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  • REST API and DellEMC Storage Part 3 – Unity

    REST API and DellEMC Storage Part 3 – Unity

    This blog post is 3rd part of REST API with DellEMC Storage blog series.

    • In the first part of this blog series, we discussed what is REST API and different usage options
    • Second part was about managing DellEMC PowerMax storage arrays using REST API

    In this post, we will discuss how you can use manage DellEMC Unity storage using REST API. We will be using the Postman tool during the entire blog series. So let’s get started with automating the DellEMC Unity storage system.

    The DellEMC Unity REST API Background

    DellEMC Unity is of the most user-friendly storage systems. The most common management tools for Unity systems are

    • Unisphere UI (Embedded) – An HTML5 graphical user interface used to manage Dell EMC Unity systems
    • Unisphere Command Line Interface (UEMCLI) – UEMCLI allows a user to perform tasks on the storage system by typing commands instead of using the graphical user interface

    The Dell EMC Unity includes complete REST API support, providing a developer-friendly way to manage Dell EMC Unity systems and automate various tasks.

    Dell EMC Unity’s REST API fully supports all the management tasks that a user can perform in the Unisphere GUI. Dell EMC Unity’s REST API response formats all communication in JSON notation. Users can send REST API requests using their favorite REST API tools to manage Dell EMC Unity systems in their environment. This provides flexibility in management and opens possibilities for more complex operations.

    DellEMC Unity Management Options

    Assessing DellEMC Unity’s REST API

    Once a Unity system is up and running, users can navigate to the following web addresses to get access to the REST API documentation:

    REST API Programmer’s Guide – https://{{unisphere_management_address}}/apidocs/programmers-guide/index.html

    REST API Reference Guide – https://{{unisphere_management_address}}/apidocs/index.html

    DellEMC Unity’s REST API is available via Unisphere running on the array via the following Base URL.

    https://{{unisphere_management_address}}/api

    • {{unisphere_management_address}} – Replace with IP Unisphere IP address or hostname

    Supported DellEMC Unity REST API Operations

    DellEMC Unity’s REST API supports the following types of REST calls.

    • GET – Get information on objects. For example – Get Unity storage system’s details
    • POST – Create an Object. For example – Create new LUN/s
    • PUT – Making changes to an objects. For example – Change size of the existing LUN
    • DELETE – Remove an object. For example – Delete existing LUN/s

    Usually the REST client (like Postman) can be used to help figure out what REST calls you want to run.

    Building your REST API calls

    Now let’s get started with creating REST API calls. In this example we will create sample REST API call to list all the available storage pools.

    Before we get started make sure you’ve Postman installed and Unisphere is reachable.

    • Open Postman and click on New. Under new drop-down, select Request
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 1
    • In New Request pop-up enter Request name, Description (optional) and Name of the Collection. Then click on Save.
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 2
    • Click on the request type drop-down and select GET.
      • Please note that we are selecting GET because is this example we are creating sample REST API call to list all the available storage pools.
      • This option will be different based on type of REST API operation
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 3
    • Enter below Request URL
      • 1.1.1.1 – Replace with Unisphere IP address/hostname

    https://1.1.1.1/api/types/pool/instances

    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 4
    • Click on the Authorization. Enter Unisphere Username and Password.
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 5
    • Note that Unity REST API GET request needs below 3 headers. Click on Headers and enter below header details as shown in the screenshot. Then click Send
      • Accept – application/json
      • Content-type – application/json
      • X-EMC-REST-CLIENT – true
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 5
    • In the Postman Response section you’ll see REST API response. In this case you’ll see list of all the storage pools in Unity array.
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 6

    Additionally please note that POST/PUT/DELETE requests need one additional Header – EMC-CSRF-TOKEN. This token is generated using GET request.

    So, let’s create one POST request for creating new LUN.

