Deploy an ONTAP Select cluster using the CLI

11/03/2023 Contributors

You can use the command line interface provided with the ONTAP Select Deploy administration utility to create a single-node or multi-node ONTAP Select cluster.

Before you begin

Before creating an ONTAP Select cluster on a hypervisor, you should understand the required preparation.

Prepare to attach storage to the ONTAP Select node

If you use a local hardware RAID controller, you must create at least one storage pool at each node for the system data as well as the root and data aggregates. You must attach the storage pool as part of configuring the ONTAP Select node.

If you use software RAID, you must create a storage pool for the system data and make sure the SSD drives are available for the root and data aggregates. You must attach the storage pool and disks as part of configuring the ONTAP Select node.

Available ONTAP Select versions

The Deploy administration utility contains a single version of ONTAP Select. If you want to deploy clusters using an earlier version of ONTAP Select, you must first add the ONTAP Select image to your Deploy instance. See Add an ONTAP Select image to Deploy for more information.

License ONTAP Select for a production deployment

Before deploying an ONTAP Select cluster in a production environment, you must purchase a storage capacity license and download the associated license file. You can license the storage at each node using the capacity tiers model or license a shared pool using the capacity pools model.

Upload and register a license file

After acquiring a license file with storage capacity, you must upload the file containing the license to the Deploy virtual machine and register it.

If you are deploying a cluster for evaluation only, you can skip this step.

Before you begin

You must have the password for the admin user account.

Steps

In a command shell on your local workstation, use the sftp utility to upload the license file to the Deploy virtual machine.

Example output
```
sftp admin@10.234.81.101 (provide password when prompted)
put NLF-320000nnn.txt
exit
```
Sign in to the Deploy utility CLI with the administrator account using SSH.
Register the license:

license add -file-name FILENAME

Provide the administrator account password when prompted.
Display the licenses in the system to confirm the license was added properly:

license show

Add hypervisor hosts

You must register each hypervisor host where an ONTAP Select node will run.

KVM

You must register a hypervisor host where the ONTAP Select node will run. As part of this, the Deploy administration utility authenticates to the KVM host.

About this task

If more than one hypervisor host is needed, you should use this procedure to add each host.

Steps

`host register -name <FQDN|IP> -hypervisor-type KVM -username KVM_USERNAME`

Example output

host register -name 10.234.81.14 -hypervisor-type KVM -username root

Provide the password for the host account when prompted.

Display the state of the host and confirm it is authenticated:
```
host show -name <FQDN|IP> -detailed
```
Example output
```
host show -name 10.234.81.14 -detailed
```

ESXi

As part of this, the Deploy administration utility authenticates either to the vCenter server managing the host or directly to the ESXi standalone host.

About this task

Before you register a host that is managed by vCenter, you must add a management server account for the vCenter server. If the host is not managed by vCenter, you can provide the host credential as part of registering the host. You should use this procedure to add each host.

Steps

Sign in to the Deploy utility CLI using SSH with the administrator account.
If the host is managed by a vCenter server, add the vCenter account credential:

credential add -hostname <FQDN|IP> -type vcenter -username VCENTER_USERNAME

Example output
```
credential add -hostname vc.select.company-demo.com -type vcenter -username administrator@vsphere.local
```
Register the host:
- Register a standalone host not managed by vCenter:
  host register -name <FQDN|IP> -hypervisor-type ESX -username ESX_USERNAME
- Register a host managed by vCenter:
  host register -name <FQDN|IP> -hypervisor-type ESX -mgmt-server <FQDN|IP>
  
  Example output
  host register -name 10.234.81.14 -hypervisor-type ESX -mgmt-server vc.select.company-demo.com
Display the state of the host and confirm it is authenicated.

host show -name <FQDN|IP> -detailed

Example output
```
host show -name 10.234.81.14 -detailed
```

Creating and configuring an ONTAP Select cluster

You must create and then configure the ONTAP Select cluster. After the cluster is configured, you can configure the individual nodes.

Before you begin

You must decide how many nodes the cluster contains and have the associated configuration information.

About this task

When you create an ONTAP Select cluster, the Deploy utility automatically generates the node names based on the cluster name and node count that you provide. Deploy also generates the unique node identifiers.

