DELL PowerFlex 3.6.3 Software User Guide

DELL PowerFlex 3.6.3 Software

Product Information

Specifications

• Product Name: Dell PowerFlex
• Version: 3.6.3
• Release Date: March 01, 2024

Product Usage Instructions

Learn about the new and changed features in PowerFlex 3.6.3:

• New Features:
  • Storage Data Client self-compiles for existing operating systems – Allows for driver kernel creation to match the OS.
• Important Notes:
  • CloudIQ integration: Ensure registration with Secure remote services for PowerFlex discovery in CloudIQ.
  • Replication enhancements: Bi-directional replication supported between two sites only.
  • vSphere plug-in End-of-Support-Life: Note end-of-support details for vSphere plug-in with specific versions.

Changed Features

Learn about the enhanced features for this version of PowerFlex:

• *  **Updated Operating System Support Matrix:**

  • Oracle JRE and OpenJDK support: OpenJDK 11.0.12.07 for Linux-based servers only.
  • Presentation server: Upgrade Java version to Java 11 before upgrading the presentation server.
  • Support Deprecation:

Note the deprecation of certain support features.

FAQ

• What is the compatibility of PowerFlex with different operating systems?
• PowerFlex 3.6.3 supports self-compilation for existing operating systems to match the kernel version of the OS.
• How do I ensure successful integration with CloudIQ?
• To integrate PowerFlex with CloudIQ, ensure registration with Secure remote services and enable data sending to CloudIQ in the PowerFlex Installer.

Revision history
Revision history for PowerFlex3.6.3 release notes
Table 1. Revisions

Product Description

• PowerFlex is a software-defined storage platform designed to significantly reduce operational and infrastructure complexity. It empowers organizations to move faster by delivering flexibility, elasticity, and simplicity with predictable performance and resiliency at scale.
• The PowerFlex family provides a foundation that combines compute as well as high-performance storage resources in a managed unified fabric. PowerFlex comes in fully managed flexible deployment options for rack or appliances that enable Server SAN, HCI, and storage-only architectures. PowerFlex can now be deployed in the public cloud. A Ready Node option is also available. PowerFlex is ideal for high-performance applications and databases, building an open private cloud, or consolidating resources in heterogeneous environments.

New and changed features

• Learn about new and changed features in this version of PowerFlex.

New features for PowerFlex
Learn about the new features introduced in PowerFlex 3.6.3 software.

• Storage Data Client self-compiles for existing operating systems—In PowerFlex 3.6.3, an SDC self-compile capability is enabled that enables the creation of a driver kernel to match the operating system. This process allows customers who want to update the operating system and compile the SDC driver to match the kernel version of the operating system.

Important
The following aspects of PowerFlex 3.6.3 must be understood before deploying or upgrading your system:

1. CloudIQ integration
   • Discovering a PowerFlex system in CloudIQ requires the system to be registered with Secure Remote Services. In the PowerFlex Installer, Maintain tab, ensure that the PowerFlex system is registered with Secure remote services and that Send data to CloudIQ is enabled.
   • After installing a new PowerFlex system with PowerFlex version 3.6, it takes 24 hours until data is available in CloudIQ. Systems upgrading to PowerFlex 3.6 will appear in CloudIQ within an hour of enabling the Send data to CloudIQ option.
   • PowerFlex appliance and rack systems need PowerFlex Manager version “H” to be discovered in CloudIQ.
2. Replication enhancements
   • Bi-directional replication between two sites only is supported.
   • See the PowerFlex Sizer for sizing guidelines for correct replication system specifications, including WAN bandwidth sizing. When using the PowerFlex Sizer, consider existing workload and existing hardware, and the possible need to add additional nodes to enable replication without impacting the current workload.
   • Replication capability has higher I/O overhead, as explained in the v3.6 Getting to Know PowerFlex Guide (Replication section) and the white paper Dell EMC PowerFlex: Introduction to Replication. See these recommendations in order to size your system correctly, and ensure that you have sufficient existing storage capabilities to enable this ability.
3. Network resiliency improvements
   • Proactive network path error detection requires SDC to be at v3.6 or later.
4. Upgrade Paths
   • Upgrade from PowerFlex version 3.0.x and 3.5.x to version 3.6 are supported.
   • Older PowerFlex/ VxFlex operating system versions must be upgraded to version 3.0.x before upgrading to version 3.6.
5. vSphere plug-in End-of-Support-Life
   • The PowerFlex vSphere plug-in continues to be supported with vSphere versions 6.5 and 6.7, however, it reaches end-of-support-life when vSphere 6.5 and 6.7 reach end-of-support by VMware. For details on the last release of the vSphere plug-in due to end of general support for ESXi 6.5 and 6.7 by VMware, see: Announcing End of General Support for vSphere 6.5.x and vSphere 6.7.x (89305). Also, note the new issue in the Known Issues section that is related to vSphere Plug-in.
   • The PowerFlex vSphere plug-in does not support vSphere 7 hyperconverged (HCI) configurations.

