Distributed Storage Management

You can register, access, and manage Distributed Storage clusters from the Command Center. With these capabilities, you can efficiently track Distributed Storage across solutions such as disaster recovery.

You can configure Distributed Storage using the Command Center in a multi-tenant setup. In a multi-tenant setup, a service provider can configure Distributed Storage Management clusters for tenant companies. Alternatively, a tenant administrator can configure their own Distributed Storage Management clusters. For more information about a Commvault multi-tenant setup, see Multi-Tenant Environment.

If you are not a part of a multi-tenant setup, then follow the steps in Getting Started to get started with registering and accessing Distributed Storage clusters.

Service Provider Configuring Distributed Storage for Tenant Companies

If you are a service provider or an MSP administrator, then perform the following steps:

1. Register the Distributed Storage cluster using the credentials of a Distributed Storage user that has the SuperUser or PowerUser role.

2. Assign roles that include the necessary permissions as follows:

   • To the company user or tenant administrator, assign a role that includes the Use Distributed Storage permission.

   • To any other MSP administrator who needs to access and manage Distributed Storage clusters, assign a role that includes the Manage Distributed Storage permission.

In the Command Center, when a company user or the tenant administrator creates a recovery target for disaster recovery, they can select the Distributed Storage cluster. For more information, see Distributed Storage Data Management Solutions. However, the company user and tenant administrator cannot access Distributed Storage from the Command Center. The MSP administrator who has the Manage Distributed Storage permission can launch Distributed Storage from the Command Center without entering the Distributed Storage cluster credentials.

Tenant Administrator Configuring Distributed Storage

If you are a tenant administrator and own your own Distributed Storage cluster, then perform the following steps:

1. Register the Distributed Storage cluster using the credentials of a Distributed Storage user who has the SuperUser or PowerUser role.

2. Assign roles that include the necessary permissions as follows:

   • To the company user who needs to use the Distributed Storage cluster while creating a recovery target for disaster recovery, assign a role that includes the Use Distributed Storage permission.

   • To any tenant administrator who needs to access and manage Distributed Storage clusters, assign a role that includes the Manage Distributed Storage permission.

3. Setting Navigation Preferences so that the tenant administrators that have the Manage Distributed Storage permission can access the Distributed Storage navigation item.

The company user and tenant administrator can select the Distributed Storage cluster in the Command Center for disaster recovery. For more information, see Distributed Storage Data Management Solutions. The company user cannot launch Distributed Storage from the Command Center. The tenant administrator who has the Manage Distributed Storage permission can launch Distributed Storage from the Command Center without entering the Distributed Storage cluster credentials.

Registering a Distributed Storage Cluster

To use distributed storage in data management solutions such as disaster recovery, register the distributed storage clusters in the Command Center.

Before You Begin

You must have the Register Distributed Storage permission. For more information, see Storage Management Permissions.

Procedure

1. From the navigation pane, go to Storage > Distributed Storage.

   The Distributed Storage page appears.

2. In the upper-right area of the page, click Register cluster.

   The Register cluster dialog box appears.

3. Enter the cluster details, such as cluster URL, username, and password.

   Note

   • The cluster URL is the hostname associated with the public IP (set through DNS) to any one of the storage nodes.

   • The username and password must match the credentials of a distributed storage user that has the SuperUser role or the PowerUser role.

4. Click REGISTER CLUSTER.

Results

All users with the Manage Distributed Storage permission can access the Distributed Storage clusters from the Command Center without entering their Distributed Storage cluster credentials.

What to Do Next

Open the Distributed Storage Web User-Interface

Related Topics

• Syncing Distributed Storage Clusters

• Distributed Storage Data Management Solutions

Syncing Distributed Storage Clusters

To update the CommCell environment with any new configured storage nodes or proxies in the registered distributed storage cluster, sync the cluster.

Procedure

1. From the navigation pane, go to Storage > Distributed Storage.

   The Distributed Storage page appears.

2. In the Actions column for the registered distributed storage cluster, click the action button , and then click Sync.

   The Confirm sync dialog box appears.

3. Click Yes.

Assigning a Role to a User or a User Group for Distributed Storage

You can control the operations that users can perform on Distributed Storage by assigning a role that has storage management permissions to a user or a user group.

• Create a role with the necessary permissions.

  For example, to give a user the ability to open the user interface associated with Distributed Storage from the Command Center, add the user to a Distributed Storage with a role that has the Manage Distributed Storage permission.

  The following predefined permissions are related to Distributed Storage:

  • Register Distributed Storage

  • Manage Distributed Storage

  • Use Distributed Storage

• Create a user that you plan to associate with the specific role and the Distributed Storage.

• Alternatively, if you plan to associate multiple users with the same set of roles to the specific storage, create a user group.

Procedure

1. From the navigation pane, go to Storage > Distributed Storage.

   The Distributed Storage page appears.

2. Click the cluster to assign roles for.

   The cluster page appears.

3. In the Security section, click Edit.

   The Security dialog box appears.

4. In the Enter user(s), user group(s) box, enter the user or the user group to assign a role to, and then click Add.

5. From the Select a role box list, select a role that was created with the necessary storage management permissions.

6. Click Save.

Related Topics

For information about storage management permissions, see Storage Management Permissions.

Accessing the Distributed Storage User Interface from the Command Center

You can access a registered Distributed Storage from the Command Center.

Procedure

1. From the navigation pane, go to Distributed Storage.

   The Distributed Storage page appears.

2. In the Cluster URL column for the registered Distributed Storage cluster, click the cluster URL that you need to access.

   The Cluster Watch page appears.

Setting Up an Existing MediaAgent as Distributed Storage Proxy

An existing MediaAgent can be setup as a storage proxy.

Before You Begin

• Verify that the MediaAgent meets the space, network and other requirements described in Prerequisites For Distributed Storages.

• Ensure that the MediaAgent has access to the to RHEL repositories. If necessary, enable RHEL subscription to download software and updates using the following command:

  subscription-manager register --username=<USER_NAME> --password=<PASSWORD> --auto-attach

Procedure

1. Login to the Deployment Server as an admin user.

2. Export the HV_ROOTPASS environment variable as follows:

   export HV_ROOTPASS=<root password>

   If the root passwords are different between the storage nodes and the proxy, then export the password as follows:

   export HV_ROOTPASS="pwd1^^^pwd2^^^pwd3"

   Where: ^^^ is the separator, and the deployment process will try all passwords.

3. Run the following command to deploy the new proxy:

   hv_deploy --add_nonhacvms <FQDN of the proxy> --cluster_name <name of the cluster> --commvault

What To Do Next

• If the virtual disks are not exported, export the virtual disks so that it can be shared with the proxy. For more information about exporting virtual disks, see Exporting the Virtual Disks.

• Add access to the proxy in the virtual disk, For more information adding access to the proxy, see Adding Access to the Proxy(s) in the Virtual Disks.

• Mount the virtual disks on the MediaAgent/ proxy. For more information about mounting the virtual disks, see Mounting the Virtual Disk on the MediaAgent/Proxy(s).