Dell XC430 User Manual

Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged
Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V

This document contains deployment information for the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress.

Dell EMC Engineering
September 2017

A Dell EMC Deployment and Configuration Guide

Date

Description

June 2017

Initial release

September 2017

Updated Fabric Manager name. Added information about application aware VSS
backups. Restricted document to XC Xpress.

Revisions

The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this
publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.

Copyright © 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other
trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. Published in the USA. [9/18/2017] [A02]

Dell EMC believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

2 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Table of contents

Revisions............................................................................................................................................................................. 2

1 Overview ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6

1.1 Documentation resources ................................................................................................................................... 6

1.2 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 6

1.3 About XC430 Xpress IT infrastructure ................................................................................................................ 7

2 Installing hardware ....................................................................................................................................................... 8

2.1 Installation summary ........................................................................................................................................... 8

2.2 Unpacking the appliances .................................................................................................................................. 8

2.3 Connecting to a network switch .......................................................................................................................... 8

2.3.1 Dell EMC XC430 Xpress with 1Gbe switch ........................................................................................................ 8

2.3.2 Dell EMC XC430 Xpress with 10 Gbe switch ..................................................................................................... 9

2.4 Connecting servers to electrical outlets .............................................................................................................. 9

2.5 Turning on the appliances .................................................................................................................................. 9

3 Configuring iDRAC for remote network access (Recommended) .............................................................................. 11

3.1 Logging in to Dell iDRAC (Recommended) ...................................................................................................... 13

4 Getting ready for cluster setup ................................................................................................................................... 14

4.1 Managing the OEM Microsoft license and running the First Time Boot Script ................................................. 14

4.2 Downloading Java Runtime Environment ........................................................................................................ 20

4.3 Downloading Google Chrome .......................................................................................................................... 21

4.4 Setting up Nutanix Support Portal .................................................................................................................... 21

4.4.1 Registering your Service Tags with Nutanix ..................................................................................................... 22

4.5 Downloading Foundation Applet ....................................................................................................................... 22

4.6 Downloading Fabric Manager and User’s Guide .............................................................................................. 23

5 About Fabric Manager ................................................................................................................................................ 24

6 About cluster creation ................................................................................................................................................. 25

6.1 Discovering appliances with Nutanix Foundation Applet ................................................................................. 25

6.2 Displaying discovered appliances .................................................................................................................... 26

6.3 Defining the cluster ........................................................................................................................................... 28

6.4 Setting up the appliance ................................................................................................................................... 28

6.5 Selecting images .............................................................................................................................................. 29

6.6 Creating a cluster ............................................................................................................................................. 31

6.6.1 Understanding PULSE ..................................................................................................................................... 32

3 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

6.6.2 Dell Support Assist ........................................................................................................................................... 32

7 Managing your cluster using Prism ............................................................................................................................ 33

7.1.1 Joining cluster and hosts to the domain ........................................................................................................... 34

7.2 Running virtual machines on the Nutanix Distributed File System storage container only .............................. 37

7.2.1 Cluster administration ....................................................................................................................................... 37

7.3 Update path ...................................................................................................................................................... 38

7.4 Prism monitoring software ................................................................................................................................ 38

8 Getting Help ................................................................................................................................................................ 39

8.1 Contacting Dell ................................................................................................................................................. 39

8.2 Locating Service Tag ........................................................................................................................................ 39

8.3 Documentation .................................................................................................................................................. 39

8.4 Quick Resource Locator ................................................................................................................................... 40

A Installation prerequisites ............................................................................................................................................. 41

A.1 Hyper-V installation requirements .................................................................................................................... 41

A.2 Windows Active Directory Domain Controller requirements ............................................................................ 41

A.3 About Network Time Protocol (NTP) ................................................................................................................ 42

A.3.1 Configuring NTP servers .................................................................................................................................. 42

A.4 Domain Name Server (DNS) requirements ...................................................................................................... 43

A.5 System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) (Optional) ....................................................................... 43

A.5.1 Prerequisites for optional SCVMM configuration .............................................................................................. 43

A.6 Domain accounts .............................................................................................................................................. 44

A.7 Networking recommendations .......................................................................................................................... 44

A.7.1 Management network ....................................................................................................................................... 44

A.7.2 Production network ........................................................................................................................................... 45

A.8 Important information about SATADOM ........................................................................................................... 45

A.8.1 Examples of write intensive applications .......................................................................................................... 45

A.9 Setting up the HTTP proxy in Prism ................................................................................................................. 46

A.10 Setting up the name Server (DNS) in Prism ..................................................................................................... 46

A.11 Bare metal recovery ......................................................................................................................................... 47

B Introduction to troubleshooting ................................................................................................................................... 49

B.1 Foundation Applet issues ................................................................................................................................. 50

B.1.1 Unable to launch the Nutanix Foundation Applet from management workstation. .......................................... 50

B.2 Desired appliances are not discovered in Foundation Launcher. .................................................................... 51

4 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

B.2.1 Ensure management workstation is connected on the same production network. .......................................... 51

B.3 Cluster creation does not complete successfully ............................................................................................. 52

B.4 Unable to connect external networks/sites including websites, or PULSE ...................................................... 53

B.5 Resolving ping issues ....................................................................................................................................... 53

B.6 Why can’t I discover my appliances ................................................................................................................. 54

C Deployment checklist ................................................................................................................................................. 55

C.1 Default / set up cluster credentials ................................................................................................................... 55

5 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Available premium features

Feature limitations

Multi-hypervisor support

Max cluster size = 4 appliances

Virtualization management

2 clusters max (Primary/on site DR Cluster)

Single site disaster recovery (DR)

No heterogeneous clusters

Cloud connect

No multi-site DR

Metro availability

No availability domains

Prism starter and central

No resilience factor of 3 (RF3)

MapReduce compression and dedup

No Prism Pro

Supports 1 Gbe and 10 GbE networks

No erasure coding

No encryption

No all-flash drives (no all SSD configuration)

1 Overview

The Dell EMC XC430 Xpress system is a hyper-converged appliance based on the Dell EMC XC430 paired
with Nutanix software. The Dell EMC XC430 Xpress hardware platform supports two Intel Xeon v4
processors, up to 12 DIMMs, and one SSD and three HDDs. The XC Xpress solution includes the Dell EMC
XC appliance and software from Nutanix (used as a virtual appliance), which simplifies virtualization by
converging computer, storage, and network into a single appliance that is deployed in a clustered
environment. For more information see, Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals. There is also a QRL that links you
immediately to documentation and instructional videos on the QRL site.

