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

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.

If the vCenter Server is unavailable, an administrator should use VxRail Manager for vSAN troubleshooting. VxRail Manager provides comprehensive management and monitoring capabilities for the VxRail cluster, including vSAN. It enables administrators to perform health checks, diagnostics, and maintenance tasks even when the vCenter Server is down, ensuring continuity of operations and effective troubleshooting.

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.

The maximum number of days vSAN capacity history is available is 120 days. vSAN maintains a rolling history of capacity usage, providing detailed insights into storage trends and helping administrators manage and forecast storage requirements effectively.

To unlock the mystic account on the VxRail Manager VM, the command used is pam_tally2 --user=mystic --reset. This command resets the failed login attempts counter for the specified user, unlocking the account if it was locked due to too many failed login attempts.

Steps to unlock:

Access the VxRail Manager VM through SSH.

Execute the command pam_tally2 --user=mystic --reset.

Verify that the account is unlocked and can log in successfully.

To enable the system LED on vcluster730-esx03.edu.local for identification in the physical rack, 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 the Host:

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

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

Select the host named vcluster730-esx03.edu.local.

Access Host Actions:

Right-click on vcluster730-esx03.edu.local.

From the context menu, select Actions.

Enable System LED:

In the Actions menu, locate and select Enable LED or Turn On Locator LED (the exact wording might vary).

Confirm the action if prompted.

Verify LED Activation:

Check the physical rack to ensure that the system LED on vcluster730-esx03.edu.local is enabled and the node is easily identifiable.

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 configure active-active teaming and set the failover order for the vSAN and vMotion port groups on a distributed switch using the vSphere Client, 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 Networking:

From the home screen, click on Networking in the left-hand navigation pane.

Select the Distributed Switch:

Locate and select the distributed switch that the vSAN and vMotion port groups are using.

Edit vSAN Port Group Settings:

Right-click on the vSAN port group and select Edit Settings.

In the Edit Settings window, click on Teaming and Failover.

Configure Active-Active Teaming for vSAN:

In the Teaming and Failover section, you will see the list of uplinks.

Ensure that both uplinks are set as Active Uplinks.

To do this, drag the uplinks from the Unused Uplinks or Standby Uplinks section to the Active Uplinks section if necessary.

Ensure that no uplinks are in the Standby Uplinks section (all should be in Active Uplinks).

Set Failover Order for vSAN:

Ensure the failover order is correctly set to use both uplinks for active-active teaming.

Click OK to save the changes.

Edit vMotion Port Group Settings:

Right-click on the vMotion port group and select Edit Settings.

In the Edit Settings window, click on Teaming and Failover.

Configure Active-Active Teaming for vMotion:

In the Teaming and Failover section, ensure that both uplinks are set as Active Uplinks.

Drag the uplinks from the Unused Uplinks or Standby Uplinks section to the Active Uplinks section if necessary.

Ensure that no uplinks are in the Standby Uplinks section (all should be in Active Uplinks).

Set Failover Order for vMotion:

Ensure the failover order is correctly set to use both uplinks for active-active teaming.

Click OK to save the changes.

Verify Configuration:

Check the Networking section to verify that the changes have been applied correctly and that both port groups are using active-active teaming with the appropriate failover order.

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 protect the vSAN storage against unauthorized access for both data on disk and in-flight, enable vSAN data-at-rest encryption and data-in-transit encryption. 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 vSAN Cluster Settings:

In the left-hand navigation pane, expand VxRail-DC and select VxRail-Cluster.

Click on the Configure tab.

Enable vSAN Data-at-Rest Encryption:

Under the vSAN section, select Services.

Click on Data-at-Rest Encryption.

Click Edit to configure encryption settings.

Ensure that the Enable Data-at-Rest Encryption checkbox is selected.

Choose the vSphere Native Key Provider that has already been configured.

Click Apply to enable data-at-rest encryption.

Enable vSAN Data-in-Transit Encryption:

Under the same vSAN section, select Services.

Click on Data-in-Transit Encryption.

Click Edit to configure encryption settings.

Ensure that the Enable Data-in-Transit Encryption checkbox is selected.

Click Apply to enable data-in-transit encryption.

Verify Configuration:

Return to the vSAN > Services section.

Ensure that both Data-at-Rest Encryption and Data-in-Transit Encryption are enabled and show as active.

Verify that there are no error messages indicating configuration issues.

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 vSAN Settings:

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

Click on the Configure tab on the right.

Enable Data-at-Rest Encryption:

Under vSAN, click Services.

Find Data-at-Rest Encryption and click Edit.

Check the box for Enable Data-at-Rest Encryption.

Select the vSphere Native Key Provider.

Click Apply.

Enable Data-in-Transit Encryption:

Still under vSAN > Services, find Data-in-Transit Encryption and click Edit.

Check the box for Enable Data-in-Transit Encryption.

Click Apply.

Verification:

Check the status of both encryption services under vSAN > Services to ensure they are enabled and operational.

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.