Deployment Success

We have multiple clusters in our nutanix environment and where is NCC upgrade is required. Is there a way to automate this or use API to update NCC? We are on version 3.9.5 and want to upgrade it to 3.10.0.1

So, on a dev cluster with Prism Central I created a Proof-of-Concept Nutanix Objects "Store". I did some experimentation (spotted a few problems with the deployment) and then decided I wanted to remove the store. First off I tried to delete the bucket, and was told "You need to delete all versions first": grr! Went and deleted all objects, but this wasn't enough, as versioning was enabled. So, turned version lifespan down to 1 day, and waited 24 hours. Great, now I could delete the bucket - however, I can't find any option to delete the store. So, I'm stuck with the (in my mind, greedy) VMs the deployment created, as I can't even go behind it's back and do anything with the VMs, as they're "special", just like the hidden Calm project which is used to deploy the store. All in all, not very impressed on first experiences...

Hello Everybody,Hope you’re all doing well !I want to install Nutanix using Foundation.I have 3 Lenovo nodes and one Cisco 2960X switch that consists of 24 x 1 Gig RJ45 ports and 04 x 1 Gig SFP ports.Unlike Supermicro nodes, Lenovo nodes do not have Shared IPMI ports.So, for each Lenovo node, I have to connect 01 x 10 Gig port and 01 GbE IPMI Port to the same CISCO 2960X switch (10 Gig ports of the nodes connected to 1 Gig SFP ports of the switch and 1Gig IPMI ports to the 1 Gig RJ45 ports ).Please take a look of the picture below…Since 10 Gig ports of the nodes are connected to 1Gig ports of the switch, I wonder if this architecture can allow me to install nutanix and create the cluster without any issues ? Thanks in advance.

HI We use an AWS cloud instance as a remote data protection ‘site’. The production cluster has been successfully updated to  AOS 5.15.1.1 (LTS) but this needed an AHV update to keep everything compatible.. Is is possible / desirable to upgrade the AWS cloud instance AHV ? IIRC it’s not supported to do OS upgrades (MIcrosoft OS anyway) on cloud infrastructure, it’s generally a migration to a new server. Is it possible to put a new AWS remote Nutanix instance in place and connect the backup data ??? Any advice on how to keep the whole Nutanix environment up to date is appreciated.

Below are new knowledge base articles published on the week of July 26-August 1, 2020.KB 9482 - Following AHV upgrade PTAgent service does not start KB 9726 - IPMI web console is not able to log-in KB 9749 - LCM not showing available versions after successful inventory for Darksite configured on non-English WebServer KB 9788 - Convert a disk from Nutanix Volumes to a direct attached disk KB 9791 - Prism Central VM Services Will Not Start After Virtual Memory or vCPU Hot Add in AHV KB 9797 - ESXi 6.7 nodes imaged with Foundation 4.5.4 have vibs missing KB 9799 - PC Cluster Runway/Scenarios not working on PC 5.17/ 5.17.0.xNote: You may need to log in to the Support Portal to view some of these articles.

Below are the top knowledge base articles for the month of July 2020.KB 4116 - NX Hardware [Memory] – Alert - A1187, A1188 - ECCErrorsLast1Day, ECCErrorsLast10Days KB 7503 - NX Hardware [Memory] – G6, G7 platforms - DIMM Error handling and replacement policy KB 1540 - What to do when /home partition or /home/nutanix directory is full KB 4141 - Alert - A1046 - PowerSupplyDown KB 1113 - HDD/SSD Troubleshooting KB 4409 - LCM: (LifeCycle Manager) Troubleshooting Guide KB 4519 - NCC Health Check: check_ntp KB 4158 - Alert - A1104 - PhysicalDiskBad KB 2090 - AHV | Host Networking KB 2473 - NCC Health Check: cvm_memory_usage_check KB 7604 - Disk space usage for root on Controller VM has exceeded 80% KB 3357 - NCC Health Check: ipmi_sel_cecc_check KB 8860 - During AOS upgrade from a pre-5.10.2 version to a later version services on a CVM may fail to start with "stderr sudo: Account or password is expired" error KB 3523 - How to create a Phoenix ISO or AHV ISO from a CVM or Foundation VM KB 378

