Pre-Installation Setup for Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) > Add a Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) Data Collector Policy
  
Version 10.3.00P13
Add a Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) Data Collector Policy
 
• Before adding the policy: A Data Collector must exist in the Portal, to which you will add Data Collector Policies. See Adding/Editing Data Collectors. For specific prerequisites and supported configurations for a specific vendor, see the APTARE IT Analytics Certified Configurations Guide.
• After adding the policy: For some policies, collections can be run on-demand using the Run button on the Collector Administration page action bar. The Run button is only displayed if the policy vendor is supported.
On-demand collection allows you to select which probes and devices to run collection against. This action collects data the same as a scheduled run, plus logging information for troubleshooting purposes. For probe descriptions, refer to the policy.
To add the policy
1. Select Admin > Data Collection > Collector Administration. Currently configured Portal Data Collectors are displayed.
2. Search for a Collector if required. See Navigating with Search.
3. Select a Data Collector from the list.
4. Click Add Policy, and then select the vendor-specific entry in the menu.
NOTE: The Data Collector retrieves data only from the HCP object array. It has no visibility into the physical capacity supporting the HCP array. Therefore, capacity values potentially could be double counted, for example, if data from a supporting array is also being collected.
 
5. Enter or select the parameters. Mandatory parameters are denoted by an asterisk (*):
Field
Description
Collector Domain
The domain of the collector to which the collector backup policy is being added. This is a read-only field. By default, the domain for a new policy will be the same as the domain for the collector. This field is set when you add a collector.
Policy Domain
The Policy Domain is the domain of the policy that is being configured for the Data Collector. The Policy Domain must be set to the same value as the Collector Domain. The domain identifies the top level of your host group hierarchy. All newly discovered hosts are added to the root host group associated with the Policy Domain.
Typically, only one Policy Domain will be available in the drop-down list. If you are a Managed Services Provider, each of your customers will have a unique domain with its own host group hierarchy.
To find your Domain name, click your login name and select My Profile from the menu. Your Domain name is displayed in your profile settings.
Management Server Addresses*
One or more HCP Management server IP addresses or host names to probe. Comma-separated addresses or IP ranges are supported, e.g. 192.168.0.1-250, 192.168.1.10, myhost.
User ID*
User ID for the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) storage system. This ID is also used for MAPI and SNMPv3. Set specific permissions using the Hitachi Content Platform System Management Console and the Hitachi Content Platform Tenant Management Console. Additional security settings must also be enabled. See Setting Up Permissions for an HCP Local User or Active Directory User.
Password*
Password for the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) storage system. This password is also used for MAPI and SNMPv3.
Authentication Type
Select either Local or Active Directory Authentication.
Active Directory Domain
The Active Directory Domain Name for the Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) storage system is an optional field, required only when Active Directory is selected as the Authentication Type.
SNMP Version*
SNMP version.
Community String
Community string for SNMP.
Array Capacity/Schedule
This collection is enabled by default to collect array capacity data from your Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) environment.
Click the clock icon to create a schedule. By default, it is collected at 3:33 am daily.
Every Minute, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly schedules may be created. Advanced use of native CRON strings is also available.
Examples of CRON expressions:
*/30 * * * * means every 30 minutes
*/20 9-18 * * * means every 20 minutes between the hours of 9am and 6pm
*/10 * * * 1-5 means every 10 minutes Mon - Fri.
Explicit schedules set for a Collector policy are relative to the time on the Collector server. Schedules with frequencies are relative to the time that the Data Collector was restarted.
Namespace Statistics/Schedule
A Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) repository is partitioned into namespaces. A namespace is a logical grouping of objects. Namespaces provide a mechanism for separating the data stored for different applications, business units, or customers.
NOTE: The minimum interval size maintained by the array is one hour, and APTARE IT Analytics collects namespace statistics based on the length of time since the last APTARE IT Analytics collection cycle, to a maximum of 8 hours. Only one collection per hour is recommended. However, if for example, you schedule one collection every 4 hours, APTARE IT Analytics will maintain the 4 hour increments and so on.