1.1 Documentation resources

For a list of the associated documentation, see the Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Support
Matrix found at Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals.

1.2 Introduction

The XC Xpress Series is a solution designed to bring the power of the Nutanix enterprise cloud platform to
small and medium businesses (SMBs). The Dell EMC XC Xpress is designed to address the IT needs of
smaller organizations through ease of deployment and management.

The Xpress features are limited to the features listed here:

XC Xpress feature list

6 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

1.3 About XC430 Xpress IT infrastructure

The XC430 Xpress appliance is designed so that a small IT staff can install and manage the entire IT
infrastructure. In this context, we have a management network and a production network.

Warning: Network Communication between the Controller VM (CVM) and the host appliance leverages the

192.168.5.x IP subnet on a private virtual network. You cannot use the 192.168.5.x IP subnet for your
production or iDRAC management networks.

Note: Management network (iDRAC) may be located on the same or different IP subnet as production
network.

The following image is a physical diagram for an XC430 Xpress cluster. Three or four physical appliances
function as a cluster as shown in Figure 1.

Physical diagram for an XC430 Xpress cluster

7 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

2 Installing hardware

You must have filled out the Deployment Checklist, prior to any of the following tasks.

2.1 Installation summary

The following tasks outline the XC Xpress installation process and the details of each task follow below.

1. Unpack the Dell EMC XC430 appliances.

2. Install Dell EMC XC430 Xpress appliance into the rack. For more information about installing the
server into the rack, see the rack documentation included with your solution.

3. Connect the network interface connections to the appropriate network switches.

4. Connect each of the servers to an electrical outlet.

5. Power the systems on by pressing the power button.

2.2 Unpacking the appliances

Before you begin unpacking the appliances, read through the following documentation. Documentation is
found at Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals. The support matrix for this product contains the required software and
firmware versions for successful deployment. This document is found on Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals. You
can find a complete list of documentation for this product in the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Series Support
Matrix.

 Rack installation instructions shipped with your Dell solution.
 Xpress Getting started Guide.
 Xpress Service and Installation Manual.
 Fabric Manager for XC Xpress User’s Guide
 Deployment Checklist
 Xpress Support Matrix

2.3 Connecting to a network switch

Note: You must enable SSH on your switch prior to running Fabric Manager in a later step.

2.3.1 Dell EMC XC430 Xpress with 1Gbe switch

Use this for entry-level 1 Gbe only switch configurations.

8 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

1. Management network (iDRAC network)

2.Production network

1. Management network (iDRAC network)

2. Production network

Connections for a Dell EMC XC430 Xpress with 1Gbe switch.

2.3.2 Dell EMC XC430 Xpress with 10 Gbe switch

Use this for 10 Gbe configurations.

Connections for a Dell EMC XC430 Xpress with 10Gbe

2.4 Connecting servers to electrical outlets

To ensure each Dell EMC XC430 Xpress appliance has a redundant power source, plug the power cables
from each physical server into separate power sources such as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or a
power distribution unit (PDU).

2.5 Turning on the appliances

Press the power button on the appliances being configured. The buttons are located on the front of the Dell
EMC XC430 Xpress appliance. The power LEDs illuminates when the appliances are turned on.

Refer to the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Service and Installation Manual for a
depiction of this model and other relevant information.

Go Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals and download the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Hyper-converged Appliance
Deployment Checklist. This is the same checklist included in this document, but it is easy to print out.

9 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Note: Dell EMC recommends printing and filling out this Deployment checklist prior to deploying this
solution.

10 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

3 Configuring iDRAC for remote network access

(Recommended)

Use the following optional procedure to configure iDRAC network settings to enable remote access. This task
assumes you have:

Note: After you have assigned an IP Address to the iDRAC, you can open a browser and browse to the IP
assigned to the iDRAC.

 Monitor, keyboard and mouse temporarily connected to the Xpress appliance. Alternatively, connect

using KVM over IP

 IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway: optionally, a DNS server IP address

1. Connect the physical keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the proper ports on the appliance.

2. Turn on the appliance and press F2 to enter the System Setup.

3. On the System Setup page, click iDRAC Settings.

4. On the iDRAC Settings page, click Network.

5. Set the following items as described here:
a. Set Enable NIC to Enabled.
b. Set NIC Selection to Dedicated.

11 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

c. Set Enable IPMI Over LAN to Enabled.

Note: It is not required to set the iDRAC IP information at this time. You can do it during cluster creation.

6. Scroll down the iDRAC Settings menu and configure the IPv4 Settings. This is where you can
configure your iDRAC IP addresses.

7. To return to the iDRAC Settings page, click Back.

8. To return to the System Setup page, click Finish.

9. To save changes, click Yes.

10. After it reports that the settings were saved successfully, click Yes.

Note: The tasks below describe the configuration using a remote virtual console launched from the iDRAC
WEB interface. In addition, you can use a directly attached monitor to configure each server and to start on
a bootable USB device with an ISO file to install an operating system.

11. You may log out of System Setup menu at this time.

12 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

3.1 Logging in to Dell iDRAC (Recommended)

Use the following procedure to launch a virtual console:

Note: This procedure may require Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is installed on the management
workstation you are using to remotely manage the connected appliances. If the management workstation
does not launch with default settings, select Settings and select the Java option. You can use Java version
8 (1.8.0) or later.

1. To log in to iDRAC, open a web browser on a management workstation, and then type the iDRAC IP
address in the address bar.

2. On the iDRAC Log in page, type the default login credentials:
a. In the Username box, type root.
b. In the Password box, type calvin.

3. On the System Summary page, in the Properties tab, under the Virtual Console Preview section,
click Launch.

Note: Configure the Virtual Console Plug-In Type for native, Java, or HTML5. Depending on your IT settings,
it may require additional steps to gain remote access. See the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller
User's Guide at dell.com/idracmanuals for additional help.