Changed features
Learn about the enhanced features for this version of PowerFlex.

Updated operating system support matrix
The following operating systems are added to the support matrix in this release:

•  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.9
•  Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3
• The operating systems support software-only customers for the following components:
• MDM
• SDS
• SDR
• SDC
• LIA
• Further to SDC only, the following operating systems support are being added:
• vSphere 8.0U2
• For more operating system-related information and supported components, see the PowerFlex simple support matrix: https://elabnavigator.dell.com/eln/modernHomeSSM

Oracle JRE and OpenJDK support

• OpenJDK 11.0.12.07 (Linux-based servers only)
• Presentation server—The Java version must be upgraded to Java 11 before upgrading the presentation server.

NOTE: This patch version of PowerFlex Manager does not support Java version 1.8. Dell Technologies recommends upgrading to Java version 11 for PowerFlex Gateway or Installation Manager.

Support deprecation
Learn about the features that are no longer supported in PowerFlex 3.6.3.

Background scanner events and alerts
Some events and alerts for the background scanner feature were deprecated, and replaced with different ones. See the PowerFlex v3.5.1.2 Release Notes, “Documentation” section, for details.

DAS Cache

• DAS Cache is no longer supported for PowerFlex running on any operating system.

System Analysis Tool

• The System Analysis Tool is no longer included in PowerFlex.

AMS
Systems managed by AMS system cannot be upgraded to PowerFlex v3.5 or later. Prior to performing an upgrade, contact PowerFlex Product Management for possible alternatives.
NOTE: AMS artifacts are removed from the support site. For guidance, contact PowerFlex Product Management.

VxFlex OS UI client

• The UI from versions earlier than v3.5 of this product is no longer supported and cannot be upgraded.
• From v3.5 and later, a new UI must be deployed or upgraded instead.

Deprecated operating systems

• For the most current information, see the Dell Technologies Simple Support Matrix at https://elabnavigator.dell.com/eln/modernHomeSSM.

Fixed issues
The following table lists the issues that are fixed in PowerFlex3.6.3.
NOTE: If an issue was reported by customers, the customers’ Service Request numbers appear in the “Issue number & SR number” column, and correlate between customer-reported issues and the PowerFlex issue number.
Table 2. Fixed issues

ApacheTomcat from 11.0.0-M1 through 11.0.0-M10, from 10.1.0-M1 through 10.1.15, from 9.0.0-M1 through 9.0.82 and from 8.5.0 through 8.5.95 did not parse HTTP trailer headers correctly.
SCI-136293

SR# 180172024

| SDS reporting fixed read errors during and after a persistent checksum rebuild.
SCI-135597| Presentation service is using Jetty 9.4.49.v20220914 which is exposed to CVE-2023-44487 and hence, the Jetty is upgraded.
SCI-133646 SR# 177556520| After performing the CRS procedure for 132 combs, 48 combs remained in an unhealthy “Normal” state. In this state, the comb was Normal, but the secondary device was in a failure state, which is the cause of the CRS.
SCI-133618