Steps

Sign in to the Deploy utility CLI using SSH with the administrator account.
Create the cluster:

cluster create -name CLUSTERNAME -node-count NODES

Example output
```
cluster create -name test-cluster -node-count 1
```
Configure the cluster:

cluster modify -name CLUSTERNAME -mgmt-ip IP_ADDRESS -netmask NETMASK -gateway IP_ADDRESS -dns-servers <FQDN|IP>_LIST -dns-domains DOMAIN_LIST

Example output
```
cluster modify -name test-cluster -mgmt-ip 10.234.81.20 -netmask 255.255.255.192
-gateway 10.234.81.1 -dns-servers 10.221.220.10 -dnsdomains select.company-demo.com
```
Display the configuration and state of the cluster:

cluster show -name CLUSTERNAME -detailed

Configure an ONTAP Select node

You must configure each of the nodes in the ONTAP Select cluster.

Before you begin

You must have the configuration information for the node. The capacity tier license file should be uploaded and installed at the Deploy utility.

About this task

You should use this procedure to configure each node. A capacity tier license is applied to the node in this example.

Steps

Sign in to the Deploy utility CLI using SSH with the administrator account.
Determine the names assigned to the cluster nodes:

node show -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME
Select the node and perform basic configuration:
node modify -name NODENAME -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME -host-name <FQDN|IP> -license-serial-number NUMBER -instance-type TYPE -passthrough-disks false

Example output
```
node modify -name test-cluster-01 -cluster-name test-cluster -host-name 10.234.81.14
-license-serial-number 320000nnnn -instance-type small -passthrough-disks false
```
The RAID configuration for the node is indicated with the passthrough-disks parameter. If you are using a local hardware RAID controller, this value must be false. If you are using software RAID, this value must be true.

A capacity tier license is used for the ONTAP Select node.
Display the network configuration available at the host:

host network show -host-name <FQDN|IP> -detailed

Example output
```
host network show -host-name 10.234.81.14 -detailed
```
Perform network configuration of the node:

node modify -name NODENAME -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME -mgmt-ip IP -management-networks NETWORK_NAME -data-networks NETWORK_NAME -internal-network NETWORK_NAME

When deploying a single-node cluster, you do not need an internal network and should remove -internal-network.

Example output
```
node modify -name test-cluster-01 -cluster-name test-cluster -mgmt-ip 10.234.81.21
-management-networks sDOT_Network -data-networks sDOT_Network
```
Display the configuration of the node:

node show -name NODENAME -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME -detailed

Example output
```
node show -name test-cluster-01 -cluster-name test-cluster -detailed
```

Attach storage to the ONTAP Select nodes

You must configure the storage used by each node in the ONTAP Select cluster. Every node must always be assigned at least one storage pool. When using software RAID, each node must also be assigned at least one disk drive.

Before you begin

You must create the storage pool using VMware vSphere. If you are using software RAID, you also need at least one available disk drive.

About this task

When using a local hardware RAID controller, you need to perform steps 1 through 4. When using software RAID, you need to perform steps 1 through 6.

Steps

Sign in to the Deploy utility CLI using SSH with the administrator account credentials.
Display the storage pools available at the host:

host storage pool show -host-name <FQDN|IP>

Example output
```
host storage pool show -host-name 10.234.81.14
```
You can also obtain the available storage pools through VMware vSphere.
Attach an available storage pool to the ONTAP Select node:

node storage pool attach -name POOLNAME -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME -node-name NODENAME -capacity-limit LIMIT

If you include the -capacity-limit parameter, specify the value as GB or TB.

Example output
```
node storage pool attach -name sDOT-02 -cluster-name test-cluster -
node-name test-cluster-01 -capacity-limit 500GB
```
Display the storage pools attached to the node:

node storage pool show -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME -node-name NODENAME

Example output
```
node storage pool show -cluster-name test-cluster -node-name testcluster-01
```
If you are using software RAID, attach the available drive or drives:

node storage disk attach -node-name NODENAME -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME -disks LIST_OF_DRIVES

Example output
```
node storage disk attach -node-name NVME_SN-01 -cluster-name NVME_SN -disks 0000:66:00.0 0000:67:00.0 0000:68:00.0
```
If you are using software RAID, display the disks attached to the node:

node storage disk show -node-name NODENAME -cluster-name CLUSTERNAME

Example output
```
node storage disk show -node-name sdot-smicro-009a -cluster-name NVME
```