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How It works

Have questions about how the Nutanix Platform works? Looking to get started - start here!

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Albert Mendoza
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Albert Mendoza
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New KB Articles Published on Week Ending March 9, 2024

Below are new knowledge base articles published on the week of March 3-9, 2024.KB 16144 - Nutanix Files - "Server has no Shares" error in PC...
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Albert Mendoza
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Albert Mendoza
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Top KB Articles for February 2024

Below are the top knowledge base articles for the month of February 2024.KB 6082 - inode_usage_check fails due to large amount of email file...
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Alona
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Alona
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Help us help you! Assign Support Contact to your Nutanix assets.

We know you care about your infrastructure. Every time and auto support ticket is created for one of Nutanix clusters a Support Engineer con...
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1431 Topics
B
balma01Adventurer
asked in How It works
ncc health_checks system_checks default_password_check alwasys GREEN

Running the checks "CVM using default password", HOST using default password", IPMI using default password", I always get green status even if the CVM, HOSTS and IPMI passwords are the default ones. Why?

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JeremyJ
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Software upgrade path

Earlier we have discussed the Interoperability between the different software, we also discussed the compatibility between the different software solutions and Hardware-Software integration.   What about upgrading a specific software, what is the latest version you can upgrade to? In some cases if your software is too old, you can't directly upgrade it to the latest version since each version has some prerequisites. That's why we have the upgrade paths page. which works for AOS, Prism Central and Nutanix Files upgrades. You simply choose the component with your current version and you'll see the supported versions in green under the "Target Release Version" drop-down. For more information:  To view upgrade paths for old AOS releases, please visit here http://download.nutanix.com/alerts/upgradePaths.pdf To view AOS EOL versions, please visit here http://download.nutanix.com/misc/AOS_EOL/AOS_EOL.pdf To view Prism Central EOL versions, please click here http://download.nutanix.com/misc/P

55150
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
AntonioG
Nutanix Employee
AntonioGNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Oracle Database Migration From Solaris to Linux on Nutanix

Let’s say you recently acquired a brand new Nutanix Cluster that will allow your business-critical applications like Oracle to take full advantage of low-latency storage performance and linear scalability, high availability, and simplified management.   By shifting their workloads to Nutanix, DBAs and system administrators can achieve a lower TCO and eliminate the complexity of constantly managing and optimizing their underlying compute and storage in a multitier architecture.   With the RMAN TO PLATFORM feature, you can migrate your Oracle database across platforms, making it easier than ever to get started on Nutanix.   I hope that this note empowers you to begin moving Oracle user tablespaces from Solaris to Linux on Nutanix.   See the specific details on Step by Step Migration Instructions document to get the steps for converting user tablespaces from Solaris to Linux.   Also you can consult : The complete Oracle Database Migration from Solaris to Linux technical note. The Oracle o

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AntonioG
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
C
ChristopherRAdventurer
asked in How It works
Mount-NTNXGuestTool

Hi Does anyone know how to use this Powershell cmdlet properly mount-ntnxguesttoll -vmid 54312c2a-2b7e-4dbe-b7ac-0fa58b575ad2 nor mount-ntnxguesttool -vmid 00054abc-11c2-77b7-2a9b-246e963f27a8::54312c2a-2b7e-4dbe-b7ac-0fa58b575ad2 work Trying to pipe to the mount-ntnxguesttool doesn’t help either. Help!!! Christopher

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C
4 years ago
stephbysteph
stephbystephScout
asked in How It works
addition of an oracle hypervisor in addition to AHV on the nutanix case

hello, I would like to know if, in addition to our AHV hypervisor on the NUTANIX, if it is possible to add the ORACLE hypervisor

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AntonioG
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Adding an additional physical memory

Let's say that you want to upgrade your physical memory on one of the nodes.  On Nutanix Hardware, we allow users to add DIMMs on the empty slots without losing the support contract. When adding a DIMM, there are multiple things that you should take into consideration depending on your Nutanix Block Model, for example:  Number of slots on each node  Which DIMMs are supported, which manufacturer? The supported DIMM speed  Are there any restrictions?   To check the specification of your system, check out this page, choose the model type and the platform (NX-xxxx-Gx). you will be redirected to your model’s page. Good to know: The memory performance is most efficient with a configuration where every memory channel contains the same number of DIMMs. Nutanix supports other configurations, but be aware that these configurations result in lower performance. On G4 and G5 models, each node must contain only DIMMs of the same type and capacity. (Adding higher-speed DIMMs is supported, but the DIM

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Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
S
Sammy777Adventurer
asked in How It works
Metrics explained