13 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

4 Getting ready for cluster setup

The next steps are done using a management workstation, not the appliance. Connect the management
workstation for cluster set up to the same production network subnet where the XC Xpress appliance resides.
Before you start this section, make sure you have completed the Deployment checklist and read the
prerequisites sections in the Appendix. If you have any issues, see the Troubleshooting sections prior to
calling Technical Support.

The following tasks are described in more detail below in the following sections:

 Managing the OEM Microsoft license and running the First Time Boot Script  Download the Java Runtime Environment (JRE)  Download Google Chrome (Nutanix recommends)  Setting up the Nutanix Customer Portal  Downloading Foundation Applet  Downloading Fabric Manager

4.1 Managing the OEM Microsoft license and running the First Time

Boot Script

When you set up the Hyper-V appliances, you must prepare each appliance, and then configure the cluster.
Complete the following tasks on each appliance:

1. Access the console by doing one of the following:

 Connect the physical keyboard, mouse, and monitor to the proper ports on the appliance, or
 Connect to the iDRAC virtual console (if you configured the IP address already)

Note: The following steps walk you through configuring appliance, assuming you are connecting using
iDRAC virtual console.

Note: For information about configuring and accessing the iDRAC GUI, see iDRAC Quick Start Guide at
dell.com/support/home.

2. After the system reboots from configuring iDRAC, do the following:
a. Boot to the Windows operating system that comes pre- installed on each XC Xpress appliance.

14 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Microsoft and Dell End User License Agreement

b. On the Microsoft Windows Settings page, to accept the Microsoft and Dell End User License

Agreement, click I Accept.

3. After the system accepts the agreement, Windows continues the startup process. Repeat this step on
all appliances.
The startup process automatically logs you into Windows with Administrative credentials (default
credentials: User: administrator credential and Password: nutanix/4u. These credentials are in
lowercase.

15 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

First Time Boot Scripts dialog box.

a. In the first Nutanix First Time Boot Scripts dialog (seen in Figure 5), to begin first boot scripts,

click OK, or wait 6 seconds for automatic start. Installation process time may vary depending on
configuration. You can just let this run until the final screen displays.

Warning: Do not interact with the system during First Time Boot Scripts and reboot process. This process
can take up to 30 minutes and two or three reboots may occur depending on your configuration.

16 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Screen you see when you have successfully completed the First Time Boot Script.

b. When the First Time Boot Scripts process finishes, you should see a screen (Figure 6) that

prompts you to sign into the Window’s Hyper-V appliance. Select the Macro tab, and then click
Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Note: For iDRAC console, do not use your keyboard to type Ctrl-Alt-Del.

c. Log in using credentials: The default user name is administrator and the default password is

nutanix/4u.

Note: If at any time the Nutanix First Time Boot Scripts wizard reports that the installation has failed, see the

Troubleshooting section before you contact Dell Support to determine the reason for failure.

17 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Screen that flashes and disappears after six seconds.

d. After the pop up message displays saying the process is complete, click OK or wait six seconds

and it automatically continues. Figure 8 below displays the screen that appears when the entire
process has completed successfully.

18 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Final screen you see when the entire process has completed successfully.

e. If you want to verify the process completed successfully, you can open the log file. At the bottom

of the screen (Figure 8) click the File Explorer icon.

f. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Nutanix\Logs. The file name is first_boot.txt.

19 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Log report verifying a successfully run First Time Boot Script Wizard.

g. Double click to open the log file.
h. Scroll to the bottom of the file and read the success message. The message reads, Marking first

boot script run as success.

Note: If at any time the Nutanix First Time Boot Scripts wizard reports that the installation has failed, see the

Troubleshooting section before you contact Dell Support to determine the reason for failure.

Important: To maintain a fast and efficient bare metal recovery option, Dell EMC recommends leveraging
the Rapid Appliance System Recovery (RASR) tool. After deployment, create a RASR USB disk and safely
store it as part of your disaster recovery planning. For more information, see Bare metal recovery.

4.2 Downloading Java Runtime Environment

A management workstation is used for this step. A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is required to launch the
Nutanix Foundation Applet. The latest JRE is located at https://www.java.com and is a free download.

Note: Make sure all the appliances have run their first boot script before doing this task.

20 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Note: Java version 8 (1.8.0) or later is required to use the Foundations Applet.

1. On the Windows Control panel, open the Java (32-bit) applet.

2. On the Security tab, click High and add an exception for the local applets by adding the following to
the site list:

file:/

You must set Java to high, to lower security settings.

3. Click OK.

4.3 Downloading Google Chrome

Nutanix recommends using the Google Chrome web browser for downloading content from the Nutanix portal
and managing your XC430 Xpress cluster. Download Google onto your management workstation.

Note: If your default browser is not set to Chrome, temporarily change your default browser to Chrome for
the cluster set up.

4.4 Setting up Nutanix Support Portal

If you are new to Nutanix Support, create a personal profile on the Nutanix Support Portal. Creating a
personal profile lets you manage licenses, user accounts, access KB articles, and access product
documentation. Within the Nutanix Support Portal, you are prompted to add break-fix/admin contact
information, linked to a cluster/asset. This account is where you manage the same list of users allowed to use
Prism.

Note: The Nutanix Customer Portal is also required to access some of the advanced Nutanix
documentation.

21 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

To set up your Nutanix Support Portal, complete the following tasks:

1. Go to the Nutanix Support Portal at http://portal.nutanix.com and click Register Now.

2. Register by typing data in appropriate boxes.

3. In the Serial Number box, type the Service Tag number of your Dell EMC XC430 Xpress.

Note: To find the Service Tag of your Dell EMC XC430 Xpress, see the Locating The Service Tag section in
this document.

4. After the Customer Portal account is created, you can manage your licenses.

4.4.1 Registering your Service Tags with Nutanix

Your Nutanix license is auto-registered when you log in and register an appliance Service Tag with Nutanix.

1. On the Nutanix Documentation portal, see the Web Console Guide (for access details, see the
Documentation matrix section in the Support Matrix).

