Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Safeguard

Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Safeguard for Cisco HyperFlex utilizes the HyperFlex API to automatically restore datastore configurations if modified or deleted. If a specified datastore is deleted, it will be replaced. If a specified datastore's provisioned capacity size or block size is changed, the settings will be changed back to the original configuration.

This tool is intended for use on Cisco HyperFlex systems in demonstration or training environments. Do not use on production systems.

Prerequisites:

1. Python 3 installed, which can be downloaded from https://www.python.org/downloads/.
2. Clone or download the Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Safeguard repository by using the link on the main repository web page or by running the following command:

   git clone https://github.com/ugo-emekauwa/hx-datastore-safeguard
   

3. Install the required Python modules requests and urllib3. The requirements.txt file in the repository can be used by running the following command:

   python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
   

4. The IP address of the targeted Cisco HyperFlex system.
5. User credentials with administrative rights on the targeted Cisco HyperFlex system.
6. The name, capacity size and block size of any datastores on the targeted Cisco HyperFlex system that need the configuration safeguarded.

Getting Started:

1. Please ensure that the above prerequisites have been met.

2. Open the hx_datastore_safeguard.py file in an IDE or text editor.

3. Go to the comment section named Required Variables, as shown below:

   ######################
   # Required Variables #
   ######################

4. Set the value of the variable named hx_admin with the username of the credentials that will be used to access the targeted Cisco HyperFlex system. The value must be a string. For example, here is an entry that sets the username to admin:

   hx_admin = "admin"

5. Set the value of the variable named hx_password with the password of the credentials that will be used to access the targeted Cisco HyperFlex system. The value must be a string. For example, here is an entry that sets the password to C1sco12345:

   hx_password = "C1sco12345"

6. Set the value of the variable named hx_connect_ip with the IP address of the targeted Cisco HyperFlex system. The value must be a string. For example, here is an entry that sets the IP address to 192.168.1.100:

   hx_connect_ip = "192.168.1.100"

7. Set the value of the variable named hx_datastore_safeguard_list by providing one or more dictionaries with the name, capacity size, capacity size unit and block size of any datastores that need the configuration safeguarded. For example, here is a sample entry with one dictionary for a datastore named datastore1 that has a capacity size of 500 GB and a block size of 4096:

   hx_datastore_safeguard_list = ({"Name": "datastore1", "Size": 500, "SizeUnit": "GB", "BlockSize": 4096})

   Here is another example of a sample entry with two dictionaries for two datastores. The first dictionary is for a datastore named datastore1 that has a capacity size of 14 TB and a block size of 8192. The second dictionary is for a datastore named datastore2 that has a capacity size of 21 TB and a block size of 8192:

   hx_datastore_safeguard_list = ({"Name": "datastore1", "Size": 14, "SizeUnit": "TB", "BlockSize": 8192}, 
                                  {"Name": "datastore2", "Size": 21, "SizeUnit": "TB", "BlockSize": 8192})

   As shown in the preceding examples above, the dictionary for each datastore needs the following keys with values in the specified format:

   • "Name" - The datastore name provided as a string value.
   • "Size" - The datastore capacity size provided as an integer value.
   • "SizeUnit" - The datastore capacity size unit provided as a string value. The accepted values are:
     • "TB" for terabytes.
     • "GB" for gigabytes.
     • "B" for bytes.
   • "BlockSize" - The datastore block size provided as an integer value. The accepted values are:
     • 8192
     • 4096

   NOTE: Size capacity changes of live datastores are supported on Cisco HyperFlex. In other words, the size capacity of a datastore can be changed after intial creation. A datastore's block size, however, can only be set at the initial creation of the datastore and cannot be changed afterwards on the live datastore. In order to change a datastore's block size, the live datastore must first be deleted and then recreated. If a safeguarded datastore has had the block size changed, this means that the original version of the datastore was first deleted and then recreated as a new version with the changed block size. In such cases, Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Safeguard will delete the new datastore with the changed block size and then recreate a datastore with the original block size configuration.

8. Save the hx_datastore_safeguard.py file. The file is now ready for use.

How to Use (w/ Examples):

1. After fulfilling the requirements listed in the Prerequisites and Getting Started sections, run hx_datastore_safeguard.py directly from your IDE or from the command line e.g.:

   python hx_datastore_safeguard.py
   

2. Here is an example of the output from hx_datastore_safeguard.py if no safeguarded datastores have been set yet.

   

   All of the available datastores on the targeted HyperFlex cluster are listed with information regarding the size, creation time and block size. None of the datastores have been safeguarded yet.

3. Here is an example of the output from hx_datastore_safeguard.py after safeguarding datastore1 and datastore2 in the file and the current configuration of the datastores on the targeted HyperFlex cluster do not match the safeguard settings. Datastore1 has been safeguarded with settings that enforce 500 GB and a block size of 8192. Datastore2 has been safeguarded with settings that enforce 7 TB and a block size of 8192.

   

   After the available datastores on the targeted HyperFlex cluster are listed, the configuration of datastore1 and datastore2 are updated to match the safeguarded settings of 500 GB and 7 TB respectively. Safeguarding datastore1 and datastore2 with the settings above is done with the following entries in hx_datastore_safeguard_list:

   hx_datastore_safeguard_list = ({"Name": "datastore1", "Size": 500, "SizeUnit": "GB", "BlockSize": 8192}, 
                                  {"Name": "datastore2", "Size": 7, "SizeUnit": "TB", "BlockSize": 8192})

   If hx_datastore_safeguard.py is executed again after the safeguarded datastores have been corrected, no changes are made as shown below.

   

4. Here is an example of the output from hx_datastore_safeguard.py if safeguarded datastores are missing from the targeted HyperFlex cluster.

   

   Safeguarding datastore3 and datastore4 with the settings above is done with the following entries in hx_datastore_safeguard_list:

   hx_datastore_safeguard_list = ({"Name": "datastore3", "Size": 10, "SizeUnit": "TB", "BlockSize": 8192}, 
                                  {"Name": "datastore4", "Size": 25, "SizeUnit": "TB", "BlockSize": 8192})

   If hx_datastore_safeguard.py is executed again after the safeguarded datastores have been added, no changes are made as shown below.

   

Notes:

• If using a task scheduler to run Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Safeguard, a version that has been modified to output to a log file is available in the logging-version folder of this repository as hx_datastore_safeguard_logging.py.

  Usage instructions for hx_datastore_safeguard_logging.py are the same as hx_datastore_safeguard.py, however the log file location needs to be set. To set the log file location, go to the comment section named Required Variables and set the value of the variable named log_file with the file path location of the log file. The value must be a string. For example, here is an entry that sets the log file location to "c:\Logs\hx_datastore_safeguard_logging.log" on a Windows file system:

  log_file = "c:\\Logs\\hx_datastore_safeguard_logging.log"

Use Cases:

The Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Safeguard tool is part of the automation solution used to support and maintain the following Cisco Data Center product demonstrations on Cisco dCloud:

1. Cisco HyperFlex with Hyper-V v1

Cisco dCloud is available at https://dcloud.cisco.com, where product demonstrations and labs can be found in the Catalog.

Related Tools:

Here are similar tools to help manage Cisco HyperFlex training, demonstration and development environments.

• Cisco HyperFlex Datastore Cleanup
• HyperFlex Notification Tool for Cisco Intersight
• Cisco HyperFlex API Token Manager
• HyperFlex Edge Automated Deployment Tool for Cisco Intersight

Author:

Ugo Emekauwa

Contact Information:

uemekauw@cisco.com or uemekauwa@gmail.com