Adding hosts and installing plug-in packages on remote hosts

You must use the SnapCenter Add Host page to add hosts, and then install the plug-in packages. The plug-ins are automatically installed on the remote hosts. You can add a host and install the plug-in packages either for an individual host or for a cluster.

Before you begin

You must be a user that is assigned to a role that has the plug-in install and uninstall permissions, such as the SnapCenter Admin role.
You should ensure that the message queueing service is running.

About this task

You cannot add a SnapCenter Server as a plug-in host to another SnapCenter Server.

If you install plug-ins on a cluster (WSFC), the plug-ins are installed on all of the nodes of the cluster.

Th Administration Guide contains more information on managing hosts.

Performing administrative tasks

Procedure

In the left navigation pane, click Hosts.
Verify that the Managed Hosts tab is selected at the top.
Click Add.

On the Hosts page, perform the following actions:

For this field…	Do this…
Host Type	Select the type of host: Windows Linux Note: The custom plug-ins can be used in both Windows and Linux environments.
Host name	Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address of the host. SnapCenter depends on the proper configuration of the DNS. Therefore, the best practice is to enter the FQDN. For Windows environments, the IP address is supported for untrusted domain hosts only if it resolves to the FQDN. You can enter the IP addresses or FQDN of a stand-alone host. If you are adding a host by using SnapCenter and the host is part of a subdomain, you must provide the FQDN.
Credentials	Either select the credential name that you created, or create new credentials. The credentials must have administrative rights on the remote host. For details, see the information about creating credentials. You can view details about the credentials by positioning your cursor over the credential name that you specified. Note: The credentials authentication mode is determined by the host type that you specify in the Add Host wizard.

For this field…

Do this…

Host Type

Select the type of host:

Windows
Linux

Note: The custom plug-ins can be used in both Windows and Linux environments.

Host name

Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address of the host.

SnapCenter depends on the proper configuration of the DNS. Therefore, the best practice is to enter the FQDN.

For Windows environments, the IP address is supported for untrusted domain hosts only if it resolves to the FQDN.

You can enter the IP addresses or FQDN of a stand-alone host.

If you are adding a host by using SnapCenter and the host is part of a subdomain, you must provide the FQDN.

Credentials

Either select the credential name that you created, or create new credentials.

The credentials must have administrative rights on the remote host. For details, see the information about creating credentials.

You can view details about the credentials by positioning your cursor over the credential name that you specified.

Note: The credentials authentication mode is determined by the host type that you specify in the Add Host wizard.

In the Select Plug-ins to Install section, select the plug-ins to install.

(Optional) Click More Options.

For this field…	Do this…
Port	Either retain the default port number, or specify the port number. The default port number is 8145. If the SnapCenter Server was installed on a custom port, that port number will be displayed as the default port. Note: If you manually installed the plug-ins and specified a custom port, you must specify the same port. Otherwise, the operation fails.
Installation Path	The custom plug-ins can be installed on either a Windows system or a Linux system. For the SnapCenter Plug-ins Package for Windows, the default path is C:\Program Files\NetApp\SnapCenter. Optionally, you can customize the path. For SnapCenter Plug-ins Package for Linux, the default path is /opt/NetApp/snapcenter. Optionally, you can customize the path. For the SnapCenter Custom Plug-ins: In the Custom Plug-ins section, click Browse, and then select the zipped custom plug-in folder. The zipped folder contains the custom plug-in code and the descriptor .xml file. Click Upload. The descriptor .xml file in the zipped custom plug-in folder is validated before the package is uploaded. The custom plug-ins that are uploaded to the SnapCenter Server are listed. If you want to manage MySQL or DB2 applications, you can use the MySQL and DB2 custom plug-ins that are provided by NetApp. The MySQL and DB2 custom plug-ins are available at the NetApp Tool Chest. NetApp Tool Chest
Skip preinstall checks	Select this check box if you already installed the plug-ins manually and you do not want to validate whether the host meets the requirements for installing the plug-in.

Click Submit.
If you have not selected the Skip prechecks checkbox, the host is validated to verify whether the host meets the requirements for installing the plug-in. The disk space, RAM, PowerShell version, .NET version, location (for Windows plug-ins), and Java version (for Linux plug-ins) are validated against the minimum requirements. If the minimum requirements are not met, appropriate error or warning messages are displayed.
If the error is related to disk space or RAM, you can update the web.config file located at C:\Program Files\NetApp\SnapCenter WebApp to modify the default values. If the error is related to other parameters, you must fix the issue.
Note: In an NLB setup, if you are updating web.config file, you must update the file on both nodes.
If host type is Linux, verify the fingerprint, and then click Confirm and Submit.
In a cluster setup, you should verify the fingerprint of each of the nodes in the cluster.
Note: Fingerprint verification is mandatory even if the same host was added earlier to SnapCenter and the fingerprint was confirmed.
Monitor the installation progress.
The installation-specific log files are located at /custom_location/snapcenter/logs.

Result

When the host is added, the configuration checker operation is triggered automatically and provides alerts for recommendations, corrective actions, and notifications to resolve the issues.