Dialog box in which you choose the SSMC administrator username and password

The SSMC Administrator Console

Previously in this SSMC series we installed the SSMC and today we will look at adding 3PAR systems to the console. To add and remove systems from SSMC you use The SSMC Administrator Console.

Creating an Administrator Console User

1 Connect to SSMC Administrator Console by entering the URL https://yourSSMCserver:8443/ in a supported browser. When you launch SSMC for the first time you will be forced to set the credentials for the SSMC Administrator. The administrator is the user that has the rights to add and remove StoreServ’s from the console.

First time prompt to set SSMC administrator password

2 You then set the username and password you wish to be the administrator for the StoreServ Administrator Console.

Dialog box in which you choose the SSMC administrator username and password

3 If you have logged on more than once but wish to access the Administrator Console again, after you connect to SSMC webpage click on the Administrator Console box

SSMC Logon box with administrator console option ticked

Here is where the common misconception is, there is no default username or password for StoreServ administrator console it’s whatever you chose it to be!

Adding a 3PAR system to SSMC

1 Connect to SSMC Administrator Console by entering the URL https://yourSSMCserver:8443/ in a supported browser. Tick the box at the bottom of the screen for the Administrator Consol

2 Once logged in choose add from actions menuAdding new 3par system to ssmc

3 Enter the host name or IP address of the system you wish to manage plus a username and password with rights to the system. Then click add

3 enter details

4 Before you can login into the system you will need to accept its self-signed certificate. Highlight the system, then from the actions menu choose accept certificate. A further box will then pop up and you just need to select accept and cache

Adding new 3par system to ssmc

Other SSMC Administrator Console actions

The Administrator Console is intended to control the connection state of the 3PAR systems and to set the admin credentials for the SSMC Administrator Console. As well as adding systems they can be removed and disconnected, this is achieved for highlighting the system and choosing the option you require from the action menu.

If you wish to reset the administrator credentials for the SSMC administration console first login then choose session which is the icon that looks like a person in the top right corner and select change credentials.

Changing the existing 3PAR SSMC Administrator password

Also take a look at newbies guide to using SSMC and setting Threshold Alerts. Keep up to date with future posts by following on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

Installing 3PAR SSMC

The 3PAR SSMC (StoreServ Management Console) is now the go to management tool for 3PAR systems.  In this how to guide we will be covering how to download and install the 3PAR StoreServ Management Console. If you are working with an older system running 3PAR OS 3.1.3 you will need to use the 3PAR Management Console.  Be sure to checkout my post on installing the 3PAR Management Console to get up and running.

StoreServ Management Console Requirements

As above first assure your system is running 3PAR OS 3.1.3 or above. SSMC is a web based console which requires you to install the SSMC server on either a Linux or Windows based server. This post will deal with the procedure to get SSMC installed on a Windows server.

First ensure your SSMC server meets the following requirements taken from the HPE SSMC release notes 3.1.

Supported host platforms

Supported browsers

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox

The minimum physical requirements
• Two logical processors
• 4 GB RAM
• 2 GB free disk space
• Supported 64-bit operating system

Whilst the above is the minimum recommended specs for installation.  The table below shows the recommended specs depending on the scale of your 3PAR infrastructure.

Table showing specifications for different sized 3PAR estates

Port 8443 on the SSMC server must be open to inbound connections.

SSMC Install

Before you begin you will need to download SSMC from the 3PAR Software Depot

1 Double click the setup file to begin

SSMC Install Welcome Screen

2 Read through the introduction and click next

Introduction screen

3 Agree to the license agreement

Accepting the HPE license agreement

4a If you are upgrading from a previous version of SSMC, a box will pop up advising that a previous version was detected just click OK. If you are not upgrading skip to step 7.

detected existing version requesting upgrade

4b You will then see a screen informing you the old version is being removed

removing old version

4c Next you are given the option to use existing SSMC data which preserves the connections to existing systems. If you are upgrading move to step 7, for a fresh install read on.