Have you ever wanted to view or change the network configuration of an AHV host but thought that working directly with Open vSwitch seemed daunting or overwhelming? Don’t worry! Nutanix developers have produced an AHV-specific tool that allows for the management of Open vSwitch via a simple interface called “manage_ovs”. This interface has the following features (among others) and even maintains a built-in help system:Viewing current network interfaces statuses Viewing/changing the uplink interfaces configuration Viewing/changing the uplinks bonding configurationThe “manage_ovs” interface is available (as a command) while connected to any of the CVMs of an AHV cluster via CLI. You can find more information about the “manage_ovs” interface as per the AHV NETWORK MANAGEMENT section of the AHV Networking Guide.

Nutanix Flow is a security feature which allows for firewall-type protection at the VM layer. However, flow goes another step further in allowing the configuration of “Security Policies” which can govern individual VMs or “Categories” of VMs or (grouped into convenient application-specific domains).Flow is a function of Prism Central and is disabled by default. To enable it, simply access the “Microsegmentation” option from within the “Prism Central Settings” options, tick the “Enable Microsegmentation” check box and click “OK”. To note, you may first want to review the capability checks that Prism Central automatically performs on all registered clusters prior to enablement, which is also possible right from within the “Enable Microsegmentation” dialog box.You can find more information regarding Nutanix Flow as per the FLOW MICROSEGMENTATION GUIDE found on the Nutanix Support Portal.

Recently we have introduced a couple of changes in LCM.  HTTPS is a requirement for many enterprise customers. Many of our customers employ strict firewalls, Deep Packet filtering algorithms that only let certain HTTPS traffic through the external gateway. And so today we allow LCM to access the Nutanix portal over HTTPS. (The URL accessed when performing inventory is https://download.nutanix.com/lcm/2.0/)   Nutanix is transitioning from delivering LCM modules as a payload that is associated with an LCM release to delivering them as release-independent repository image modules (RIM). This includes both software and firmware modules that is available from LCM 2.3.2.  That’s great! But how does it affect me?Only if you have blocked HTTP traffic. At the time of this post,  we have identified an issue where LCM could incorrectly poll a HTTP endpoint, instead of HTTPS. It has been documented in the release notes as well. (ENG-310334)https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId

Do I need to arrange for a downtime for an upgrade? How long does the process takes? If you are planning for an upcoming upgrade and have these questions, look no more:At Nutanix, upgrades are always designed to be done without needing any downtime for User VMs. Before every upgraded it is recommended to go through the Prerequisitesto avoid any issues in upgrades. This document is intended to explain a bit about how each upgrade work and to share some useful best practices for administrators.Is downtime required?No. Is there performance impact?Nutanix recommends performing upgrades during your scheduled maintenance window or outside your normal business hours. Otherwise, users might experience latency during the upgrade process. This latency may be especially noticeable for clusters that use only 1GB-speed network uplinks due to the limited bandwidth available on this configuration.How long does it take?From 15 minutes to one hour depending on number of nodes and type of upgrade For in

Hi allI use the v2 Prism Elements API to clone a VM from a Protection Domain Snapshot.It seems to work and the VM is created (cloned) correctly.However: The new VM always has the Prefix “Nutanix-Clone-”.The values i pass via vg_name_prefix and vm_name_prefix are simply ignored. In the Web UI (using the v1 API internally) it works fine.Please see the attached screenshots of the Web UI and the API call. Thanks in advance!