2. In the Nutanix Web Console Guide, see the License Management section.

3. Perform the relevant licensing tasks for your system.

4.5 Downloading Foundation Applet

After you created a Nutanix account, download the Foundation Applet to your management workstation by
performing the following actions:

1. Sign into the Nutanix Portal: https://portal.nutanix.com.

2. From the toolbar, select Downloads > Foundation.

22 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

3. To download the Foundations Applet, on the Foundation page, click the discovery applet link.

4. A file called FoundationApplet-offline.zip is downloaded locally to your system.

5. Save this download to a folder on your management workstation.

4.6 Downloading Fabric Manager and User’s Guide

Fabric Manager is a network validation tool. To download the tool to your management workstation:

1. Go to https://dell.com/xcseriesmanuals

2. From the dialog box, select the XC430 Xpress appliance.

3. On the left side, click Drivers & downloads.

4. Next to View all available updates for Dell XC430 Xpress Hyper-converge Appliance, click
Change OS.

5. Click Windows Server2012 R2.

6. Scroll down and click Applications.

7. Download DellPowerToolsFabricManager_X.X.X.XXXX-Win.zip, save it to a location, and
install the tool on your management workstation.

Note: The tool and dll must remain in the same directory.

For information on running Fabric Manager:
The Fabric Manager for XC Xpress User’s Guide is found at https://dell.com/xcseriesmanuals.

1. Select your Xpress appliance.

2. On the left side, click Manuals and Documents.

3. Download Fabric Manager for XC Xpress User’s Guide.

23 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

5 About Fabric Manager

Fabric Manager validates and reports the requirements that verify network readiness and ensures a smooth
deployment. Run the tool using the management workstation. This tool confirms if your network switch is a
validated switch and validates network configuration settings are ready to begin deployment.

At this point, run Fabric Manager to validate your switch. For more information about Fabric Manager, see the
Fabric Manager for XC Xpress User’s Guide found at Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals.

24 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

6 About cluster creation

The following tasks outline the details of creating the cluster using Nutanix Foundation. For the sections below
refer to the Deployment Checklist for required information.

6.1 Discovering appliances with Nutanix Foundation Applet

The Nutanix Foundation Applet provides a graphical user interface for discovering the XC430 Xpress
appliances.

1. Make sure that the first time boot scripts have completed.

2. From the management workstation, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Foundation zip
file.

3. Extract the all files to the same folder.

4. Double-click the nutanix_foundation_applet.jnlp file.

Note: It may take several minutes for all appliances to be discovered even after they have successfully
booted for the first time.

5. Verify that all XC Xpress appliances have been discovered by the Foundation applet by verifying the
Service Tag (Serial Number) in the Foundation applet (Figure 11).

25 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Nutanix Foundation Launcher dialog box showing Serial Numbers and Status.

6. Select a single XC Xpress appliance with the Status “Free” in the Foundation Applet, and click
Launch Foundation.

6.2 Displaying discovered appliances

After you have discovered the XC Xpress appliances using the Foundation Applet, the browser displays all
discovered XC appliances.

Note: XC and XC Xpress Series appliances cannot exist in the same cluster.

26 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

View all discovered XC Xpress appliance.

1. Select the check box next to the Service Tag for the Xpress appliance that you want to be a part of
this cluster. The network interfaces are automatically checked.

NOTE: The maximum number of appliances for an XC430 Xpress cluster is four (4).

NOTE: The default redundancy factor is 2 and cannot be changed with XC Xpress configurations.

2. To proceed click Next.

27 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

6.3 Defining the cluster

For the sections below refer to the Deployment checklist for required information.

New Cluster Setup screen.

1. On the New Cluster Setup screen, under Cluster Information, do the following:
a. In the Cluster Name box, type a name for the cluster.
b. In the IP Address box, type an IP address for the cluster.
c. Do not configure IPMI.
d. In the NTP Server Address box, type the NTP server address.
e. In the DNS Server IP box, type the DNS server IP address.
f. Select a time zone.

2. Under Network Information, do the following:
a. Under CVM and Hypervisor, do the following:

i. In the Network box, type the IP address for your network.
ii. In the Gateway box, type the IP address for your gateway.
iii. In the CVM Memory box, do not change the memory setting. Leave the default.

Important: Do not change the memory configuration for the CVMs at the default setting.

3. Under Post Imaging Tests, leave it cleared. Do not select the Enable Testing box.

Important: Under Post Imaging Tests, do not select Enable Testing (cleared by default) to bypass NCC
check during cluster creation.

4. Click Next.

6.4 Setting up the appliance

1. On Node Setup page, leave Hostnames and IP Range blank.

28 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

2. On the Node Setup page under Manual Input, manually enter the IP addresses and hostnames for
each appliance.

Node Setup screen.

3. Click Validate Network.

4. If network validation fails, check if you have duplicate IP addresses. Correct any errors and click
Validate Network again.

6.5 Selecting images

1. On the Select Imaging Type dialog box, click Single Hypervisor.

Note: The Multi Hypervisor option is not supported on Xpress.

29 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Only select Single Hypervisor on the Image Selection screen.

2. Click Continue.

Image Selection screen.

3. On the Image Selection screen, click Skip.

Note: The Hypervisor is factory installed and should not be changed.

30 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Important: Carefully proceed through the Select Image section. Your hypervisor preferences were factory
installed and the image selection process should be skipped.

6.6 Creating a cluster

The imaging process is shown under Cluster Creation Status on the Cluster Creation progress screen.

Observe the image process under Cluster Creation Status.

This process takes approximately 15 minutes depending on the configuration. Use the log link to monitor the
cluster creation progress.

After completion, you are presented with the following screen:

31 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Cluster creation successful screen.

1. Click Prism, and a new web browser launches.

2. If cluster creations fails, see the Troubleshooting section prior to contacting Dell EMC support.

Note: If you enabled PULSE, your cluster must be able to connect to the external Pulse servers for
automatic case creation. If applicable with your network layout, configure your HTTP proxy settings for
external communication.

6.6.1 Understanding PULSE

This section assumes you have read the two Nutanix KB articles outlined in the Deployment checklist. See
these KB articles to understand PULSE.

