NetApp 9.5 simulator - second node

[DRG]

I am setting up the simulator on VMware, and from what I read about it (and from NetApp training courses), you should be able to run two nodes on it. From this forum and the documentation, however, it looks like you need a second instance of the simulator installed. Which is it?

While I'm here, I also want to confirm that I should be able to upgrade it to 9.7 okay. (9.5 doesn't have all of the REST 
APIs required for ansible.) How do I do that since all downloads for versions greater than 9.5 doesn't have a VMware option?

[RossC]

Hi @DRG 

I believe from 9.7 or higher the ONTAP Simulator stopped supporting VMware ESX vSphere, and only supports VMware Workstation (Windows), VMware player or VMware Fusion

You likely will need to build a new ONTAP Simulator env using the ONTAP Simulator 9.7 OVA download on VMware Workstation (Windows), VMware Player or VMware Fusion. Alternatively, if you only have access to VMware ESX/Vsphere  you can potentially do an ONTAP upgrade on the ONTAP cluster you setup using the 9.5 ONTAP Simulator image (but you would need to have an Support Sites account that can access ONTAP image software).  There are a few external blogs/youtube videos walking folks through how to perform an ONTAP upgrade on the ONTAP Simulator. 

To your question about running two nodes, suggest you take a look at Page 13 of the Installation Guide for ONTAP Simulator 9.7 - https://mysupport.netapp.com/api/tools-service/toolsbinary/simulate-ontap/download/Simulate_ONTAP_97_Installation_and_Setup_Guide.pdf 

There is similar instructions about setting up two node Simulator cluster for 9.5 here (Starting Page 29) - https://mysupport.netapp.com/api/tools-service/toolsbinary/simulate-ontap/download/Simulate_ONTAP_9.5P6_Installation_and_Setup_Guide.pdf

The key thing to note is 1 OVA image is ONE ONTAP node. 

Hope this helps point you in the right direction.