SR# 1067101

| Vulnerability detected during SQL injection on the presentation server. Fixed security issue – SQL injection on the presentation server.
SCI-78209| Upgrade Tomcat to the latest 9.x version owing to EOL of Tomcat 8.5.x and security issues.
SCI-78046

SR# 175576474

| MDMs failed and switched over after SDSs decoupled.
Issue number & SR number| Problem summary
---|---
SCI-77521| The command, “–set_mdm_credentials” command through FOSGWTool.sh over Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 7 fails with OrcaleJRE while the lockbox exists.
SCI-76505| After PowerFlex is upgraded to 3.6.700 from 3.0.1400, one SDS fails to exit IMM. The command, ‘pkill sds’ helps exit IMM.
SCI-67977| PowerFlex Gateway 3.6.0.4 fails to collect logs from SDC running on ESXi 7.x.

Software packages

• Learn about the contents of the PowerFlex 3.6.3 software packages.

Download location
The PowerFlex 3.6.3 complete software package, containing all the packages that are listed below, can be downloaded from the following location:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product- support/product/scaleio/overview.

Table 3. Software packages

CentOS, and Oracle Linux 7. x.

Oracle Linux 7.8 and higher includes KVM.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8_OEL8| Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS / Oracle Linux| X| X| X| X| X| X| X| Core components for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Oracle Linux 8. x.

Oracle Linux includes KVM.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux_OEL9| Red Hat Enterprise Linux / CentOS / Oracle Linux| | X| X| X| X| X| | Core components for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Oracle Linux 9. x.
CENTOS 7.9| | | | | | | | |
CentOS Stream 8| | X| X| X| X| X| X| X| Core components for CentOS Stream 8
CentOS Stream 9| | | X| X| X| X| X| | Core components for CentOS Stream 9
SLES12.5| SUSE Linux| X| X| X| X| X| X| X| Core components for SLES 12 SP5
SLES15.3| SUSE Linux| X| X| X| X| X| X| X| Core components for SLES 15 SP3
SLES15.4| SUSE Linux| | X| X| X| X| X| | Core components for SLES 15 SP4
SLES15.5| SUSE Linux| | X| X| X| X| X| | Core components for SLES 15 SP5
Package Name| Operating System| GW| MDM| SDS| SDR| SDC| LIA| Xcache| Content
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
Ubuntu18.04| Ubuntu| X| X| X| X| X| X| X| Core components for Ubuntu 18.04
Ubuntu20.04| Ubuntu| X| X| X| X| X| X| X| Core components for Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu22.04| Ubuntu| | X| X| X| X| X| | Core components for Ubuntu 22.04.x LTS
XEN 7.1| XenServer / Citrix Hypervisor| | X| X| X| X| X| | Core components for Citrix XenServer 7.1.2 LTSR
XEN 8.0| | X| X| X| X| | | Core components for Citrix Hypervisor 8.1

and 8.2

Complete_VM ware_SW| vSphere| X| X| X| X| X| | | Contains all PowerFlex, VMware- related software artifacts (OVA

file, drv_cfg file, SVM updating, SDC package, vSphere plug-in, and VASA provider)

NOTE: PowerFlex vSphere plug-in

is not compatible with ESXi 7.0 and later.

Complete_Win dows_SW| Windows Server| X| | | | X| X| | Contains all Microsoft Windows (2012-2019) server-related software

artifacts, including the gateway and CSV deployment templates

Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS| CoreOS| | | | | X| | | SDC component for Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS
CoreOS| | | | | X| | | SDC component for CoreOS
AIX7.2| AIX| | | | | X| | | SDC component for IBM AIX 7.2
Presentation_ Server| | | | | | | | | Contains PowerFlex WebUI server (Linux and Ubuntu)
Gatewayfor Linux| | X| | | | | | | PowerFlex Gateway, which includes the following: Installer, Gateway (for REST API, Alerts, SNMP/ Secure Remote Services) for Linux/ Ubuntu (can be used to deploy
Package Name| Operating System| GW| MDM| SDS| SDR| SDC| LIA| Xcache| Content
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
| | | | | | | | | PowerFlex on Linux-based operating systems only). CSV deployment templates are also included.
GPG-RPM- KEY| | | | | | | | | Contains RPM key (RSA for Linux, DSA for Xen)

to authenticate the RPM packages using a manual install/upgrade procedure.

