Windows Admin Center is a browser-based management tool developed by Microsoft to monitor and manage Windows servers, failover clusters, and hyperconverged clusters.

The AX nodes for Storage Spaces Direct offer software-defined storage building blocks for creating highly available and highly scalable hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI). The AX nodes are preconfigured with certified components and validated as a Storage Spaces Direct solution that includes Dell EMC PowerSwitch S-Series switches, with simplified ordering and reduced deployment risks. Dell Technologies offers configuration options within these building blocks to meet different capacity and performance points. With Windows Admin Center, you can seamlessly monitor and manage the HCI clusters that are created on these building blocks.

Installing Windows Admin Center

You can download Windows Admin Center version 1910.02 from Microsoft download center and install it on Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, or Windows Server version 1709. You can install Windows Admin Center directly on a managed node to manage itself. You can also install Windows Admin Center on other nodes in the infrastructure or on a separate management station to manage the AX nodes remotely. It is possible to implement high availability for Windows Admin Center by using failover clustering. When Windows Admin Center is deployed on nodes in a failover cluster, it acts as an active/passive cluster providing a highly available Windows Admin Center instance.

The Windows Admin Center installer wizard performs the configuration tasks that are required for Windows Admin Center functionality. These tasks include creating a self-signed certificate and configuring trusted hosts for remote node access. Optionally, you can supply the certificate thumbprint that is already present in the target node local certificate store. By default, Windows Admin Center listens on port 443; the port can be changed during the installation process.

Note:  The automatically generated self-signed certificate expires in 60 days. Ensure that you use a certificate authority (CA)-provided SSL certificate if you intend to use Windows Admin Center in a production environment.

For complete guidance on installing Windows Admin Center on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 with desktop experience or Server Core, see https://docs.microsoft.com/windows-server/manage/windows-admin-center/deploy/install.

Note:  This section assumes that you have deployed the Azure Stack HCI cluster from Dell by using the deployment guidance that is available at: https://dell.com/azurestackhcimanuals.

After the installation is complete, you can access Windows Admin Center at https://managementstationname:<PortNumber> .

Figure 2: Windows Admin Center start screen

Adding the HCI cluster connection

For monitoring and management purposes, add the hyperconverged cluster that is based on Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI as a connection in Windows Admin Center.

1. Go to Windows Admin Center > Cluster Manager, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 3: HCI cluster navigation

2. Click Add.

The Add Cluster window is displayed.

3. Enter the cluster FQDN and select Also add servers in the cluster, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 4: Adding the HCI cluster

Windows Admin Center discovers the cluster and the nodes that are part of the cluster.

4. Click Add.

The cluster is added to the connection list and Windows Admin Center is configured to monitor and manage the HCI cluster.

Accessing the HCI cluster

To view the dashboard for the HCI cluster that you have added to Windows Admin Center, in the Cluster Manager window, click the cluster name.

This dashboard provides the real-time performance view from the HCI cluster. This view includes total IOPS, average latency values, throughput achieved, average CPU usage, memory usage, and storage usage from all cluster nodes. It also provides a summarized view of the Azure Stack HCI cluster with drives, volumes, and virtual machine health.

You can drill down into any alerts by clicking the alerts tile in the dashboard.

Figure 5: HCI dashboard in Windows Admin Center

Viewing server details

To view the server details, click the tools pane and go to Servers > Inventory.

Figure 6: Servers: Inventory tab

Note: The metrics in the figure are for a three-node Azure Stack HCI cluster with all-flash drive configuration.

Viewing drive details

View the total number of drives in the cluster, the health status of the drives, and the used, available, and reserve storage of the cluster as follows.

1. In the left pane, select Drives.
2. Click the Summary tab, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 7: Drives: Summary tab

To view the drive inventory from the cluster nodes, from the left pane, select Drives, and then click the Inventory tab.

