Installation : Installing and Supporting the MegaRAID Storage Manager Software on VMware : Differences in MegaRAID Storage Manager for VMware ESXi

Differences in MegaRAID Storage Manager for VMware ESXi

The following are some of the differences in the MegaRAID Storage Manager software utility when you manage a VMware server.

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The following limitations apply to the system information exposed through the application:

Only the IP address and the host name are displayed.

The operating system type and the operating system architecture are not displayed.

No support for the controller health information.

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The following are the MegaRAID Storage Manager screens that are affected:

The initial MegaRAID Storage Manager framework (hosts) discovery screen: No health information or operating system type display.

The server property page: Only the IP address and the host name are displayed; the operating system type and the operating system architecture are not displayed.

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Authentication support:

The MegaRAID Storage Manager software allows the CIMOM server authentication with the user ID and the password for VMware.

Access to VMware ESXi hosts is controlled based on the user privileges. Only root users can have full access, while the non-root users can have only view only access.

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Event Logging:

Full functionality support is available for the VMware ESXi operating system, but it works differently than the normal MegaRAID Storage Manager framework mode. The event logging feature for the MegaRAID Storage Manager Client connected to a VMware ESXi system behaves as follows:

No support exists for retrieving initial logs (the events that occurred before a client logs in). Only those events that occur after a client logs in appear in the event logger dialog.

System log do not display.

The Save Log feature is not supported; however, the Save Log as Text feature is still supported.

The View Log option allows you to view the logs saved in a text file on the event logger dialog.

The event descriptions might not be identical to a normal MegaRAID Storage Manager event, (running on a MegaRAID client) because the descriptions come from the firmware through the provider.

No filtering of events is available, unlike Monitor Service.

Refreshing of the MegaRAID Storage Manager GUI after any updates on the firmware is slower for a client connected to VMWare ESXi hosts, compared to one connected to Windows/Linux/Solaris hosts.

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Remote discovery:

For networks that do not have DNS configured, the hosts file in the machine on which the MegaRAID Storage Manager software is installed must be edited as follows:

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Add an entry to map the VMware host’s IP address with the host name. This is for the discovery to happen correctly. In the absence of this entry, the VMware host would be discovered as 0.0.0.0.

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Add an entry to map its own IP address (not the loop back address) with the host name. This is to ensure that the Asynchronous Event Notifications (AENs) are delivered correctly.

For networks that have DNS configured, the hosts file in the machine on which the MegaRAID Storage Manager software is installed must be edited as follows:

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When you do the initial configurations for the VMware host, provide the correct DNS server IP address.

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In the hosts file of the machine on which the MegaRAID Storage Manager software is installed, add an entry to map its own IP address (not the loop back address) with the host name. This is to ensure that the Asynchronous Event Notifications (AENs) are delivered correctly.

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It takes a while to discover the CIMOM servers. If you start the MegaRAID Storage Manager software client immediately after you install the MegaRAID Storage Manager software (or restart Framework service), you will not be able to discover any hosts in the network.

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This is supported only on a full installation of the MegaRAID Storage Manager software; stand-alone, client-only, and server-only modes do not support VMware ESXi management.

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Supported on following guest operating systems:

Microsoft Windows Server

Linux RHEL

SuSE Linux

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The following describes the status of components related to VMware ESXi:

The MegaRAID Storage Manager client GUI is supported.

No support for alert notifications is available; you cannot configure the severity of the Asynchronous Event Notifications (AENs).

No pop-up service support is available.

No email support or system log support is available.

Monitor service support is not available.