OnTAP Tools Discovery

[TMADOCTHOMAS]

Is there a way to control storage system discovery in OnTAP Tools? For years this tool discovers 30+ storage units that aren't NetApp which just clutters up the screen. I prefer a nice clean screen of just the objects I need to manage. Is there a "hack" to prevent the automatic discovery from occurring, or at least to streamline it?

[NetApp_SR · Accepted solution]

Automatic discovery can be turned off but not sure that will solve the whole problem...

Virtual Storage Console: How to disable automatic discovery
https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/VSC_and_VASA_Provider/Virtual_Storage_Console%3A_How_to_disable_automatic_disco...

Virtual Storage Console: A primer on 'unknown' Storage Systems
https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/VSC_and_VASA_Provider/Virtual_Storage_Console%3A_A_primer_on_'unknown'_Storage_...

[TMADOCTHOMAS]

Thank you @NetApp_SR , very helpful! I had not seen those KBs. I am familiar with skipping but would prefer the entries aren't there to clutter up the screen. Even better would be the option to just add the needed SVMs as discussed in one of the linked KBs.

What did you mean "not sure that will solve the whole problem"? If automatic discovery is off, the list should stay static unless I manually add or change something, correct? Or is the issue that the existing invalid entries can't be easily deleted? If that's what you mean, I wonder if step 5 in the "Remove Cluster" section in the article below could be used to clear the list?

https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/VSC_and_VASA_Provider/ONTAP_Tools_for_VMware_vSphere%3A_How_to_switch_from_Clus... 

[TMADOCTHOMAS]

@NetApp_SR , one other issue/question: in most cases skipping doesn't work. I have four pages of entries I want to skip, and for most of them I enter the password (which is a required field) and click "Skip", and get the following response. Any workaround ideas?

--------------------------------

Failed to validate storage system credentials :IP Address is not valid

--------------------------------

[NetApp_SR]

That is what my concern was, it will be difficult to remove the clutter of the unknown storage. I have not tested but maybe you can turn off the discovery as previously discussed, reset the database and manually add the storage you want. The below KB will show how to reset the database unless your using VVOLs as noted.

Virtual Storage Console: 'Unknown' storage system stuck in Storage Systems
https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/VSC_and_VASA_Provider/Virtual_Storage_Console%3A_'Unknown'_storage_system_stuck...

[TMADOCTHOMAS]

Thank you @NetApp_SR , extremely helpful information! I will try that either today or next week sometime.

[TMADOCTHOMAS]

@NetApp_SR , I tried the hard reset but it didn't remove any contents. However, I successfully went through the section "Remove Cluster from VSC/OTV Nondisruptively" in the article below to remove all entries, then added them back one by one.

https://kb.netapp.com/Advice_and_Troubleshooting/Data_Storage_Software/VSC_and_VASA_Provider/ONTAP_Tools_for_VMware_vSphere%3A_How_to_switch_from_Clus...

I also turned off all automatic discovery. After doing that everything looked great, except the fact that ALL ESX HOSTS still appeared in the ESXi Host Systems list on the dashboard (whether using NetApp or not).

I decided to reboot OnTAP Tools to see what the result would be, to make sure this status continued after reboot. Everything looked good, except that each entry under Storage Systems now appeared twice - once normally with green check marks and all data (the entries I had manually created), and once with "Unknown-" in front of the name with an Alert icon. Re-adding permissions to these entries didn't remove them or change their status. I clicked the "skip" box but when I re-opened the check mark didn't persist.

So that leaves me with a MUCH better situation, but still two desired cleanup items if there's a way to do it:

1. I'd like to remove all ESXi hosts that aren't connected to NetApp storage.

2. I'd like to prevent these four "unknown" entries from reappearing.

Any ideas on these last two items?

[TMADOCTHOMAS]

@NetApp_SR , one other question if you see this: now that automatic discovery is off, what's the best way to discover changes in the hosts without rescanning and adding a lot of storage systems I don't need? I'm thinking opening the 4 cluster entries and just resaving them but would love to hear any suggestions.