Nutanix Unified Storage

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 ?

We are excited to announce that for the very first time, Nutanix will participate in DevOps at Cloud Expo in New York City from June 6-8, 2017. If you are in the big apple, you do not want to miss the great conversation around cloud computing and all it involves. Make the most out of your visit at Cloud Expo and take advantage of what Nutanix has to offer for DevOps, Containers and Microservices. Stop by Nutanix booth 301 and enjoy any of the following demos: Prism Central and Prism Pro, ACS, OpenStack. Attend our Day 3 Keynote to learn more about the benefits of the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud for DevOps on Thursday, June 8 from 9:10am - 9:55am in the General Session Room 1A06. Attend any of our Technical Speaking Sessions and learn how to improve the overall ecosystemPersistent Storage for Containers: In recent years, containers have taken the world by storm. Companies of all sizes and industries have realized the massive benefits of containers, such as unprecedented mobility, higher ha

The objective of this post is to provide inputs on requirement of using NFS exports. Nutanix Files implemented NFSv4 Support from Files 3.0.0.1 and since then Nutanix Files has come as a long way. Along with the release of Files 3.5, it now supports NFSv3 as well. They are enabled by default and depends on the NFS Client. In order to configure and utilize NFSv4 exports minimum required files version is 3.0.x In order to configure and utilize NFSv3 exports minimum required files version is 3.5.x From 3.5 onward, V4 and V3 both are enabled by default. However, if you want to disable a specific version support based on requirement. It is achievable from UI. Self Service Restore is supported on NFS based exports from Files 3.5 onward for legacy and new exports. Protocol Management → “Directory Services” → “Use NFS Protocol” → “Show NFS Advanced Options” https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7yg_BcwLhX13xo-Ov00VdEnawasj637u521nCti6lzWGxyZQJNyfMJHxKXxjs4FcIzEOPVHf5azF2IGEwixQRnfK

In order to protect Nutanix files users from malware and viruses, you need to address both the client and the file server. Nutanix currently supports third party vendors that use Internet Content Adaptation Protocol ( ICAP ) servers.   ICAP, which is supported by a wide range of security vendors and products, is a standard protocol that allows file and web servers to be integrated with security products. Nutanix chose this method to give customers wide latitude in selecting the antivirus solution that works best for their specific environment.   Following is the workflow for an ICAP-supported antivirus solution:   An SMB client submits a request to open or close a file.   The file server determines if the file needs to be scanned, based on the metadata and virus scan policies. If a scan is needed, the file server sends the file to the ICAP server and issues a scan request.   The ICAP server scans the file and reports the scan results back to the file server.   Th

Assign domain permissions to users through Active Directory. Delegating permissions in Active Directory (AD) enables the administrator to assign permissions to unprivileged domain users and groups in the directory. Assigning a domain user an appropriate delegated permission ensures that the domain user can join a domain in Files. You can apply a Files account delegation to a single organizational unit (OU). Apply the account delegation where Files stores the computer objects. For information on delegating user permissions, see Delegating Administration of Account OUs and Resource OUs on the Microsoft technet website. Note: Do not delete or disable the active Files machine account from the Active Directory. Procedure Log into the Active Directory server as a domain administrator. Open Start > Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) window. From the list, select and right-click the organization unit that you are going to assign new permissions. Click Next. I

I’m attempting to deploy Files on my cluster and it fails stating the Default Gateway IP is not reachable however I can ping between systems on the desired networks. The only thing I can think of is that the DFW does not respond to ping, is that required?

The  content is dedicated to commonly asked questions on Nutanix Files portal documentation such as Nutanix Files Guide, Nutanix Files Release Notes, Nutanix Files Solution documentation.    1. Documentation Nutanix File Documentation is available on Portal and covers most of the common topics. Nutanix recommends reviewing these docs to understand the product workflow.  1.1 Setup Guide  Nutanix recommends referring Nutanix Files Setup Guide to  understand prerequisites and steps for creating a Nutanix Files Cluster.  1.2 Release Notes Nutanix recommends to refer Nutanix Files Release Notes for each Files version which contains the following information:  What's New? Features and Updates Resolved Issues Known Issues <if there are any> Installation and Upgrades Nutanix Files Software Compatibility Supported Configurations  SMB Protocol Versions Supported Client (SMB) NFS Protocol Versions Supported Client (NFS) Active Directory (Supported Windows AD Servers) Suppor

If no preferred_domain_controller is specified, we follow the usual discovery process (LDAP-PING and DNS lookup) to get the list of Site local DC.   However, if preferred_domain_controller is specified, we no longer do a  DNS lookup and use preferred_domain_controller instead. if it is not reachable, then the domain join operation will fail. Always have a choice to fall back to default domain join process where no preferred_domain_controller is specified.   If we look at Domain Join [DC discovery workflow {Default}] in log file - ~/data/logs/minerva_cvm.log   Domain Join [preferred_domain_controller]   After learning and feedback from Vodafone account, we made certain changes to the Configure NameServices Task. So now we no longer reply on Site local DC list returned by DNS query, instead preferred_domain_controller is used.   Before 3.1 and 2.2.3 even if a preferred DC is specified and it's not reachable due to some reason, we used to fall back to normal disc

Nutanix provides an option to recover the Files analytics data after a planned or unplanned (disaster) migration to the remote site.   To perform disaster recovery, we need to deploy and enable Files Analytics on the remote site. Once the Files Analytics virtual machine (FAVM) is deployed on the remote site we can restore the data using a snapshot of the volume group from the primary FAVM.   A brief summary of the steps is as follows: Create a protection domain on the primary site protecting the File_Analytics_VG (this is the Files Analytics volume group) and replicate to the remote site by creating a schedule depending on the requirements. Deploy a new Files Analytics instance on the remote site. The remote site requires an iSCSI data service IP address to configure FAVM on the remote site. On the remote site, create a new volume group by restoring the snapshot of the File_Analytics_VG. Configure the iSCSI so that the new FAVM connects to the new volume group.