FAQ - ONTAP System Manager
Applies to
- ONTAP System Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
System Manager Documentation
- Where can I find the latest documentation for System Manager?
-
- System Manager documentation is contained within the ONTAP documentation.
- Some areas might have separate sections for System Manager versus the CLI.
Release Features
- What features were released with System Manager 9.15.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.15.1 release
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.15.1 Release Notes.
- What features were released with System Manager 9.14.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.14.1 release.
- SnapMirror test failover support
- Port management in a broadcast domain
- Enablement of Mediator-assisted Automatic Unplanned Switchover (MAUSO)
- Cluster and volume tagging
- Enhanced support for consistency group monitoring
- NVMe in-band authentication
- Support for S3 bucket lifecycle management extended to System Manager
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.14.1 Release Notes.
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.14.1 release.
- What features were released with System Manager 9.13.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.13.1 release.
- Change in reporting of primary data reduction ratio
- Tamperproof Snapshot copy locking
- Support for external key managers
- Troubleshooting hardware problems
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.13.1 Release Notes.
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.13.1 release.
- What features were released with System Manager 9.12.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.12.1 release.
- System Manager support for SnapLock
- Hardware visualization of cabling
- Support for multifactor authentication with Cisco DUO when logging in to System Manager
- System Manager networking enhancements
- System display themes
- Improvements to local tier capacity details
- Improved searching
- Volume provisioning improvements
- Increase the size of a volume
- Storage pool and Flash Pool management
- NFS over RDMA support in System Manager
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.12.1 Release Notes.
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.12.1 release.
- What features were released with System Manager 9.11.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.11.1 release.
- Hardware visualization
- System Analytics - Insights
- Usability enhancements
- Advanced local tier (aggregate) operations in System Manager
- SnapMirror Async policy support in System Manager
- Manage audit logging with System Manager
- Multi-admin verification
- File System Analytics: Activity Tracking at SVM level
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.11.1 Release Notes.
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.11.1 release.
- What features were released with System Manager 9.10.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.10.1 release.
- Simplified licensing with NetApp License Files (NLFs)
- Update firmware automatically using System Manager
- Review risk mitigation recommendations and acknowledge the risks reported by Active IQ using System Manager
- Configure how EMS event notifications are sent to administrator using System Manager
- Manage security certificates using System Manager
- Display of capacity units in System Manager has changed.
- View historical use of capacity and predict future capacity needs using System Manager
- Back up data to NetApp StorageGRID® using the NetApp Cloud Backup Service
- Usability enhancements
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.10.1 Release Notes.
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.10.1 release.
- What features were released with System Manager 9.9.1?
-
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.9.1 release.
- Manual assignment of local tier with System Manager
- Fast directories delete with System Manager
- Ansible Playbooks support with System Manager
- Hardware Visualization support in System Manager
- Active IQ Integration in System Manager
- Cloud Agent support with System Manager
- Cloud Manager integration in System Manager
- Enhancements to workflow when provisioning data protection (DP) in System Manager
- Enhanced network port management in System Manager
- System management enhancements in System Manager
- Enhanced display in System Manager of information about NetApp Snapshot™ copies
- Enhanced display in System Manager about capacity and location information for storage tiers
- Display in System Manager of EMS emergency alerts and other errors and warnings
- For more information, see the ONTAP 9.9.1 Release Notes.
- The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.9.1 release.
General Questions
- Is System Manager the same as ONTAP?
-
- No, System Manager is not ONTAP.
- ONTAP is the underlying data management software that provides RESTful APIs that System Manager uses to display and manage ONTAP storage clusters.
- Can I toggle to the classic version of System Manager iN ONTAP 9.8 and later?
-
- The classic (or the legacy) UI is not available in ONTAP 9.8 and later.
- Check out this blog for details.
- The classic (or the legacy) UI is not available in ONTAP 9.8 and later.
Capacity
- On the Capacity dashboard, do the percentages indicate logical or physical usage?
-
- System Manager for ONTAP 9.11.1 displays both logical and physical space
- What units are being displayed for capacity values in System Manager?
-
- The values for Data Free, Used, and Saved are calculated in GiB/TiB units.
- System Manager changed the display labels from TB/GB to GiB/TiB.
Provisioning
- How is thick provisioning or thin provisioning selected when creating a volume?
-
- Based on Active IQ data, most of our customers deployed thin provisioning to SSD (for NetApp AFF) and thick provisioning to Hard Disk Drives (for FAS).