Figure 8: Drives: Inventory tab

The HCI cluster is built using three AX-640 nodes, each with two 1.6 TB NVMe drives and eight 1.92 TB SSD drives.

By clicking the serial number of the drive, you can view the drive information, which includes health status, slot location, size, type, firmware version, IOPS, used or available capacity, and storage pool of the drive.

Also, from the dashboard, you can set the drive options as Light On or Light Off, or Retire or Unretire from the storage pool.

Managing and monitoring volumes

You can manage and monitor the Storage Spaces Direct volumes using Windows Admin Center.

The following features are supported in Windows Admin Center:

• Create volume.
• Browse volume.
• Expand volume.
• Delete volume.
• Make volume offline or online.

To access the volumes on the HCI cluster, select the cluster and, in the left pane, click Volumes. In the right pane, the Summary and Inventory tabs are displayed.

The Summary tab shows the number of volumes in the cluster and the health status of the volumes, alerts, total IOPS, latency, and throughput information of the available volumes.

Figure 9: Volumes: Summary tab

The Inventory tab provides the volume inventory from the HCI cluster nodes. The volumes can be managed and monitored.

Figure 10: Volumes: Inventory tab

Creating volumes in Storage Spaces Direct

Create volumes in Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Admin Center as follows.

1. Go to Volumes > Inventory.
2. Click Create.
   The Create volume window is displayed.
3. Enter the volume name, resiliency, and size of the volume, and then click Create.
   The volume is created.

Managing volumes

Open, expand, delete, or make a volume offline as follows.

1. Go to Volumes >  Inventory.
2. Click the volume name.
3. Click Open to open the volume folder.
4. Click Offline or Delete to make the volume offline, or to delete the volume.
5. Click Expand to expand the volume.
   The Expand volume window is displayed.
6. Enter the additional size of the volume.
7. Select the volume size from the drop-down list and click Expand.

Enabling data deduplication on Storage Spaces Direct

Data deduplication helps to maximize free space on the volume by optimizing duplicated portions on the volume without compromising data fidelity or integrity.

Note: To enable data deduplication on an HCI cluster, ensure that the data deduplication feature is enabled on all the cluster nodes. To enable the data deduplication feature, run the following PowerShell command: Install-WindowsFeature FS-Data-Deduplication.

Enable data deduplication and compression on a Storage Spaces Direct volume as follows.

1. Go to Volumes > Inventory.
2. Click the volume on which to enable data deduplication.
3. In the optional features, switch the ON button to enable deduplication and compression on that volume.
   The Enable Deduplication window is displayed.
4. Click Start and select Hyper-V from the drop-down list.
5. Click Enable Deduplication.
   Deduplication is enabled and the Storage Spaces Direct volume is compressed.

Monitoring and managing virtual machines

You can use Windows Admin Center to monitor and manage the virtual machines that are hosted on the HCI cluster.

To access the virtual machines that are hosted on the HCI cluster, click the cluster name and, in the left pane, select Virtual machines. In the right pane, the Summary tab and the Inventory tab are displayed.

The Summary tab provides the following information about the virtual machine environment of the HCI cluster:

• Total number of virtual machines, their state, and alerts
• Host and guest CPU utilization
• Host and guest memory utilization
• Virtual machine total IOPS, latency, and throughput information

Figure 11: Virtual machines: Summary tab

The Inventory tab provides a list of the virtual machines that are hosted on the HCI cluster and provides access to manage the virtual machines.

Figure 12: Virtual machines: Inventory tab

You can perform the following tasks from the Windows Admin Center console:

• View a list of virtual machines that are hosted on HCI cluster.
• View individual virtual machine state, host server information, virtual machine uptime, CPU, memory utilization, and so on.
• Create a new virtual machine.
• Modify virtual machine settings.
• Set up virtual machine protection.
• Delete, start, turn off, shut down, save, delete saved state, pause, resume, reset, add new checkpoint, move, rename, and connect virtual machines.

