HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem Versions 3.70/3.75 User Guide - Apache Welcome Page

262 Pages·2013·17.27 MB·English

HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem
Versions 3.70/3.75
User Guide
Abstract
This document contains user information for HP Virtual Connect versions 3.70/3.75. This document is for the person who installs, administers, and
troubleshoots servers and storage systems. HP assumes you are qualified in the servicing of computer equipment and trained in recognizing hazards
in products with hazardous energy levels.

Part Number: 694424-003
February 2013
Edition: 3
© Copyright 2012, 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express
warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall
not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
Microsoft® and Windows® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Adobe® is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7
What's new .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Virtual Connect documentation .................................................................................................................... 8
Virtual Connect overview ............................................................................................................................ 9
HP Virtual Connect Manager........................................................................................................ 11
Configuring browser support .................................................................................................................... 11
Accessing HP Virtual Connect Manager ..................................................................................................... 12
Command Line Interface overview ................................................................................................... 13
Logging on to the HP Virtual Connect Manager GUI .................................................................................... 13
VCM wizards ......................................................................................................................................... 14
HP Virtual Connect Home ......................................................................................................................... 15
About HP Virtual Connect Manager ........................................................................................................... 16
Navigating the HP Virtual Connect Manager GUI ........................................................................................ 16
Navigation overview ..................................................................................................................... 16
Tree view ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Menu items ................................................................................................................................... 17
Activity indicator ........................................................................................................................... 18
Virtual Connect domains .............................................................................................................. 20
Understanding Virtual Connect domains ..................................................................................................... 20
Managing domains ................................................................................................................................. 21
Domain Settings (Configuration) screen ............................................................................................ 22
Domain Settings (IP Address) screen ................................................................................................. 23
Domain Settings (Enclosures) screen ................................................................................................. 24
Domain Settings (Backup/Restore) screen ......................................................................................... 29
Domain Settings (Storage Management Credentials) screen ................................................................ 30
Managing SNMP .................................................................................................................................... 32
SNMP overview ............................................................................................................................ 32
Viewing the system log ............................................................................................................................ 43
System Log (System Log) screen ....................................................................................................... 43
System Log (Configuration) screen ................................................................................................... 46
Managing SSL configuration ..................................................................................................................... 47
SSL Certificate Administration (Certificate Info) screen ........................................................................ 47
SSL Certificate Administration (Certificate Signing Request) screen ....................................................... 49
SSL Certificate Administration (Certificate Upload) screen ................................................................... 52
SSH Key Administration screen ....................................................................................................... 53
Web SSL Configuration screen ........................................................................................................ 54
HP BladeSystem c-Class enclosures ............................................................................................... 56
Enclosure serial numbers .......................................................................................................................... 56
Using multiple enclosures ......................................................................................................................... 56
Multiple enclosure guidelines .................................................................................................................... 57
Enclosures View screen ............................................................................................................................ 58
Enclosures view (multiple enclosures) ................................................................................................ 59
Virtual Connect users and roles .................................................................................................... 60
Understanding VC administrative roles ....................................................................................................... 60
Contents 3
Managing users ...................................................................................................................................... 61
Local Users screen ......................................................................................................................... 62
Configuring LDAP, RADIUS, and TACACS+ ...................................................................................... 65
Virtual Connect networks ............................................................................................................. 80
Understanding networks and shared uplink sets ........................................................................................... 80
Shared uplink sets and VLAN tagging .............................................................................................. 80
Smart Link..................................................................................................................................... 81
Private Networks ........................................................................................................................... 81
VLAN Tunneling Support ................................................................................................................ 81
Managing networks ................................................................................................................................. 82
Network Access Groups screen ....................................................................................................... 83
Define Network Access Group screen .............................................................................................. 85
Ethernet Settings (Port Monitoring) screen ......................................................................................... 86
Ethernet Settings (Advanced Settings) screen ..................................................................................... 90
Define Ethernet Network screen ....................................................................................................... 95