- Therefore, we have chosen these as the defaults for volume creation, and they can be modified after the volume is created.
- Where have aggregates gone?
-
- The term aggregate is a NetApp specific term.
- Starting with System Manager for ONTAP 9.8, the term aggregate has been changed to local tier, which is a more standard industry term.
- Why does System Manager use the term local tiers, but the CLI uses aggregates?
-
- System Manager and the CLI use different terms.
- This was kept the same in the CLI and REST API to maintain backwards compatibility with any scripts or applications our customers had.
- Changing the term in SM had no impact on customer created scripts or applications.
- Can you specify to what tier (aggregate) a volume should be provisioned?
-
- When provisioning a volume, select the storage virtual machine (SVM), the Performance Service Level (PSL), and capacity to meet the application requirements.
- ONTAP 9.9.1 will intelligently provision volumes on the most appropriate tier (aggregate) based on historic and current performance and capacity.
- As of System Manager 9.9.1, one can pick a local tier manually.
- This is done by selecting more options, selecting the custom PSL, and checking the manual placement button.
- Then you can select the local tier the volume is created on.
- You can always move the volume to a specific tier after the volume is created.
- For information about volume placement, see the ONTAP System Manager documentation.
- When provisioning a volume, select the storage virtual machine (SVM), the Performance Service Level (PSL), and capacity to meet the application requirements.
- Can you edit local tier settings such as RAID group size and type?
-
- 9.11.1 enables the editing of RAID type and RAID group size.
- For information about editing local tier, see the ONTAP documentation.
- Why is there a default quality-of-service (QoS) policy?
-
- There is a default QoS policy to help customers better control bully workloads.
- You can also create a custom QoS policy without restrictions.
Performance Service Levels
- Does NetApp Active IQ Unified Manager recognize a QoS policy that is enabled by System Manager?
-
- Any QoS policies assigned to the volumes are recognized by ONTAP regardless of whether you use System Manager or Unified Manager.
- However, to fully utilize Unified Manager’s monitoring capabilities, you need to assign a PSL.
- UM has its own database to track which adaptive quality of service (AQoS) policies have been assigned to the volumes to monitor and send alerts for nonconforming events.
- Assigning a new PSL to a volume overrides the existing assigned QoS policy after it is approved by the user
- Any QoS policies assigned to the volumes are recognized by ONTAP regardless of whether you use System Manager or Unified Manager.
- Can service level limits be modified? Are there throughput thresholds as well?
-
- Yes, service level limits can be modified, and there are throughput thresholds.
- One way to modify service levels is to modify the PSL in the Create New Volume or Create New LUN workflows in the System Manager UI.
- Click More Options, then click Custom under Performance Service Levels. Then click New
- Do all the service levels have set limits? Are none unlimited?
-
- Yes, however, there is a limit to how high you can set them.
- Can you only specify Value for FAS2720, or can you specify Performance?
-
- The differences between Value and Performance are not only the guaranteed and peak IOPS/TB targets, but also the latency thresholds associated with the type of disk media.
- Value is defined with a latency threshold of 17ms (for HDD) and Performance is defined with a latency threshold of 2ms (for SSD or a hybrid).
- You can always define your own PSL latency threshold by customizing a new policy. Consult your field contact for additional details.
- What determines the performance levels?
-
- PSLs are defined with different guaranteed IOPS/TB and peak IOPS/TB targets, along with a latency threshold.
- You can also specify the absolute minimum delivered IOPS/TB target in the policy definition.
- When will PSLs align completely between System Manager and Unified Manager?
-
- System Manager can recognize the AQoS policy assigned to a volume by Unified Manager.
- There is no current plan to have System Manager share the same capability that UM currently uses to monitor the conforming status and provide PSL recommendation.
- Can you opt out of performance levels?
-
- Yes, you can turn off the policy-based storage management in Unified Manager by clicking Settings, then General, and then Feature settings.
- In System Manager for ONTAP 9.9.1, you can select None in the PSL selection.
Networking, SAN & NAS
- Are cluster/storage switches managed through the System Manager UI?
-
- Cluster switches are not managed with the System Manager UI.
- However, they are visualized in System Manager.
- What is the difference between System Manager for AFF and ASA?
-
- In the All SAN Array (ASA) version of System Manager, there are no NAS/CIFS-related workflows, and you can determine if it is an ASA system by clicking Cluster, then Overview.