NOTE

• See the latest PowerFlex simple support matrix at https://elabnavigator.dell.com/eln/modernHomeSSM
• PowerFlex version 3.5 and later provides a Web UI. User interface packages are no longer available.

Install and upgrade

• PowerFlex 3.6.3 can be installed on a clean system or used as an upgrade. Learn important information about installing or upgrading to this version.

Installation
For complete instructions for installing PowerFlex, see the Deploy PowerFlex Guide.
Licensing
PowerFlex use requires a license. Call your Dell Technologies account representative to purchase a license for PowerFlex.
Upgrade
The following table lists the versions from which the upgrade can be performed:

Table 4. Upgrade support matrix

ScaleIO / VxFlex OS / PowerFlex base version| Upgrade path| Supporting documentation
---|---|---
v2.0.1.4, v2.6.x| Two-step upgrade flow:

1.       Upgrade to the latest version of v3.0.1.x

2.       Upgrade to v3.6.0.x

| Upgrade VxFlex OS to v3.0.x Guide Upgrade PowerFlex to v3.6 Guide
v3.0, v3.0.0.x, v3.0.1.x,

v3.5.x, v3.6, v3.6.0.x

| Single-step upgrade from:

●               VxFlex OS v3.0/v3.0.0.x/v3.0.1.x

●               PowerFlex v3.5.x

●               PowerFlex v3.6.0.x to PowerFlex v3.6.3

| Upgrade PowerFlex to v3.6 Guide

CloudLink support

device path logic: /dev/sd X.
3.6.0.2, 3.6.0.3, 3.6.04, and

3.6.0.5

| 7.1.3| CloudLink 7.1.3 enables a new device path logic

for encrypted devices, using /dev/disk/by-id/own-

_< uniqueid>.

3.0.1.x all versions 3.5.x.x, all versions 3.6 3.6.0.1| 7.1

7.0

| The CloudLink versions maintain legacy support for the existing CloudLink install base with the original device path logic: /dev/sd X.

PowerFlex 3.6.0.2 supports migration and upgrade flows from CloudLink 7.1 to CloudLink 7.1.2 or CloudLink 7.1.3.
Following are the expected upgrade flow for systems with CloudLink:

• Upgrade PowerFlex to 3.6.0.6.
• For CloudLink 7.1 / 7.0, upgrade to CloudLink 7.1.5.
• For CloudLink 7.1.2 / 7.1.3 / 7.1.4, upgrade to CloudLink 7.1.5 with support assistance.

PowerFlex 3.6.0.6 supports migration and upgrade flows from CloudLink 7.1 to CloudLink 7.1.5.
CloudLink 7.1.5 changes the disk-mapping logic to use /dev/sdX compared to what was introduced in the CloudLink 7.1.2 to 7.1.4 versions. This version removes support for /dev/disk/by–id from CloudLink which reverts to a /dev/sdX device mapping.
Customers who migrated to CloudLink 7.1.3 and adopted /dev/disk/by-id logic must open a support call as documented in Dell PowerFlex v3.6.x CloudLink for SDS Devices. This helps in reverting to /dev/sdX device mapping and helps adopt the CloudLink 7.1.5.
Customers using the earlier CloudLink releases (CloudLink 7.1.1 or earlier) can adopt the CloudLink 7.1.5 by using the existing device mapping.
Due to key updates, it is recommended that you adopt the latest CloudLink 7.1.5 for usage with PowerFlex for Data at Rest Encryption.

Supported operating systems
The user documentation contains a list of supported operating systems. For the most current information, see the Dell Technologies Simple Support Matrices at https://elabnavigator.dell.com/eln/modernHomeSSM, Storage option.

