Finding the VSA Cluster IP address after a vCenter Server failure

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The VSA Cluster IP address is a required parameter for the VSA Cluster recovery after a vCenter Server failure.

This IP is easily visible on the VSA Manager logs in vCenter Server, but if this server does not exist and there are no copies of the logs or bundles, and the IP is not remembered then we need to resort to other ways to find it.

Environment

VMware vSphere Storage Appliance 5.1.x
VMware vSphere Storage Appliance 5.5.x
VMware vSphere Storage Appliance 1.0.x

Resolution

Note: At any given time, one of the cluster nodes is the leader. The leader responds to SAS commands whether you use the VSA Cluster IP or the VSA node management IP.

To find the VSA Cluster IP address after a vCenter Server failure:

1. Collect the management IP of each VSA node.
   
   Log in with root/svapass and run ifconfig:
   
   Example:
   
   # ifconfig | grep inet
   inet addr:10.10.10.201 Bcast:10.10.10.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
   inet addr:192.168.0.1 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
   inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
   
   
2. Run a WSCLI sas command against each management IP of the VSA Cluster nodes. The one that responds is the present leader.
   
   Example:
   
   --------- Answer from a member who is NOT the leader ------------
   
   C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VSA Manager\tools>java -jar WSCLI.jar 10.10.10.201 pingsas
   com.vmware.sva.messaging.ws.sas.LoginFailedException: LoginFailedException
   at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method)
   at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source)
   at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Class.newInstance0(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Unknown Source)
   at com.vmware.sva.messaging.ws.sas.SasserviceStub.login(SasserviceStub.java:856)
   at com.vmware.sva.webservice.SasWebServiceInterfaceImpl.login(SasWebServiceInterfaceImpl.java:83)
   at com.vmware.sva.webservice.SvaWebserviceInterfaceCli.main(SvaWebserviceInterfaceCli.java:333)
   Failed to perform operation: LoginFailedException
   
   --------- Answer from a member who IS the present leader ------------
   
   C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VSA Manager\tools>java -jar WSCLI.jar 10.10.10.203 pingsas
   Ping from SAS Domain 0d914c2c-b226-4e20-b1d1-e48f7d43d513
   Ping from Storage Domain: 9f1fea52-4c36-4456-b634-3101b3e73d5e
   Ping from Member Domain: 9a131f19-1dd7-45da-aa05-b7bea7ae3dcc
   Platform PING response
   
   
3. Ask the leader for all the cluster paramenters. There you find the VSA Cluster IP address.
   
   Example:
   
   C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VSA Manager\tools>java -jar WSCLI.jar 10.10.10.203 getStorageCluster
   Storage Cluster ID = 0d914c2c-b226-4e20-b1d1-e48f7d43d513
   Name = vStorage Cluster
   Maintenance mode = false
   Management interface = 10.10.10.200/24 < This is the VSA Cluster IP
   Master = fda3b918-4376-4852-b3fd-ae3f1ae198ee
   Pseudo-SVA address = 10.10.10.205
   Pseudo-SVA State = true
   Physical capacity = 1179648 KB (1.13 GB)
   Storage capacity = 589824 KB (0.56 GB)
   ce9cc82a-9d63-4aba-8680-690d73610789