This documentation supports releases of BMC Helix Continuous Optimization up to December 31, 2021. To view the latest version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Storage - Dell EMC Unity CIM Server Extractor Service

Use the Dell EMC Unity CIM Server ETL for BMC Helix Continuous Optimization to poll and collect configuration and performance data via the embedded SMI-S provider. The ETL uses the Storage - Dell EMC Unity CIM Server Extractor Service task to collect all the metrics required for performing critical capacity optimization tasks, such as: analysis, trending, simulation and analytic modeling.

Collecting data by using Dell EMC Unity CIM Server ETL for BMC Helix Continuous Optimization

To collect data by using the Dell EMC Unity CIM Server ETL for BMC Helix Continuous Optimization, perform the following tasks:


I. Complete the preconfiguration tasks.

II. Configure the ETL.

III. Run the ETL.

IV. Post-configuration steps.


Step I. Complete the preconfiguration tasks

The ETL is compatible with any Dell EMC Unity storage system that comes with the embedded SMI-S provider. Dell EMC Unity CIM Server ETL has been tested and validated with the SMI-S provider v4.1.2. 

A. Configuring the SMI-S Provider

Dell EMC Unity CIM Server ETL for BMC Helix Continuous Optimization leverages the embedded SMI-S provider to collect capacity information about Dell EMC Unity storage systems.
The embedded SMI-S provider is automatically activated and the ETL accesses it via port 5989 (default).

A user with operator role needs to be created in Unisphere as illustrated below:

The username being case sensitive, you will have to make sure that the information is properly typed while configuring the ETL.

B. Deploying the ETL module

Complete the following steps to deploy the ETL Module:

  1. Navigate to Administration > SYSTEM > Maintenance.
  2. Verify the installation status of the already uploaded packages. If their status is "READY" or "RUNNING", wait for the installation to complete before proceeding.
  3. At the bottom of the Maintenance page, locate the Upload patch or additional package file section.
  4. Click Browse.
  5. Locate and select the ETL installation package.
  6. Click Upload.
  7. Read the Overview and click Next to continue.
  8. Read and accept the End User License Agreement.
  9. Select the server on which the operation must be executed; that is the server on which the package will be saved. Click Proceed to continue.
  10. A successful installation will result in a green line in the Additional Packages table.

    Note

     In case of unsuccessful outcome (e.g. a yellow WARNING line), click the  icon to inspect the deployment log.


Step II. Configure the ETL

A. Configuring the basic properties

Some of the basic properties display default values. You can modify these values if required.

To configure the basic properties:

  1. In the Helix Continuous Optimization console, navigate to Administration > ETL & SYSTEM TASKS > ETL tasks.
  2. On the ETL tasks page, under the Last run tab, click Add > Add ETL. The Add ETL.The Add ETL page displays the configuration properties. You must configure properties in the following tabs: Run configuration, Entity catalog, and ETL additional settings.
  3. On the Run configuration tab, select Storage - Dell EMC Unity CIM Server Extractor Service from the ETL Module list. The name of the ETL is displayed in the ETL task name field. You can edit this field to customize the name.

  4. Click the Entity catalog tab, and select one of the following options:
    • Shared Entity Catalog:

      Select if other ETLs access the same entities that are used by the Dell EMC Unity ETL.
      • From the Sharing with Entity Catalog list, select the entity catalog name that is shared between ETLs.
    • Private Entity Catalog: Select if this is the only ETL that extracts data from the Dell EMC Unity resources.
  5. Click the Connection Settings tab, and configure the following properties:

    Property

    Description

    Hostname

    Hostname or IP address of the server where the Unity SMI-S Agent is running.

    Port

    Port number used by the Unity SMI-S Agent (default: 5989).

    Connect As

    Username to connect to the Unity SMI-S Agent (default: admin).

    Password

    Password to connect to the Unity SMI-S Agent.

    Transport ProtocolTransport protocol used by the Unity SMI-S Agent (for HTTP, the default port is 80; for HTTPS, the default port is 443).
  6. Click Save. You are returned to the Last run tab under the ETL tasks page.

