Cloud Settings

Cloud administrators can use Command Center to configure global cloud settings.

Viewing and Editing Cloud Settings

1. At the top right of the Command Center window, click the gear icon.

2. In the dropdown menu that displays, select Settings.

   The Management Settings default view displays the General settings.list.

   Command Center cloud settings are grouped into the following categories, accessible from the left menu:

   Category	Description
   General	General Cloud level setting
   Security	Cloud level security settings
   Network	Cloud networking parameters
   VPSA	Settings effecting VPSA instances defined on the cloud
   Object Storage	Settings effecting VPSA Object Storage instances defined on the cloud
   Management	Management protocols settings

   • To select a different category of settings, click the category name on the left.

     The selected category’s parameter list displays.

   • To view or edit sparameter, click Edit on the right of a selected parameter.

     The parameter section expands, displaying parameter values.

     Optionally, in the expanded view, edit the values as required and click Update to save the changes.

General Cloud Settings

Parameter	Description
Cloud Name	Set the Cloud Name.
Domain Name	Set the Command Center Domain Name in the URL sent by email to users.
Internet Access	Set internet accessibilty of the cloud.
Support ticket method	Set the method the cloud will use to send support tickets.
Support Tickets Notifications	Set the email recipients to notify of support tickets.
Emails sending method	Set the method the cloud will use to send emails.
Upload Endpoints	Set and manage upload endpoints.
ZSnap upload	Set ZSnap upload.
Metering data upload	Set Metering data upload.
VPSA Usage Reports upload	Set VPSA Usage Reports upload.
Cloud configuration upload	Set Cloud configuration upload.
Cache/AFA-Meta drives settings	Set Cache/AFA-Meta drives settings.
Mount Capacity Alert Threshold (GiB)	Set Mount Capacity Alert Threshold (GiB).
Ticket threshold	Set the ticket sending threshold.
CCVM Engine size	Set CCVM default Engine size.
Automatic Drive Replacement	Automatic Drive Replacement.
Package Upload Size Limit	Set the maximum package upload size (GiB).
Physical Inventory Report	Physical Inventory Report.
Zadara Configuration Update	Zadara Configuration Update.

Cloud Name

Allows renaming the cloud

Note

The cloud can be renamed only if the cloud does not contain any VPSA or Object Storage entities.

Domain Name

Specify the domain name to be used as the sender address in emails sent from the cloud to users.

Internet Access

This setting toggles between an online and offline cloud.

An offline cloud is a cloud without Internet access for management. Users managing offline clouds must provide local SMTP, FTP, and NTP services, and adjust support ticket and Zsnap configurations accordingly. In offline clouds, license management is handled manually, as a remote licensing server is not available.

Note

MAG files can be created and uploaded only in clouds that have Internet access.

Support ticket method

Specify parameters according to the method selected for sending support tickets.

• Zendesk

  Parameter	Description
  Zendesk URL	URL for the Zendesk Application
  Zendesk user	User id used for Zendesk login
  ZenDesk Password	Zendesk users password

• SMTP

  Parameter	Description
  Server	SMTP server address
  Login	SMTP server login required?
  Login User	SMTP User id
  AUTH method	SMTP Authentication method to be used (PLAIN or LOGIN supported)
  Password	Password for SMTP user
  Port	TCP port number for SMTP service
  Port SSL	TCP port number for SMTP service is SSL is used
  Secure	Force secure SMTP(via TLS)
  From user	Email sender address
  To User	Email recipient address

Support Tickets Notifications

Specify comma-separated lists of email recipients to notify about support tickets:

• User-facing Support Tickets

• All Support Tickets

Emails sending method

Enables the cloud admin to set up a custom email account for sending customer emails.

The cloud admin can also specify the Support email address, that will be included in the email body as the support contact.

Note

If the Emails sending method is not defined:

• If the cloud has Internet connectivity, customer emails will be sent from the Zadara’s AWS SES email account.

• If the cloud lacks Internet connectivity, customer emails will be sent from the SMTP account specified in the Support ticket method section.