Managing virtual switches

The virtual switches tool in Windows Admin Center enables you to manage Hyper-V virtual switches of the cluster nodes.

The virtual switches tool supports the following features:

• View existing virtual switches on the server.
• Create a new virtual switch.
• Modify virtual switch properties.
• Delete a virtual switch.

Figure 13: Virtual switches

Managing Windows updates

You can manage Windows updates on a cluster node. All the updates are performed in cluster-aware mode.

1. Click the HCI cluster and go to Updates.
   In the right pane, the Available Updates and Update History tabs are displayed.
   The Available Updates tab provides information on the last updates and their status.
2. Click Check Available Updates to view the updates that are available for the cluster nodes.
3. Click Apply All Updates to install updates to the cluster nodes.
   The Update History tab provides information about the previous updates, including cluster node name, last run time stamp, update status, update title, and update description.

Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center

Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center enables IT administrators to manage the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) that is created by using Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI. Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center simplifies the tasks of IT administrators by remotely managing the AX nodes and clusters throughout their life cycle.

For more information about the features, benefits, and installation of Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center, see the documentation at https://Dell.com/OpenManageManuals.

Prerequisites for managing Dell EMC AX nodes

Prerequisites for managing AX nodes are:

• You have installed Windows Admin Center version 1910.02 and are logged in as a gateway administrator.
• You have installed the Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center extension version 1.1. For more information about the installation procedure, see the Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center Installation Guide at https://Dell.com/OpenManageManuals.
• You have added the HCI cluster connection in Microsoft Windows Admin Center.

Installing the Azure Stack HCI license (Ready Nodes only)

Dell EMC AX nodes have a preinstalled Azure Stack HCI license. Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes require the installation of an After Point of Sale (APOS) license.

1. Log in to iDRAC.
2. Select Configuration > Licenses.
3. Select Import, browse to and select the license, and then click Upload.

Managing Azure Stack HCI clusters

1. In the upper left of Windows Admin Center, select Cluster Manager from the menu.
2. In the Cluster Connections window, click the cluster name.
3. In the left pane of Windows Admin Center, under EXTENSIONS, click OpenManage Integration.
4. Review the Dell EMC Software License Agreement and Customer Notice, and select the check box to accept the terms of the license agreement.

Health Status

Health Status is the default dashboard that provides details about the Azure Stack HCI cluster nodes.

Figure 14: Health Status dashboard

On the Cluster - Azure Stack HCI page, click the Health Status tab to view the overall health status of the HCI cluster and the health status of the following components of the Azure Stack HCI cluster and nodes:

• Memory
• Power supplies
• CPUs
• Fans
• Storage controllers
• iDRAC
• Storage enclosures
• Physical disks
• Voltages
• Temperatures

Selecting the Critical or Warning section in the overall health status doughnut chart displays the nodes and components that are in the critical or warning state respectively.

Select sections in the doughnut chart to filter the health status of the components. For example, selecting the red section displays only the components with critical health status.

Selecting sections of the chart for individual components shows the respective nodes with the component health status listed. Expand the nodes to view the components.

Inventory

The Inventory tab lists the servers that are part of the cluster.

Clinking a server name on the inventory list provides details about the following components:

• System
• Firmware
• CPUs
• Memory
• Storage controllers
• Storage enclosures
• Network devices
• Physical disks
• Power supplies
• Fans

Locating physical disks and viewing their status

The Blink/Unblink feature of Windows Admin Center enables you to locate physical disks or view disk status.

1. Under the Inventory tab, from the Components list, select Physical Disks.
2. For each physical disk. select Blink or Unblink to control the disk's LED.

iDRAC

Clicking the iDRAC tab displays the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller dashboard. The dashboard lists the servers that are part of the Azure Stack HCI cluster. By selecting each iDRAC, you can view iDRAC details, such as the iDRAC firmware version and iDRAC IP of the target node, and can directly launch the iDRAC console.

