Collector node disk space capacity alert in VCF Operations for Networks

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

On the Infrastructure and Support page, Collector node reports an alert indicating the appliance disk is not configured according to disk instructions. This occurs most frequently with the 2XL (Extra Large) profile where the primary 250 GB disk does not meet the 300 GB requirement.

• GUI displays alert for the Collector on the Infrastructure and Support page: The appliance disk was not configured according to the disk instructions. Appliance disk size: #### GB, recommended disk size: 300.0 GB.

• Collector disk space allocation in the GUI is smaller than expected:

  • Log in to the UI and navigate to Settings > Infrastructure and Updates.

  • Under the Collector VM(s) section, click the target Collector name.

  • In the Overview section, review Key Properties to find the Total Disk (GB) value, which should reflect the total of all allocated disks.

• System requires 300 GB for 2XL nodes, but standard OVA provisions 250 GB.

 

NOTE:  VCF Operations for Networks was formerly named Aria Operations for Networks (AON), and prior to that was named vRealize Network Insight (vRNI).

Environment

VCF Operations for Networks 6.14.x

Cause

Standard VCF Operations for Networks Collector OVA templates include a 250 GB primary disk. The 2XL profile requires a minimum of 300 GB. The system does not automatically reconfigure the partition if the primary disk size is modified before the first power-on.

 

Resolution

 To increase disk capacity, add an additional hard disk. Only one additional disk can be added at a time.

1. Power on the Collector node.
2. Ensure it is fully configured and integrated into the deployment.
3. Add an additional hard disk (e.g. 50 GB for 2XL nodes) to the VM via vCenter while the VM is powered on.
   • Caution: Adding a second disk is the only supported method for expansion. Do not resize the existing 250 GB disk.
4. Wait approximately 5 minutes for the system cron job to detect the new hardware.
5. Validate the expansion via SSH using the support user:
   
   df -h
   
   
   • Example output will be of this format (below would be for a fresh deployment):
     The /dev/mapper/vg-var partition should now reflect approximately the total GB of all disks allocated to the VM.
     
     Filesystem                         Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                              1.2G  980K  1.2G   1% /run
/dev/mapper/vg-root                29G   6.4G   21G  24% /
tmpfs                              5.9G  8.0K  5.9G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs                              5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
/dev/sda1                          2.0G  157M  1.7G   9% /boot
none                               5.9G     0  5.9G   0% /run/shm
/dev/mapper/vg-tmp                 25G   628K   24G   1% /tmp
/dev/mapper/vg-home                30G   1.5G   27G   6% /home
/dev/mapper/vg-var                 300G  356M  246G   1% /var
/dev/mapper/vg-var+log             49G   881M   45G   2% /var/log
/dev/mapper/vg-var+log+audit       20G     18M  19G   1% /var/log/audit
tmpfs                              1.2G     0  1.2G   0% /run/user/1000
tmpfs                              1.2G     0  1.2G   0% /run/user/1001
     
     
6. Verify Collector disk space allocation in the GUI is  the total of all allocated disks:
   1. Log in to the UI and navigate to Settings > Infrastructure and Updates.
   2. Under the Collector VM(s) section, click the target Collector name.
   3. In the Overview section, review Key Properties to find the Total Disk (GB) value.
7. Any alerts about disk space should disappear within 30 minutes.

 

Notes:

• The size of an additional hard disk is constrained only by the available datastore space when you add the new hard disk. 
  
  
• The limit to the number of hard disks that can be added to a Collector is determined by Configuration Maximums for the number of hard disks per virtual machine (VM)
  
  
• After adding an additional hard disk, it may take up to 30 minutes after the disk is recognized by the cron job, to reflect the new space allocation in the GUI. 

• The detection of the additional hard disk will be documented in the file /home/ubuntu/logs/disk_util.log which can be interrogated using a command such as "sudo cat /home/ubuntu/logs/disk_util.log"
  
  Output will be of this format:

  ####-##-##T##:##:##.030Z: Found new disk
####-##-##T##:##:##.060Z: Creating PV: /dev/sdc
####-##-##T##:##:##.169Z: Extending VG: vg
####-##-##T##:##:##.228Z: Extending LV: /dev/vg/var Size: ##.#G
####-##-##T##:##:##.570Z: DONE

• After the first additional hard disk is added, the amount of disk space mentioned in the "Extending LV: /dev/vg/var Size: " event in the /home/ubuntu/logs/disk_util.log will be just slightly smaller than the size of the additional hard disk added. 
  
  
• However, the incremental increase in Total Disk (GB) and Total Data Disk (GB) lines as a result of adding the first additional hard disk will be approximately 39.5G more than the size of the additional hard disk added.  That increase (total of the size of the additional hard disk + 39.5G) will be reflected in the output of the "df-h" command for the Filesyetem /dev/mapper/vg-var
  
  
• After adding a second additional hard disk (or third, or any after that), the incremental increase in Total Disk (GB) and Total Data Disk (GB) lines will be approximately the size of the additional hard disk(s) added.
  
  
• The amount of disk space actually allocated to the Collector VM can be seen in vCenter and/or ESXi and will be shown in the same way as for any other virtual machine (VM).  

 

Additional Information

Increase the Disk Size