In Nutanix Hardware, the IPMI (BMC) keeps track of hardware-related events using the Event Log/System Management Feature. If there is a hardware event that needs to be dealt with, Prism will create an alert and send you an email if Alert Email Configuration is set up. However, there are still other events in IPMI that can be useful.For example, a power button assertion, a chassis intrusion, shutdown related events, or session audits (failed login attempts) will be logged by the IPMI events logs and can be forwarded via email using SMTP.If you may be interested in this functionality, check out KB 2581 to find more information on configuring SMTP in the Nutanix IPMI.

Team,I have a NUTANIX cluster running on the Dell Hardware with 11 Dell XC6320-6 model servers. I have spare Dell XC630-10 server and want to  check can i re purpose that server to the existing Cluster which is running with  Dell XC6320-6  hardware ?

You have just configured the ESXi hypervisor in a Nutanix cluster, and now wondering about the recommended configuration?Below are the configurations which shouldn’t be altered in Nutanix HCI. NFS settings VM swapfile location VM startup/shutdown order iSCSI software adapter settings vSwitchNutanix standard virtual switch vmk0 interface in port group "Management Network" SSH enabled Host firewall ports that are open Wondering how to change the ESXi hostname and is it even supported?Absolutely yes, you can change the ESXi hostname  Follow the KB Mentioned below Changing ESXi Hostname  Interested to know more? Give the following articles a coffee read  How to Configure ESXi Host Networking  Changing CVM Memory configuration in ESXi  VSPHERE ADMINISTRATION GUIDE FOR ACROPOLIS 

Collector Portal is the cloud version of the Collector desktop version offering a lot more in terms of features and capabilities.Collector Portal is an online repository for storing collections, creating projects for viewing, analyzing the collected data, and eventually sizing the collected data in the SIzer. The portal also allows for collaboration/sharing of the data/analysis between stakeholders for more informed sizing. You can also revisit/track old sizings/collections and regenerate the analysis/graphs for the data at a later point in time. Collector Portal Navigation Login Open collector.nutanix.com in your browser. Click My Nutanix Login to logon to the application. You can use your Nutanix login to connect with the application.  Sidebar After a successful login, you will see the sidebar on the right side of the Collector Portal dashboard . The sidebar has important information such as the number of projects and collections associated with the user who is logged in. The sidebar

I find that the simplest things in life are the most complicated. Snapshot is one of those things, I believe. It is something we, administrators, do not hesitate to use and yet, not many undersand what it is or how it works. Below are a few things out of many. What is a snapshot? A snapshot is a difference. When a snapshot is created its initial size is zero. That is because initially there is no change to capture. Original data is locked. It can be read but it can’t be altered. All the changes are written to the snapshot. That is why and how you can recover the data before the snapshot - because it is still there and is still intact. What is a VM snapshot for? It is a recovery point that is meant to be kept for a brief period of time as opposed to backups that can be stored for months, years or even decades. Why does a VM snapshot file grow in size? Because the changes to the original data keep coming in. Files on the VM are edited or deleted, new files are created. The longer the

Hello team, I hope that someone can explain to me why, looking to sizer’s recommandations about hybrid configuations, SSD/HDD ratio is not size dependent but form factor dependent. Basically if you select 2 SSD and 3.5”HDD then a minimum 1:1 ratio is possible (SSDx2 + HDDx2) but if you have have SSDx2 and 2.5” HDD then the minimum ratio is 1:2 (SSDx2 + HDDx4). Is it because 3.5” HDD SAS or SATA are usually faster than 2.5”? It’s not about size or hardware vendor, recommandations seems to changes according to the disks form factor only

STARTING A NODE IN A CLUSTER (AHV)   Basic workflow on how to start an AHV node-    Log on to AHV host with SSH. Find the name of Controller VM (cvm) Determine if CVM is running. If the CVM is shut off, start it. If the node is in maintenance mode, Log on to the CVM of this host and take the node out of the maintenance mode. Log on to another CVM of this cluster with SSH and check if all services are up on all the CVMs.   For the commands and outputs of the above steps, please refer to the AHV Portal Guide:   https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId=AHV-Admin-Guide-v5_17:ahv-node-start-ahv-t.html   PERFORMING POWER OPERATIONS ON VMS   You can initiate safe and graceful power operations such as soft shutdown and restart of the VMs running on the AHV hosts by using the aCLI. The soft shutdown and restart operations are initiated and performed by Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) within the VM thereby ensuring a safe and graceful shutdow