Settings

Use the Settings tab in the Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center UI to view the latest update compliance report, update the cluster, and configure proxy settings.

Update tools

To view the latest update compliance report and update the cluster using an offline catalog, Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center requires that you configure the settings for the update compliance tools.

In the OpenManage Integration UI, on the Update Tools page under the Settings tab, specify the download locations for the following update compliance tools:

• Dell EMC Inventory Collector (IC)—Collects the hardware inventory information from Azure Stack HCI cluster nodes
• Dell EMC System Update Utility (DSU)—Updates cluster node firmware and drivers, using Dell Update Packages

Proxy settings

To download the online catalog, update tools, and Dell Update Packages, you must configure the proxy settings unless you can access the Internet without proxy settings.

Configure the proxy settings under the Settings tab in the Dell EMC OpenManage Integration UI.

Viewing update compliance and updating the cluster

Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center enables you to view the update compliance details (firmware, driver, application, and BIOS). You can update the Azure Stack HCI cluster by using the cluster-aware update feature of OpenManage Integration.

Use the Update tab of the OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center UI to view update compliance and update the cluster.

1. At Update source, select the online catalog or offline catalog.
   If you select the online catalog, OpenManage Integration downloads the Azure Stack HCI catalog, system tools, and the required Dell Update Packages from the Internet.
   To use an offline catalog, the update tools must be configured under the Settings tab, and the catalog file must be exported using the Dell Repository Manager and placed in a shared folder. See Obtaining the firmware catalog for AX nodes or Ready Nodes using Dell EMC Repository Manager.
2. Click Next: Compliance Details to generate the update compliance report.
   By default, all the upgrades are selected, but you can make alternate selections as needed.

Figure 15: Compliance Details

3. Click Next: Summary to view the selected component details.

Note: Cluster Aware Update is a license feature. Ensure that the Azure Stack HCI license is installed before proceeding.

Figure 16: Update Summary

4. Click Next: Cluster Aware Update to begin the update process and click Yes at the prompt to confirm.

Figure 17: Cluster Aware Update

When the update job is completed, the compliance job is triggered automatically.

Updating a stand-alone node before adding it to the cluster

Before creating a cluster, ensure that each node is updated with the latest versions of firmware and drivers.

1. In Windows Admin Center, in the left pane, click Add.
2. In the Windows Server tile, click Add.
3. Enter the node name and click Add.
4. Under All connections, select the server and click Manage as.
5. Select use another account for this connection, and then provide the credentials in the domain\username or hostname\username format.
6. Click Confirm.
7. In the Connections window, click the server name.
8. In the left pane of Windows Admin Center, under EXTENSIONS, click OpenManage Integration.
9. Review the Dell EMC Software License Agreement and Customer Notice, and select the check box to accept the terms of the license agreement.
10. Go to the Update tab and, select either the online catalog or offline catalog.
11. Click Next: Compliance Details, select all the updates, and click Next: Summary and then Next: Update.

Known issues

The following table lists known issues and workarounds related to OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center with Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI clusters.

Table 1: Known issues

Firmware updates using Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center for System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center is an appliance-based integration with the System Center suite of products.

OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center enables full life-cycle management of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers by using integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) with Lifecycle Controller (LC).

OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center offers operating system deployment, Azure Stack HCI cluster creation, hardware patching, firmware updating, and maintenance of servers and modular systems. Integrate OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) to manage your PowerEdge servers in virtual and cloud environments.

Checking compliance and updating firmware

Note: This method is applicable only for Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes.

Perform compliance checks, bare-metal firmware updates, and firmware updates using the cluster-aware update feature. To perform these tasks, within SCVMM, first discover the Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes and create or edit an update source.

Before performing these tasks, ensure that:

• SCVMM and the OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center appliance have been deployed and configured.
  
  For more information, see the installation guide at https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/omimssc-sccm-scvmm-v7.2/docs.

