Veritas Flex Appliance Getting Started and Administration Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): Appliances (3.3, 3.2, 3.1, 3.0)
Platform: Flex Appliance OS
  1. Product overview
    1.  
      Introduction to Veritas Flex Appliance
    2.  
      Flex Appliance terminology
    3.  
      About the Flex Appliance documentation
  2. Release notes
    1.  
      Flex Appliance 3.0 new features, enhancements, and changes
    2.  
      Flex Appliance 3.1 new features, enhancements, and changes
    3.  
      Flex Appliance 3.2 new features, enhancements, and changes
    4.  
      Flex Appliance 3.3 new features, enhancements, and changes
    5.  
      Supported upgrade and update paths to this release
    6.  
      Operational notes
    7.  
      Flex Appliance 3.0 release content
    8.  
      Flex Appliance 3.1 release content
    9.  
      Flex Appliance 3.2 release content
    10.  
      Flex Appliance 3.3 release content
  3. Getting started
    1.  
      Initial configuration guidelines and checklist
    2.  
      Performing the initial configuration
    3.  
      Adding a node
    4.  
      Accessing and using the Flex Appliance Shell
    5.  
      Accessing and using the Flex Appliance Console
    6.  
      Managing the appliance from the Appliance Management Console
    7.  
      Setting the date and time for appliance nodes
    8.  
      Common tasks in Flex Appliance
  4. Managing network settings
    1.  
      Creating a network bond
    2.  
      Editing a network bond
    3.  
      Deleting a network bond
    4.  
      Configuring or editing a network interface
    5. Managing the appliance Fibre Channel ports
      1.  
        Viewing the devices that are connected to the Fibre Channel ports
    6.  
      Changing DNS or Hosts file settings
  5. Managing users
    1.  
      Overview of the Flex Appliance default users
    2. Managing Flex Appliance Console users and tenants
      1.  
        Adding a tenant
      2.  
        Editing a tenant
      3.  
        Removing a tenant
      4.  
        Adding a local user to the Flex Appliance Console
      5.  
        Connecting a remote user domain to the Flex Appliance Console
      6.  
        Editing a remote user domain in the Flex Appliance Console
      7.  
        Importing a remote user or user group to the Flex Appliance Console
      8.  
        Managing single sign-on (SSO)
      9.  
        Managing identity providers (IDPs)
      10.  
        Importing a single sign-on user or user group to the Flex Appliance Console
      11.  
        Managing user authentication with smart cards or digital certificates
      12.  
        Changing a local user password in the Flex Appliance Console
      13.  
        Expiring local user passwords in the Flex Appliance Console
      14.  
        Unlocking a local user account in the Flex Appliance Console
      15.  
        Removing users from the Flex Appliance Console
    3.  
      Changing the password policy
    4.  
      Changing the hostadmin user password in the Flex Appliance Shell
    5.  
      Changing the sysadmin user password in the Veritas Remote Management Interface
  6. Using Flex Appliance
    1. Managing the repository
      1.  
        Adding files to the repository
      2.  
        Removing files from the repository
    2.  
      Creating application instances
    3.  
      Managing application instances from Flex Appliance and NetBackup
    4. Managing application instances from Flex Appliance
      1.  
        Resizing instance storage
      2.  
        Editing instance network settings
      3.  
        Assigning Fibre Channel ports to an instance
      4.  
        Unassigning Fibre Channel ports from an instance
      5. Managing application add-ons on instances
        1.  
          Installing application add-ons
        2.  
          Uninstalling application add-ons
        3.  
          Changing the application add-on installation order
      6.  
        Viewing instance performance metrics
      7.  
        Clearing a configuration error status on an application instance
    5. Upgrading application instances
      1.  
        Warnings and considerations for instance rollbacks
    6.  
      Updating an application instance to a newer revision
    7. About Flex Appliance updates
      1.  
        Updating Flex Appliance
      2.  
        Updating the firmware
  7. Appliance security
    1.  
      Security overview
    2. About lockdown mode
      1.  
        Changing the lockdown mode
    3.  
      Using a sign-in banner
    4.  
      Using an external certificate
    5. Using network access control
      1.  
        Changing the SSH port
  8. Monitoring the appliance
    1.  
      Registering an appliance
    2. Configuring alerts
      1. About AutoSupport and Call Home
        1.  
          Configuring Call Home
      2.  
        Configuring email alerts
      3.  
        Configuring SNMP alerts
      4.  
        Setting the threshold values for disk usage alerts
    3.  
      Monitoring the appliance from the System Health Insights portal
    4. Viewing the hardware status
      1.  
        Viewing node information
      2.  
        Viewing storage shelf information on a Veritas 53xx Appliance
      3.  
        Viewing storage shelf information on a Veritas 52xx Appliance
    5.  
      Viewing hardware faults
    6.  
      Viewing system data
    7.  
      Clearing the hardware status
    8.  
      Forwarding logs
    9.  
      Providing access for external monitoring
    10.  
      Revoking access for external monitoring
  9. Reconfiguring the appliance
    1.  
      Shutting down the appliance
    2.  
      Performing a factory reset
    3.  
      Performing a reimage
    4.  
      Recovering storage data after a factory reset or a reimage
    5.  
      Performing a storage reset
    6.  
      Removing a node
    7.  
      Viewing or resetting the storage shelf order on a Veritas 52xx Appliance
  10. Troubleshooting guidelines
    1.  
      General troubleshooting steps
    2.  
      Generating a One-Time Password and unlocking access in lockdown mode
    3.  
      Gathering logs