Ethernet Networks (External Connections) screen ............................................................................. 102
Ethernet Networks (Server Connections) screen ................................................................................ 103
Managing shared uplink sets .................................................................................................................. 105
Define Shared Uplink Set screen .................................................................................................... 105
Shared Uplink Sets (External Connections) screen ............................................................................ 111
Shared Uplink Sets (Associated Networks) screen ............................................................................ 114
Virtual Connect fabrics .............................................................................................................. 116
Understanding FC fabrics ....................................................................................................................... 116
FabricAttach VC SAN fabrics ........................................................................................................ 116
DirectAttach VC SAN fabrics ........................................................................................................ 119
Mixed FabricAttach and DirectAttach VC SAN fabrics ..................................................................... 122
Bay groups ................................................................................................................................. 123
Double-dense mode ..................................................................................................................... 124
Managing fabrics .................................................................................................................................. 124
Define SAN Fabric screen ............................................................................................................ 125
SAN Fabrics (External Connections) screen ..................................................................................... 131
SAN Fabrics (Server Connections) screen ....................................................................................... 132
Fibre Channel Settings (Misc.) screen ............................................................................................. 133
Virtual Connect server profiles .................................................................................................... 135
Understanding server profiles .................................................................................................................. 135
Multi-blade servers ....................................................................................................................... 137
Flex-10 overview ......................................................................................................................... 138
Flex-10 configuration ................................................................................................................... 139
FlexFabric overview ..................................................................................................................... 140
PXE settings ................................................................................................................................ 141
iSCSI offload and boot ................................................................................................................. 143
iSCSI and FCoE port assignments .................................................................................................. 144
Bandwidth assignment ................................................................................................................. 146
Managing MAC, WWN, and server virtual ID settings .............................................................................. 147
Ethernet Settings (MAC Addresses) screen ...................................................................................... 147
Fibre Channel Settings (WWN Settings) screen ............................................................................... 149
Serial Number Settings screen ....................................................................................................... 150
Advanced Profile Settings ............................................................................................................. 151
Managing server profiles ....................................................................................................................... 152
Define Server Profile screen .......................................................................................................... 152
Server Profiles screen ................................................................................................................... 173
Contents 4
Edit Server Profile screen .............................................................................................................. 174
Assigning a server profile with FCoE connections to an HP ProLiant BL680c G7 Server Blade ............... 180
Unassigning a server profile with FCoE connections to an HP ProLiant BL680c G7 Server Blade and deleting the
SAN fabric ................................................................................................................................. 187
General requirements for adding FC or FCoE connections ................................................................ 191
Virtual Connect and Insight Control Server Deployment .............................................................................. 194
Virtual Connect modules ............................................................................................................ 196
Firmware updates .................................................................................................................................. 196
Stacking Links screen ............................................................................................................................. 197
Throughput Statistics screen .................................................................................................................... 198
Enclosure Information screen ................................................................................................................... 200
Removing an enclosure ................................................................................................................ 201
Enclosure Status screen .......................................................................................................................... 202
Interconnect Bays Status and Summary screen ........................................................................................... 203
Causes for INCOMPATIBLE status .................................................................................................. 204
Ethernet Bay Summary (General Information) screen ........................................................................ 205
Ethernet Bay Summary (Uplink Port Information) screen ..................................................................... 206
Ethernet Bay Summary (Server Port Information) screen ..................................................................... 208
Ethernet Bay Summary (MAC Address Table) screen ........................................................................ 209
Ethernet Bay Summary (IGMP Multicast Groups) screen .................................................................... 210
Ethernet Bay Summary (Name Server) screen .................................................................................. 211
Ethernet Port Detailed Statistics screen ............................................................................................ 211
FC Port Detailed Statistics screen ................................................................................................... 220
FC Bay Summary screen ............................................................................................................... 222
Interconnect Bay Overall Status icon definitions ............................................................................... 224
Interconnect Bay OA Reported Status icon definitions ....................................................................... 224
Interconnect Bay VC Status icon definitions ..................................................................................... 225
Interconnect Bay OA Communication Status icon definitions.............................................................. 225
Server Bays Summary screen .................................................................................................................. 226
Double-dense server bay option ..................................................................................................... 226