SDC compatibility
By design, the PowerFlex SDC in this release is compatible with previously released systems that are supported (for example, VxFlex OS v3.0.1). In addition, the PowerFlex system (backend) in this release is backward compatible with previously released SDC versions that are supported.
Some limitations may apply to mixed-version systems, such as:

• Replication is not supported on SDC releases earlier than PowerFlex v3.5.
• The CHAP component authentication feature cannot be enabled unless every MDM, SDC, and SDS in the system is at least version 3.5, and conversely, if the feature is enabled, no pre-v3.5 SDCs can be added.
• Fine Granularity Storage Pool-based volumes cannot be mapped to a ScaleIO/VxFlex operating system v2.x SDC.
• Snapshot Policy management is not available with SDC releases earlier than VxFlex operating system v3.0.

Known issues and limitations

The following table lists known issues and limitations that exist in PowerFlex 3.6.3.
NOTE: If an issue was reported by customers, the customers’ Service Request numbers appear in the “Issue number & SR number” column, and serve to correlate between customer-reported issues and the PowerFlex issue number.
Table 5. Known issues and limitations—PowerFlex Custom Node

or perccli to get the disk slot information.

Table 6. Known issues and limitations—PowerFlex Gateway

passwords in form-based authentication. If the browser is used in a shared computing

environment where more than one person may use the browser, “autocomplete” values may be retrieved or submitted by an unauthorized user.

| None
SCI-58953| When running the PowerFlex Gateway on an Internet Explorer 11 browser, LIA Authentication gets stuck in “Loading…” status when retrieving system topology.| Use Chrome or Firefox browsers to perform this action.
SCI-58471| PowerFlex Gateway Tomcat log rotations do not work after an upgrade. At build time, the

The “server.xml” file is defined as a “replace-config file” in the RPM. During an upgrade, the RPM mechanism will automatically detect if the file was previously edited or not. If the file was edited, it will not be overwritten during the upgrade, and the new file will be created with the “.rpmnew” suffix.

| Edit the file “server.xml” manually, and change the log rotation rules. For more information,

see the PowerFlex Troubleshooting Guide, “Some PowerFlex Gateway log files fail to rotate” topic.

SCI-57810| The PowerFlex Gateway Maintenance operation screen might show an invalid LIA authentication for a containerized SDC when connecting to the system. This should appear as N/A and can be ignored.| None
SCI-57304| PowerFlex Installer (also known as the PowerFlex Gateway) is exposed to issue HSTS Missing From HTTPS Server, CVE:

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-7789

| None
SCI-54887| When performing the log collection using the PowerFlex Gateway with the “exception only” check box marked, the log collection fails.| Perform log collection with the default settings using the PowerFlex Gateway.
SCI-54799| If Auto Collect logs is configured in the system during an NDU session, when the NDU ends, the PowerFlex Installer displays a button asking to start the first phase of the NDU, even though the previous one was completed successfully (instead of displaying the “Mark operation as done” button).| Disable auto log collection before starting the NDU, and run the NDU. After NDU completion, enable auto log collection again.

Table 7. Known issues and limitations—MDM

must be the same. Otherwise. one of the following errors is displayed on the SRM/SRA UI:

SRA command ‘discoverArrays’ failed. General exception No further information is available

SRA command ‘discoverArrays’ failed. general error check logs for detail

| Change the PowerFlex Gateway and MDM user passwords simultaneously. Ensure that they have admin permissions and the same password.
SCI-69646| By default, Python3 is installed on Ubuntu and is located in /usr/bin/python3.

During the execution of the command /opt/EMC/scale/MDM/diag/ dump_and_balance_check.py — username XXXXX –password YYYYY — approve_certificate — scripts_path=/opt/EMC/scale/MDM/ diag/, the following error is encountered: bash: /opt/EMC/scale/MDM/diag/ dump_and_balance_check.py: /usr/ bin/python: bad interpreter: No such file or directory.

| Add “3” at the start of the Python script.