- Also, you won’t be able to create volumes for the ASA version, because volumes are created during LUN provisioning.
- Can I create NAS users and groups with System Manager?
-
- Yes, users and groups can be created with System Manager 9.10.1 and later.
- For more information about managing host-specific users and groups, see the System Manager documentation.
- Is there a way to create an export policy without first creating a volume?
-
- In ONTAP 9.9.1 and later, you can create an export policy by editing the settings of the NAS SVM.
- For information about managing access using export policies, see the System Manager documentation.
- Have junction paths been removed?
-
- No, they are still used, but the visualization of them has been removed.
- You can choose to show or hide the mount path in the volume list.
- Can you edit the mount path of an export?
-
- Modification of the mount path can be done by editing the volume or selecting Edit Mount Path
- Can I create FlexGroup volumes with System Manager?
-
- Yes, you can create FlexGroup volumes by selecting Distribute Volume Data Across the Cluster.
- With System Manager for ONTAP 9.15.1 by selecting Custom service Level and selecting Manual placement, gives the option to choose the aggregates to distribute the constituent volumes.
Security
- What protocols can be used to upload ONTAP and firmware?
-
- You can upload ONTAP and firmware updates through the System Manager interface and use the following secure or insecure protocols:
- http://
- https://
- ftp://
- ftps://
- You can upload ONTAP and firmware updates through the System Manager interface and use the following secure or insecure protocols:
- What is the default encryption behavior of the newly created volumes?
-
- If a key manager has been configured, all new volumes created will be encrypted with a priority for NetApp Volume Encryption (NVE) over NetApp Aggregate Encryption (NAE).
- This is not a function of System Manager but of ONTAP
- Does System Manager for ONTAP 9.9.1 allow for tenant-based administration?
-
- System Manager only allows for cluster administration.
- Tenants can use the CLI to manage their storage VMs.
- Does System Manager have RBAC controls?
-
- System Manager has admin or read-only capabilities only and we will investigate including RBAC control in future releases.
Hardware
- What are the supported platforms to util.ize the Hardware Visualization feature?
-
- Each version of ONTAP since 9.8 has added new platforms, switches, and shelves to the hardware visualization feature.
- For information about which models are supported for hardware visualization in what versions of ONTAP, see hardware visualization in the ONTAP documentation.
- How do I view the Advanced Drive Partitioning (ADP) partitions?
-
- With System Manager for ONTAP 9.11.1 and earlier, you are not able to view the partitions.
- When the local tier (aggregate) is created, it is created using NetApp’s best practices.
- If you need to determine how the tier is partitioned, it can still be accessed by using the CLI command
disk partition show
- How do I do a manual takeover and giveback?
-
- On the cluster Overview page, click the three dots next to the node and then select Shutdown.
- Certain functions will display only when they are possible or needed.
- For example, giveback is only available when the HA pair is misconfigured and requires a giveback.
Data Protection
- Is there a report for protected and unprotected volumes?
-
- Yes, you can view the protection status from the Volumes menu and download the list by using the Download button
- Has the ability to make snapshot copies for consistency groups been added?
-
- Yes, in ONTAP 9.10.1 and later you can create a consistency group and take Snapshot copies.
- For information about consistency groups, see the ONTAP documentation.
- Can I use custom and legacy DP policies with System Manager?
-
- In ONTAP 9.11.1, System Manager can display and use custom and legacy DP policies.
- For information about creating custom SnapMirror policies with System Manager, see the ONTAP documentation.
Rest API
- Is there a way for System Manager to export the commands used by System Manager to Rest API?
-
- There is a REST API logger in the System Manager UI which shows the API calls that were made.
- It can be accessed by clicking on the <> button on the top right of the UI.
Updating ONTAP or Firmware
- How will existing customers upgrade to these changes?
-
- If you would like to see an ONTAP upgrade in action, check out this blog.
- Are firmware updates possible from System Manager for ONTAP 9.9.1 and also for a dark site?
-
- Yes, you can download the firmware file and use it to upgrade on all nodes at once using System Manager.
- This function is available for dark sites as well. To find more details, check out this blog.
- Who should I contact to share feedback?
-
- Feedback can be emailed to ng-system-mgr-feedback@netapp.com
Additional Information
- Want to try out System Manager?
- Customers may visit Hands-on Labs
- Partners may visit ONTAP Lab-on Demand