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Install HPE StoreOnce VSA on VMware ESXi 6 Part 2

Here we are with the second part about installing HPE StoreOnce VSA in VMware ESXi 6. In the first part we have seen the virtual appliance deployment plus the setup for the virtual disk which will be used to store our Data. In this part we’ll cover the actual installation and configuration of the HPE StoreOnce VSA operating system. All configurations will run on the “System” disk.

In this part the idea is to present a walk-through of the installation wizard. This wizard will essentially help us setting up the parameters for the Network configurations and system activation. The process might seem a bit long judging from the number of screenshots. In reality excluding the time it takes to install and initialise the operating system for the very first time (in my case it did take about 50 mins) executing the wizard is a very easy and quick process. For test and basic scenarios it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes on the clock!

In any case I would recommend to clone the virtual appliance to a Template as it would make easier to deploy multiple instances for example when creating a scenario for HPE StoreOnce Replication in our home lab.

So let’s begin with the install phase for our HPE StoreOnce VSA. At the very end of the wizard we can also review and change settings over required. This is a test installation which will use one network only with no NIC bonding, no VLANs and with standard MTU. I like the “keep it simple” approach!

Install HPE StoreOnce VSA

Once the OVA file has been successfully deployed and configured with the first disk for Data we can now Power on the virtual appliance. HPE StoreOnce uses CentOS based operating system so we are a little bit familiar with the basic main commands. As soon as machine boots it will take quite some time to run the first initialisation. In my case this was around 50 mins to get to the prompt screen for credentials.

HPE StoreOnce VSA first boot

With the current version of HPE StoreOnce  VSA 3.16.2 the default credentials are Username “Admin” and Password “admin”. Of course these can be changed later on very easily from the GUI.

HPE StoreOnce VSA login

We can pretty much ignore the Alerts and Warnings as we need to complete the first setup.

HPE StoreOnce VSA message

In order to start the setup wizard we can simply issue the command:

“net set wizard

HPE StoreOnce VSA setup wizard

As anticipated the wizard will start with the network configuration and in particular with the entry for DNS. I would recommend to create the pertinent DNS entries before the actual deployment also testing the FQDN name resolution.

HPE StoreOnce VSA DNS

Once entered the DNS server IP address let’s hit “1” to proceed.

HPE StoreOnce VSA wizard

In my case I will go for a simple setup with no bonding. Also I’m not expecting heavy loads in my home lab so a 1 Gb network on a single card would be sufficient.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Single Port

The network card can work up to 10 Gb. In my case the home lab is using 1 Gb network connections on a single port. Please note that this is the default network card part of the OVA template. This OVA is shipping with the VMXNET3 Network Card configured.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Single network

If we intend to use a VLAN we can specify here the VLAN identifier. For this installation we’ll use no VLANs.

HPE StoreOnce VSA VLAN

Since I have allocated a specific IP address for this virtual appliance I will choose option “2” to set a static IP address.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Static IP

As per screenshot let’s input the IP address.

HPE StoreOnce VSA IP address

We can specify the network mask by number of octets or full address.

HPE StoreOnce VSA subnet lenght

And at this point we can enter the Gateway IP Address.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Gateway IP Adress

From this screen let’s enter the Domain Name or enter to leave it blank.

HPE StoreOnce VSA domain name

Once the domain name is confirmed the wizard now shows a summary of the first subnet we have configured. Of course with multiple networks it is possible to repeat the steps and associate the subnet to the traffic type depending if it’s for Management, Production or Backup for example. Let’s hit on option “1” to accept and proceed.

HPE StoreOnce VSA summary

Let’s press option “1” to continue.

HPE StoreOnce VSA wizard

From here we can also confirm the default network will also be used as default subnet. Let’s confirm the one just created with option “1”.

HPE StoreOnce VSA default subnet

At this point we can carry on with the rest of the wizard “step 2” by pressing option “1”.

HPE StoreOnce VSA wizard step

Once again we now can see a summary of the chosen settings. Let’s review and apply the new settings with option “1”.

HPE StoreOnce VSA summary config

A final prompt will now ask complete this part of the wizard or go back at the beginning. Let’s go for option “1”.

HPE StoreOnce VSA wizard complete

 

Activate configuration

At this point the configuration is now saved. This configuration can also be changed using the GUI later on. At this stage in order to make sure the configuration is active let’s just issue the command:

net activate status

HPE StoreOnce VSA net activate status

As per screenshot below the configuration is now active.

HPE StoreOnce VSA activation success

Access HPE StoreOnce VSA

We are now ready to access the HPE StoreOnce GUI with a browser pointing at the chosen Name or IP Address. By default the credentials are:

  • Username: Admin
  • Password: admin

HPE StoreOnce VSA GUI Console

Remember the event messages we were ignoring before? There you go they simply refer to the Remote Data Collection service. It’s really up to you about this setting.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Remote Data Collection

From here you can choose if Data Collection activities will be running. In my case this is just a testing installation. I will review this option later on once I will use this appliance on a more stable basis.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Configure Remote Data Collection

In the Advanced checkbox the choice between the Passive and No Support options.

HPE StoreOnce VSA Advanced Remote Data Collection

 

And this concludes the part of the installation of HPE StoreOnce VSA on VMware ESXi 6. The process is very easy and this virtual appliance very powerful. 1TB free license is definitely a good size for home lab scenario. The idea is to use this virtual appliance for storing Shares for general purpose Data and long retention Backups. This way would be easy to accomplish the 3-2-1 rule which states a good backup strategy includes 3 copies of your data, on 2 different media with 1 being offsite. And the de-duplication capabilities make this virtual appliance very desirable. All of this will be covered in the next articles.

About the author

Michele Domanico

Passionate about Virtualization, Storage, Data Availability and Software Defined Data Center technologies. The aim of Domalab.com is sharing with the Community the knowledge and experience gained with customers, industry leaders and like minded peers. Always open to constructive feedback and new challenges.

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