How to monitor NetApp Filers using vRealize Operations Manager (vROps)?

By | August 18, 2015

In this post I will show how to use vRealize Hyperic Server + plugin to monitor NetApp Filers via vRealize Operations Manager (vROps).

You will find answers for the following topics/questions:

  • Prerequisites to monitor NetApp via vRealize Hyperic Server.
  • How to install and configure NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server?
  • Overview of available metrics for monitoring NetApp.
  • How to create a custom dashboard in vROps to monitor NetApp Filers?

Before configuring vRealize Hyperic Server (and also vROps) to monitor NetApp Filers you should follow the below posts:

  1. How to deploy and configure vRealize Operations Manager 6.x?
  2. How to integrate vROps with vRealize Hyperic Server?

If you still use vCenter Operations Manager (aka vCOps) 5.x, you should migrate it to vRealize Operations Manager 6.x following the post here.

Prerequisites

There are some prerequisites to monitor NetApp via vRealize Hyperic Server or/and vROps:

  • The NetApp Filer must be enabled for SNMP.
  • One Windows or Linux machine with Hyperic Agent installed.

Installation and configuration of NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server

Before monitoring NetApp Filers, we need to install and configure Hyperic plugin. The plugin connects to the NetApp Filer's SNMP Agent to discover NetApp resources. The NetApp Filer resource is discovered by the plugin's NetAppPlatformDetector class, which extends the NetworkDevicePlatformDetector support class.

Installing NetApp plugin

At first we need to install NetApp plugin in vRealize Hyperic Server. Please follow the below steps:

  1. Download the plugin from VMware Solution Exchange site.
  2. Log in to vRealize Hyperic Server as hqadmin.
  3. Click Administration (1) --> Plugin Manager (2).Installing NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server
  4. Click Add/Update Plugins (1). Then Select plugin (2) and click Upload (3).Installing NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server 2
  5. You should see that NetApp plugin has been installed.Installing NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server 3

Configuring NetApp plugin

We have just installed the Hyperic plugin for NetApp. To configure NetApp plugin please follow the below steps:

  1. Click Resources (1) and Select New Platform from the Tools menu. (2)Installing NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server 4
  2. Enter resource name (1), select "NetApp Filer" from the Platform Type pulldown. (2), IP Address (3) and Enter the FQDN of the Filer (4). Then click OK (5).Installing NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server 5Note: Select the HQ Agent that will monitor the Filer from the Agent Connection pulldown list. The agent must be able to connect to the SNMP port on the Filer and you can use Linux or Windows Machine with Hyperic agent running as the Agent Connection.
  3. The Configuration Properties page for the NetApp Filer platform appears. Type NetApp IP Address and SNMP Transport option (1). Optionally, configure options (2) and (3) if you need to use SNMP v3. Click OK (4).Installing and configuring NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server 6
  4. Now, Hyperic Server should gather metrics from NetApp Filer.

For more information please follow guide available here.

Overview of available metrics for monitoring NetApp Filers

When you configure  vRealize Hyperic Server plugin for NetApp Filers, there are available some metrics:

  • CIFS/NFS Metrics such as Bytes Read/Write etc.

NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server - Metrics Overview

  • Possibility to export to CSV.

NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server - Metrics Overview 2

  • Specific information about gathered data.

NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server - Metrics Overview 3

  • Some metrics are not enabled (and shown (1)) by default. You can enable it.(2)

NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server - Metrics Overview 4

Creating a custom dashboard in vROps

We have installed and configured NetApp plugin in vRealize Hyperic Server. As you could see above, you can use Hyperic UI to monitor NetApp Filers. However, vROps (via Hyperic Server) can also be used to monitor storage arrays and I recommend to configure it.

Please remember that your vRealize Hyperic Server has to be integrated with vROps!

To create a custom dashboard to monitor NetApp metrics via vRealize Operations Manager please follow the below steps:

  1. Log in to vRealize Operations Manager (vROps).
  2. In the left pane of vRealize Operations Manager, click the Content icon.NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps
  3. Click Dashboards and the plus sign to create a dashboard and configure the dashboard.  NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps 2
  4. Enter Dashboard name (1), Column counts (2) and then click Widget List (3).NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps 3
  5. Drag the widgets in the right panel to add them to the dashboard. On the below figure I used Scoreboard and Metric Chart widgets. Click pencil icon (1) (2) to edit widgets. Do not click Save yet (3).NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps 4Enable Refresh Content and Self Provider. Then Select Objects Types --> NetApp Filer. Select NetApp Filer which you want to monitor and then select Metrics (I selected Read request 0-511 per Minute). Click Save. NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps 5Repeat this steps for all widgets and then click Save (3).
  6. You can add more widgets or metrics as well. NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps 6
  7. On the below figure you can see my example: 2 widgets: Scoreboard (4 metrics) and Rolling View Chart (one metric).NetApp plugin for vRealize Hyperic Server -create a dashboard in vROps 7

I have shown example how to configure a custom dashboard in vROps to monitor NetApp Filer. Please custom it as necessary 🙂

 

Conclusion

As you could see there are a lot of metrics that you could use to monitor NetApp Filers. You need to use vRealize Operations Manager Advanced or Enterprise. For more information please follow VMware vRealize Operations Manager guide to Third-Party solutions.

Author: Mariusz

Architect (~ 15 years experience based on passion...) with strong background as a System Administrator and Engineer. Focused on Data Center Solutions: Virtualization/Cloud Computing and Storage/Backup Systems. Currently living in Poland.