Introduction to the Pure Storage Plugin for Oracle Enterprise Manager v. 13.3

Download the plugin

Download the plugin zip file Pure-Storage-13.3.1.0.0.zip from Pure's github repository for the Oracle Enterprise Manager plugin.  

Copy the zip file to a directory on the OMS host.  The zip file contains the Oracle Plugin Archive (OPAR) file 13.3.1.0.0_vlss.pure.xvp1_2000_0.opar, as well as the user guide. 

Import the plugin OPAR file

Before we can start deploying the plugin we need to have a working installation of EM Cloud Control 13.3. Assuming you already have that, let's start by logging host running the Oracle Management Service (OMS), and then login into EM Cloud Control using the command line utility - emcli.  

[oracle@lnx-rt-oemprd-01 bin]$ ./emcli login -username=sysman

Execute the following command. We use the -omslocal flag to indicate that the file is located on the OMS host.

[oracle@lnx-rt-oemprd-01 bin]$ ./emcli import_update -file="/u01/pureoem/13.3.1.0.0_vlss.pure.xvp1_2000_0.opar" -omslocal
Processing update: Plug-in - Enterprise Manager for Pure Storage Flash Array
Successfully uploaded the update to Enterprise Manager. Use the Self Update Console to manage this update.

Deploy the Plug-in on the Oracle Management Server (OMS)

After the OPAR file is imported, the next step is to deploy it on the OMS server. We execute the following command.

[oracle@lnx-rt-oemprd-01 bin]$ ./emcli deploy_plugin_on_server -sys_password=<sys password> -plugin=vlss.pure.xvp1:13.3.1.0.0
Performing pre-requisites check... This will take a while.
Prerequisites check succeeded
Deployment of plug-in on the management servers is in progress
Use "emcli get_plugin_deployment_status -plugin=vlss.pure.xvp1" to track the plug-in deployment status.

Deploy the Plug-in on the Oracle Management Agent (OMA)

The plugin must be deployed to at least one management agent as that is the process that will issue REST API calls to the FlashArray. The OMS host typically also has a management agent running on it. The following command will deploy the plugin on the agent.

[oracle@lnx-rt-oemprd-01 bin]$ ./emcli deploy_plugin_on_agent -agent_names="lnx-rt-oemprd-01:3872" -plugin=vlss.pure.xvp1:13.3.1.0.0
Agent side plug-in deployment is in progress
Use "emcli get_plugin_deployment_status -plugin=vlss.pure.xvp1" to track the plug-in deployment status.

Pure Storage FlashArray Target

The final step is to add each FlashArray as a target in EM Cloud Control. Again, its a very simple command and if you have a lot of arrays to add, it really comes in handy.

[oracle@lnx-rt-oemprd-01 bin]$ ./emcli add_target -name="sn1-x70r2-e03-27" -type="pure_flash_array" -host="lnx-rt-oemprd-01" -properties="ARRAY_HOST:<array_ip>;API_TOKEN:<api_token>
Target "sn1-x70r2-e03-27:pure_flash_array" added successfully

Three simple commands is all it takes to deploy the FlashArray agent, followed by one command to add each FlashArray as a target. Of course, this can also be done using the EM graphical interface, and the Installation Guide that comes with the plugin provides detailed instructions on how to do that. 

Home Page

Login to EM Cloud Control, and go to Targets → All Targets. In the search box, enter the name of the FlashArray.  The FlashArray Home Page will appear.

The home page is divided into 3 panes.

The Summary pane on the top left displays important information about the FlashArray, like array name, array model, uptime, current status, availability %, Purity version, etc. 

The Capacity pane at the bottom left displays the current usage of the storage array, including volumes, shared space, snapshots, system, and free space.

The Performance pane on the right contains charts that display the following performance metrics:

• Read and Write Latency
• Read, Write, and Total IOPS
• Read, Write, and Total Bandwidth

Using the radio buttons situated at the top left of the Performance pane, we can choose the time range over which data is plotted. The available options are "Last Hour", "Last 24 Hours", "Last 7 Days" and "Last 30 Days".  

Volumes Page

In the top left part of the screen, just under the FlashArray name, there is a button with a small down arrow called "Pure Flash Array". Click on it to open the vertical drop down menu. From this menu, select "Volumes". That will open the Volumes page.

Volumes in the FlashArray are listed on the left pane. There is also a Search box that allows you to quickly find the volumes you are interested in. Select the volumes by clicking on it, and it will display Latency, IOPS and Bandwidth charts on the right for the selected volumes. Similar to the home page, we can use the radio buttons to choose the time range for the charts.

Add Space Page

From the drop down menu, select "Add Space".

The Add Space page provides multiple options to add space: LVM, ASM and ZFS. 

Let's see how we can add space to a ASM disk group.

We need to provide the disk group name, size of the volume to create on the FlashArray, and details about the ASM setup.

In the next screen, root credentials need to be provided.

In the final screen of the wizard, we click Finish to submit the task.

We have seen how quick and easy was it to set up the plugin for FlashArray. The plugin enables the DBA to monitor the performance of the FlashArray without having to switch to the FlashArray GUI. It also lets the DBA perform the task of adding FlashArray volumes to LVM, ZFS or ASM from EM Cloud Control. So what are you waiting for? Download and install the EM plugin for FlashArray today and take it for a spin!