vSphere Plugin User Guide: Installing the Remote vSphere Plugin with the Pure Storage VMware Appliance

Requirements

• Online and Offline Pure Storage Appliance OVA Requirements
  • 4 vCPUs and 8GB Memory
  • 3.6GB datastore space thin provisioned / 40GB datastore space thick provisioned
  • Supported to be deployed on vCenter 6.7 U3 (VMware does not certify remote plugins on vCenter version 6.7, but remote plugins are supported on 6.7 U3+).
  • Certified and supported on vCenter 7.0+.
  • Can be deployed on VMFS or vVols datastores
  • Single static IP address on management network (or DHCP scope) required
  • Access to the Pure Storage FlashArray's management interface that will be used with the Remote Plugin via port 443
  • Access to the vCenter Server where the Remote Plugin extensions will be registered via port 8443 and 443
    • 443 outbound from the OVA and inbound for the vCenter
    • 8443 outbound from the vCenter and inbound for the OVA
• Pure Storage vSphere Plugin Requirements
  • IP address or FQDN of vCenter
  • A remote plugin OVA instance may be registered against a single vCenter instance or a set of vCenters that are in linked-mode.  For the linked-mode scenario, the plugin must be registered against every vCenter instance that is linked.  Non-linked vCenter instances each require their own Pure Storage VMware appliance.  
  • Please note that a unique folder will be created in vCenter to store individual FlashArrays.  It is important that these folder names are not changed or modified.  More information on vCenter Folders used with the vSphere Remote plugin can be found here.
• Online Pure Storage Appliance OVA Requirements
  • Access to deb.cloud-support.purestorage.comvia port 443 for appliance installations, application upgrades, queries and tasks with puresw

Download Location

The Pure VMware Appliance is an OVA that can be downloaded from HERE. Please note you will need to download the OVA for both online and offline deployments.

Online Deployment Procedure

Deployment of the Pure Storage Appliance is very similar to a typical OVA deployment.  We outline the steps below.

1. To start, right-click on the cluster you wish to deploy the OVA to, and then select Deploy OVF Template...

   

2. In the Deploy OVF template wizard, either provide the URL for the OVA or if it has been downloaded locally, select Local File, then click on Upload Files and choose the OVA file from your local hard drive.

   

3. Click Next when the OVA file has been specified.

   

4. Optionally provide a unique Virtual machine name and select a folder for it to be deployed into.  Click on Next when these selections have been made.

   

5. Pick the ESXi cluster or Host where you want to deploy the OVA.  Click on Next once the selection has been made.

   

6. Confirm the details selected thus far and then click on Next.

   

7. Read the licensing agreement and then click the checkbox to accept to the licensing terms and click Next.

   

8. Pick a storage device to install the OVA template to.  Optionally change the virtual disk format and/or select a VM storage policy and then click on Next.

   

9. Pick the network you wish to use for the appliance.  Note that it must be routable to the vCenter management network.  Click on Next to continue.

   

10. In the OVA customization template, at the top of the screen first pick the vSphere Remote Client Plugin option from the Appliance Type list.

    Reminder: While the OVA supports both the VM Analytics and Remote Plugin, the OVA can only support one integration at a time.  When multiple integrations are needed, more than one OVA will need to be deployed.

    If your environment does not have access to Pure1 during the OVA deployment please see the Offline Deployment Procedure for this step.

    

11. If wanting to use DHCP check the DHCP checkbox and skip 11a.; otherwise un-check the DHCP checkbox and follow a. below.

    

    1. If a static IP address is to be associated with the Pure VMware Appliance, fill out the relevant networking information including IP address, netmask, gateway, DNS Server(s).  Optionally specificy a custom hostname and if a Proxy is being used, supply the URL, Port and login information for the proxy.  Click on Next when finished filling out the required custom template fields.

       

12. Review the details of the OVA deployment and then click on Finish to deploy.

    

13. Once the OVA has finished deployment within vCenter, power it on to finish its configuration and to make it available to login to.

