Files Storage

Mike McGhee demonstrates Nutanix File Analytics, which provides insights into file and user activity including audit trails and anomaly detection for your SMB and NFS shares with Nutanix Files. Are you using Nutanix Files Analytics - be the first to reply and share your experiences with the community!

Hi,Can you please point me to a document with _detailed_ description of networking requirements for Files for PD recovery to work, as well as _detailed _ description of how the networking is being handled during the failover?The reason I’m asking is that I’m planning PD for Files, and I need to understand the networking side of that, i.e. how Storage and Client networking are being handled during the failover to the other cluster, where the networking is different (different datacentre). Do I pre-configure portgroups to connect to in advance, as well as the IP-s to assign?, and AOS/Files handle this automatically during the failover? Or is this a “wizard”-driven workflow where I specify portgroups and IPs? Or is there a requirement for stretched VLAN-s for both Client and Storage networks? I wasn’t able to find and deatiled information on that, so am askign for your help.Thank you, Victor

Hello everyone,I’m trying to install the Nutanix File Analytics application.I got a message ‘ File Analytics server deployment is in progress’ when I click the link ‘Deploy File Analytics’.Before this happened, I’ve tried same link and configured File analytics options and clicked the ‘Deploy’ in filnal. It was something that there was no problem.But the installation was stopped in 1% progress, means no more advance.Anybody could help me, please…

Hi,Can you please help me with any recommendation and/or point me to any documentation around running Nutanix Files alongside other types of workloads (on ESXi)? I.e. server virtualisation, VDI, other Files instances, sustainability for resource contention, resource reservation, etc.While I do understand that in an extreme case of a dedicated HCI cluster where only FSVM-s are spread across the nodes, Files would surely perform well, I’m after more real-world scenarios, where Files still deliver.Thank you, Victor.

I’m in the process of installing Nutanix Files on Esxi but I’m stuck at Add Network (through vCenter)We found this link but it is no more availablehttps://next.nutanix.com/nutanix-files-71/failing-afs-pre-check-deployment-add-network-through-vcenter-27924?postid=42955#post42955Any help is appreciated 

In the course of changing the containers to RF3, I noticed that unlike the containers with VMs, the Usage metric on Files containers drops by 20% after the change. I.e. normally (a VM container), right after the change the Usage drops by 30% and then gradually returns to the original value. But with Files containers, after the same 30% drop, it returns to a value of 20% less than the original. That was consistent for two Files containers, very different in size and type of stored data. Could anyone please help with an explaination? Thank you.

Can you explain the safest way to upgrade Nutanix files product please.  3 nodes cluster, with 2 files servers.  Current version 3.6 on Esxi 6.5 and AOS 5.15.4 LTS. I can have if needed a little down time to snapshot in vmware the Nutanix files VM maybe before the upgrade process?I got some commvault backup but it a long process to restore 7TB of files… so i want a quick and easy way to back off it the upgrade process fail.

I am unable to delete a Citrix user profile which is hosted in Nutanix AFS share…Getting error as already in use by another program

We do not have the option to convert a standard share to distributed share or a distributed share to a standard share as of file version 3.7. We have a feature request open with Nutanix engineering to enable this feature. The workaround is to create a new share and move the files to the new share using data migration tools. Migration Tools like Robocopy, PeerSoftware and Datadobi can be used. Details on the various migration tools can be found in the below portal document: https://portal.nutanix.com/#/page/solutions/details?targetId=TN-2016-Nutanix-Files-SMB-Migration-Guide:top_migration_tools.html The following documents explains an example migration using robocopy: https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/solutions/details?targetId=TN-2016-Nutanix-Files-SMB-Migration-Guide:top_migration_example_robocopy.html

Can we integrate Nutanix File server with permission commander application of Nutanix.