Parameter	Description
Server	SMTP server address
Login	SMTP server login required?
Login User	SMTP User id
AUTH method	SMTP Authentication method to be used (PLAIN or LOGIN supported)
Password	Password for SMTP user
Port	TCP port number for SMTP service
Port SSL	TCP port number for SMTP service is SSL is used
Secure	Force secure SMTP(via TLS)
From user	Email sender address
To User	Email recipient address

Upload Endpoints

The cloud administrator can configure alternate endpoints for uploading cloud Zsnaps, MAG and configuration information.

Expanding the Upload Enpoints section displays details of the cloud’s configured endpoints.

Upload endpoints can be of the following types:

• AWS S3 endpoint

  Parameter	Description
  Endpoint name	The endpoint’s name
  Method	AWS S3
  Access Key	Endpoint access key
  Secret Key	Endpoint secret key
  Region	AWS region

• Object Storage endpoint

  Parameter	Description
  Endpoint name	The endpoint’s name
  Method	ZIOS S3
  Access Key	Endpoint access key
  Secret Key	Endpoint secret key
  Endpoint	Object Storage FQDN

• FTP target

  Parameter	Description
  Endpoint name	The endpoint’s name
  Method	FTP
  Server	FTP server
  User	Username
  Password	Password
  Use Proxy	Whether to use a proxy for the connection

Creating a new endpoint

To create a new endpoint:

1. Expand the Upload Endpoints section.

2. At the top right of this section, click New.

3. In the Create Upload Endpoint dialog, select the endpoint Method from the dropdown list, and enter the other parameters relevant to its Method.

4. Click Save.

Editing an endpoint

To edit an endpoint:

1. Expand the Upload Endpoints section.

2. Locate the endpoint to edit. In its Actions column, click Edit.

   Note

   Some system-supplied endpoints are not editable.

3. In the Edit Upload Endpoint dialog, update the relevant parameters.

   Note

   The endpoint’s Name and Method can not be changed.

4. Click Save.

Deleting an endpoint

To delete an endpoint:

1. Expand the Upload Endpoints section.

2. Locate the endpoint to delete. In its Actions column, click Delete.

   Note

   Some system-supplied endpoints can not be deleted.

3. In the Delete Upload Endpoint dialog, confirm the deletion.

ZSnap upload

Configurations for the target used for the cloud’s ZSnaps upload.

Note

Only one upload endpoint can be specified for ZSnap uploads.

• Settings for ZSnap upload to an AWS S3 or Object Storage endpoint

  Parameter	Description
  Bucket	bucket for ZSnap upload

• Settings for ZSnap upload to an FTP endpoint

  Parameter	Description
  Max-allowed-mb	Maximum ZSnap capacity threshold when using CCmaster FTP server
  Max-retain-mb	Minimum ZSnap capacity retained when using CCmaster FTP server

Metering data upload

The cloud administrator can configure the target endpoints to which metering data can be uploaded. Up to three AWS S3 endpoints can be configured for metering data uploads.

Adding an additional endpoint

To add an additional upload endpoint:

1. Expand the ZSnap Upload section.

2. Click Add Another.

3. Select the Endpoint from the dropdown and enter the Bucket.

   Parameter	Description
   Endpoint	Endpoint for metering data upload
   Bucket	Bucket for metering data upload

4. Click Update.

Removing an additional endpoint

To remove an additional endpoint:

1. Expand the ZSnap Upload section.

2. Locate the additional endpoint to remove and click Discard Endpoint.

3. Click Update.

VPSA Usage Reports upload

The cloud administrator can configure the target endpoints to which VPSA Usage Reports data can be uploaded. Up to three AWS S3 endpoints can be configured for VPSA Usage Reports data uploads.

Adding an additional endpoint

To add an additional upload endpoint:

1. Expand the VPSA Usage Reports Upload section.

2. Click Add Another.

3. Select the Endpoint from the dropdown and enter the Bucket.

   Parameter	Description
   Endpoint	Endpoint for VPSA Usage Reports data upload
   Bucket	Bucket for VPSA Usage Reports data upload

4. Click Update.

Removing an additional endpoint

To remove an additional endpoint:

1. Expand the VPSA Usage Reports Upload section.

2. Locate the additional endpoint to remove and click Discard Endpoint.

3. Click Update.

Cloud configuration upload

The cloud administrator can configure the target endpoints to which VPSA Usage Reports data can be uploaded. Up to three AWS S3 endpoints can be configured for VPSA Usage Reports data uploads.