• The Azure Stack HCI cluster has been deployed by using OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center.
  
  For more information about deploying an Azure Stack HCI cluster, see the user guide at https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/omimssc-sccm-scvmm-v7.2/docs.

Discovering the Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes

To perform compliance checks and firmware updates, first discover the Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes.

1. Launch SCVMM.
2. In the left pane, click Fabric, and then, under Servers, select All Hosts.
3. On the top banner, click DELL EMC OMIMSSC.
4. Expand Configuration and Deployment and select Server View.
5. On the Server View page, click Discover.
6. In the Discover window, select Discover using an IP Address or Discover using an IP Range.
7. Click Create new to create a credential profile for iDRAC.
   1. On the Credential Profile page:
      • At Credential Type, select Device Credential Profile.
      • At Profile Name, enter the profile name.
      • At Profile Description, enter a profile description (optional).
      • At User name, enter the iDRAC username.
      • At Password, enter the iDRAC password.
      • At Default Profile for, select IDRAC.
   2. Click Finish.
8. For Apply this Credential Profile, select the credential profile that you just created.
9. For iDRAC IP Address, enter the IP address details of Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes.
10. For Job Name, enter a job name for discovery.

Creating or editing an update source

After discovering the Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes, create or edit an update source before performing compliance checks and firmware updates within SCVMM.

1. Launch SCVMM.
2. In the left pane, click Fabric, and then, under Servers, select All Hosts.
3. On the top banner, click DELL EMC OMIMSSC.
4. In the left pane, select  Maintenance Center , and then, at the top of the window, select Maintenance Settings.
5. Update the systems by using the online catalog or offline catalog.

Using the online catalog:

1. Select DELL ONLINE HTTPS CATALOG (default), and then click edit.
2. On the Firmware Update Source page, keep the default values, create a proxy credentials profile, and select the proxy credentials to connect to the Internet.
3. Click Test Connection to test the Internet connection to the catalog path.
4. Click Save.

Using the offline (Dell Repository Manager) catalog:

1. Click Create.
2. On the Firmware Update page:
   • For Firmware Update Source Name, enter a friendly source name.
   • For Description, enter a description (optional).
   • For Source Type, select Dell Repository manager sources.
   • For Location, enter the shared path location: \\<servername\folder\filename.xml>.
   • For Credentials, create a credentials profile or use an existing profile to connect to the shared path.
3. Click Test Connection to test the connection to the shared path.
4. Click Save.

Updating the firmware on a bare-metal server

With OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center on a bare-metal server, you can update firmware or schedule firmware updates.

1. Launch SCVMM.
2. In the left pane, click Fabric, and then, under Servers, select All Hosts.
3. On the top banner, click DELL EMC OMIMSSC.
4. In the left pane, select Maintenance Center.
5. In the Device Group/Servers list, select Default Unassigned Servers Update Group, which is where the discovered servers are listed.
6. Under Select Update Source, select DELL ONLINE HTTPS S2D CATALOG.
   Use the Filter Updates menu to filter the compliance report based on the nature of the update, component type, or server model.
   The compliance report of the servers in the selected group is displayed.
7. Click Run Update.
8. In the Update Details window:

• At Firmware Update Job Name, enter the job name.
• At Firmware Update Job Description, enter the job description.
• If you want to downgrade the firmware to the catalog version (not recommended), select Allow Downgrade.
• At Schedule Update, select Run Now or schedule an update for a later time.
• At Update Method, select an update method.
  • Agent Free Update—Updates are applied, and the system restarts immediately.
  • Agent-Free Staged Update—Updates that do not require a system restart are applied immediately. Updates that require a restart are applied when the system restarts. 
    

9. Click Finish.

Updating the firmware with the cluster-aware feature
With OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center, you can update firmware or schedule firmware updates using the cluster-aware feature.