Server Bay Overall Status icon definitions ....................................................................................... 229
Server Bay OA Reported Status icon definitions ............................................................................... 229
Server Bay VC Status icon definitions ............................................................................................. 230
Server Bay OA Communication Status icon definitions ..................................................................... 230
Server Bay Status screen ........................................................................................................................ 231
Server Bay Status screen - multi-blade servers .................................................................................. 233
Port status conditions ............................................................................................................................. 235
Interconnect module removal and replacement .......................................................................................... 237
Virtual Connect modules ............................................................................................................... 237
Upgrading to an HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port FC Module ........................................................... 238
Upgrading to an HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 20-Port FC Module ........................................................... 238
Upgrading or removing an HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 module or HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric module 239
Upgrading to an HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric module from a VC-FC module .................................... 241
Onboard Administrator modules .................................................................................................... 241
Maintenance and troubleshooting ............................................................................................... 242
Domain Status summary ......................................................................................................................... 242
Status icon definitions .................................................................................................................. 242
Domain Status screen ............................................................................................................................. 243
Export support information ...................................................................................................................... 244
Reset Virtual Connect Manager ............................................................................................................... 245
Recovering remote enclosures ....................................................................................................... 245
Server profile troubleshooting ................................................................................................................. 245
Contents 5
Server blade power on and power off guidelines............................................................................. 246
Appendix: Using Virtual Connect with nPartitions ......................................................................... 248
Understanding nPartitions ....................................................................................................................... 248
Assigning a VC profile to an nPar ........................................................................................................... 249
Mapping profile connections ......................................................................................................... 249
Reconfiguring nPars ............................................................................................................................... 249
Acronyms and abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 251
Glossary .................................................................................................................................. 255
Documentation feedback ........................................................................................................... 257
Index ....................................................................................................................................... 258

Contents 6
Introduction
What's new
The user guide contains information about the following changes in VC 3.70/3.75:
• Discontinued support for old hardware:
o HP 1/10Gb Virtual Connect Ethernet Module
o HP 1/10Gb-F Virtual Connect Ethernet Module
• Support for new hardware:
o HP Virtual Connect Flex-10/10D Module
o HP ProLiant BL660c Gen8 Server series
o HP ProLiant WS460c Gen8 Workstation series
o HP Integrity BL860c i4 Server Blades
o HP Integrity BL870c i4 Server Blades
o HP Integrity BL890c i4 Server Blades
o HP 7m C-series Active Copper SFP+ cables (QK701A)
o HP 10m C-series Active Copper SFP+ cables (QK702A)
o Cisco 7m copper active Twinax cables (SFP-H10GB-ACU7M)
o Cisco 10m copper active Twinax cables (SFP-H10GB-ACU10M)
• Virtual Connect Direct-Attach Fibre Channel for HP P10000 3PAR Storage Systems, HP 3PAR T-Class
and F-Class Storage Systems
• Manageability enhancements:
o VCM GUI access to telemetry information
o Advanced telemetry and statistics for Link Aggregation Groups and FlexNICs
o GUI access to the FC Port Statistics for HP FlexFabric 10Gb/24-port Modules
o Improvements to the Statistics Throughout display and data collection
o Display of factory default MACs and WWNs in server profiles
o Added an FC/FCoE “Connect To” field to help identify how server ports are connected to the uplink
ports
o LLDP enhancements to more easily identify VC Ethernet modules on the network
o Improvements to the display of the MAC Address table to show the network name and VLAN ID
where the MAC address was learned, as well as display of the LAG membership table
• VCM GUI/CLI task progress activity indicator for predefined VCM operations
• Security enhancements:
o Support for 2048 bit SSL certificates and configurable SSL-CSR
o Activity logging improvements for TACACS+ accounting
Introduction 7
o Option to disable local account access when LDAP, RADIUS, or TACACS+ authentication is
enabled
o Increased the default VCM local user account minimum required password length
o SNMP access security to prevent access from unauthorized management stations
• SmartLink failover improvements
• IGMP “NoFlood” option when IGMP snooping is enabled
• Browser support:
o Internet Explorer 8 and 9
o Firefox 10 and 11
• Firmware upgrade rollback from a previous firmware upgrade without domain deletion
• VCEM compatibility:
o If you are running VCEM 6.3.0 or earlier, you must upgrade to VCEM 6.3.1 or later to manage a
VC 3.70/3.75 domain. The 3.70/3.75 domain can be in a VCDG in 3.30 firmware mode or later.
To enable new features in VC 3.70/3.75, you must upgrade to VCEM 7.1.1 or later and upgrade
VC domains and VCDGs to 3.30 or later. VCEM 7.1.1 does not support VC versions prior to 3.30.
o In VC 3.70/3.75, the telemetry port throughput is Enabled by default. You must do the following to
add a fresh VC 3.70/3.75 installation to your existing VCDG:
— 3.30-3.60 VCDG with statistics throughput disabled—Clear the Enable Throughput Statistics
checkbox on the Ethernet Settings (Advanced Settings) screen (on page 90), or run the following
VCM CLI command:
set statistics-throughput Enabled=false
— 3.30-3.60 VCDG with statistics throughput enabled—Add the domain as is. No change is
required.
o In VC 3.70/3.75, the VLAN Capacity is set to Expanded by default. You must do the following to
add a fresh VC 3.70/3.75 installation to your existing VCDG:
— 3.30-3.60 with Legacy VLAN VCDG—You cannot add the domain. Select a different VCDG.
— 3.30-3.60 with Enhanced VLAN VCDG—Add the domain as is. No change is required.

Virtual Connect documentation
The following Virtual Connect documentation is available on the Installing tab of the HP BladeSystem
Technical Resources website (http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/documentation):
• HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem User Guide
This guide provides details for the Virtual Connect GUI, including descriptions of screen contents and
steps to set up domains, profiles, networks, and storage.
• HP Virtual Connect for c-Class BladeSystem Setup and Installation Guide
This guide provides hardware installation and configuration information for initial setup of a Virtual
Connect solution. The guide also provides Virtual Connect module component and LED descriptions
and guidelines for module installation and upgrades.
• HP Virtual Connect Manager Command Line Interface for c-Class BladeSystem User Guide
This guide provides information for using the Virtual Connect Command Line Interface, including use
scenarios and complete descriptions of all subcommands and managed elements.
