NetApp OnTap Simulator 8.3 – How to

Updated on 25/08/2015:
– New Simulator Version 8.3 as OVF updates

About this Post

This post should give you an easy starting point to work with the NetApp DataONTAP Simulators and to install a lab demo environment.
It shows how to setup a single node Clustered Data OnTap Simulator. If you need more f.e. for SnapMirror/SnapVault just deploy more of them in the same way.

Pre-Requirements

You need at least 1 network/subnet for the 4 used Ethernet Ports of the simulator. You can connect all 4 network cards of the appliance to the same network.

You need round about 15 free IP addresses for the management and data ports.

You need VMware Workstation or VMware ESX Server.

IMPORTANT: The main idea behind the simulator is to simulate NetApp Storage Systems.

Getting the required Software

1. Login to support.netapp.com with your credentials
2. Go to “Download – Software” and click on “Data ONTAP Simulator”
   
   
3. Select “Simulator 8.x”
   
4. Download your required OFV template for VMware Workstation or VMware ESX
   Download the licenses as well.
   

Importing the virtual appliance to Workstation or ESX

As soon as we have downloaded the OFV template we are now ready to deploy the Simulator.

1. Different ways to import the virtual appliance
   1. When using VMware Workstation
      1. Open Workstation and click “File-Open”
         
      2. Browse the path to the OVF and click “Open” to import the VM in VMware Workstation.
         
      3. Open the VM Settings of the imported VM by clicking “Edit virtual machine settings”
         
      4. Change all Network Adapters to the same Network. In our case we do a simple deployment and we don’t use different Networks.
         
   2. When using VMware ESX
      1. Login to you VMware ESX or vCenter
      2. Click on “File – Deploy OVF Template” and navigate to your downloaded OVF template.
         
      3. Import the template by entering a name and the required fields.
         
      4. At the Network Mapping map all adapter to the same network segment as it is the easiest way to work with the simulator.
         

First time boot of the Simulator and base configuration

Now that we have registered our system it’s time for the first boot and base configuration.

1. During the first boot of the Simulator please wait for the promt “Press CTRL+C for special boot menu” and then press CTRL + C
   
2. When the special boot menu appears please choose option “4 – Clean configuration and initialize all disks” to clean the system
   
3. Confirm the warnings with yes.
   
4. Wait until the wipe is finished – will take some time – and you see the following messages on the console.
   
5. Type “yes” on the first question
   
6. Enter the following information’s for the Node:
   Enter the node management interface port [e0c]                Press Enter or type e0c
   Enter the node management interface IP address:             Enter your IP Adress
   Enter the node management interface netmask:                 Enter your Netmask
   Enter the node management interface default gateway    Enter your default Gateway
7. After the node information’s you should be forwarded to the cluster setup. If not please login using “admin” as user and execute “cluster setup”
8. Enter the following information’s for the Cluster setup:
   
   You have now finished the first setup tasks for the simulator.
9. Log in to your Simulator using SSH (f.e. putty) and the cluster management IP address.
10. Install all licenses for the simulator
    1. VMware ESX licenses
       license add -license-code CAYHXPKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code APTLYPKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code WSKTAQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code CGVTEQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code OUVWXPKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code QFATWPKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code UHGXBQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code QLXEEQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code GCEMCQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code KYMEAQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code SWBBDQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code YDPPZPKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code INIIBQKBFDUFZGABGAAAAAAAAAAA 
    2. VMware Workstation license
       license add -license-code YVUCRRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code WKQGSRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code SOHOURRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code YBSOYRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code KQSRRRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code MBXNQRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code QDDSVRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code MHUZXRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code CYAHWRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code GUJZTRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code OSYVWRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code UZLKTRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
       license add -license-code EJFDVRRRYVHXCFABGAAAAAAAAAAA   
    3. Enter the following commands to complete the base installation
       To get your nodename (used as <NODE> below) type “node show”.
       
       Reboot your system with the command “reboot”.With that the base configuration is finished.

I hope the post helped you working with NetApp OnTap Simulator.
Any feedback or comment is welcome.