    1. Validate the results in simulation mode: In the ETL tasks table under ETL tasks > Last run, locate your ETL (ETL task name), click  to run the ETL.
      • OK: the ETL executed without any error in simulation mode.
      • WARNING: The ETL execution returned some warnings in simulation mode. Check the ETL log.
      • ERROR: The ETL execution returned errors and was unsuccessful. Edit the active Run configuration and try again.
    2. Switch the ETL to production mode: Perform the following steps:
      1. In the ETL tasks table under ETL tasks > Last run, click the ETL under the Name column.
      2. In the Run configuration table in the ETL details page, click  to edit the active Run configuration.
      3. In the Edit run configuration page, navigate to the Run configuration expandable tab and set Execute in simulation mode to No.
      4. Click Save. 
  7. Locate the ETL in the ETL tasks table and click  to run it, or schedule an ETL run. 
    After you run the ETL, or schedule the ETL for a run, it will extract the data from the source and transfer it to BMC Helix Continuous Optimization database. You can see the entity hierarchy in the left Navigation pane, under Workspace.
  8. Click the ETL additional settings tab, and configure the following properties:
PropertyDescription
Shares

This property allows you to fine-tune the creation of shares entities in the BMC Helix Continuous Optimization environment. For more information, refer to the section "Customizing Volumes and Shares Monitoring" below.

 Volumes

This property allows you to disable or enable volumes monitoring and fine-tune the creation of volume entities in the BMC Helix Continuous Optimization environment. 
For more information, refer to Customizing Volumes Monitoring.

(Optional) B. Configuring the advanced properties

You can configure the advanced properties to change the way the ETL works or to collect additional metrics.

To configure the advanced properties:


Note

To view or configure Advanced properties, click Advanced. You do not need to set or modify these properties unless you want to change the way the ETL works. These properties are for advanced users and scenarios only.
PropertyDescription
Collection level
Levels up to

By default, extended level metrics are not imported by the ETL. To import them, you will have to customize the collection level and set it to [4] Extended.
For more information about Aging Class Mapping, refer to the topic Adding and managing metric profiles.

Click Save. The ETL tasks page shows the details of the newly configured EMC Unity CIM Server ETL.

Complete the procedure by performing steps 6 to 8 from the Configuring the basic properties procedure.



Step III. Post-configuration steps

Testing the connection to Unity SMI-S agent

The ETL relies on the Unity SMI-S Agent to collect information about Dell EMC Unity storage systems. Because some connectivity issues may exist and cause the ETL to fail, it is highly recommended to test the connection to this specific component. The procedure is as follows:

The ETL relies on the Unity SMI-S Agent to collect information about Dell EMC Unity storage systems. Because some connectivity issues may exist and cause the ETL to fail, it is highly recommended to test the connection to this specific component. The procedure is as follows:

  1. Download the troubleshooting tool from EPD.
  2. Run the command java –jar <Troubleshooting_Tool_Name.jar> to launch the tool.
  3. Enter the information required to connect to the system and click Test Connection.
  4. Wait for the test to complete.
  5. If a connectivity issue is detected, an error message will appear. In this case, the issue encountered does not concern the ETL. Check your configuration to diagnose the source of the issue.
  6. Click Save As to export the connection test results into a txt file.


Customizing volumes and shares monitoring

Discovering volumes and/or shares and collecting their performance metrics are resource-intensive actions that can create extra workload on the system. To reduce the system resource consumption, administrators can disable or enable the volumes and/or shares monitoring at will and fine-tune the creation of volume and/or share entities into the BMC Helix Continuous Optimization environment.