Click the clock icon to create a schedule. By default, it is collected every 8 hours.
Every Minute, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly schedules may be created. Advanced use of native CRON strings is also available.
Examples of CRON expressions:
*/30 * * * * means every 30 minutes
*/20 9-18 * * * means every 20 minutes between the hours of 9am and 6pm
*/10 * * * 1-5 means every 10 minutes Mon - Fri.
Explicit schedules set for a Collector policy are relative to the time on the Collector server. Schedules with frequencies are relative to the time that the Data Collector was restarted.
Notes
Enter or edit notes for your data collector policy. The maximum number of characters is 1024. Policy notes are retained along with the policy information for the specific vendor and displayed on the Collector Administration page as a column making them searchable as well.
Test Connection
Test Connection initiates a Data Collector process that attempts to connect to the subsystem using the IP addresses and credentials supplied in the policy. This validation process returns either a success message or a list of specific connection errors. Test Connection requires that Agent Services are running.
Several factors affect the response time of the validation request, causing some requests to take longer than others. For example, there could be a delay when connecting to the subsystem. Likewise, there could be a delay when getting the response, due to other processing threads running on the Data Collector.
You can also test the collection of data using the Run functionality available in Admin>Data Collection>Collector Administration. This On-Demand data collection run initiates a high-level check of the installation at the individual policy level, including a check for the domain, host group, URL, Data Collector policy and database connectivity. You can also select individual probes and servers to test the collection run. See Working with On-Demand Data Collection for details.
Setting Up Permissions for an HCP Local User or Active Directory User
An HCP repository is partitioned into namespaces. Each namespace consists of a distinct logical grouping of objects with its own directory structure. Namespaces provide a mechanism for separating the data stored for different applications, business units, or customers. Namespaces are owned and managed by tenants.
To enable data collection for HCP namespaces and namespace statistics, a user must be created with certain permissions using the Hitachi Content Platform System Management Console and the Hitachi Content Platform Tenant Management Console. Additional security settings must also be enabled.
NOTE: Data collection will still occur without these settings, but namespace and namespace statistics will not be included.
Hitachi Content Platform System Management Console
Hitachi Content Platform supports two user types:
• Local - User accounts defined and authenticated in the HCP system
• Active Directory - The users, passwords stored in Active Directory and authenticated remotely by AD.
You can create new users to match the user profile in the data collector policy or use existing users with the following roles set.
Local Users
Use the Hitachi Content Platform System Management Console to create a user and enable the Monitor and Search roles. You must also define Security settings to enable the management API to allow access to some of the HCP system settings.
This user ID must be a system-level user and match the User ID entered in the data collector policy.
Monitor grants permission to use the System Management Console to view the HCP system status and most aspects of the system configuration, including tenant configurations.
Search grants permission to use the metadata query API and Search Console to query or search the default namespace and any namespaces owned by HCP tenants that are configured to allow system-level users to manage them and search their namespaces.
Local Users and Active Directory Users
Use the Security settings in the Hitachi Content Platform System Management Console to enable the Management API Settings (MAPI). This should be enabled at the cluster level.
Hitachi Content Platform Tenant Management Console
Namespaces are owned and managed by administrative entities called tenants. A tenant typically corresponds to an organization, such as a company or a division or department within a company.
Use the Hitachi Content Platform Tenant Management Console to create a user account that matches the user created using the Hitachi Content Platform System Management Console. Enable Monitor and Browse permissions for each namespace under a tenant.
You must also define Security settings to enable the management API to allow access to some of the HCP system settings. This user ID must match the User ID entered in the data collector policy.
Local Users
For each tenant, click the Allow system level users to manage this tenant and search its namespaces check box.
Active Directory Users
Local Users and Active Directory Users
Use the Security settings in the Hitachi Content Platform Tenant Management Console to enable the Management API Settings (MAPI).