Brocade FOS REST Data Collector

10/16/2024 Contributors

Data Infrastructure Insights uses the Brocade FOS REST collector to discover inventory and performance for Brocade switch devices running FabricOS (FOS) firmware 8.2 and later.

Please note: FOS' default "user" level is insufficiently powerful for Data Infrastructure Insights to view all the logical aspects of a device - we need a user account with the "Chassis Role" enabled, as well as permissions on all the Virtual Fabrics configured on a switch.

Here is an example of how you can create a "least privilege" user account for Data Infrastructure Insights usage in a SSH session to a FOS device:

userConfig --add NetAppCIUser -r user -l 1-128 -c user -p Qwerty!

This will create a user “NetAppCIUser” with a password of “Qwerty!”. This user has the “user” role (-r) across all 128 possible virtual fabrics ( -l ). This user additionally has the required “Chassis” role ( -c) with user level access assigned.

By default, this collector will attempt to discover all the FOS devices that are a part of all the fabrics the switch is part of.

Terminology

Data Infrastructure Insights acquires the following inventory information from the Brocade FOS REST data collector. For each asset type acquired by Data Infrastructure Insights, the most common terminology used for this asset is shown. When viewing or troubleshooting this data collector, keep the following terminology in mind:

Vendor/Model Term	Data Infrastructure Insights Term
Switch	Switch
Port	Port
Virtual Fabric, Physical Fabric	Fabric
Zone	Zone
Logical Switch	Logical Switch
LSAN Zone	IVR Zone

Vendor/Model Term

Data Infrastructure Insights Term

Switch

Port

Virtual Fabric, Physical Fabric

Fabric

Zone

Logical Switch

LSAN Zone

IVR Zone

Note: These are common terminology mappings only and might not represent every case for this data collector.

Requirements

There must be TCP connectivity to all switches in the fabric. This data collector type will seamlessly try both HTTP and HTTPS for each device in the fabric. If you select the Discover all switches in the fabric check box, Data Infrastructure Insights identifies all the switches in the fabric; however, it needs TCP connectivity to these additional switches to discover them.
The same account is needed globally across all switches in the fabric. You can use the device's Web interface to confirm access.

Configuration

Field	Description
Switch IP	IP address or fully-qualified domain name of the FOS switch
User Name	User name for the switch
Password	Password for the switch

Field

Description

Switch IP

IP address or fully-qualified domain name of the FOS switch

User Name

User name for the switch

Password

Password for the switch

Advanced configuration

Field	Description
Excluded Devices	Comma-separated list of device IPv4 addresses to exclude from polling.
Inventory Poll Interval (min)	Interval between inventory polls. The default is 60.
Discover all switches in the fabric	Select to discover all switches in the fabric.
Choose Favoring HBA vs. Zone Aliases	Choose whether to favor HBA or zone aliases.
Connection type	HTTP or HTTPS.
Note that this setting only changes which protocol CI attempts to use per device first - CI will attempt the opposite protocol automatically if the default fails	Override TCP Port
Specify a port if not using the default.	Performance Poll Interval (sec)

Field

Description

Excluded Devices

Comma-separated list of device IPv4 addresses to exclude from polling.

Inventory Poll Interval (min)

Interval between inventory polls. The default is 60.

Discover all switches in the fabric

Select to discover all switches in the fabric.

Choose Favoring HBA vs. Zone Aliases

Choose whether to favor HBA or zone aliases.

Connection type

HTTP or HTTPS.

Note that this setting only changes which protocol CI attempts to use per device first - CI will attempt the opposite protocol automatically if the default fails

Override TCP Port

Specify a port if not using the default.

Performance Poll Interval (sec)

Troubleshooting

Some things to try if you encounter problems with this data collector:

Inventory

Problem:	Try this:
The Test feature warns me that a protocol is inaccessible	A given Brocade FOS 8.2+ device will only want to speak on HTTP or HTTPS - if a switch has a digital certificate installed, the switch will throw HTTP errors if one attempts to communicate to it with unencrypted HTTP versus HTTPS. The test feature attempts communication with both HTTP and HTTPS - if the Test tells you that one protocol passes, you can safely save the collector and not worry that the other protocol was unsuccessful - the collector will attempt both protocols during collection, and only fail if neither works.
Error: “Data Infrastructure Insights received Invalid Chassis Role”	Check that the user configured in this data source has been granted the chassis role permission.
Error: "Mismatched Chassis IP Address"	Change the data source configuration to use chassis IP address.
Inventory fails with a 403 Forbidden	This may simply be bad credentials, or it may be indicative that you are attempting to use an insufficiently powerful role - remember that "user" level users do NOT have the required "Chassis Role" right, or view access to non default Virtual Fabrics.

Problem:

Try this:

The Test feature warns me that a protocol is inaccessible

A given Brocade FOS 8.2+ device will only want to speak on HTTP or HTTPS - if a switch has a digital certificate installed, the switch will throw HTTP errors if one attempts to communicate to it with unencrypted HTTP versus HTTPS. The test feature attempts communication with both HTTP and HTTPS - if the Test tells you that one protocol passes, you can safely save the collector and not worry that the other protocol was unsuccessful - the collector will attempt both protocols during collection, and only fail if neither works.

Error: “Data Infrastructure Insights received Invalid Chassis Role”

Check that the user configured in this data source has been granted the chassis role permission.

Error: "Mismatched Chassis IP Address"

Change the data source configuration to use chassis IP address.

Inventory fails with a 403 Forbidden

This may simply be bad credentials, or it may be indicative that you are attempting to use an insufficiently powerful role - remember that "user" level users do NOT have the required "Chassis Role" right, or view access to non default Virtual Fabrics.

Additional information may be found from the Support page or in the Data Collector Support Matrix.