1. Launch SCVMM.
2. In the left pane, click Fabric, and then, under Servers, select All Hosts.
3. On the top banner, click DELL EMC OMIMSSC.
4. In the left pane, select Maintenance Center.
5. In the Device Group/Servers list, select Cluster_<ClusterName>_Group, which is where the discovered servers are listed.
6. Under Select Update Source, select DELL ONLINE HTTPS S2D CATALOG.

Use the Filter Updates menu to filter the compliance report based on the nature of the update, component type, or server model.

The compliance report of the servers in the selected group is displayed.

7. Click Run Update.
8. In the Update Details window:
   • At Firmware Update Job Name, enter the job name.
   • At Firmware Update Job Description, enter the job description.
   • If you want to downgrade the firmware to the catalog version (not recommended), select Allow Downgrade.
   • At Schedule Update, select Run Now or schedule an update for a later time.
   • At Update Method, select an update method.
     • Agent Free Update—Updates are applied, and the system restarts immediately.
     • Agent-Free Staged Update—Updates that do not require a system restart are applied immediately. Updates that require a restart are applied when the system restarts.
9. Click Finish.

Conducting maintenance operations

These procedures describe how to prepare for and conduct maintenance operations.

Preparing for maintenance operations

Use the following PowerShell commands to ensure that all the requirements are met before proceeding with the maintenance operation of an AX node in an Azure Stack HCI cluster. These steps ensure that all the requirements are met and that no faults exist before placing an AX node into maintenance mode.

1. Verify that all the nodes in the cluster are available by running the Get-clusternode command.
2. Verify if all the cluster networks are available by running the Get-ClusterNetwork command.
3. Verify if the cluster status is healthy by running the following commands:
   • Get-ClusterS2D
   • Get-StoragePool
   • Get-StorageSubSystem -FriendlyName *Cluster* | Get-StorageHealthReport
4. Verify that all the physical and virtual drives are healthy by running the following commands:
   • Get-physicaldisk
   • Get-virtualdisks
5. Verify that no back-end repair jobs are running by running the Get-storagejob command.

Placing an AX node in maintenance mode

After ensuring that the prerequisites are met and before performing the platform updates, place the AX node in maintenance mode (pause and drain). You can move roles or virtual machines and gracefully flush and commit data in the AX node.

1. Run the following command to put the node in maintenance mode (pause and drain). Verify that all the roles and virtual drives are drained properly and operational in other nodes after they are moved:
   Suspend-ClusterNode -name “Hostname” -Drain

2. Place the target node in maintenance mode:
   Get-StorageFaultDomain -type StorageScaleUnit | Where-Object {$_.FriendlyName -eq "<Hostname>"} | Enable-StorageMaintenanceMode

3. Run the Get-Physical Disk command, and ensure that the Operational Status value is in maintenance mode for the drives that belong to that server.
   You can also run the following command and verify that the drives all belong to the paused node:
   Get-Storagepool -IsPrimordial 0 |Get-PhysicalDisk | ? operationalstatus -eq 'In Maintenance Mode' |Get-StorageNode -PhysicallyConnected

4. Turn off the System Lockdown mode.

Obtaining the firmware catalog for AX nodes or Ready Nodes using Dell EMC Repository Manager

For a qualified set of firmware and drivers for AX nodes or Ready Nodes, we recommend that you use an Azure Stack HCI catalog.

You can generate the firmware catalog along with the firmware and drivers by using Dell EMC Repository Manager (DRM) and copy it to a shared path.