confirming using existng ssmc data

5 If you are not upgrading next you will select the install location. Just leave it at default unless you have reason to change it and choose next

Confirming installation folder

6 The default port is 8443, leave it at this unless you have a specific reason to change it

Setting access port to 8443

7 You will see a summary screen of your options just click install

Pre-installation screen showing settings selected

8 You will then see a screen reminding you that inbound connections to port 8443 need to be open

Port 8443 warning

Finally you will see the install summary screen followed by the install complete screen

Next you will need to add your 3PAR systems to SSMC. I have covered this in my SSMC Administrator Console post.

If you wish to install any of the other 3PAR management tools check out these related posts:

Installing The 3PAR Management Console

Installing The 3PAR CLI

Finally you can read more about the SSMC install process and more in the HPE 3PAR StoreServ Management Console Administrator Guide

 

 

 

 

 

SSMC 2.1 – Whats New?

Back in December at HP Discover a new management console for 3PAR, the SSMC (StoreServ Management Console) was announced. The SSMC is a web based management console that has a clean new look shared with OneView. The original public release of SSMC was version 2.0 and didn’t have all the functionality of the 3PAR Management console with things likes configuring AO missing. SSMC 2.1 is just out and to be fair I think HP have short changed themselves with the numbering convention given the number of enhancements.  It seems more like SSMC 3.0 or given VMware’s naming convention à la VSAN SSMC 8.  Let’s check out some of the new features

VV Actions

The storage admin spends the majority of their time at the volume level. SSMC 2.1 sees the full set of Virtual Volume actions available from within the console.  Clone options are now available plus tune options which also includes conversion e.g. thick to thin.

1 VV Actions

CPG Actions

Compact CPG is now available from within the console.

2 compactcpg

Also available now is the ability to configure AO from within SSMC. I always used to do this via the CLI as the GUI for this in the management console was horrible. The new screen makes the process clearer by giving each of the elements required for an AO config clearer labels.

3 creat AO schedule

As with most things in the new console you can view AO in the Map view which is pretty and will help impress and confuse your manager.

4 AO Map view

System and functionality

Additional functionality has been added around the look of the console and system management tasks.

When the SSMC is launched the first time there is an animated getting started screen.

7 nav tutorial

Some screens now have a total row at the bottom to show for example showing the sum of the size of the VV’s.

7a total screen

Tunesys is back!

6 Tune system

System reporter

One of the biggest changes is that historic reporting data is now available via SSMC. All systems running 3PAR OS 3.1.2 have an instance of the system reporter installed which automatically collects performance data. The system reporter element requires no manual setup and is entirely self-sufficient, requiring no external database or anything like that. The historic data is stored on a system VV, the size of which depends on the model for example 60GB for a 7200 up to 100GB for a 10800. A system reporter licence will be required to enable the majority of the historic data reports to be viewed. The below screenshot shows the retention policies for an on node system reporter. You can read more about on node System Reporter in this HP blog post.

 

8 data retention on node

Alerts

This is a really welcome addition, the number of configurable alerts in 3PAR has until now been woeful.  SSMC 2.1 corrects this by introducing threshold alerts.  SSMC 2.1 comes with a number of preconfigured alerts in the form of alert templates on top of this you can create your own alerts.  Pretty much any physical or logical component can be set for alerting via the CLI or SSMC 2.1.

9 threshold alerts

Excel Client

There is now an Excel client that can be used to pull performance reporting data from SSMC into Excel.

11 Excel client

Finally one for the Apple fans, you will be glad to know when you are queuing at the next product launch managing your 3PAR system via Chrome on iPad is supported.

apple queue

SSMC 2.1 is available for download now from the 3PAR Software Depot.

 

 

This post marks the beginning of a series aimed at introducing and improving familiarity with SSMC. Stay tuned via Twitter or by subscribing as I am planning lots of posts regarding SSMCs new features and how to use them. Next in the series I will be looking at getting started with installing SSMC.