Hi All, I am pulling some data with the API. For example https://MYIP:9440/PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0/hosts Results with , among other metrics, the following. Where can I find an explanation of each metric?             "stats": {                 "hypervisor_avg_io_latency_usecs": "0",                 "num_read_iops": "319",                 "hypervisor_write_io_bandwidth_kBps": "0",                 "timespan_usecs": "20000000",                 "controller_num_read_iops": "696",                 "read_io_ppm": "641128",                 "controller_num_iops": "1588",                 "total_read_io_time_usecs": "-1",                 "controller_total_read_io_time_usecs": "196391465",                 "hypervisor_num_io": "0",                 "controller_total_transformed_usage_bytes": "-1",                 "hypervisor_cpu_usage_ppm": "60000",                 "controller_num_write_io": "17846",                 "avg_read_io_latency_usecs": "-1",                 "content_cache_logical_ssd_

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HITESH0801
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
A
ajeidaniVoyager
asked in How It works
Prism lists a VM that does not exist

Hi, I am dealing with an EOL cluster (3060). I am facing recently a case where the prism element does list a vm which does not exist on the AHV. It is a fake vm.  There is no active support to ask them. Any help?    

37106
A
4 years ago
Alona
Nutanix Employee
AlonaNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Nutanix Files - why home shares behave as they do

Q. Why does  the home share have an icon to it as if it was a link and not a directory? The top-level directories act as a reparse point—essentially a shortcut. Consequently, administrators must create directories at the root of the share for optimal load balancing. Because it appears as a shortcut, we don’t allow user files in the root level of the share; we recommend setting permissions at the share or export root before deploying user folders. This step allows newly created top-level directories to inherit permissions, so you don’t have to adjust them after the fact using the Nutanix Files Microsoft Management Console (MMC) plug-in.   Q. Why is it necessary to empty directory prior to deleting the home share?  Distributed share directories with NFSv4 introduce some unique behaviors. To balance performance across FSVMs, each top-level directory you create becomes an automatically generated export. Nutanix Files mounts the export on demand when the directory is accessed. Since these a

29060
Alona
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
JeremyJ
Nutanix Employee
JeremyJNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
What ports need to be open for a Nutanix cluster, and why?

If you are completing a security audit or setting up a firewall, you probably need details about the ports used by your Nutanix cluster. Thankfully, we have a reference provided which explains the ports needed by various services on an AOS cluster. You can find out about ports used by different AOS services in the KB article Port numbers used for inter CVM communication . The Security Guide found in our software documentation library is the best reference for firewall rules, which are detailed in this section. The Security Guide details which ports should be open and to what URL(s) specifically for Remote Support (reverse SSH tunnel), Pulse, Alerts (call-home for automatic case creation), SMTP sending, Data Replication to remote clusters, 1-click upgrades, and LCM.   

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JeremyJ
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Software and Hardware compatibility

Nutanix, like any other system is composed of several components including hardware, software and firmware. If a component has to communicate with another at any given moment, the connection has to be pre-integrated and supported. How do you keep-up and understand what is compatible with what? Easy! with our compatibility matrix. For example, you have a Nutanix block model NX-8035-G5 and you want to know the supported AOS and Hypervisor for the chosen Model. The matrix shows the AOS, AHV, and hypervisor compatibility for Nutanix NX and SX Series platforms and SW-Only Models qualified by Nutanix (such as Cisco UCS, Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant and others listed here). For other platforms not listed here, such as Dell XC, Lenovo HX, and others, please see your vendor documentation for compatibility. The matrix is presenting the fields in a cascading style, to show a clear components dependencies. Also in the compatibility matrix, you can see the Nutanix Ready Solution where we show the

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Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Nutanix Software Interoperability

Nutanix is continuously developing and improving it's features with new releases of different components, how could you know if the current software of component A is compatible with software B? For example if you are interested in upgrading your Prism Central or the Nutanix Files, there would be a specific set of Prism Central and Nutanix Files versions that can be installed with a limit of an older version depending on your AOS version. This goes both ways, if you are interested in upgrading your Operating System (AOS), you need to check your current Prism Central and Nutanix Files to understand which AOS version you can use on your current cluster's versions. We have a public page for our customers that can do the checks for you, on our Software Product Interoperability page you choose your software and the target software type, you choose your current version and the compatible version will be presented in green. The information there is dynamic and it could change with every relea

39040
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
ShauryaNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Maintenance mode | AHV vs ESXi

Most of us are aware of what maintenance mode is. But how is its execution different in ESXi and AHV in Nutanix?   Well… it’s just a small tweak!   While trying to put ESXi host in maintenance mode, it will get stuck as the CVM, which cannot be migrated off to other hosts, needs to be powered off and then the action will be completed.   In the case of AHV, this need not be done, once you provide the instruction to put the host in maintenance mode, the user VMs will be migrated to other hosts and the host will enter maintenance mode, irrespective of the CVM being powered off.   In short, “The CVM need not be powered off to put AHV host in maintenance mode, which is the case with ESXi”   Have any questions? Leave them below and let’s start a discussion! Check out the community post https://next.nutanix.com/how-it-works-22/cluster-maintenance-or-relocation-33391 for more on cluster maintenance or relocation.