6.6.2 Dell Support Assist

For an enhanced Support Experience, Dell EMC recommends installing and configuring Dell SupportAssist.
Dell SupportAssist is a software application that transparently collects information about your system and
automatically creates support cases when issues are detected. Dell SupportAssist helps Dell to provide you
an enhanced, personalized, and efficient support experience. Dell uses the data to solve common problem,
designs and markets the products. For more information about installing and configuring Dell SupportAssist,
see: http://www.dell.com/enus/work/learn/supportassist-servers-storage-networking

32 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

7 Managing your cluster using Prism

Important: Congratulations on creating your cluster. Dell EMC recommends that you log in to Prism and use
1-click update to install the latest recommended AOS version. Updating prior to putting your newly created
cluster in production is strongly recommended. To see how to use Prism to update your AOS, see the
Acropolis Administrators Guide.

Nutanix Prism is the one-click infrastructure management interface for XC clusters. Prism provides a simple
and elegant way to manage your virtual environment.

1. Login with the default credentials:

 Login: admin
 Password: admin

Nutanix Prism log in

You will immediately be prompted to change this password. The new password must be 8 to 255 characters
and may request minimum password requirements.

33 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Password credentials

Follow your password security procedures to save your password. You cannot log in without the proper
password.

7.1.1 Joining cluster and hosts to the domain

After you log in to Prism, you must join cluster and hosts to the domain and configure the failover cluster.

1. Open Nutanix Prism.

2. In Prism, click the Gear icon.

34 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

3. Select Join Cluster and Hosts to the Domain.

3. In the Join Cluster and Hosts to the Domain dialog box, do the following:
a. In the Full Domain Name box, type the full domain name.

35 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

b. In the Name server IP Address box, type the name server IP address.
c. In the Cluster Name box, verify the cluster name.
d. In the Cluster Virtual IP Address box, verify the cluster virtual IP address.
e. In the Prefix box, type in the prefix.
f. In the Logon Name (Domain\Username) box, type your username.
g. In the Password box, type your password.
h. Click Join.

Note: After you click Join, the appliances are rebooted. The GUI will display error messages and they can
be disregarded. The appliances are being rebooted so they can join the designated domain. This process
takes some time. This process logs you out of Prism and you will need to log back in.

After the step is completed, the check mark displays next to the selection as shown above.

4. Click the Gear icon.

5. Select Configure Failover Cluster.

6. In the Configure Failover Cluster dialog box, do the following:
a. In the Failover Cluster Name box, type a name.
b. In the Failover Cluster IP Address box, type the IP address.
c. In the Logon Name Domain\Username box, type the username.
d. In the Password box, type the password.

7. Click Create Cluster.

This process takes a few minutes and when it completes you will see that message flash for a few moments
on the screen.

36 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

7.2 Running virtual machines on the Nutanix Distributed File System

storage container only

A default storage pool container is already created for you and by default presents the storage to all the hosts
on the same subnet. You also have the option to create your own containers. See Nutanix Administrators
guide for details. To view your default storage pool and host presentation, do the following:

1. In Nutanix Prism, click Home.

2. In the drop-down menu, select Storage.

3. On the Diagram tab, under Summary, you can view your storage pools and created container.

Warning: Run virtual machines on the Nutanix Distributed Files Systems only.

Important: When adding or redeploying a Hyper-V node to the cluster, ensure that the virtual hard disks and

virtual machines locations are configured in Hyper-V Manager so that they are directed to the Nutanix
Cluster Container location. VMs run on the SATADOM(C:\) are not highly available and potentially fill up the
local boot drive, which results in crashing the host hypervisor. This adds additional wear on the
SATADOM(C:\).

7.2.1 Cluster administration

Prism is the user interface used to monitor the health of a cluster, VMs, performance, alerts, and events.
Prism provides a range of status-check features.

37 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

At this point, you have completed your installation. For more information about configuring or monitoring with
the Nutanix web console, view the Web Console Guide and Administration Guide documents on the Nutanix
documentation portal. For a complete list of Nutanix documentation and a URL to their customer portal, see
the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Support Matrix found at Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals.

You can find recommended documents in the Documentation section in the Support Matrix.

7.3 Update path

Note: If you want to integrate with an existing Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM),
see Appendix A.5.

For the latest Dell EMC recommended software and firmware versions see the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress
Series Support Matrix found at Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals.

7.4 Prism monitoring software

To monitor the health of a cluster, VMs, performance, alerts, and events; the Nutanix web console provides a
range of status-check features.

1. For more information about monitoring with the Nutanix web console, view the Web Console Guide
document on the Nutanix documentation portal. For more information, see Documentation Matrix
section in the Support Matrix.

2. In the Nutanix Web Console Guide document, see the following sections:

 Health Monitoring
 Virtual Machine Monitoring
 Performance Monitoring
 Alert and Event Monitoring

38 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

8 Getting Help

8.1 Contacting Dell

Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. If you do not have an active
internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell
product catalog. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your
area. To contact Dell for sales, technical assistance, or customer-service issues:

1. Go to Dell.com/support.

2. Select your country from the drop-down menu on the bottom right corner of the page.

3. For customized support:
a. Enter your system Service Tag in the Enter your Service Tag field.
b. Click Submit.

The support page that lists the various support categories is displayed.
For general support:

1. Select your product category.

2. Select your product segment.

3. Select your product.

The support page that lists the various support categories is displayed.

8.2 Locating Service Tag

Your system is identified by a unique Express Service Code and Service Tag number. This information is
used by Dell to route support calls to the appropriate service provider.

Locating service tag

8.3 Documentation

Documentation is found at Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals. The support matrix for this product contains the
required software and firmware versions for successful deployment. You can find a complete list of
documentation for this product in the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Series Support Matrix.

39 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

8.4 Quick Resource Locator

Use the Quick Resource Locator (QRL) to get immediate access to system information and how-to videos.
This can be done by visiting Dell.com/QRL or by using your smartphone or tablet and a model-specific Quick
Resource (QR) code located in your documentation. To try out the QR code, scan the following image.

Quick Resource Locator

40 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

A Installation prerequisites

A.1 Hyper-V installation requirements

The Dell EMC Xpress solution requires the following steps. Detail of each step are in the following sections.

