Manage storage containers

09/16/2024 Contributors

A storage container is a vSphere datastore representation created on a cluster running Element software.

Storage containers are created and tied to NetApp Element accounts. A storage container created on Element storage appears as a vSphere datastore in vCenter and ESXi. Storage containers do not allocate any space on Element storage. They are simply used to logically associate virtual volumes.

A maximum of four storage containers per cluster is supported. A minimum of one storage container is required to enable VVols functionality.

Create a storage container

You can create storage containers in the Element UI and discover them in vCenter. You must create at least one storage container to begin provisioning VVol-backed virtual machines.

Before you begin, enable VVols functionality in the Element UI for the cluster.

Steps

Select VVols > Storage Containers.
Click the Create Storage Containers button.
Enter storage container information in the Create a New Storage Container dialog box:
1. Enter a name for the storage container.
2. Configure initiator and target secrets for CHAP.
  
  Leave the CHAP Settings fields blank to automatically generate secrets.
3. Click the Create Storage Container button.
Verify that the new storage container appears in the list in the Storage Containers sub-tab.

Because a NetApp Element account ID is created automatically and assigned to the storage container, it is not necessary to manually create an account.

View storage container details

On the Storage Containers page of the VVols tab, you can view information for all active storage containers on the cluster.

Account ID: The ID of the NetApp Element account associated with the storage container.
Name: The name of the storage container.
Status: The status of the storage container. Possible values:
- Active: The storage container is in use.
- Locked: The storage container is locked.
PE Type: The protocol endpoint type (SCSI is the only available protocol for Element software).
Storage Container ID: The UUID of the virtual volume storage container.
Active Virtual Volumes: The number of active virtual volumes associated with the storage container.

View individual storage container details

You can view the storage container information for an individual storage container by selecting it from the Storage Containers page on the VVols tab.

Account ID: The ID of the NetApp Element account associated with the storage container.
Name: The name of the storage container.
Status: The status of the storage container. Possible values:
- Active: The storage container is in use.
- Locked: The storage container is locked.
Chap Initiator Secret: The unique CHAP secret for the initiator.
Chap Target Secret: The unique CHAP secret for the target.
Storage Container ID: The UUID of the virtual volume storage container.
Protocol Endpoint Type: Indicates the protocol endpoint type (SCSI is the only available protocol).

Edit a storage container

You can modify storage container CHAP authentication in the Element UI.

Select VVols > Storage Containers.
Click the Actions icon for the storage container you want to edit.
In the resulting menu, select Edit.
Under CHAP Settings, edit the Initiator Secret and Target Secret credentials used for authentication.

If you do not change the CHAP Settings credentials, they remain the same. If you make the credentials fields blank, the system automatically generates new secrets.
Click Save Changes.

Delete a storage container

You can delete storage containers from the Element UI.

What you'll need

Ensure that all virtual machines have been removed from the VVol datastore.