1. Install DRM version 3.0.1.423 or later.
2. On the DRM home page, click the Dell EMC Repository Manager drop-down list.
3. In the Manage section, click Application Preferences.
   The Preferences window is displayed.
4. Click Plug-ins.
5. Select all the plug-ins and click Update.
   A message is displayed about the successful completion of the update.
6. Click Catalogs.
7. Select all the catalogs and click Update.
8. Click Close to close the Preferences window.
9. On the home page, click Add Repository.
   The Add Repository window is displayed.
10. Enter the Repository name and Description.
11. Select Index Catalog-<version> from the Base Catalog drop-down menu.
12. Select Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Catalog from the Catalog Group.
13. Select the latest catalog from the Catalogs section.
14. Click Save.
    The Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Catalog is populated in the Base Catalog section.
15. In the Manual Repository Type, click All systems in base catalog and then click Add.
    The repository is displayed on the repository dashboard available in the home page.
16. Select the repository and click Export.
    The Export Deployment Tools window is displayed.
17. Select the location to export files and click Export.
    The files are exported to the specified location.

Updating the AX node by using iDRAC out of band

AX nodes offer device firmware updates remotely through the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC). For Azure Stack HCI clusters, the recommended option is to use an Azure Stack HCI catalog for a qualified set of firmware and BIOS. Generate the latest Dell EMC Azure Stack HCI catalog file through Dell EMC Repository Manager (DRM) and copy the file to a network location before proceeding with the update process.

1. Log in to the iDRAC web interface.
2. Click Maintenance >  System Update.
   The Firmware Update page is displayed.
3. On the Update tab, select Network Share as the file location.
4. Provide the details of the network share, as shown in the following figure:

Figure 18: Check for updates

5. Click Check for updates.

A list of available updates is displayed, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 19: Select updates

6. Select the updates and click Install and Reboot to install and reboot the system.

Updating the out-of-box drivers

For certain system components, you might need to update the drivers to the latest Dell supported versions, which are listed in the Supported Firmware and Software Matrix.

Run the following PowerShell command to retrieve the list of all driver versions that are installed on the local system:

Get-PnpDevice | Select-Object Name, @{l='DriverVersion';e={(Get-PnpDeviceProperty -InstanceId $_.InstanceId -KeyName 'DEVPKEY_Device_DriverVersion').Data}} -Unique | Where-Object {($_.Name -like "*HBA330*") -or ($_.Name -like "*mellanox*") -or ($_.Name -like "*Qlogic*") -or ($_.Name -like "*X710*") -or ($_.Name -like "*intel*") -or ($_.Name -like "*Broadcom*")}

After you identify the required driver version, download the driver installers from https://www.dell.com/support or by using the Dell EMC Repository Manager (DRM) as described in Obtaining the firmware catalog for AX nodes or Ready Nodes using the Dell EMC Repository Manager.

After the drivers are downloaded, copy the identified drivers to AX nodes from where you can manually run the driver DUP files to install the drivers.

Exiting the AX node from maintenance mode

After updating the AX node, exit the storage maintenance mode and node maintenance mode by running the following commands:

Get-StorageFaultDomain -type StorageScaleUnit | Where-Object {$_.FriendlyName -eq "<Hostname>"} | Disable-StorageMaintenanceMode

Resume-ClusterNode -Name “Hostname” -Failback Immediate

These commands initiate the operation of rebuilding and rebalancing the data to ensure load balancing.

For the remaining cluster nodes, repeat the preceding procedures for conducting maintenance operations.

Expanding the Azure Stack HCI cluster

Expanding cluster compute or storage capacity are tasks performed during cluster operations. This section provides instructions for performing these tasks.

Example

Figure 20: Expanding the Azure Stack HCI cluster

Azure Stack HCI node expansion

In an HCI cluster, adding server nodes increases the storage capacity, improves the overall storage performance of the cluster, and provides more compute resources to add virtual machines. Before adding new server nodes to an HCI cluster, complete the following requirements:

• Verify that the processor model, HBA 330, and NICs are of the same configuration as the current nodes on the cluster and PCIe slots.
• Ensure that all disk types and the amount in each node are the same as the node in use. Do not combine two different disk types in the same cluster or node. For example, you cannot combine SATA and SAS HDD/SSD drives in the same node or cluster. The following table shows the supported options for expanding storage capacity of the cluster.