 Windows Active Directory
 Domain Name Server (DNS)
 System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) (Optional)
 Domain Accounts

NOTE: You can find an exhaustive set of Hyper-V installation requirements in the Hyper-V Administration for
Acropolis.

A.2 Windows Active Directory Domain Controller requirements

The following are the requirements for your Active Directory Domain Controller:

 Primary Active Directory Domain Controller version 2008R2 or higher.
 IP address of the primary Domain Controller.
 Fully qualified domain (FQDN) name to which the XC hosts and the storage cluster will be joined.
 Active Directory Web Services (ADWS) must be installed and running. By default, connections are

made over TCP port 9389, and firewall policies must enable an exception on this port for ADWS.

 Active Directory PowerShell module installed on the Domain Controller(s) in the same environment to

which the XC appliances will be joined.

 Domain Name Server (DNS).
 Ensure that the Active Directory domain is configured correctly for consistent time synchronization.
 An Active Directory account with permission to create new Active Directory computer objects for

either a storage container or Organizational Unit (OU) where XC Xpress appliances reside.

 An account that has sufficient privileges to join a Windows host to a domain. The credentials of this

account are not stored anywhere. These credentials are only used to join the hosts to the domain.

 Active Directory PowerShell Module installed on the Domain Controller(s) for the environment to

which the XC appliances will be added. Use the following commands, if required:

Import-module server manager
Add-WindowsFeature –Name "RSAT-AD-PowerShell" –IncludeAllSubFeature

Import-module activedirectory

41 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

A.3 About Network Time Protocol (NTP)

Accurate time on the hypervisor and the Controller VM (CVM) on all XC clusters, regardless of the hypervisor
type (ESXi, KVM, or Hyper-V) being run. Syncing to three or five external Stratum One time sources, the
same as used by your Active Directory (AD) servers.

 Hyper-V clusters must have accurate time relative to the AD domain to which they are joined. A

Nutanix cluster cannot function in or join a Windows domain if the time discrepancy is greater than 5
minutes.

 Accurate timestamps are also important for troubleshooting interactions with third-party software

products, which may require synchronized time between the hypervisor and the Controller VM to
determine which files to back up.

 Accurate time synchronization between Nutanix clusters paired in Disaster Recovery (DR)

configurations is important so that snapshots do not expire too quickly or too late.

 Graphs in the Prism interface rely on the CVM time. Incorrect time skews graphs, especially in

relation to other monitoring platforms, which rely on other clock sources.

A.3.1 Configuring NTP servers

To add (or delete) an NTP server entry, do the following:

1. In Prism, on the main page, click the Gear icon.

2. On the Gear menu (see Main Menu Options), select NTP Servers.

3. On the NTP Servers dialog box, do one of the following.

42 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

a. To add an NTP server, in the NTP Server box, type the server IP address or fully qualified host

name and then click Add. The name or address is added to the HOST NAME OR IP ADDRESS

list (below the NTP Server field).
b. To delete an NTP server entry, in the Servers list, click the delete (x) icon for that server.
c. In the dialog box that appears to verify the action; click OK. The server is removed from the list.

4. Click Close.

A.4 Domain Name Server (DNS) requirements

The following are the requirements for DNS:

 Each XC host must be assigned a name of 15 characters or less, which gets automatically added to

the DNS server during domain joining.

 The XC storage cluster must be assigned a name of 15 characters or less, which must be added to

the DNS server when the storage cluster is joined to the domain.

 The Hyper-V failover cluster must be assigned a name of 15 characters or less, which gets

automatically added to the DNS server when the failover cluster is created.

 After the Hyper-V configuration, all names must resolve to an IP address in the XC hosts, the

SCVMM server (if applicable), or any other host that needs access to the XC storage, for example, a
host running the Hyper-V Manager.

A.5 System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) (Optional)

The main reference guide for SCVMM is found on the Nutanix portal and requires a log in. This document is
Hyper-V Administration for Acropolis Guide > System Center Virtual Machine Manager Configuration in the
“Adding Hosts and Storage to SCVMM” section.

A.5.1 Prerequisites for optional SCVMM configuration

 Windows 2012 R2 with Hyper-V based Nutanix cluster is created, up, and running.
 Host appliances and storage are already added to Active Directory using the “Joining the Cluster and

Hosts to a Domain” workflow. Log in is required.

 Host appliances and storage are already added to a Windows Failover Cluster using the “Creating a

Failover Cluster for Hyper-V” workflow found in the Nutanix Portal, log in is required.

Although not a requirement, System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), Dell EMC recommends
SCVMM for configuring and managing your virtual machines.

If you are integrating into an existing SCVMM implementation, see the Nutanix Hyper-V Administration for
Acropolis Guide (login required). SCVMM is licensed by Microsoft and is optional to the Nutanix Xpress
configuration.

43 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

A.6 Domain accounts

Use the following outline to understand the prerequisites for the domain accounts.

Note: You may fulfill the domain accounts here with a single domain account, which meets the privileges of
all designated permissions.

 A domain account with minimum permissions for joining the XC hosts to the domain; credentials are

not stored.

 This account must have local administrator rights on the XC hosts.
 A domain account, which is used to join the XC storage cluster to the domain and create the Hyper-V

failover cluster.

 This account needs to have the permission to create new computer objects in Active Directory (AD).

The credentials entered are not stored anywhere.

A.7 Networking recommendations

For network switch configuration information, see your documentation from your switch vendor. See the Dell
Fabric Manager for XC Xpress User’s Guide. This describes what you must configure for your network to be
functional for Dell EMC XC Xpress.

Important: If you have connectivity issues discovering appliances in the Foundation applet verify the
following ports are open. For the Foundation applet to work properly, you must open the following ports for
both IPv4 and IPv6 on the local system from which the Foundation applet is launched:

UDP on port 13000 (Nutanix discovery protocol)
TCP on ports 8000 (Foundation GUI)
TCP on 9442 (proxy)
TCP on 9443 (applet control)

Verify HTTP proxy is configured in Nutanix Prism. For more information on managing your HTTP proxy see
section Setting up the HTTP proxy in Prism.