14. Follow Change pureuser's Password from this KB (you must be logged in to view the link) to change the default appliance password.

15. If your vCenter's fully qualified domain name (FQDN) contains .local, you will need to run the following command from the command line of the OVA to ensure you can add arrays properly from the plugin in vCenter:

    pureuser@purestorage-vmware-appliance:~$ puredns setattr --search {your .local domain} --nameservers {ip or FQDN of DNS server}

Offline Deployment Procedure

1. Follow steps 1 through 9 in the Online Deployment Procedure section above.
    
2. On step 10, select None (Offline Installation).
   
   
3. Follow steps 11 through 15 in the Online Deployment Procedure section above.
    
4. Download the latest supplemental iso.
    
5. For steps 5 and 6, this guide will be attaching the iso to the VM through a datastore file; there are many other options available for mounting an iso to a VM.
   
   Log into the GUI of an individual ESXi host that has access to a datastore on the cluster you have deployed your VM. In this example, the shared datastore is called sn1-x50r2-c12-22-iso-repository. Navigate to Storage view, select your datastore, then left click Datastore Browser.
   
   
    
6. In the datastore browser window, select the datastore you'd like to upload the iso to on the left column then click the Upload button. Navigate to the local location containing the iso file and upload it.
   
   
    
7. Next, switch over to the vCenter console. Navigate to the hosts and clusters view. On the VM where you've configured the offline OVA, right click on your newly deployed Offline OVA VM and select Edit Settings.
   
   
8. Navigate to CD/DVD drive and select the dropdown. Because the iso file is already on a datastore, we're selecting Datastore ISO File.
   
   
9. On the new window that pops up, select the datastore with the iso then the iso file itself and click OK.
   
   
10. Validate that Connected is selected on the CD/DVD drive that was configured and click OK.
    
    
11. Now that the iso file is attached to the VM as a CD drive we can deploy the vSphere Plugin on the offline appliance. Connect to the appliance through vCenter's web console or an alterntive method. For the web console, left click on your VM from hosts and clusters view and select LAUNCH WEB CONSOLE on the Summary tab of the VM.
    
    
12. Log in to the appliance as pureuser using the password you previously configured.
    
    

13. Run the command below at the command prompt after logging in:

    puresetup vsphere-client-plugin
    

    
    

14. You'll be presented with a prompt asking you the version to install. Type Y then press Return to install the mentioned version.
    

15. If your vCenter's FQDN contains .local, please follow step 15 from the Online Deployment Procedure above.

What vSphere Permissions are Required when Registering the Plugin?

Historically with the local plugin and first testing with the remote plugin a vSphere administrator was needed when registering the plugin.  Additionally testing with vSphere 7.0 U1 and higher, has proven that this is not the case. 

Here are all of the Required Privileges for a vSphere user to fully register or unregister the vSphere Remote Plugin Extensions with the vCenter Server:

• Extension
  • Register extension
  • Unregister extension
• Sessions
  • Validate session

Here are all of the permissions that the vSphere user that registers the plugin extensions with wants:

• Extension
  • Register extension
  • Unregister extension
• Sessions
  • Validate session
• Permissions
  • Modify privilege
• Folder
  • Create folder

If you do not allow the vSphere user that is used to register the extensions access to Permissions (modify privilege) or Folder (create folder) this doesn't prevent the plugin extensions from being successfully registered.  Rather when a vSphere User that does have those privileges logs into the vSphere Client, that user will then run those tasks of creating the needed folders and privileges when attempting to run through a workflow with the plugin.  That's why those privilages are just desired by the extension registration process but are not required.  

Here is a demo of creating a vSphere user with the minimum privileges and then using that user to register the remote plugin with the vCenter server.

Unregister the vSphere Plugin

1. Open an SSH connection to the appliance using the OVA VM's DNS name or IP address displayed in vCenter.
2. Login with thepureuseraccount.
3. Run the following command:

$ pureplugin unregister --host <IP_or_FQDN_of_vCenter> --user <vSphere Administrative Account>