Adding an additional endpoint

To add an additional upload endpoint:

1. Expand the Cloud configuration upload section.

2. Click Add Another.

3. Select the Endpoint from the dropdown, and enter the Bucket and

   Upload period.

   Parameter	Description
   Endpoint	Endpoint for cloud configuration data upload
   Bucket	Bucket for configuration data upload
   Upload period (seconds)	Sets the configuration data upload interval

4. Click Update.

Removing an additional endpoint

To remove an additional endpoint:

1. Expand the Cloud configuration upload section.

2. Locate the additional endpoint to remove and click Discard Endpoint.

3. Click Update.

Cache/AFA-Meta drives settings

Cloud administrators can configure the behavior of the cloud when provisioning VPSA All Flash (AFA), and whether to allow the use of cloud solid state drives as AFA cache instead of Optane drives.

Note

VPSA All Flash architecture was designed to utilize Optane drives to optimize overall system performance. The use of solid state drives as AFA cache should be limited for testing purposes only, and coordinated with Zadara support.

Parameter	Description
Allow temporarily setting SSDs as AFA-Meta Drive	Enables setting SSDs as AFA cache
SSD Cache Max usable capacity	Sets the maximum capacity that will be used for an SSD drive designated as AFA cache

To save changes, click Update.

Mount Capacity Alert Threshold (GiB)

Mount Capacity Threshold

Administrators can configure the cloud’s /mnt/Nova folder’s capacity threshold.

An alert will be issued if this capacity threshold is exceeded.

Parameter	Description
Mount Capacity Alert Threshold (GiB)	Capacity threshold in GiB

To save changes, click Update.

Ticket threshold

Administrators can configure timed thresholds for specific events to be considered for support ticket generation:

Parameter	Description
Failed drive ticket time	Allowed failure time before user ticket generation
Failed drive support ticket time	Allowed failure time before support ticket generation
Failed heartbeat ticket time	Allowed failure time before user ticket generation

To save changes, click Update.

CCVM Engine size

CCVM Engine size

Administrators can select a configuration determining the CCVM’s CPU and memory .

Engine size	Number of CPUs	Ram(Gib)
Small	1	2
Medium	2	4
Large	4	8

To save changes, click Update.

Caution

On saving changes, the CCVM is restarted. The restart process could take few minutes.

Automatic Drive Replacement

Administrators can configure the cloud’s automatic drive replacement feature.

When Automatic Drive Replacement is enabled, replacement is triggered for any reported failed drive in any cloud-resident VPSA.

The drive replacement begins after a user-defined monitoring interval.

Failed drives are replaced with spares of the same or similar model and capacity, provided that such spares are available in the cloud.

Parameter	Description
Enable Automatic Drive Replacement	Toggle to enable auto-replace
Failed drive support ticket time	The time (in minutes) after which replacement will be triggered for a drive presumed to be failed

Note

The recommended value for Automatic Drive Replacement timeout is 30 minutes.

Automatic Drive Replacement does not take place for drives that are part of a RAID group that has an assigned dedicated hot spare.

Automatic Drive Replacement does not take place when more then four drives fail at the same time.

To save changes, click Update.

Package Upload Size Limit

Admins can configure the maximum package upload size in GiB.

Parameter	Description
Max upload size	Maximum Package File Size (GiB) Default: 25 GiB

Physical Inventory Report

Administrators can determine the Upload Method of the Physical Inventory Report, and whether to enable or disable it.

Parameter	Description
Enabled	Enable/disable toggle
Upload Method	Physical Inventory Report’s upload method. Possible options: S3 (default) SMTP

Zadara Configuration Update

Administrators can define Zadara Configuration Keys.

Creating Zadara Configuration Keys

To create a new Configuration Key:

1. Click New.

2. In the Create Zadara Configuration Key dialog:

   1. Select Key Type from the dropdown. Possible options:

      • String

      • Integer

      • Float

      • Boolean

   2. Enter the Keyname and Key Value pair.

   3. Click Save.

Editing and Deleting Zadara Configuration Keys

To Edit or Delete an entry, click on the appropriate button in the Actions column.