    • Follow above-listed GET request steps. Click on Headers under GET Response. Copy the EMC-CSRF-TOKEN from the Headers
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 7
    • Now click on New and Under new drop-down, select Request (screenshot in GET request steps)
    • In New Request pop-up enter Request name, Description (optional) and Name of the Collection. Then click on Save. (screenshot in GET request steps)
    • Click on the request type drop-down and select POST.
      • Please note that we are selecting POST because is this second example we are creating REST API call to create new LUN.
    • Click on the Authorization. Enter Unisphere Username and Password.
    • Under Params enter below details.
      • Name – Name of the LUN
      • Pool – Storage Pool in which LUN will be created
      • Size – LUN size
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 7
    • Click on Headers and enter below header details as shown in the screenshot. Then click Send
      • Accept – application/json
      • Content-type – application/json
      • X-EMC-REST-CLIENT – true
      • EMC-CSRF-TOKEN – Copied from GET response
    DellEMC Unity REST API – Postman tool GUI – 8

    Dell EMC and REST API – Way Forward

    I hope this clarifies many basics for getting started with REST API and DellEMC Unity storage. You might also have understood that creating creating valid URLs is very important aspect of using REST API. Having this in mind we have created ready Postman collection for DellEMC Unity storage. Here’s the GitHub link to the repository. Feel free to download and share.

    Below are the additional resources available for taking REST API usage to next level.

    I hope this post will get you started with your Dell EMC Unity automation journey.

  • REST API and DellEMC Storage Part 2 – PowerMax

    REST API and DellEMC Storage Part 2 – PowerMax

    This blog post is 2nd part of REST API with DellEMC Storage blog series. In the first part of this blog series, we discussed what is REST API and different usage options. I highly encourage you to go through the first part before you get started with this post.

    In this post, we will discuss how you can use manage DellEMC PowerMax storage using REST API. We will be using the Postman tool during the entire blog series. So let’s get started with automating the DellEMC PowerMax storage system.

    The PowerMax REST API Background

    There are many different ways to manage the PowerMax storage system. You can refer to this link for more details around each. Traditionally many customers using the VMAX family systems are using the Solutions Enabler tool. This is a comprehensive tool that allows storage administrators to automate many different storage tasks using scripting (Bash, Perl, Shell scripts, etc.).

    PowerMax Unisphere GUI is HTML5 based management interface, it’s beautiful and functional and provides a web-based interactive experience for users.  Unisphere has a lot of automation baked in, and it’s intuitive wizards eliminate complexity and can often provide the right amount of automation for organizations where there isn’t a lot of change. With Unisphere version 8 everything you can do in the GUI is supported using REST API.

    DellEMC PowerMax Management Options

    Assessing DellEMC PowerMax REST API

    DellEMC PowerMax’s REST API is available via Unisphere (installed or embedded) running on the array via the following Base URL.

    https://{{unisphere_management_address}}:{{8443}}/univmax/restapi/{{version}}

    • {{unisphere_management_address}} – Replace with IP Unisphere IP address or hostname
    • {{8443}} – Default port of Unisphere. Change this as per your environment
    • {{version}} – Replace this with Unisphere version. For Unisphere version 9, replace as 90

    Supported DellEMC PowerMax REST API Operations

    Unisphere for PowerMax’s REST API supports the following types of REST calls.

    • GET – Get information on objects. For example – list all the PowerMax serial numbers managed using Unisphere
    • POST – Create an Object. For example – Create new LUN/s
    • PUT – Making changes to an objects. For example – Change size of the existing LUN
    • DELETE – Remove an object. For example – Delete existing LUN/s

    Usually the REST client (like Postman) can be used to help figure out what REST calls you want to run.

    Building your REST API calls

    Now let’s get started with creating REST API calls. In this example we will create sample REST API call to list all the available SRPs.

    Before we get started make sure you’ve Postman installed and Unisphere is reachable.

    • Open Postman and click on New. Under new drop-down, select Request
    DellEMC PowerMax REST API – Postman tool GUI – 1
    • In New Request pop-up enter Request name, Description (optional) and Name of the Collection. Then click on Save.
    DellEMC PowerMax REST API – Postman tool GUI – 2
    • Click on the request type drop-down and select GET.
      • Please note that we are selecting GET because is this example we are creating sample REST API call to list all the available SRPs.
      • This option will be different based on type of REST API operation
    DellEMC PowerMax REST API – Postman tool GUI – 3
    • Enter below Request URL
      • 1.1.1.1 – Replace with Unisphere IP address/hostname
      • 000123456789 – Replace with Serial number of PowerMax array

    https://1.1.1.1:8443/univmax/restapi/90/sloprovisioning/symmetrix/000123456789/srp

    DellEMC PowerMax REST API – Postman tool GUI – 4
    • Click on the Authorization. Enter Unisphere Username and Password. Then click Send
    DellEMC PowerMax REST API – Postman tool GUI – 5
    • In the Postman Response section you’ll see REST API response. In this case you’ll see list of all the SRPs in PowerMax array.
    DellEMC PowerMax REST API – Postman tool GUI – 6

    Dell EMC and REST API – Way Forward

    I hope this clarifies many basics for getting started with REST API and DellEMC storage. You might also have understood that creating creating valid URLs is very important aspect of using REST API. Having this in mind we have created ready Postman collection for DellEMC PowerMax storage. Here’s the GitHub link to the repository. Feel free to download and share.