Accessing and using the Flex Appliance Shell

You can use the Flex Appliance Shell to perform the initial configuration, monitor the appliance hardware, and manage some of the settings.

Accessing the Flex Appliance Shell

To access the Flex Appliance Shell for most operations, open an SSH session to the appliance node and log in with the username hostadmin and the password that you set during initial configuration.

Note:

If you have a multi-node appliance, you must log in to each node individually.

If you have not completed the initial configuration yet, you can access the shell through the Veritas Remote Management Interface. Refer to the initial configuration procedure for instructions.

Veritas recommends that you also log in through the remote management interface for the following operations:

  • Restarting the node

  • Factory resets

  • Reimaging

To conform with the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) and the Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG), the Flex Appliance Shell supports only the following ciphers and message authentication codes (MACs):

  • Ciphers:

    • aes256-ctr

    • aes192-ctr

    • aes128-ctr

  • MACs:

    • hmac-sha2-512

    • hmac-sha2-256

Older SSH clients are likely to prevent access to the appliance. Check to make sure that your SSH client supports the listed ciphers and MACs, and update to the latest version if necessary. Default SSH client settings may not be FIPS- and STIG-compliant, which means you may need to select them manually in your SSH client configuration.

Navigating the Flex Appliance Shell

Note:

When you log in for the first time, the available commands are limited to those that you can run on an unconfigured appliance. Complete the initial configuration to gain access to the rest of the command options. See Performing the initial configuration.

The Flex Appliance Shell includes the following command views:

  • setup

    Includes all of the commands for initial configuration.

  • system

    Includes the commands you can use to manage the appliance OS, system services, and hosts file settings.

  • show

    Includes the commands you can use to show the current appliance settings and information about the appliance hardware.

  • set

    Includes the commands you can use to modify the appliance settings.

  • support

    Includes the commands you can use to access privileged operations and manage storage shelves. This view is primarily intended for Veritas Technical Support.

    • Also includes the support shell, which has a command prompt to let you view read-only information on the appliance, including performance metrics.

The following is a list of tips on how to use the Flex Appliance Shell:

  • You can press the ? key at any time to display more information about the commands or sub-views. If you press ? after you enter a command, the format and usage of the parameters for that command is displayed.

  • To type a ? without displaying the help, first press Ctrl + v.

  • The Flex Appliance Shell works similarly to the Bourne-Again Shell (BASH) and supports all of the same keyboard shortcuts.

  • Additional Linux commands are available by typing the full path to the command. For example: /usr/bin/top.

    The available commands are dependent on the security permission settings of the user.

  • In the documentation, command variables are italicized or in angular brackets (<>). Replace these variables with the appropriate information for each command.