D-VXR-OE-23 Dell VxRail Operate 2023 Questions and Answers

To temporarily remove a node with a specific serial number from the VxRail cluster, follow these steps:

Log in to vSphere Client:

Open the vSphere Client.

Enter the username: administrator@vsphere.local.

Enter the password: VMw@r3!123.

Click Login.

Identify the Node with Serial Number "V0730040000000":

In the vSphere Client interface, navigate to the Hosts and Clusters view.

Expand the VxRail-DC and then the VxRail-Cluster.

Locate the Node:

Click on each host (e.g., vcluster730-esx01, vcluster730-esx02, vcluster730-esx03, vcluster730-esx04) and check the Summary tab to identify the node with the serial number V0730040000000.

The Summary tab provides details about the hardware, including the serial number.

Put the Node in Maintenance Mode:

Right-click on the identified node.

Select Maintenance Mode > Enter Maintenance Mode.

Select Ensure Accessibility and click OK.

Remove the Node from the Cluster:

Once the node is in maintenance mode, right-click the node again.

Select Remove from Inventory.

Confirm the action by clicking Yes or OK when prompted.

Verify the Node Removal:

Ensure that the node is no longer listed under the VxRail-Cluster.

Check the overall health and status of the cluster to confirm that it is functioning properly without the removed node.

To create the required vSAN storage policy in the vSphere Client for a VxRail stretched cluster, follow these steps:

Log in to vSphere Client:

Open the vSphere Client.

Enter the username: administrator@vsphere.local.

Enter the password: VMw@r3!123.

Click Login.

Navigate to Storage Policies:

From the home screen, go to Policies and Profiles in the left-hand navigation pane.

Click on VM Storage Policies.

Create a New Storage Policy:

Click Create VM Storage Policy.

Enter the name as vSAN Stretched Cluster.

Click Next.

Configure Policy Rules:

In the Policy Structure section, choose Enable tag-based placement rules if needed.

Click Next.

Add vSAN Rules:

In the Storage Compatibility section, click Add rule and select vSAN.

Configure the following:

Primary level of failures to tolerate (PFTT): 1 failure - RAID 1 (Mirroring)

Secondary level of failures to tolerate (SFTT): 1 failure - RAID 1 (Mirroring)

Failures to Tolerate: 1

Provisioning type: Thick Provisioning

Ensure "Force Provisioning" is enabled. This allows the VM to be provisioned even if the current resources do not satisfy the policy.

Set Data Services:

Skip the Data Services section if not applicable.

Click Next.

Review and Finish:

Review the policy settings.

Click Finish to create the storage policy.

Apply the Storage Policy to VMs:

Navigate to the VMs section.

Select the VMs that need the new storage policy.

Right-click and select VM Policies > Edit VM Storage Policies.

Choose the vSAN Stretched Cluster policy for the applicable disks.

To upgrade a VxRail cluster to the latest recommended version at a dark site (an environment without internet access), follow these steps:

Log in to VxRail Manager:

Open a web browser and navigate to the VxRail Manager URL.

Log in using the credentials:

Username: root

Password: VMw@r3!123.

Check Current Version and Compatibility:

Once logged in, navigate to the Dashboard to view the current version of VxRail.

Verify compatibility with the target upgrade version by reviewing the VxRail Release Notes or Upgrade Guide for your specific version.

Download Upgrade Bundle:

Since the site is dark, download the necessary upgrade bundle from Dell EMC’s support site using another system with internet access.

Save the upgrade bundle to a portable storage device (USB drive, external HDD, etc.).

Upload the Upgrade Bundle to VxRail Manager:

Connect the portable storage device to a local machine within the dark site.

In VxRail Manager, navigate to the Internet Upgrade section.

Select Local Upgrade and browse to the location of the upgrade bundle on your local machine.

Upload the upgrade bundle.

Perform the Upgrade:

After the bundle is uploaded, follow the on-screen prompts to begin the upgrade process.

The upgrade wizard will guide you through pre-upgrade checks, including verifying compatibility and ensuring cluster health.

Monitor the Upgrade Progress:

The upgrade process will take some time. Monitor the progress via the VxRail Manager interface.

Ensure there are no errors or issues reported during the upgrade.

Post-Upgrade Verification:

Once the upgrade is complete, verify that the VxRail Manager and vCenter report the new version correctly.

Check the health and status of the cluster to ensure all components are operational.