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Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
ShauryaNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Single or Two node cluster | Possible?

Whenever we hear the word cluster, the picture that comes in our mind is multiple nodes. So doesn’t a single or two-node cluster sound weird?   But, it’s possible!   Well… In a traditional Nutanix cluster at least 3 nodes are expected to form a cluster. There is an option however to form a single-node or a two-nodes cluster for ROBO (Remote Office/Branch Office) implementations or as a backup site.   Confused or have questions regarding the implementation or requirements/dependencies? Check out Guide for single-node and two-node clusters for any clarifications.   To know more on single-node clusters:  Data Protection and Recovery with Prism Element: Single-Node Replication Target Clusters Prism Web Console Guide: Single-Node Clusters   For more information on two-nodes cluster: Prism Web Console Guide v5.16: Two-Node Clusters

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Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Albert Mendoza
Nutanix Employee
Albert MendozaNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
New KB Articles Published on Week Ending February 22, 2020

Below are new knowledge base articles published on the week of February 16-22, 2020. KB 8880 - Understanding 3rd Party Backup Integration KB 8996 - Self Service Restore Failing for Microsoft Storage Spaces Disk Note: You may need to log in to the Support Portal to view some of these articles.

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Albert Mendoza
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
JeremyJ
Nutanix Employee
JeremyJNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Logbay can auto-upload logs but what is the IP address or DNS name so I can allow it through the firewall?

Your CVMs can upload log bundles directly to Nutanix for an open case, and this can speed case resolution especially if the alternative is the two-step process of pulling multiple GiB over WiFi to download and THEN upload. With common security restrictions around FTP or SFTP leaving the datacenter this may require explicit firewall rules. The logbay command to collect and upload logs looks like this: logbay collect --dst=sftp://nutanix -c <case_number> That destination “nutanix” isn’t helping us with that firewall rule, so where is the upload going? The software is really just automating the old manual methods described in this KB: Uploading Files for Nutanix Support Using FTP, SFTP or the Customer Portal. Referencing that article, we can see the DNS name for FTP uploads is ftp.nutanix.com . The IP address varies by region and might change, so I’d suggest using the URL. To allow log upload, you’ll need to allow port 22 for SFTP. You could also allow port 21 for FTP, but if it nee

6380
JeremyJ
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Migrating VMs to both Nutanix and non-Nutanix environment.

Let’s say that a VM migration is required for data protection or as part of a disaster recovery, what is the scenarios and the recommended practice? Check out our documentation about data protection and disaster recovery we wrote this guide for IT administrators and architects who want more information about the data protection and disaster recovery features built into the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud. The data protection subject is huge and has a lot of branches, let’s focus on a small component which is migrating the VMs from one location to another. The migration could be done between Nutanix hosts, Nutanix Clusters or migration from non-Nutanix Storage to a Nutanix Storage.  The simplest scenario is migrating the VMs from one host to another in the same cluster, the VMs will migrate automatically after placing the host into maintenance mode by the recommended practice of the host’s hypervisor, the only CVM that would stay on that host is the Controller VM (CVM) which is responsible for

5560
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Re-claiming a cluster license

Let's say you have modified the license assignments, removed a node from the cluster and you got an alert in Prism stating that there is no current license for the cluster.  You can reclaim and optionally re-apply licenses for nodes in your clusters. This procedure describes how to reclaim licenses where the cluster is not configured with Portal Connection or the cluster is not connected to the internet (also known as dark-site clusters). After you remove a node, you can also move the node to another cluster. More info. You must un-license your cluster when you plan to destroy a cluster. More info Return licenses to your inventory when you remove one or more nodes from a cluster. You can reclaim licenses for nodes in your clusters in cases where you want to make modifications or downgrade licenses. More info You do not need to reclaim Starter licenses for Nutanix NX Series platforms. These licenses are automatically applied whenever you create a cluster. For more information about rec

26190
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
AntonioG
Nutanix Employee
AntonioGNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
What happen when your cluster can not guarantee available rebuild capacity

Customers can observe cluster issues when they use more than 90 percent of the total available storage on the cluster.  For node resiliency and redundancy, the disk usage must be below the Max Usable value. One of the most common alerts is Cluster can not tolerate # node failure(s). This alert is fired by the NCC health check "sufficient_disk_space_check" that checks if there is sufficient storage space on the cluster to provide node resiliency. See more details on  (KB 1863) Share your comments in this forum!

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AntonioG
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
jbroadusii
jbroadusiiVoyager
asked in How It works
A dumb Question.. STS vs LTS

Besides the fact that LTS is Long Term Release and STS is Short Term Release, Is there any reason that STS shouldn't be used for production purposes over LTS ?I want to switch to 5.9 for the ESXi 6.7 compatibility.