Security Settings

Parameter	Description
Password expiration	Set when passwords expire and set how many old passwords the system will forbid to reuse.
VPSA API Passthrough	Allow VPSA APIs to Pass-Through Command Center server.
Custom Certificate for Command Center & Provisioning Portal	Set a custom certificate for Command Center & Provisioning Portal web applications.
Trusted CAs	Update trusted CA list for VPSA/Object Storage/CCVM with uploaded certificates.
Dual Factor	Turn on dual factor for all LOCAL Command Center users.
Cloud Control IP Whitelist	Turn on and manage Command Center and Provisioning Portal Access Control.
Cloud Remote Access	Manage access to the cloud.

Password expiration

Administrators can determine the user passwords expiration and replacement policy.

Parameter	Description
Enforce Password Expiration	ON - User Password expires and replacement is required after the specified period
Password Expire After	Number of days a current password is valid
Password history	Number of password replacement cycles in which a password cannot be repeated

To save changes, click Update.

VPSA API Passthrough

VPSA instances running in the cloud can be managed using Command Center as an API endpoint.

This option should be used when an application requires management access to VPSAs from a dedicated network outside of the Zadara cloud.

Parameter	Description
Allow VPSA API Passthrough	ON - Allow VPSA APIs to pass through the Command Center server

To save changes, click Update.

Custom Certificate for Command Center & Provisioning Portal

The default certificate used in Command Center and Provisioning Portal can be replaced by a user provided certificate.

Users are required to upload their .crt and .key files to perform the certificate replacement.

Note

The provided user certificate must be compatible with NGINX HTTP server.

Trusted CAs

Enables the addition of certificate authorities to the VPSA and Command Center Trusted CA lists by uploading certificates signed by them, bundled in a .zip file.

Dual Factor

Enables activation or cancellation of dual factor authentication for all local Command Center users.

Activation of dual factor authentication will sign out local users who are not yet using this feature.

Cloud Control IP Whitelist

Enables activation or cancellation of access control for the Command Center and Provisioning Portal applications, granting access only to specified IP addresses.

By default, IP address whitelisting is disabled.

• Granting access to the the Command Center and Provisioning Portal:

  To allow access to the the Command Center and Provisioning Portal, add the relevant accessing IP addresses to the Cloud Control IP Whitelist:

  1. Mark the Enable Cloud Control IP Whitelisting checkbox.

     Note

     An alert advises that access to all interfaces will be blocked for all IPs not specifically listed in the Whitelist.

     Saving the IP Whitelisting feature as active is only possible when there is at least one configured whitelisted IP address.

  2. Click Add New and in the whitelist table enter:

     • IP/CIDR: The IP address or CIDR to be whitelisted and permitted access.

     • Application Access: Select from the dropdown, whether access should be granted to the Provisioning Portal, the Command Center, or both.

     • Comment: Enter free text details, a note or comment about this entry.

     Repeat this procedure for all IP addresses or CIDRs that should be whitelisted.

  3. Click Save.

• Updating access to the the Command Center and Provisioning Portal:

  Entries in the whitelist table can be updated by clicking the IP/CIDR’s Edit Action, and then editing the relevant fields and clicking Save.

• Denying access to the the Command Center and Provisioning Portal:

  An IP/CIDR entry can be removed from the whitelist by clicking the IP/CIDR’s Discard Action, and then Save.

Note

Exceptions and Restrictions:

• The IP Whitelist is limited to a maximum of 256 rows of IP addresses and CIDRs (the allowed entries limit was increased in version 23.09-SP1)

• By default, specific fixed Zadara operations IP addresses are whitelisted in all zStorage clouds. These IP addresses are managed internally and are not visible in the Command Center UI or via the API.

• Although IPv6 addresses can be used, they are not officially supported. In cases where an IPv6 address is used, logs display an IPv4 conversion of the address.

• The IP Whitelisting feature relies on source IP visibility. For administrators accessing the Cloud management applications over public networks, whitelisting a private IP address space will not achieve the required behavior. Simarly, IP Whitelisting is not supported for source IP addresses that are masked. If a source IP is hidden, IP Whitelisting might not work as expected.

Cloud Remote Access

Manages access to the cloud infrastructure management interfaces for remote support and administration.