Nutanix announced new hybrid cloud capabilities for its unstructured data storage offerings, Objects and Files. With these advanced features, Nutanix customers can now deploy an easy-to-use, scale out storage fabric across their different cloud environments to simplify data management and effectively manage costs - moving IT teams ever closer to a true hybrid cloud operating model. These storage-focused enhancements build on the recent launch of Nutanix Clusters, which supports Nutanix’s hyperconverged infrastructure software running in AWS and, in the future, Microsoft Azure. The company continues to enable its technology to run in any cloud, while embracing a common operating model to streamline IT management and provide organizations the flexibility to run every application in the cloud of their choice.  You can read more about it here - Nutanix Extends Storage Services to Its Hybrid Cloud Platform

I’m looking for some possible suggestions for utilities to move SMB file shares to Nutanix Files. I’ve read most (if not all) the documentation in the portal and I’ve even migrated a few of these shares using robocopy (not without some learning experiences). However, most of the shares I have to migrate are 500 GB - 1.5 TB and business critical. Frankly,  I’m not looking for any additional Robocopy learning experiences. So, I’m looking around for a good utility somewhere between Robocopy and Miria’s Atempo. The solution doesn’t have to be free but I don’t want overkill. Any suggestion?It may be worth adding that I am using Windows DFS as well. The source shares are DFS targets and I’m pointing the DFS targets to the Nutanix File Shares after migrating the files. 

Many users are unaware that Nutanix Files itself maintains an application programming interface (API) similar to but separate from that of Prism. Nutanix Files uses the same backend service as Prism (Aplos) to respond to requests, and can be connected to using the same port (9440). However, instead of connecting to the Nutanix cluster virtual IP (VIP) address or the IP addresses of any of the controller virtual machines (CVMs), the requests for the Files API would be directed to the Nutanix Files VIP and/or the addresses of the file server virtual machines (FSVMs).The Nutanix Files API can be used to collect information regarding a Nutanix Files instance, and the individual requests can result in the following standard HTTP response codes: 200 (successful connection) 400 (bad request) 404 (the URL is not found) 500 (internal server error) The Nutanix Files API even has an explorer page (similar to that of Prism) which can be used to demonstrate the type of output expected to be r

The timezone for file server virtual machines ( FSVM) can be changed using the afs command line. The following change can be done from any one FSVM and will reflect across all the FSVMs when successful.   SSH to any FSVM on the nutanix files cluster Get the timezone for your region. The command outputs your timezone into a region and city format.                    nutanix@fsvm$ afs fs.get_timezone Set the timezone                     nutanix@fsvm$ fs.set_timezone "region_name/city_name" Reference: https://portal.nutanix.com/#/page/docs/details?targetId=Files-v3_7:fil-file-server-set-timezone-t.htm

Files currently supports SMB 2.0 and SMB 2.1, SMB 3.0 protocol. For SMB 3.0, it is important to note that Files has started supporting some of SMB 3.0 Features like SMB3 Signing ( 3.2.0 onward) and SMB3 Encryption support is coming with coming releases. We do not have any plans to support the SMB 1.0 protocol, given that this is no longer even supported by Microsoft for security reasons Nutanix Files assigns default permissions for newly created SMB shares. There are three default (BUILTIN) groups for Nutanix Files: Administrators, Users, Backup Operators. The BUILTIN\Administrators group includes \Domain Admins, as well as any file server admins you specify from Prism or the CLI. The BUILTIN\Users group contains \Domain Users. The BUILTIN\Backup Operators group is empty by default but can include any backup admins you specify from Prism or the CLI. The default permissions assigned to the Administrators and Users groups depend on the share type. code:Standard shareBUILTIN\A

Nutanix Files uses storage and client networks. The IP addresses are within the user-defined range for VLAN and IP addresses.  Storage network ( Internal Network )  The storage network enables communication between the FSVMs and the Controller VM.  It also provides access to Nutanix Volumes iSCSI vDisks in volume groups.  The storage interface helps manage deployment, failover, and maintenance, and enables control over one-click upgrades.  Integration with the CVM lets the FSVM determine if a storage fault has occurred and, if so, whether you must take action.  The FSVM service  ( minerva_nvm) sends a heartbeat to its local CVM service each second indicating its state.  The FSVM service (minerva_ha) sends a heartbeat to the other FSVMs indicating its state.There will be 'n+1' IP addresses in this Pool, n is the number of File Server VMs. The 1 extra IP is the Virtual IP for the AFS cluster.  Virtual IP : Whichever FSVM is the prism leader will host this IP on interface eth0:1

When creating a new share/export please be sure that the naming convention follows the below rules:  All English letters are allowed. Decimal digits (0-9) are allowed. Periods, hyphens and underscores are allowed. Share name should not begin with a period. Share name can end with single $  The share creation will FAIL if the above guidelines are not followed. For details on creating shares and files please refer to the following guide: https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/solutions/details/?targetId=TN-2041-Nutanix-Files:TN-2041-Nutanix-Files

Hello Team, I read that starting from Nutanix Files 3.7 is possible to adjust block size of the share. How can this can be done? Not sure is actually possible in Prism (running aos 5.18.1)  What block size would you recommended for small files (under 10 Mb the average size) like Excel, pdf, Word and so on? Thank you!