30575
aluciani
4 years ago
HITESH0801
Nutanix Employee
HITESH0801Nutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Confused regarding the term “Foundation”?

Everyone who has used, maintained or supported NX Solution have come across the term “Foundation”.    So what exactly is foundation?     Let’s take a scenario where you bought a new NX solution (YAYY!!) but what now?   Does it have the AOS or the hypervisor installed?  How can you create a cluster using the new nodes?   Do you install anything in the node before you try to add it to an existing cluster?      The answer to all these questions lies in the tool called Foundation, which is used to do a field installation, consisting of installing a hypervisor and Nutanix Controller VM on the node before creating a new cluster or adding a new node to an existing cluster.   Field installation can be performed for either factory-prepared nodes or bare metal.    So are there any guidelines for using foundation?    Of Course, go through the link below to know more about the guidelines    Field Installation Guide    Want to know more about Foundation?     The following links might help you to un

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HITESH0801
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
HITESH0801
Nutanix Employee
HITESH0801Nutanix Employee
posted in How It works
CVM maintenance and Host maintenance

Every architecture remains stable due to scheduled maintenance, in which we might need to shutdown the node or CVM to increase memory, replace network adapters or just some planned maintenance activity.    In Nutanix, we have heard the term “CVM maintenance mode”.   So what does it mean?  Why do we need to put the CVM in maintenance mode if we are thinking of bringing down the CVM?    All the CVMs in the cluster interact with each other using microservices handling the cluster stability, we need to inform the cluster if a CVM is going down and shutdown all the services in the CVM gracefully before shutting down the CVM.  To make a CVM not part of any active storage and metadata connection, we enable maintenance mode in the CVM.   So what is host maintenance mode?   Host maintenance mode is used to safely migrate all the User Virtual VMs in the host and make sure NO VMs are running on the Node. If a VM can’t be migrated to another host, you need to shutdown the VM for the host to ente

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HITESH0801
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
JubranNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Want to expand your cluster?

Let's say that you have purchased a new node and you wish to make it part of your existing cluster, how would you do that?   A cluster is a collection of nodes. You can add new nodes to a cluster at any time after physically installing and connecting them to the network on the same subnet as the cluster. The cluster expansion process compares the AOS version on the existing and new nodes and performs any upgrades necessary for all nodes to have the same AOS version.   The process for adding a node varies depending on the AOS version, hypervisor type (AHV, ESXi, Hyper-V, or Citrix Hypervisor), data-at-rest encryption status, and certain hardware configuration factors.   Here is the guide to expand a cluster that explains the expansion process and the pre & post checks: expanding a cluster   Before you start it's better to check this doc before attempting to add a node to the cluster since the process of adding a node varies depending on several factors considerations based on your A

76120
Jubran
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
ShauryaNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
Done with default_password_check in the NCC report?

Let’s say you run the NCC health check in your cluster from a cvm and it's clean, other than this one INFO check regarding default_password_check.  Running : health_checks system_checks default_password_check[==================================================] 100%/health_checks/system_checks/default_password_check [ INFO ]------------------------------------------------------------------------+Detailed information for default_password_check:Node x.x.x.x:INFO: One or more IPMI devices are still using the default passwordRefer to KB 6153 (http://portal.nutanix.com/kb/6153) for details on default_password_check or Recheck with: ncc health_checks system_checks default_password_check+-----------------------+| State | Count |+-----------------------+| Info | 1 || Total Plugins | 1 |+-----------------------+   Essentially, this check verifies if there are any CVMs (Controller VMs), hosts, IPMIs, or Prism Central (PC) instances with the default credentials.   You know it's not something to wo

6360
Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago
Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
ShauryaNutanix Employee
posted in How It works
The Connection story, “Cluster Expansion, AOS and the Hypervisor”

Let’s take a moment here to accept that we all have had questions regarding the AOS or Hypervisor versions in the cluster and the node to be added during Cluster expansion. These questions arise if the new node is imaged before adding it to the cluster.   For us, we can say, “With great expansions, comes not so great dependencies”   There can be 3 common scenarios:- Same AOS and Hypervisor version:- All good, no action required... The node is just a click away from the cluster. AOS is same, Hypervisor is different:- Re-image the node before adding it to the cluster. AOS is different, Hypervisor is the same:- Two scenarios here:- Cluster AOS version < Node AOS version:- Upgrade AOS in the cluster and it becomes scenario 1. Cluster AOS version > Node AOS version:- You can upgrade the AOS in the node using the CLI command mentioned in the doc at the end.    To have a good idea of the above scenarios and things to consider while expanding the cluster, take a look at this document.  

5250
Shaurya
Nutanix Employee
4 years ago

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