Introduction 8
• HP Virtual Connect Ethernet Cookbook: Single and Multiple Domain (Stacked) Scenarios
This guide helps new Virtual Connect users understand the concepts of and implement steps for
integrating Virtual Connect into a network. The scenarios in this guide vary from simplistic to more
complex while covering a range of typical building blocks to use when designing Virtual Connect
solutions.
• HP Virtual Connect Fibre Channel Networking Scenarios Cookbook
This guide details the concepts and implementation steps for integrating HP BladeSystem Virtual
Connect Fibre Channel components into an existing SAN fabric. The scenarios in this guide are
simplistic while covering a range of typical building blocks to use when designing a solution.
• HP Virtual Connect with iSCSI Cookbook
This guide describes how to configure HP Virtual Connect for an iSCSI environment. It provides tips and
troubleshooting information for iSCSI boot and installation.
• HP BladeSystem c-Class Virtual Connect Support Utility User Guide
This guide provides instructions for using the Virtual Connect Support Utility, which enables
administrators to upgrade VC-Enet and VC-FC firmware and to perform other maintenance tasks
remotely on both HP BladeSystem c7000 and c3000 enclosures using a standalone, Windows-based
command line utility.
• Release Notes
Release notes document new features, resolved issues, known issues, and important notes for each
release of the Virtual Connect product and support utility.

Virtual Connect overview
HP Virtual Connect is a set of interconnect modules and embedded software for HP BladeSystem c-Class
enclosures that simplifies the setup and administration of server connections. Virtual Connect includes the
following components:
• VC-Enet modules
o HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet Module for BladeSystem c-Class
o HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric 10Gb/24-port Module for BladeSystem c-Class, which provides the
capability to configure Ethernet and FC/FCoE or iSCSI connections
o HP Virtual Connect Flex-10/10D Module for BladeSystem c-Class
• VC-FC modules
o HP 4Gb Virtual Connect Fibre Channel Module for c-Class BladeSystem
o HP Virtual Connect 4Gb Fibre Channel Module for BladeSystem c-Class (enhanced NPIV)
o HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port Fibre Channel Module for BladeSystem c-Class
o HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 20-Port Fibre Channel Module for BladeSystem c-Class
• HP Virtual Connect Manager
Virtual Connect implements server edge virtualization between the server and the data center infrastructure
so networks can communicate with individual servers or pools of HP BladeSystem servers, and so you can
upgrade, replace, or move server blades within the enclosures without changes being visible to the external
LAN and SAN environments. The external networks connect to a shared resource pool of servers rather than
to individual servers. Virtual Connect cleanly separates server enclosure administration from LAN and SAN
administration.
Introduction 9
VCM is embedded on the VC-Enet module. You can access VCM through a web-based GUI or CLI. The
Onboard Administrator provides a web link to the Virtual Connect GUI. The CLI can be accessed remotely
through any SSH session or through the Onboard Administrator CLI.
The VC modules support the HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure, the HP BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure, and
all the server blades and networks contained within the enclosure. FlexFabric modules are only supported in
BladeSystem c7000 enclosures with G6 or newer server blades or Integrity i2 server blades with Virtual
Connect firmware v3.15 and later.
VC-Enet modules enable connectivity to data center Ethernet switches. VC-Enet modules can also be directly
connected to other types of devices, such as printers, laptops, rack servers, and network storage devices.
The VC-FC and FlexFabric modules enable connectivity of the enclosure to data center FC switches. Every FC
fabric is limited in the number of switches it can support, but the VC-FC modules do not appear as switches
to the FC fabric and do not count against FC fabric limits.
A basic Virtual Connect domain includes a single HP c-Class BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure for a total of 16
servers (or up to 32 servers if the double-dense option is enabled), or a single HP c-Class BladeSystem c3000
Enclosure for a total of 8 servers (or up to 16 servers if the double-dense option is enabled). For more
information on the double-dense option, see "Double-dense server bay option (on page 226)". Within the
domain, any server blade with the requisite LAN or SAN devices can access any LAN or SAN connected to
a VC module, and a server blade of a given processor type (Integrity or X86) can be used as a spare for any
server blade of the same processor type within the same enclosure, as long as the server has the requisite
number and type of connections. Using network access groups feature, the network administrator can clearly
define a separation of networks based on their allowed functionality and prevent the server administrator
from assigning specific network combinations in the same server profile.
By stacking (cabling) the VC-Enet modules together within the domain and connecting the VC-FC or
FlexFabric module FC uplinks on the same bay of all enclosures to the same FC switch, every server blade in
the domain can be configured to access any external network or fabric connection. With this configuration,
you can use VCM to deploy and migrate a server blade profile to any server in the Virtual Connect domain
without changing external LAN or SAN configurations.
Introduction 10