Table 8. Known issues and limitations—Presentation server

a PowerFlex 3.5 system, some of the UI functionality does not work as expected.| Use the matching version of the presentation server.

In an upgrade flow, see the upgrade guide for guidelines about when and how to upgrade the presentation server.

Table 9. Known issues and limitations—SDC

However, after installation, when checking if the SDC driver’s scene service is loaded, the following confusing state is returned:

service scene status

service: no such service scene

This is a false positive status alert.

| None
SCI-69559| SDC installed with flash vSphere plug-in fails without any recovery due to the end of support by VMware for ESXi 6.7.x and 6.5.x. For details, see Announcing end of general support for vSphere

6.5.x and vSphere 6.7.x (89305).

| None
SCI-71000| The SDC system service in SLES15.x is renamed to scini to maintain consistency with other Linux distributions. However, when upgrading to the latest version (scene. service), the earlier| Ensure to disable and remove the earlier SDC service manually and then, restart the latest scini service.

Perform the following procedures:

2.      rm /usr/lib/systemd/system/src.service

3.      systemctl restart scene.service

Table 10. Known issues and limitations—SDR

for all volumes in the RCG to complete their initial copy phase before performing the failover operation for that RCG.

Table 11. Known issues and limitations—SDS

following: dev/

disk/by-id/nvme-Dell_Express_FlashNVMe P4610_1.6TB_SFF_BTLN950106ZB1P6AGN

the MDM blocks the addition due to the error: new_device_path too long, MDM supports up to 63 characters.

| Use the alternative name path in the by-id location with the name-us in the path. For example:

/dev/disk/by-id/nvme- eui.01000000010000005cd2e448b0b75151

Table 12. Known issues and limitations—vVols

trying to overwrite its content, might generate the error: “volume n is in use”.| None. Try again shortly after, because some volume operations are performed asynchronously.

Operating system known issues and limitations

Learn about known issues and limitations for specific operating systems.
Table 13. Known issues and limitations—operating systems

install the Mellanox driver.
VXFV-283| iDRAC support for “Prepare for Removal” on PowerEdge R650/R6525/R750/ nodes fails.| NVMe hot-swap on Linux operating systems is supported. Skip the Prepare for Removal step in iDRAC.
VXFV-265| During the execution of the command create- namespace with 4k alignment on RHEL 8.4, the following error is encountered:

Warning: namespace0.0 unable to validate alignment

| This is a false notification. The command result is as expected, and the resulting DAX device can be used with PowerFlex acceleration devices.
Issue number & SR number| Problem summary| Workaround
---|---|---
VXFV-360| The device name appears incorrectly as a non-PCI device instead of iDRAC, but the current and baseline versions are accurate (6.00.30.201 and 6.00.30.202, respectively).| Dell recommends upgrading the OME catalog to the latest version.
—| PowerFlex nodes running CPLD 1.0.7 stop responding during Power-On Self- Test (POST) when upgrading to certain RCM or IC packages that include BIOS 1.8.2 and iDRAC 6.00.30.202.| Before upgrading to the latest supported version of PowerFlex, ensure that the PowerFlex

nodes are running CPLD 1.0.8 or later.

For details, see https://www.dell.com/support/ kbdoc/en- us/000205925.

Additional resources

• Use these resources to find more information about this product, get support and provide feedback.

Product information
For documentation, release notes, software updates, or information about Dell products, go to Dell Online Support at: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en- us/product-support/product/scaleio/overview.

PowerFlex Documentation Library

Where to get support
Go to Dell Online Support and click Support. You will see several options for contacting Dell Technical Support. Note that to open a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. Contact your Dell sales representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or with questions about your account.

Notes, cautions, and warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the
problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

© 2024 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell Technologies, Dell, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

References

• Submit Form
• Submit Form
• NVD - CVE-2017-7789
• Submit Form

Read User Manual Online (PDF format)

Read User Manual Online (PDF format)  >>

Download This Manual (PDF format)

Download this manual  >>