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Associate NetApp LUN as datastore


I'm new to UCSD and struggeling with associating a NetApp LUN to a VMware Datastore.

What I did:

  1. Built a VMware Storage Policy
    • not sure what to choose for Data Stores within the Policy, have taken ALL
  2. Assigned the Policy to my virtual Data Center
  3. Created a NetApp Volume and LUN
    • Worked. I can see the Volume and LUN with the correct size (within my SVM)
  4. I have taken the NetApp 'Associate LUN as Datastore' Task
    • Configured the values (Filer identity, SVM, mount options etc.)
    • The newly created LUN was available to choose as LUN Path
  5. When I execute the Task it stops at 'waiting for VM LUN path'. This message appears 3 times and afterwards I guess I run into a timeout and the Tasks fails.
  6. When I manually try to associate the LUN in my vCenter it works.

Not sure if I forgot something with the storage profile. Not sure how I can add the LUN as a datastore. Maybe I took the wrong Task within the workflow designer. I was thinking about taking a VMware Task but there is non. I might have to create an own script. I have seen there are a couple of scrips but non for NetApp, most for EMC.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance,


Everyone's tags (2)
Cisco Employee

Re: Associate NetApp LUN as datastore

take a look here there are example work flows to create datastores

UCSD Workflow INDEX (UCSD Technical Content Index)


Re: Associate NetApp LUN as datastore

I have the same issue that is described above. I'm trying to create an iSCSI lun and want to present it as a datastore to VMware. I feel like the lun path I provide as input should be the right one as I take it from the output of a previous task in which I create the lun.

I also looked at the workflow index you linked but didn't find a resolving solution to this. Do you have any other thoughts?

Another issue as part of this lun creation is that I would like the lun to be thin provisioned and by default it turns out to be thick. There does not seem to be a field where I can change this setting and I was wondering if that is possible somehow!




Re: Associate NetApp LUN as datastore

Hey there Lukas.

I am not personally working on data stores in VMware, but am also new to NetApp and UCSD and am experiencing the learning curve first hand.  That being said, here is what i know:

  1. 'm 99% sure you've created an iscsi lun properly
  2. i'm 99% sure that the output of the previous task is tailored specifically to feed into another NETAPP task type.
  3. HERE IS YOUR PROBLEM -- i'm 99% sure that the lun input for VMware is expecting a different variable type.  NOTE HERE - its all just a series of text strings.  The value you are passing (TEXT STRING type and value), the variable type expected on both sides of the TASK are also -- yes, just a TEXT STRING types and values. 
    Computers being computers, won't do what you mean, they'll only do what you tell them to do.  since the TEXT STRING types between the TASKS don't match, it won't work. 
  4. You're going to have to make a custom TEST STRING translator TASK in javascript.
    its pretty easy.  You'll then feed the output of one into the input of the other, like you want to do now.  then the output of this translator into the input of the VMware task.
    a. run the job manually getting all the stuff you need done via context drop downs (don't try to fill in values, pick them from the UCSD tables and stuff they present you).
    b. look at the log file and find out what that particular task is expecting as input (the exact TEXT STRING value), this comes from the context of UCSD so is the correct input value.
    c. compare that to the TEXT STRING string that is output from the prior task you want to pass to this new task.
    d. look at the variable input for the new task and the old tasks output variable to see its claimed 'type', which is just a TEST STRING type.
    e. in your custom javascript task, select the input type as text with an associated type of whatever the hell the NetApp one outputs as.  then in the output section of the custom task, again make it a text field with the associated TEXT STRING type that is expected in the VMware datastore.
    f. lastly, in the code section... preform any translation of the actual value being passed.  I know in fiber channel NetApp land (which is close to iscsi), it will otuput the TEXT STRING value as NAMEofNETAPParrayINucsd@theIPofTHEnetappARRAY@theNETAPPsvm@theNETAPPvoluem@THElun.  I have no idea what vmware is expecting... hence step 4.b above.  but you may have to chop that up using javascript to make it look like whatever VMware is expecting to see.

Hope that helped.

good luck and happy holidays.

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