The following metrics are no longer collected and displayed in the console when volumes monitoring is disabled:

DatasetMetrics
STOGLB
    • DS_SYSNM (System name in the datasource)
    • ST_CONFIGURED_VOLUME_CAPACITY (Configured Volume Capacity)
    • ST_CONFIGURED_VOLUME_CAPACITY_PCT (Storage System Configured Capacity Percentage)
    • ST_DEVICECOUNT (Storage Devices Number)
    • ST_HOSTCNT (Attached Hosts Number)
    • ST_OVERSUBSCRIBED_CAPACITY (Storage Oversubscribed Capacity)
    • ST_POOL_DEV_COUNT (Pool devices count)
    • ST_SYSTEM_SUBSCRIBED_CAPACITY (Storage Subscribed Capacity)
    • ST_VOLUME_CONSUMED_CAPACITY (Volume Consumed Capacity Percentage)
    • ST_VOLUME_CONSUMED_CAPACITY_PCT (Volume Consumed Capacity Percentage)
    • ST_VOLUME_HOST_VISIBLE_CAPACITY (Host Volume Visible Capacity)
    • ST_VOLUME_IO_RATE (Volume Operation Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_IO_READ_RATE (Volume Read Operation Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_IO_WRITE_RATE (Volume Write Operation Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_MAPPED (Volume Mapped)
    • ST_VOLUME_RAID_LEVEL (RAID level of the volume)
    • ST_VOLUME_RESPONSE_TIME (Volume Response Time)
    • ST_VOLUME_TIME_SINCE_LAST_ACTIVITY (Volume Time Since Last Activity)
    • ST_VOLUME_TRANSFER_BYTE_RATE (Volume Transfer Byte Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_TYPE (Storage Volume Type)
    • SYSNM (System Name)
    • SYSTYPENM (System Type)
    • VOLUME_EXTERNAL_ID (Volume External Unique Identifier)

The following metrics are no longer collected and displayed in the console when shares monitoring is disabled:

DatasetMetrics
STOGLB
    • DS_SYSNM (System name in the datasource)
    • ST_AVAILABLE_CAPACITY (Available Capacity)
    • ST_AVAILABLE_CAPACITY_PCT (Available Capacity Percentage)
    • ST_CAPACITY (Storage Capacity)
    • ST_CONSUMED_CAPACITY (Storage Consumed Capacity)
    • ST_CONSUMED_CAPACITY_PCT (Storage Consumed Capacity Percentage)
    • ST_DEVICECOUNT (Storage Devices Number)
    • ST_POOL_DEV_COUNT (Pool devices count)
    • ST_VOLUME_IO_RATE (Volume Operation Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_IO_READ_RATE (Volume Read Operation Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_IO_WRITE_RATE (Volume Write Operation Rate)
    • ST_VOLUME_TRANSFER_BYTE_RATE (Volume Transfer Byte Rate)
    • SYSTYPENM (System Type)


To customize volumes and shares monitoring

  1. Edit the Dell EMC Unity CIM Server ETL Run Configuration.
  2. Expand the ETL additional settings menu.

From the Shares/Volumes pull-down lists, select one of the following options:

OptionResult
Disabled
    • Volumes/Shares are not discovered.
    • Volumes/shares-related metrics are not loaded in the console.

Use this configuration if the number of volumes/shares to manage significantly slows down the system performance. Disabling the volumes/shares monitoring prevents the discovery of volumes and consequently does not allow the ETL to collect, save or process their data. Note that the calculation of metrics for other sources may be impacted.

Collected for metric computation (Default)
    • All volumes/shares are discovered and their metrics are collected and processed.
    • Volumes/shares-related metrics are not loaded in the console.

Use this configuration if you wish to collect and process volume/shares-related metrics without loading this information in the console. The collected data will however be used to calculate metrics for other sources, when required. This will reduce the resource consumption of your system.

Collected and Imported
    • All volumes/shares are discovered and their metrics are collected and processed.
    • Volumes/shares-related metrics are saved in the database, processed and loaded in the console.

Use this configuration if your system is powerful enough to manage all the volumes to monitor.


Click Save.

Running the Extractor Service task

An ETL task can be run manually to retrieve performance metrics. Please note that the steps listed in this section are not mandatory and are only required if the ETL is not already scheduled for execution.

