Monitoring IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud with off-premises data collection (in AWS and installed on the bastion host)

You can use IBM Storage Insights to monitor IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage systems in AWS by installing the data collector on AWS.

Before you begin

The IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage systems are deployed in AWS.

About this task

Install the data collector on AWS if your IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage systems only support applications that are hosted on AWS.
Tip: If an IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage system is being used as a replication target from an on-premises environment, there should already be an existing VPN or dedicated link in place. In this case, install a data collector on-premises or use an existing data collector if one is currently monitoring the storage system.

To enable a secure connection between IBM Storage Insights and IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage systems, install the IBM Storage Insights data collector on the Linux® bastion host in AWS. The bastion host is provisioned by default in the AWS CloudFormation template. Therefore, the bastion host already has outbound internet access and has access to the IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage systems.

For information about the Bastion host in AWS, see IBM Spectrum® Virtualize for Public Cloud on AWS Implementation Guide.

Procedure

  1. Identify the external IP address of the bastion host.
  2. Connect to the bastion host by using the private key. Enter a command like this: 
    ssh -i path_to_key/privateKey.pem centos@external_ip_of_bastion
  3. Run the enable-sv-cloud-management-gui command on the bastion host to activate the GUI proxy.
  4. Complete the postinstallation configuration of the IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage system. On the Storage Insights page, register for IBM Storage Insights.
  5. Create a new public and private key pair for use with IBM Storage Insights. Use the PEM file format for the key pair.
  6. Create an IBM Storage Insights user with security administrator (secadmin) role authority in the IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage system in AWS.
  7. Associate the public key that you created in step 5 with the IBM Storage Insights user with security administrator role authority.
  8. After the IBM Storage Insights instance is created, download the Linux data collector.
  9. Use the Linux scp command to copy the data collector securely to the bastion host. Use the key pair whose private key you used in step 2.
  10. Install the data collector on the bastion host.
  11. Log in to your IBM Storage Insights instance with the IBM® ID you used during the registration process. Click Configuration > Data Collectors, then confirm that the data collector is communicating.
  12. In the IBM Storage Insights GUI, go to Resources > Block Storage Systems.
  13. Click Add Storage Systems.
  14. Click the SVC or Storage Virtualize icon.
  15. Enter the IP address for the cluster for the IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage system. You can get this IP address from any of the following locations:
    • In the IBM Storage Virtualize GUI, click Settings > Network > Management IP Addresses.
    • On the bastion host, from the /etc/ssh/ssh_config configuration files.
    • The AWS CloudFormation postinstallation output.
  16. Select SSH as the authentication type, select the private key from step 5 as the SSH key. Enter the IBM Storage Insights user ID from step 6 as the SSH user.
  17. Click Connect.

Results

The storage system is added for monitoring and is automatically added to the default alert policy for the storage system type. Data collection is automatically run to collect status, configuration, capacity, and performance metadata about the storage system.

What to do next

By default, asset, capacity, and configuration metadata is aggregated and collected daily. Performance metadata is collected every 5 minutes. You can schedule daily capacity and inventory reports to gain insights about your IBM Storage Virtualize for Public Cloud storage systems.