Network Settings

Parameter	Description
MTU Size	MTU Size.
Protection Zones backend connectivity	Protection Zones backend connectivity.

MTU Size

Admins can increase their cloud network’s MTU.

Parameter	Description
FE MTU size	MTU size for the VPSA network (Front-End)
Public MTU size	MTU size for the public network

Note

FE MTU settings affect all custom networks defined in the cloud.

Protection Zones backend connectivity

In multizone clouds, administrators can configure use of the iSCSI protocol instead of the iSER protocol.

The backend connectivity settings in Protection Zones change the protocol used for inter-zone connectivity only. In-zone requests will continue using iSER. Switching to iSCSI for inter-zone connectivity should be done only when iSER connectivity between zones is not possible, for example, due to the network configuration.

To configure iSCSI Inter-Zone Backend connectivity

1. Ensure that no multizone VPSA or Object Storage is already configured in the cloud.

2. Set the Remote Region Backend Protocol to iSCSI.

3. Click Update to apply the changes.

When the Remote Region Backend Protocol is set to iSCSI, a warning message appears in Command Center’s Protection Zone tab.

Warning

Changing the inter-region connectivity protocol to iSCSI might affect the performance of VPSA or Object Storage.

VPSA Settings

Parameter	Description
Domain Name	Set the VPSA Domain name.
Recycle bin	Set the duration in which a VPSA will stay in recycle bin before purging.
Certificate	Set the certificate used in VPSA web application.

Domain Name

Administrators can configure and modify the domain name used for VPSA entities in the cloud.

Recycle bin

Administrators can specify the number of days that deleted VPSA entities stay in the recycle bin before being permanently purged from the system, making them unrecoverable.

Certificate

Administrators can substitute the default certificate used in the VPSA web management application by providing a custom certificate.

To replace the certificate, upload the certificate’s .crt and .key files.

Note

The user-provided certificate must be compatible with the NGINX HTTP server.

The default certificate is automatically updated and propagated to existing VPSAs.

To propagate the new certificate to all running VPSAs in the cloud, select the Update new certificate on all running VPSAs in the cloud checkbox, that displays after uploading the new certificate and key files.

Object Storage Settings

Parameter	Description
Certificate	Set the default certificate that will be used for newly created VPSA Object Storage web application. Existing VPSA Object Storage certificate can be updated from the VPSA Object Storage itself.

Certificate

Administrators can substitute the default certificate used in the Object Storage web management application by providing a custom certificate.

To replace the certificate, upload the certificate’s .crt and .key files.

Note

The user-provided certificate must be compatible with the NGINX HTTP server.

Existing Object Storage certificates can be updated directly in the Object Storage.

Management Settings

Parameter	Description
SNMP	SNMP
Tickets Settings	Tickets Settings
Log Level	Log Level

SNMP

The Zadara cloud ecosystem enables infrastructure monitoring for Cloud, VPSA, and Object Storage administrators through SNMP traps. These SNMP traps are designed to notify administrators of infrastructure events and are generated in parallel to Zendesk tickets.

SNMP traps can be sent from:

• VPSA

• Object Storage

• Cloud Storage Nodes

• CCVM

The Zadara cloud SNMP MIB can be downloaded publicly from the following link:

https://zadarastorage-software.s3.amazonaws.com/snmp-mib/20.01/ZADARA-MIB.txt

Note

• The Zadara cloud currently supports a single trap recipient.

• SNMP is supported for VPSA and Object Storage entities, from version 20.01 and later.

• SNMP traps at the Storage Node level are not supported for nodes operating with the Trusty kernel.

General SNMP Settings

Parameter	Description
Enable SNMP	If enabled, SNMP Traps will be sent from all the cloud monitored elements according to the specified configuration
Minimum ticket priority	The minimum priority for a Zendesk ticket that will trigger an SNMP trap to be sent
Trap recipient	The IP address of the receiver of trap notifications.
Protocol Version	The SNMP version to use. The supported versions are SNMPv2 and SNMPv3.

Note

SNMP traps are not bound to any specific network. The network interface from which SNMP traps are sent is determined based on the routing configuration of the managed entity.