To run the ETL task:

  1. Access the Helix Continuous Optimization console.
  2. In the Administration tab, select ETL & System Tasks > ETL Tasks.
  3. Click  to execute the ETL task.

When the execution is complete, the value of the Status column in the ETL tasks table changes to SERVICE_ON.


Setting the collect frequency

The collect frequency is the rate at which data is collected. Collect frequency is set to 15 minutes by default, which means that it only applies to entities with an average duration of 900 seconds. It can however be modified to include more entities and performance metrics.

To know the average duration, under the Worskpace tab, select one entity, click the Metrics tab, and verify the Average duration column of the performance metrics.

To set the collect frequency:

  1. Edit the ETL Run Configuration:
    1. In the Administration tab, click ETL & System Tasks > ETL tasks.
    2. Click the link of the ETL task for which you wish to set the collect frequency.
    3. Click the Stop button to stop the service execution; then click the  Edit button available in the Run configuration section.
  2. Click the link You can manually edit ETL properties from this page provided at the bottom of the page to display a list of editable options.
  3. Locate the service.period option, and enter the number of milliseconds corresponding to the frequency at which data will be collected. If you want the collect frequency to include both storage systems and storage pools for example, you will have to set the collect frequency to 7200000 milliseconds (2 hours).
  4. Click Save.
  5. Start the ETL.

Step III. Run the ETL

After you configure the ETL, you can run it to collect data. You can run the ETL in the following modes:

A. Simulation mode: Only validates connection to the data source, does not collect data. Use this mode when you want to run the ETL for the first time or after you make any changes to the ETL configuration.

B. Production mode: Collects data from the data source.

A. Running the ETL in the simulation mode

To run the ETL in the simulation mode:

  1. In the Helix Continuous Optimization console, navigate to Administration ETL & System Tasks, and select ETL tasks.
  2. On the ETL tasks page, click the ETL. The ETL details are displayed.


  1. In the Run configurations table, click Edit to modify the ETL configuration settings.
  2. On the Run configuration tab, ensure that the Execute in simulation mode option is set to Yes, and click Save.
  3. Click Run active configuration. A confirmation message about the ETL run job submission is displayed.
  4. On the ETL tasks page, check the ETL run status in the Last exit column. 
    OK Indicates that the ETL ran without any error. You are ready to run the ETL in the production mode.
  5.  If the ETL run status is Warning, Error, or Failed:
    1. On the ETL tasks page, click  in the last column of the ETL name row.
    2. Check the log and reconfigure the ETL if required.
    3. Run the ETL again.
    4. Repeat these steps until the ETL run status changes to OK.

B. Running the ETL in the production mode

You can run the ETL manually when required or schedule it to run at a specified time.

a. Running the ETL manually

  1. On the ETL tasks page, click the ETL. The ETL details are displayed.
  2. In the Run configurations table, click Edit  to modify the ETL configuration settings. The Edit run configuration page is displayed.
  3. On the Run configuration tab, select No for the Execute in simulation mode option, and click Save.
  4. To run the ETL immediately, click Run active configuration. A confirmation message about the ETL run job submission is displayed.
    When the ETL is run, it collects data from the source and transfers it to the BMC Helix Continuous Optimization database.

b. Scheduling the ETL run

By default, the ETL is scheduled to run daily. You can customize this schedule by changing the frequency and period of running the ETL.

To configure the ETL run schedule:

  1. On the ETL tasks page, click the ETL, and click Edit. The ETL details are displayed.

  2. On the Edit task page, do the following, and click Save:

    • Specify a unique name and description for the ETL task.
    • In the Maximum execution time before warning field, specify the duration for which the ETL must run before generating warnings or alerts, if any.
    • Select a predefined or custom frequency for starting the ETL run. The default selection is Predefined.
    • Select the task group and the scheduler to which you want to assign the ETL task.
  3. Click Schedule. A message confirming the scheduling job submission is displayed.
    When the ETL runs as scheduled, it collects data from the source and transfers it to the BMC Helix Continuous Optimization database.




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