Nutanix Files Cluster comprises of multiple virtual machines or FSVMs, which require both internal (Storage) and external (Client) IP Addresses. Files Cluster with 3 x FSVMs require at least 7 IP Addresses (3 x Internal + 3 x External + One Internal IP). Storage Network ( Internal Network ) needs to reach the CVMs and the Data Services IP (for best performance they should all be in the same subnet) Client Storage (External Network ) needs to reach the Domain Controllers and Client. As of AOS 5.6 and Nutanix Files 3.x, File Server Re-IP is now a supported workflow as shown below.  The whole Re-IP workflow involves 4 steps From Prism, navigate to the File Server tab. Highlight the File Server and select "Update" --> "Network Configuration". Please remove the existing "File Server DNS entries" before changing the client network. Update the Client (External) and Storage (Internal) Networks and select "Save".  Validate DNS entries have been updated. Once the Network Configuration change

Hello,My boss is very interested in migrating our Server 2012 r2 file server to Files. One of the must haves is that we would have to keep our existing DFS namespace. I’m hoping someone can provide some pros, cons, benefits and pitfalls associated with this planned migration. Thanks.   

I am hoping to migrate files from our Windows server to Nutanix files. For backup purposes, Azure is our off-site location. I’ve hit some stumbling block in trying to accomplish this. This is what I’ve tried so far.Configure CloudConnect - Unfortunately, we subscribe to Azure through a CSP, so I’m unable to get the required certificate to set this up. -Failed Next idea was to sync Nutanix Files with a Windows File server through DFS-R and perform my Azure backups from the Windows mirror. Nutanix doesn’t support DFS-R -Failed Use our current backup solution “Microsoft Data Protection Manager” to backup Nutanix files. But, can’t install the DPM agent on Nutanix. -FailedIf anyone has a suggestion, I’m running out of ideas. Ideally, I’d like to not have to invest into a new backup solution. Thanks all!

In certain cases you might choose to reclaim space on the cluster by removing old snapshots. Nutanix files takes two types of snapshots.  External snapshots: The external snapshots are taken by the files protection domain (PD) which takes the snapshots of the whole Nutanix File server.   Internal snapshots: Internal snapshots are the snapshots taken at the share level which leverage ZFS directly. It can be the Self Service Restore snapshots or the third party backup snapshots using CFT API.  If need be, the external file server PD snapshots can be removed directly from the prism UI -> Protection Domain -> local snapshot page.The internal snapshots can be removed using the afs command line utility. If you choose to remove the internal snapshots the following KB article walks through the step by step process along with the afs commands needed. https://portal.nutanix.com/kb/000005851

Should I be concerned about File Analytics impacting data files? Specifically, is there any chance that it could lock a file for its analysis while a business application may attempt to access the file at the same time - causing negative impact?

File Analytics deployment & teardown is done via Prism UI. Logs for both - deployment & teardown process are in prism logs - /home/nutanix/data/logs/prism_gateway.log on the CVM leader. Errors are updated in ergon tasks as well.  Most common errors during deployment - Error Message Cause and fix Cannot connect to File Analytics VM from Prism. Please verify that network details for the VM are correct and the IP is reachable from Prism. The network details provided during deployment were incorrect [either wrong IP/subnet/gateway or wrong VLAN selected] or there was a genuine network connectivity issue. Please try deploying again with correct network settings. One or more services are not running, please check logs for more details During deployment, one or more services failed to start. Logs would be collected from File Analytics VM on CVM at /home/nutanix/data/logbay/bundles/NTNX-Log-***.zip. Need to check logs for root cause. Error

Hello Friends, Is it possible to tier a name space based on access time or file size or file type from nutanix files to nutanix object storage seamlessly by leaving stub on nutanix files ?