Steps using the Simulator:

Login to VxRail Manager:

Open the simulator and navigate to the VxRail Manager interface.

Use the provided credentials to log in:

Username: root

Password: VMw@r3!123.

Navigate to Upgrade Section:

In the VxRail Manager interface, click on Internet Upgrade or Software Upgrade.

Upload the Upgrade Bundle:

Select Local Upgrade.

Click Browse and select the upgrade bundle from your local machine.

Click Upload to start the upload process.

Initiate the Upgrade:

Once the upload is complete, follow the prompts to start the upgrade.

Confirm the pre-upgrade checks and proceed.

Monitor Upgrade Process:

Monitor the upgrade status in the VxRail Manager interface.

Wait for the upgrade to complete and ensure there are no issues.

Verify Upgrade Completion:

After the upgrade, verify the new version in the VxRail Manager dashboard.

Check the health status of the cluster to ensure everything is running smoothly.

To resolve the issue of health monitoring being disabled and enable the relevant service, follow these steps:

Log in to vSphere Client:

Open the vSphere Client.

Enter the username: administrator@vsphere.local.

Enter the password: VMw@r3!123.

Click Login.

Navigate to VxRail Manager:

In the vSphere Client interface, expand VxRail-DC and then VxRail-Cluster.

Select VxRail Manager.

Access VxRail Health Monitoring Settings:

Click on the Configure tab.

Under VxRail, select Health.

Enable Health Monitoring:

Find the option for Health Monitoring.

If it is disabled, click Edit or the relevant button to enable it.

Ensure that Enable Health Monitoring is checked.

Click Apply or OK to save the changes.

Verify Health Monitoring Status:

Go back to the Summary tab or the appropriate section in VxRail Manager.

Verify that the health monitoring status is now enabled and shows as healthy.

Steps using the Simulator:

Login to vSphere Client:

Open the simulator and navigate to the vSphere Client interface.

Log in using the credentials:

Username: administrator@vsphere.local.

Password: VMw@r3!123.

Navigate to VxRail Manager:

In the vSphere Client interface, expand VxRail-DC and then VxRail-Cluster.

Select VxRail Manager.

Enable Health Monitoring:

Click on the Configure tab.

Under VxRail, select Health.

Click Edit to modify the health settings.

Check the box for Enable Health Monitoring.

Click Apply or OK to save the changes.

Verify:

Go back to the Summary tab in VxRail Manager.

Ensure that the warning message about health monitoring being disabled is no longer present and that health monitoring is active.

To set up vSAN HCI Mesh, a latency of 10 milliseconds and a bandwidth of 10 Gbps are required. vSAN HCI Mesh allows vSAN clusters to share storage resources over a network. Ensuring low latency and high bandwidth is crucial for maintaining performance and reliability in a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) environment, which vSAN HCI Mesh facilitates.

The authorization method used for VxRail API calls is HTTP Basic. This method requires the client to send the user’s credentials (username and password) encoded in Base64 within an HTTP header. HTTP Basic authentication is straightforward and is supported by most HTTP clients, making it a suitable choice for securing API calls in VxRail environments.

The duration of the evaluation licenses for vSphere ESXi included with the VxRail system is 45 days. This trial period allows users to explore and test the features and capabilities of vSphere ESXi before committing to a full license.

The default rekey interval for vSAN data-in-transit encryption on the VxRail Cluster is 6 hours. This interval specifies how frequently the encryption keys are rotated to ensure secure communication within the cluster. Regular rekeying helps maintain data security by reducing the risk of encryption key compromise.

When the VxRail cluster is deployed, the vSAN storage policy settings applied to the VxRail Manager VM are as follows:

Failures to Tolerate: 1 failure - RAID 1 (Mirroring)

Object space reservation: Thin provisioning

These settings ensure that the VxRail Manager VM has redundancy to tolerate a single failure and uses thin provisioning to optimize storage usage.

When adding a node to an existing VxRail Cluster and the node is not discovered in the vSphere Client, the "loudmouth" log should be analyzed. The loudmouth log is crucial for node discovery as it records the communication and discovery processes between nodes in the VxRail cluster. Analyzing this log can help diagnose issues related to node visibility and network communication.

When scaling a VxRail cluster, it is important to consider that mixing VxRail nodes with different base network speeds is not permitted. This restriction ensures network consistency and performance across the cluster, avoiding potential issues with data flow and latency caused by differing network speeds.