Skip to main content
Contact Us
Register
Pure Technical Services

Equinix Metal Guide: Deploy Pure Storage Plugin for the vSphere Client

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

Currently viewing public documentation. Please login to access the full scope of documentation.

Once a vCenter and ESXi environment has been deployed the next step is to configure the environment to be able to connect to and provision from the FlashArray. The recommended way to do this is via the Pure Storage Plugin for the vSphere Client. Full documentation for that can be found here:

Using the Pure Storage Plugin for the vSphere Client

While the plugin is NOT required, it is recommended as it automates many of the day 0 and day 2 tasks. If you prefer to not use the plugin, you may manually configure the environment. Refer to the relevant Pure Storage documentation for that.

Video Demo

Install the vSphere Plugin

There are a few ways to install the vSphere Plugin (see the above link for the methods). A simple way is to push it from the FlashArray. Login to the FlashArray and go to Settings > Software. There will be a panel for vSphere Plugin, click the Edit icon in the upper right-hand corner.

clipboard_eb1b75328b6280ab9de7a88ef5b8b7e80.png

Enter in the vCenter address and credentials and click Save.

clipboard_e94f1ab10436fd3c7490425568b66b0c7.png

The FlashArray will query the vCenter and you can install by clicking Install.

clipboard_e060bd82bb0a007a7fa2a2aea40b3651d.png

In the vSphere Client you will see the plugin being downloaded and installed:

clipboard_e0ef66c50885617e43be6471537af793f.png

clipboard_e62786d19da460a0908db928a343e4969.png

You will see a notice in the vSphere Client, refresh the browser to use the plugin.

In the home screen, click on Pure Storage.

clipboard_ea2f14cb64d676bf7435715d529033dc1.png

Authenticate Pure1

Optionally, you can authenticate the vSphere Plugin with Pure1 for intelligent provisioning and some additional advanced features. The simplest option for authentication is via PowerShell. In a host running PowerShell 7, install the Pure1 PowerShell module.

Install it with:

install-module PureStorage.Pure1

clipboard_e87da94109502e5aae60c9a8a7db05b3e.png

Now create a new certificate and extract the public key:

New-PureOneCertificate |Get-PureOnePublicKey

clipboard_ec24274c7e1e6968aa3afce5ecce3274b.png

Copy the full key (everything highlighted above in the example) and login to pure1.purestorage.com. Go to API registration and click on Register Application.

clipboard_e16d069bec30ee836cd30bfd965dd2f0c.png

If you do not see API registration it means you are not a Pure1 admin. If so reach out to your Pure1 admin and provide them with your public key and have them give you the generated API key.

Next, paste in the key and enter a name. Choose viewer or admin. All of the plugin currently needs is viewer.

clipboard_e5b97ae9336283acf948be5cf25236cd0.png

Find the new key and copy the key.

clipboard_e3c803d667ea6ead4aa2296a00fe9c8a3.png

Go back to the Powershell host you created the key on and run the following to create a JWT. The JWT will authenticate the plugin with Pure1. Enter in the API key when generating the JWT.

New-PureOneJwt -PureAppID <Pure1 key>

clipboard_e90e23ce4908d92e90a5bb77ff6d237f9.png

Copy the JWT and login to the vSphere Client. Go to the Home screen and click on Pure Storage then Authenticate Pure1.

clipboard_e71d206c8710f225dc64d450512879aa2.png

Paste in the JWT and click Authenticate.

clipboard_e3487d3df86c5983d2a4513a3f164b1be.png

Authenticatation

You can authenticate an array in two ways, through Pure1 or directly.

Register FlashArray via Pure1

If you authenticated with Pure1 you can use assisted registration. If you did not, skip to the next section on direct authentication for a FlashArray.

In the Pure Storage Plugin for the vSphere Client Home screen, click Add. Choose Import Arrays from Pure1 and find the array (or arrays) you want to authenticate and enter in credentials.

clipboard_e324064f3d65fae3ac7999c5b0c76eaf4.png

clipboard_e23b21150ed73647e329579dd28a83256.png

Choose the array(s) you want and click Add.

Register FlashArray Directly

In the Pure Storage Plugin for the vSphere Client Home screen, click Add.

clipboard_e324064f3d65fae3ac7999c5b0c76eaf4.png

clipboard_e8bfeacca665402a050533d9e8489c0e1.png

The FlashArray now can be managed.

clipboard_ec0ab25ac2335c5e0209bc659bf258489.png