A.7.1 Management network

The Dell EMC Xpress solution requires a compatible switch for the management network.

Note: The best practice setup is to connect the management port (iDRAC) across all three appliances to the
same switch on the management network.

44 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Note: The management (iDRAC) network may be a separate network from the Host network (Controller and
Hypervisor).

A.7.2 Production network

Dell EMC recommends a redundant Top of Rack (TOR) switches for the production network. The selection
depends on the Network Daughter Cards (NDCs) selected for the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress. For a list of
recommended requirements for NDC and NIC cabling, see the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Support Matrix.

The following switch settings are required:

 Enable ipv6 link-local unicast and multicast.
 Disable Spanning Tree Protocol, refer to the corresponding TOR switch documentation. If Cisco TOR,

enable portfast.

 Dell EMC recommends that all the switch ports enable default VLAN access for deployment. If default

VLAN access is not permitted, refer to the Nutanix Field Installation Guide for assigning a VLAN tag
during deployment.

Note: Configure all servers in a single domain

A.8 Important information about SATADOM

The SATA Disk‐On‐Motherboard (SATADOM) shipped with XC Xpress Series appliances is intended as an
appliance boot device.

Note: Write intensive activities and processes leveraged by XC Xpress appliances, are designed to take
place on the SSDs and HDDs and not the boot device. The hypervisor boot device is not designed for
application use.

Warning: Adding additional write intensive software to the SATADOM boot disk results in heavy wear on the
device beyond design specifications resulting in premature hardware failure.

A.8.1 Examples of write intensive applications

Following are the examples of write intensive applications:

 System Center agents

- System Center Configuration Manager (CCMExec.exe)–

- System Center Operations Manager (MonitoringHost.exe)

 Write‐intensive agents

45 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

 Databases
 Disk management utilities (third-party disk defragmentation or partitioning tools)

A.9 Setting up the HTTP proxy in Prism

The HTTP proxy is required for PULSE and it is also required for external connections.

1. Log in to Prism.

2. Click the Gear icon.

3. Select HTTP Proxy.

4. Select New Proxy. Fill out the required information.

Note: username and password are only require if the proxy server requires it.

5. Click Save.

A.10 Setting up the name Server (DNS) in Prism

1. Log in to Prism.

2. Click the Gear icon.

3. Select Name Servers.

4. Specify the Server Host name or IP Address (DNS IP) address and then click Add.

46 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

5. Click Close.

A.11 Bare metal recovery

To maintain a fast and efficient bare metal recovery option, Dell EMC recommends leveraging the Rapid
Appliance System Recovery (RASR) tool. After deployment, use the following steps to create a RASR USB
disk and safely store it as part of your disaster recovery planning.

Warning: Creating a RASR USB disk destroys all data on the USB disk.

Warning: Executing a Factory Restore on your appliance with the RASR USB backup disk destroys all data

saved on that appliance.

47 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

To create a RASR USB disk:

1. Insert a USB disk device that is 16 GB or greater into one of the appliance’s available USB slots.

2. From the Windows 2012 R2 desktop, double-click the Make RASR USB disk icon. This launches a
utility that creates the RASR USB disk.

Important: The USB disk contains factory installed configuration information specific for this appliance and
must not be used in another appliance. As a best practice, clearly label the newly created USB disk with the
appliance’s Service Tag.

Note: This process may take 20 minutes or more depending on the speed of the USB device.

48 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

B Application aware VSS backups

When performing application-aware VSS Backups (Volume Shadow Copy Service) for virtual machines on a
Hyper-V host, the backups might fail on a Nutanix share if more than 1000 files exist in the container. The
Nutanix NFS master may experience a timeout triggered by the creation of a list of "disk shadow" files after
the snapshot is taken.

B.1 Solution

Create a new container on the Nutanix cluster and storage-migrate the VMs to this new container.

Note: Nutanix recommends storing less than 50 VMs per container if backups are using Microsoft VSS on
Hyper-V for application consistency.

For more information, refer to Nutanix KB #000002506 (Nutanix Portal log in required).

49 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

C Introduction to troubleshooting

Use this troubleshooting section to resolve any issues you may encounter during deployment. Use these
steps before you call Dell EMC Customer Support.

C.1 Foundation Applet issues

C.1.1 Unable to launch the Nutanix Foundation Applet from management

workstation.

Error in launching the Nutanix Foundation Applet.

1. Ensure Nutanix recommended JRE is installed on management workstation. See Downloading Java

Runtime Environment.

2. Make sure to extract all content from FoundationApplet-offline.zip.

3. Re-launch the Nutanix Foundation applet to ensure it is now functioning.

50 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

C.2 Desired appliances are not discovered in Foundation Launcher.

Appliances are not discovered using Foundation Launcher.

C.2.1 Ensure management workstation is connected on the same production

network.

1. Ensure all network cables are connected. For more information, see Installing hardware.

2. If using the 10 Gbe switch, ensure the correct Small Form factor Pluggable (SFP) is connected. For
supported cabling, see Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Series Support Matrix.

3. Ping default gateway or any other system from management workstation. For information about
making ping work see the section, “Resolving ping issues.”

4. Make sure the TCUP and UDP ports are open.

IMPORTANT: If you have connectivity issues discovering appliances in the Foundation applet verify the
following ports are opens. For the Foundation applet to work properly, you must open the following ports for
both IPv4 and IPv6 on the local system from which the applet is launched:
UDP on port 13000 (Nutanix discovery protocol)
TCP on ports 8000 (Foundation GUI)
TCP on 9442 (proxy)
TCP on 9443 (applet control)

5. Ensure all appliances are turned on and that both power supplies are plugged in properly and there is
no Yellow flashing light on any of the power supplies.

6. Ensure First Time boot has completed successfully on each appliance.
a. Go to C:\Program Files\Nutanix\Logs and open first_boot.log file.
b. Verify the last line “Marking first boot script run as a success” is there.

51 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

7. After the First time Boot Script (FTBU) completes successfully wait five minutes before you launch the
Nutanix Foundation Applet. You can find the Nutanix First Time Boot Script procedure in section 4.1.

Note: The wait allows the CVM to complete boot up sequence on the appliance.