    Below are the additional resources available for taking REST API usage to next level.

    1. REST API client for Unisphere – This is simple GUI tool which allows you to to construct REST API calls. Best part of this tool is having a tree view of all resources on the Unisphere to which the users can navigate through to select the desired REST call.
    2. DellEMC PowerMax REST API Concepts and Programmer’s Guide – This link has REST API document for Dell EMC PowerMax array.

    I hope this post will get you started with your Dell EMC PowerMax automation journey.

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  • Ansible with DellEMC Storage: Part 4 – DellEMC PowerMax Ansible Modules

    Ansible with DellEMC Storage: Part 4 – DellEMC PowerMax Ansible Modules

    This blog is the continuation of Ansible with DellEMC storage multi-part blog. 

    • In Part 1 of this series, we discussed getting started with the installation of dependencies for the Ansible and DellEMC Ansible module, followed by Ansible installation.
    • Part 2 was about the high-level basics of Ansible to get you started quickly.
    • Part 3 was getting you through the DellEMC PowerMax Ansible module installation.

    In this 4th part, we will discuss available Ansible modules for DellEMC
    PowerMax storage. Note that this blog is based on DellEMC PowerMax Ansible Module version 1.1 (Released in Dec 2019).

    Before you get started with automating DellEMC PowerMax make sure that you’re running below software versions

    • Software Version – 5978.221.221 / 5978.444.444
    • Unisphere version –  9.0 / 9.1

    Below depicted are the available Ansible modules for DellEMC PowerMax version 1.1.

    DellEMC PowerMax Ansible Module v1.1 – List of available modules

    Before you get started it’s important to understand the purpose of each module. Some of the modules can be data disruptive. You can get more details on each function on this link.

    On a high level, you can refer to the below architecture diagram of Symmetrix family storage provisioning (applicable to PowerMax as well). This will give you heads up on different definitions and object names used in DellEMC PowerMax.

    DellEMC Symmetrix Family – Storage Provisioning

    Assuming now we have an understanding of PowerMax definitions, let’s get started on creating Ansible playbook.

    Note that the default behavior of Ansible is to use SSH for executing tasks on managed hosts, for which we make hosts file entry. Below is the example of specifying host in the hosts file.

    - hosts: webserver

    But DellEMC PowerMax Ansible module wraps the RestAPI commands of an array, hence hosts entry isn’t needed. When creating Ansible playbooks for DellEMC PowerMax we’ll need to create the playbook like the below example.

    - hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no

    Now let’s talk about how to create playbook. Below is the simple ansible playbook to create storage group. 

    ---
- hosts: localhost
  connection: local
  gather_facts: no

  tasks:
    - name: Create Storage Group using Ansible
      dellemc_powermax_storagegroup:
        serial_no: "000111111333"
        unispherehost: "1.1.1.1"
        universion: "90"
        verifycert: false
        user: "pm_username"
        password: "my_password"
        sg_name: "mySG"
        state: 'present'

    Let’s understand tasks parameters used in above sample playbook

    • dellemc_powermax_storagegroup – ansible module used for creating storage group
    • serial_no – Serial number of PowerMax array. Replace this with your array serial
    • unispherehost – IP or hostname of PowerMax Unisphere management. Replace this with your array’s IP/hostname
    • universion – Unisphere version
    • verifiycert – Unisphere might be running on self signed certificate. You can ask ansible to ignore the certificate verification (value = false).
    • user – Unisphere username
    • password – Password for supplied username
    • sg_name – Name of the Storage Group you want to create

    Last 2 lines is where all the magic happens. Here we are asking ansible to create new SG named “mySG”.

    Note that though we have supplied credentials and PowerMax array details in the same playbook, it’s not mandatory. You can always move the variables in the separate file and using Ansible vault to make playbooks reusable (more on this in another blog).

    I hope this helps everyone to get started with automation of DellEMC PowerMax Day 1/2 tasks using Ansible. We will discuss on more sample playbooks in next blog post.