How to migrate ESX VM with independent disks and PCIE to AHV

I have a VM UUID 33ac3949-beba-401e-a114-6ccd48ebf237 I use POST to /vms/{uuid}/nics/ to create a NIC. The successful task returns UUID 46e8ac39-5dba-460a-afb6-f65bf1b7b43c { "uuid": "46e8ac39-5dba-460a-afb6-f65bf1b7b43c", "meta_request": { "method_name": "VmNicCreate" }, "meta_response": { "error_code": 0 }, "create_time_usecs": 1596037035354721, "start_time_usecs": 1596037035378557, "complete_time_usecs": 1596037035579435, "last_updated_time_usecs": 1596037035579435, "entity_list": [ { "entity_id": "33ac3949-beba-401e-a114-6ccd48ebf237", "entity_type": "VM", "entity_name": null } ], "operation_type": "kVmNicCreate", "message": "", "percentage_complete": 100, "progress_status": "Succeeded", "parent_task_uuid": "3b61a2df-4fe4-46aa-bd18-a9f87086f723", "cluster_uuid": "0005883b-67db-3e76-0000-000000015db3"} Notice that the entity list refers back to the VM, not to the newly created NIC.  I would expect the operation to return the ‘nic_uuid’

Hello,   Is it possible to provide for a group of VMs a Metro-Availability (stretched cluster) solution using ESXi (since this feature for AHV isn’t available yet) to obtain 24x7 availability and downtime+disaster avoidance capabilities for certain services) and also provide for the VMs in the stretched cluster or a subset of those VMs async replication to a 3rd site (DR site)?   Understanding that the stretched containers are sync replicated at the container level, would that 3rd site async replication be based at the container or VM level?   Thanks!

Hi all, I have almost 200 Virtual machine in my AHV environment . Is there anyway to summary operating system in each virtual machine, Does it have any tool like rvtool in vmware ?

I’m receiving a 401 Unauthorized error when trying to access our cluster to retrieve snapstop information. I’m passing a valid VM UUID and have used credentials from one of our local user accounts which has both cluster and admin roles assigned. I can access most other methods of the API using these credentials, but not this one. What am I doing wrong?https://{prism_element_ip}:9440/api/nutanix/v2.0/flr/{vm_uuid}/snapshots

This article's purpose is to shed some light on the rarely discussed, yet a crucial alert that you may come across on the cluster, that is, the HardwareClockFailure alert. Let us not confuse it with the system time. The system time is maintained by the OS (For example, Linux, Microsoft Windows etc.). The initial value of the system clock is typically retrieved from the real-time clock at power up or is set by the user. The hardware time is maintained by a real clock powered by a battery, which means it will persist a reboot.  The alert is generated when the hardware clock time differs from the system clock time. This check is scheduled to run every 10 minutes, by default.   To learn more about what causes a hardware clock to fail and how to resolve it, head over to this KB article: KB 4120 in the Nutanix Support Portal.

This is one of the questions that do not exist on AHV. It is, however, a moderately important one for ESXi environment Nutanix or not. Why it is so and what does work best for ESXi on Nutanix – this is what I intend to unfold if you care to read. Without going into nitty-gritty details but still explaining the essential differences between the formats provisioning types for VM disks define how the storage space is allocated for the VM disk. The tree options ESXi provides are: Allocate space when required. No guarantees for the space available on the datastore for the data of the disk to grow to the extent of the disk size configured. This is a Thin Provisioned disk. Location of data on physical storage is written in fragments. Accessing these fragments when reading and allocating space for new data is what may create additional latency for sensitive applications such as databases, for example. Allocate storage section for the entire VM disk file contiguously. Guarantee space availab