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

Updating Flex Appliance

Use the following procedure to update the Flex Appliance software from version 3.x to a later release.

Note:

To upgrade to version 3.x from a pre-3.0 version, refer to the Getting Started and Administration Guide for the version that you are currently on.

If more than the Veritas-tested number of Fibre Channel devices or paths are connected to the appliance, Veritas recommends that you disable the ports or disconnect the devices before you begin this procedure. When the procedure is complete, reenable or reconnect them. You may need to rescan the ports from the Fibre Channel interfaces page.

See Managing the appliance Fibre Channel ports.

To update Flex Appliance

  1. Before you begin the software update, make sure that the appliance firmware is up to date. See Updating the firmware.
  2. On the Flex Appliance Console, click the Repository icon in the left-side navigation bar and navigate to the Appliance updates tab.
  3. Make sure that the update package you want to use is located in the repository. See Managing the repository.
  4. Navigate to System topology > Application instances and do one of the following:
    • If you have a single-node appliance, stop all running instances.

    • If you have a multi-node appliance, stop all running instances or select the node that you want to update first and relocate all of its instances to the other node.

  5. (Optional) If you want to check ahead of time if the appliance is ready for the update, run a precheck on each node. The precheck also runs as part of the update process, so you can skip this step if you prefer to wait for the system to run it.

    Note:

    The precheck is available on versions 3.1 and later.

    To run the precheck, select the node or nodes and click Run precheck. If you have a multi-node appliance and relocated the instances, run the precheck on the node that does not have any running instances.

    When the precheck completes, you can view the status in the table. If the precheck reports any issues, correct them before you proceed with the update.

  6. Return to the Appliance updates tab on the Repository page. Select the node that you want to update and click Update or Update and restart.

    Note:

    The Update and restart option does not appear for versions 3.1 and later.

    If the update requires a restart, you can monitor the restart progress from the Veritas Remote Management Interface. To access the Veritas Remote Management Interface, refer to the initial configuration procedure. See Performing the initial configuration.

    Warning:

    Do not start any application instances while the update is in progress.

  7. When the update process is done, refresh your browser cache and sign back in to the Flex Appliance Console.
  8. If you have a multi-node appliance, make sure that the update completed successfully on the first node. Then stop or relocate all instances on the other node and repeat the update on that node.

    Do not attempt to update the second node if the update failed on the first node.

  9. If the update release that you installed supports rollback, you must decide whether you want to commit the new version or roll back to the previous version.

    Note:

    Some operations are restricted until you commit or roll back, or if the nodes are running different software versions. You also should not edit any settings during these times. Update both nodes and complete the rest of this procedure to restore full functionality.

    Do one of the following:

    • To commit the update to version 3.1, run the following command from the Flex Appliance Shell:

      system upgrade-commit

    • To commit the update to version 3.2 or later, return to the Appliance updates tab on the Repository page and click Commit.

    • To roll back to the previous version, stop all instances on the appliance and then run the following command from the Flex Appliance Shell:

      system rollback

      Restart the node when prompted. If you have a multi-node appliance, you must run this command on all nodes.

      Warning:

      If you have a multi-node appliance, you must roll back all nodes before you perform any other operations, including retrying an update. Complete the rollback and restart on the first node before you proceed with the next node.

  10. If you rolled back, refresh your browser cache before you sign back in to the Flex Appliance Console.