8. Run Fabric Manager on management workstation to identify any other potential network issues
affecting discovery process.

9. If you have followed all the steps above and still cannot see your appliances, then call Dell EMC
Customer Support.

C.3 Cluster creation does not complete successfully

If your clusters did not build successfully, you will see a screen like in Figure 25.

Cluster creation failed.

If your cluster creation does not complete successfully:

1. Retry imaging failed appliances with last configuration.

2. If the imaging retry fails, collect the log files and contact Dell Customer Support.

a. In the Cluster Creation Status table, under Log, click the link to the specific log file.

52 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Example of a log showing when a cluster does not create successfully.

C.4 Unable to connect external networks/sites including websites, or

PULSE

1. Verify HTTP proxy is configured in Prism. Prism is a Nutanix based software where you centrally
manage your infrastructure. For more information on managing your HTTP proxy see section “Setting
up the HTTP proxy in Prism” in the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Hyper-Converged Deployment Guide.

2. Verify DNS (Name Server) is configured in Prism. For more information, see section, “Setting up the
name Server (DNS) in Prism,” in the Dell EMC XC430 Xpress Hyper-Converged Deployment Guide.

C.5 Resolving ping issues

Read this Microsoft message about why ping is turned off and then follow the steps below to fix ping.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749323(v=ws.10).aspx

To enable ICMP Echo Request for ICMPv4 and ICMPv6

1. In the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in, in the left pane, click Inbound Rules,
and then in the Action pane, click New Rule.

2. Click Custom and then click Next.

3. Click All programs and click Next.

4. For Protocol type, select ICMPv4.

5. Click Customize for Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) settings.

6. Click Echo Request, click OK, and then click Next.

7. Under Which local IP address does this rule match? and for Which remote IP address does this
rule match click either Any IP address or These IP Addresses. If you click These IP addresses,
specify the IP addresses and click Add, then click Next.

8. Click Allow the connection, and then click Next.

9. Under When does this rule apply? click the active profile, any or all profiles (Domain, Private,
Public) to which you want this rule to apply, and then click Next.

10. For Name type a name for this rule and for Description an optional description. Click Finish.

53 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

11. Repeat steps for ICMPv6, selecting ICMPv6 for Protocol Type instead of ICMPv4.

C.6 Why can’t I discover my appliances

Reasons you cannot discover appliances include:

 IPv6 not enabled on management station
 Firewall on management workstation blocking ports
 Switch is filtering the ports
 Management station on a different VLAN or subnet than appliances

Make sure you open the ports. Verify HTTP proxy is configured in Nutanix Prism. For more information on

managing your HTTP proxy see section “Setting up the HTTP proxy in Prism.”

54 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Interface

Target

Username

Password

Web management
console

iDRAC

root

calvin
Hyper-V appliance

Appliance

administrator

nutanix/4u

ESXi/AHV

Appliance

root

nutanix/4u

SSH client

Nutanix Controller VM

nutanix

nutanix/4u

Nutanix Web Console

PRISM Interface (after
cluster configuration

admin

admin

IP Addresses (Per appliance)

Appliance 1

Appliance 2

Appliance 3

Appliance 4
(if applicable*)

Service Tag

CVM IP

Hypervisor IP

iDRAC IP

D Deployment checklist

Use this worksheet to collect your deployment data prior to installation.
For more information about Xpress documentation, including Acropolis guides, see the Xpress Support

Matrix at www.dell.com/xcseriesmanuals and select your Xpress appliance.

D.1 Default / set up cluster credentials

The default cluster credentials for the system differ from those stated at the beginning of all Nutanix
documentation. See Table 2 for default cluster credentials, which are specific to the system.

Default / set up cluster credentials

Follow your password security procedures to save your password. You cannot log in without the proper password. See the Nutanix Web
Console Guide on the Nutanix web site.

Note: If your iDRAC management and production network have the same subnet mask and default gateway,
they will share the same IP subnet mask and default gateway.

Deployment worksheet

*If applicable means if you have a four appliance configuration. Minimum requirement is for three appliances.

55 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Network IP addresses (Per Cluster)
WARNING: Network Communication between the Controller VM (CVM) and the host appliance leverages

the 192.168.5.x IP subnet on a private virtual network. You cannot use the 192.168.5.0.x IP subnet for
your production or iDRAC management networks.

iDRAC management

Production network

Subnet mask

Default gateway

Cluster name

Cluster IP

(primary external IP,
PRISM IP)

NTP IP

DNS IP (Admin
credentials required)

Failover cluster name

(Hyper-V only)

Failover cluster IP

(Hyper-V only)

Active Directory
domain name
(Hyper-V only)

Active Directory
Domain Controller IP

(Hyper-V only)

vCenter IP address

(ESXi only)

Proxy settings

(if needed)

56 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Downloads

Nutanix Foundation
Applet downloaded

Download the Java
Runtime Environment
(JRE) 8 (1.8.0) or later

Download Google
Chrome (Optional)

Download Fabric
Manager for XC Xpress

Credentials Use your corporate security policies to manage passwords. This is a list to show you what you need during the

deployment process.

Username

Password

Default Nutanix
Foundation login
credentials

Default Hyper-V
login credentials
(Hyper-V only)

Default ESXi login
credentials
(ESXi only)

Active Directory
administrative
credentials
(Hyper-V only)

vCenter admin
credentials
(ESXi only)

Default AHV login
credentials
(AHV only)

57 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02

Nutanix management account users

User name

User name

User name

User name

Registration and configuration options

Nutanix Portal
Registration

Configured iDRAC
(all appliances)

Configured DNS

Configured NTP

Update Acropolis
(1-click update)

Note: Dell EMC recommends updating the AOS version prior to
putting your newly created cluster in production. To see how to use
Prism to update your AOS, see the Nutanix Acropolis
Administrator’s Guide.

Configured Active
Directory (Hyper-V)

KB articles to read before you attempt to deploy this solution

000004093

What is in a Pulse submission to Nutanix?

000002595

Nutanix Support Services: Pulse, Pulse HD, and Alerts

000003005

NCC Health Check DNS_Server_check

58 Dell EMC XC Xpress Hyper-Converged Appliance Deployment Guide for Hyper-V | A02