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Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Create volumes for FSx for ONTAP

Contributors juliantap netapp-bcammett

After you set up your working environment, you can create and mount FSx for ONTAP volumes.

Create volumes

You can create and manage NFS, CIFS, and iSCSI volumes from your FSx for ONTAP working environment in BlueXP. Volumes created using ONTAP CLI will also be visible in your FSx for ONTAP working environment.

About this task

You can add volumes by opening the working environment and selecting the Volumes tab or simply using working environment Details panel from the Canvas. This task describes adding volumes using the Details panel.

Before you begin
Steps
  1. Select the FSx for ONTAP working environment on the Canvas. If you don't have a Connector enabled, you'll be prompted to add one.

  2. In the Details panel, use the three dots (icon of three dots) to open the options menu. Click Add Volume.

    A screenshot of the add volume option on the Details panel.

  3. Volume details, protection, & tags

    1. Enter a name for your new volume.

    2. The Storage VM (SVM) field auto-populates the SVM based on the name of your working environment.

    3. Enter the volume size and select a unit (GiB or TiB). Note that the volume size will grow with usage.

    4. Select a snapshot policy. By default, a snapshot is taken every hour (keeping the last six copies), every day (keeping the last two copies), and every week (keeping the last two copies).

    5. Optionally, create tags to categorize your volumes by clicking the plus sign and entering a tag name and value.

    6. Optionally, select the optimization option to create a FlexGroup and distribute volume data across the cluster.

      Note FlexGroup distribution is available for NFS and CIFS volume protocols only.
  4. Volumes protocol:

    1. Select an NFS, CIFS, or iSCSI volume protocol.

      NFS
      1. Select an Access Control policy.

      2. Select the NFS versions.

      3. Select a Custom Export Policy. Click the information icon for valid value criteria.

        A screenshot of the NFS configuration FSx for ONTAP volume creation.

      CIFS
      1. Enter a Share Name.

      2. Enter users or groups separated by a semicolon.

      3. Select the permission level for the volume.

        A screenshot of the NFS configuration FSx for ONTAP volume creation.

      4. If this is the first CIFS volume for this working environment, you will be prompted to configure CIFS connectivity using an Active Directory or Workgroup setup.

        • If you select a Workgroup setup, enter the server and workgroup name for a workgroup configured for CIFS.

        • If you select an Active Directory setup, you'll need to provide the following configuration information.

          Field Description

          DNS Primary IP Address

          The IP addresses of the DNS servers that provides name resolution for the CIFS server.
          The listed DNS server must contain the service location records (SRV) needed to locate the Active Directory LDAP servers and domain controllers for the domain the CIFS server will join.

          Active Directory Domain to join

          The FQDN of the Active Directory (AD) domain you want the CIFS server to join.

          Credentials authorized to join the domain

          The name and password of a Windows account with sufficient privileges to add computers to the specified Organizational Unit (OU) within the AD domain.

          CIFS server NetBIOS name

          A CIFS server name that is unique in the AD domain.

          Organizational Unit

          The organizational unit within the AD domain to associate with the CIFS server. The default is CN=Computers.

          DNS Domain

          The DNS domain for the storage virtual machine (SVM). In most cases, the domain is the same as the AD domain.

          NTP Server

          Select Enable NTP Server Configuration to configure an NTP server using the Active Directory DNS. If you need to configure an NTP server using a different address, then you should use the API. See the BlueXP automation docs for details.

      iSCSI

      You can connect your LUN using an existing initiator group or by creating a new one. To map an existing initiator group, select your operating system and one or more initiator groups.

      To create a new initiator group:

      1. Select Create new.

      2. Select your operating system.

      3. Click to add one or more host iSCSI qualified names (IQN). You can select existing IQNs or add new IQNs. For details on how to find the IQN for a volume, see Connect a host to a LUN.

      4. Enter an Initiator Group Name.

        A screenshot of the iSCSI configuration FSx for ONTAP volume creation.

  5. Usage Profile and Tiering

    1. By default, Storage Efficiency is disabled. You can change this setting to enable deduplication and compression.

    2. By default, Tiering Policy is set to Snapshot Only. You can select a different tiering policy based on your needs.

      A screenshot of the Usage Profile and Tiering Configuration for FSx for ONTAP volume creation.

    3. If you selected optimization (FlexGroup), you must specify the number of constituents to distribute volume data across. We strongly recommend using an even number of constituents to ensure even data distribution.

  6. Review: Review your volume configuration. Click Previous to change settings or Add to create the volume.

Result

The new volume is added to the working environment.

Mount volumes

Access mounting instructions from within BlueXP so you can mount the volume to a host.

About this task

You can mount volumes by opening the working environment and selecting the Volumes tab or simply using working environment Details panel from the Canvas. This task describes adding volumes using the Details panel.

Steps
  1. Select the FSx for ONTAP working environment on the Canvas.

  2. In the Details panel, use the three dots icon (icon of three dots) to open the options menu. Click View Volumes.

    A screenshot of how to open the Volume Actions menu.

  3. Use Manage Volumes to open the Volume Actions menu. Click Mount command and follow the instructions to mount the volume.

    A screenshot of the mount volume command.

Result

Your volume is now mounted to the host.