SNMPV2 setting

Parameter	Description
Community	SNMPv2 community string that the SNMP agent uses when sending trap messages to the SNMP client

SNMPV3 setting

Parameter	Description
Username	SNMPV3 username for sending traps
Minimum ticket priority	Minimum priority set for a Zendesk ticket from which an SNMP trap will also be sent
Auth Protocol	SNMPv3 Authentication protocol to use. Supported protocols are: none, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-2-224, SHA-2-256, SHA-2-384 and SHA-2-512.
Auth key	SNMPv3 authentication password (valid of Auth protocol is set to any value but none). Minimum Auth key lengths is 8 characters.
Privacy Protocol	SNMPv3 privacy(encryption) protocol to use. Supported protocols are: none, AES128 , AES192, AES256 and DES
Priv key	SNMPv3 privacy(encryption) key (valid of privacy protocol is set to any value but none) Minimum. Priv key lengths is 8 characters.

Parameter	Description
Username	The SNMPv3 username used for sending traps.
Minimum ticket priority	The minimum priority for a Zendesk ticket that will trigger an SNMP trap to be sent.
Auth Protocol	The SNMPv3 authentication protocol to use. Supported protocols: none MD5 SHA-1 SHA-2-224 SHA-2-256 SHA-2-384 SHA-2-512
Auth key	The SNMPv3 authentication password. This is required if the authentication protocol is set to any value other than none. The minimum length for the Auth key is 8 characters.
Privacy Protocol	The SNMPv3 privacy (encryption) protocol to use. Supported protocols : none AES128 AES192 AES256 DES
Priv key	The SNMPv3 privacy (encryption) key. This is required if the privacy protocol is set to any value other than none. The minimum length for the Priv key is 8 characters.

Note

Supported security levels for SNMPv3:

• NoAuthNoPriv:

  No cryptographic authentication

  No encryption of the SNMP messages payload

• AuthNoPriv:

  Cryptographic authentication

  No encryption of the SNMP messages payload

• AuthPriv:

  Cryptographic authentication

  SNMP packet is encrypted

Testing SNMP Settings

Cloud administrators can test and verify their SNMP settings before applying them, by sending a test trap.

To send a test trap, click the Test button on the SNMP settings dialog.

The system generates and transmits the test traps based on the specified settings.

Working with SNMPv3 Engine IDs

Sending and receiving SNMPv3 Traps involves using the SNMP Engine ID managed element identifier.

Configure the engine ID of each managed element in the SNMP trap recipient so that it can receive traps from that entity.

Zadara Cloud assigns a unique engine ID for:

• The Zadara Cloud infrastructure, including all Storage Nodes and the Cloud Controller VM

• Each VPSA and Object Storage entity

You can find the Engine ID for the Zadara Cloud infrastructure at the lowers right corner of the screen.

The Engine ID for a VPSA or Object Storage entity is specified in the entity’s Property tab.

Note

The SNMPv3 Engine ID is not displayed in versions earlier than 20.01.

Ticket Settings

The cloud administrator can override the default attributes of the cloud infrastructure support tickets, in the Ticket Settings section.

Overriding global ticket attributes for an individual VPSA or Object Storage can be specified in VPSA or Object Storage’s Settings tab.

Parameter	Description
Message ID	The Message ID of the ticket to be configured
Suppression expiration date (UTC)	Sets a ticket as suppressed until a given timestamp. Suppressed tickets are not sent to Zendesk from this particular cloud.
Zsnap	Allows the user to configure whether a Zsnap is created when this ticket is produced, and the type of Zsnap to create (full/light)
Send To Users	Indicates whether tickets for the specific message id are sent to cloud users that have enabled notifications.
Rate limit (seconds)	The interval from the time a specific ticket is produced to the time that another ticket for the same monitored element and with the same Message ID can be produced again.
Comment	User comment explaining the reason for this attributes change

After creation of a custom ticket rule, the initial dialog of the Ticket Settings section is modified to display the rules currently applied on this cloud.

Existing rules can also be edited or deleted by clicking on the appropriate button in the Actions column.

Note

The cloud level ticket rules display does not provide any visibility of rules defined for an individual VPSA or Object Storage, and vice versa.

Log Level

Administrators can specify the level of detail in the Command Center’s web application internal logs:

• Info: (default)

• Debug: logs with more detail for analysis purposes

Caution

Activate the Debug level only after consultation with Zadara Support.