: Highest IP Address
Remove Node (contd)
In this task, you schedule the node to be removed. The removal operation, although dynamic, does
take some time and, in a subsequent task, you monitor the removal progress.
Continuing in the PuTTY session you established in the previous task, begin the node removal
operation by entering the command ncli host remove-start id=<enter-the-host-id-from-the-
previous-lab-task>
Note: It is important that you enter the correct value for the id parameter in the previous
command.. Hint: Utilizing copy/paste from your PuTTY window is probably the easiest way to
ensure you have entered the correct value.
1. The following screen shows the node remove command having been entered but the
operation not yet started (i.e. the enter key has not yet been pressed).
| 243
Figure: Node Remove Command Entered
2. The following screen shows the result after having entered the node remove command.
Figure: Node Remove Command Entered Result
Remove Node (contd)
In this task, you check the (ongoing) status of the node removal operation. Depending on how busy
your cluster is, node removal may take 20 minutes or longer.
1. Continuing in the PuTTY session you established in the previous task, check the status of the
node removal operation by entering the command ncli host get-remove-status. The following
screen shows the output of the command while the node removal is still in progress.

Figure: Node Remove Command Entered Output
2. Continue to re-enter the previous command from time to time to monitor the node removal status.
When the remove node operation has completed, you see the output from the previous command
change as shown in the following screen.
Figure: Node Remove Command Entered Status
Remove Node (contd)
Finally, you use the Prism UI to verify that the node removal operation has successfully completed.
Note: You may have to wait several minutes for the node removal operation to complete before
performing this task successfully.
1. If you are not already logged into the Prism web console, log in to the Prism web console for your
cluster with the credentials provided to you in the exercise handout.
2. Just as you did back in task 1, go to the Home dashboard (if you are not already there) and verify
the number of nodes in your cluster. The number should now be one less than you recorded in
task 1. If you compare the following screen to the similar screen at the beginning of this exercise,
you see the cluster now has one fewer node, five instead of six.
| 245
Figure: Verify Node

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Administration Course Lab Exercises

Administration Course Lab Exercises

Module 1: Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform...... 9

Module 2: Administering the Nutanix Cluster................................. 35

Module 3: Configuring the Cluster................................................... 39

Module 4: User Interfaces................................................................. 43

Module 7: Health Monitoring and Alerts........................................ 109

Module 8: Distributed Storage Fabric............................................ 121

Module 9: AHV Workload Migration............................................... 147

Module 10: Services......................................................................... 159

Module 11: Business Continuity..................................................... 179

Module 12: Data Protection............................................................. 189

Module 13: Prism Central................................................................ 207

Module 14: Concluding the Installation......................................... 221

Module 15: Lifecycle Operations.................................................... 229

variable_value The action depends on a value that is unique to your environment.

ncli> command The commands are executed in the Nutanix nCLI.

user@host$ command The commands are executed as a non-privileged user (such as

output The information is displayed as output from a command or in a log

Default Cluster Credentials

Nutanix web console Nutanix Controller VM admin admin

vSphere Web Client ESXi host root nutanix/4u

vSphere client ESXi host root nutanix/4u

SSH client or console ESXi host root nutanix/4u

SSH client or console AHV host root nutanix/4u

Administration Course Lab Exercises | 7

SSH client or console Hyper-V host Administrator nutanix/4u

SSH client Nutanix Controller VM nutanix nutanix/4u

SSH client or console Acropolis OpenStack root admin

After completing this module, you will be able to

Administration Course Lab Exercises | 9

One Click Upgrade

Figure: Login Screen

2. Log in using the credentials provided on your exercise handout.

Figure: Login Admin

3. From the gear pull-down menu, select Upgrade Software.

10 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

12 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

14 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

16 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

18 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

13. When the update has completed, click Close.

Figure: Verify the Version of NCC from the Command Line

20 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

One Click Upgrade (contd)

Figure: Login Screen

3. From the gear pull-down menu, select Upgrade Software.

Figure: Upgrade Software

22 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

24 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

26 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

28 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

30 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

Figure: Verify Version

16. What version of AOS is your cluster running now?

32 | Introducing the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform

After completing this module, you will be able to:

Administration Course Lab Exercises | 35

Installing the Nutanix Cluster

1. In order to provide power redundancy, a ___________ volt power source is recommended.

5. Your company has a policy of placing all hardware management addresses

Prism Central (contd)

Answer the following