Table 2: Options to expand storage capacity of the cluster

• Ensure that the BIOS, drivers, firmware, and chipset are as listed in the support matrix.
• Apply the BIOS configuration to the node and configure iDRAC. For more information about configuring the node, see the Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Deployment Guide. Do not run the PowerShell commands in the following sections of the deployment guide again because the cluster is already created, Storage Spaces Direct is already enabled, and the management network is already excluded:
  • Creating the host cluster
  • Enabling Storage Spaces Direct
  • Configuring the host management network as a lower priority network for live migration

Ensure that the following tasks are completed:

1. Pass cluster validation and SES device compliance tests.
2. Verify that the nodes are compliant with the firmware baseline.
3. Update the hardware timeout configuration for the Spaces port.
4. After the node configuration, update Microsoft Windows to bring the node to the same level as the cluster.

Adding server nodes manually

Note: The procedure is applicable only if the cluster and Storage Spaces Direct configuration is done manually.

To manually add server nodes to the cluster, see https://technet.microsoft.com/windows-server-docs/storage/storage-spaces/add-nodes.

Storage Spaces Direct storage expansion

In an HCI cluster, expanding storage by adding drives on the available slots on the cluster nodes adds storage capacity of the cluster and improves storage performance. Before the storage expansion, ensure that all disk types and the amount in each node is same and are equal to that of the node in use. Do not combine two different disk types in the same cluster or node. For example, you cannot combine SATA and SAS HDD/SSD drives in same node or cluster.

The following options for expanding the storage capacity of the cluster are supported:

• Option 1: Expand the storage with the same drive manufacturer, capacity, endurance, latest model, latest firmware, and if it is available on the AX node support matrix.
• Option 2: Expand the storage with different drive manufacturer, model, firmware, same capacity, endurance, and if it is available on the AX node support matrix.

When new disks are added to extend the overall storage capacity per node, the Azure Stack HCI cluster starts claiming the physical disks into an existing storage pool.

After the drives are added, they are shown as available for pooling (CanPool set to True) in the output of the Get-PhysicalDisk command.

Within a few minutes, the newly added disks are claimed in the existing pool and Storage Spaces Direct starts the rebalance job. Run the following command to verify that the new disks are a part of the existing pool:

PS C:\> Get-StorageSubSystem -FriendlyName *Cluster* | Get-StorageHealthReport
CPUUsageAverage                 :   2.66 %
CapacityPhysicalPooledAvailable :   8.01 TB
CapacityPhysicalPooledTotal     :  69.86 TB
CapacityPhysicalTotal           :  69.86 TB
CapacityPhysicalUnpooled        :      0 B
CapacityVolumesAvailable        :  15.09 TB
CapacityVolumesTotal            :  16.88 TB
IOLatencyAverage                : 908.13 us
IOLatencyRead                   :      0 ns
IOLatencyWrite                  : 908.13 us
IOPSRead                        :      0 /S
IOPSTotal                       :      1 /S
IOPSWrite                       :      1 /S
IOThroughputRead                :      0 B/S
IOThroughputTotal               :  11.98 KB/S
IOThroughputWrite               :  11.98 KB/S
MemoryAvailable                 : 472.87 GB
MemoryTotal                     :    768 GB

After all available disks are claimed in the storage pool, the CapacityPhysicalUnpooled is 0 B.

The storage rebalance job might take a few minutes. You can monitor the process by using the Get-StorageJob cmdlet.

Extending volumes

You can resize volumes that are created in Spaces Direct storage pools by using the Resize-VirtualDisk cmdlet. For more information, see https://technet.microsoft.com/windows-server-docs/storage/storage-spaces/resize-volumes.

Performing AX node recovery

If a cluster node fails, perform node operating system recovery in a systematic manner to ensure that the node is brought up with the configuration that is consistent with other cluster nodes.

The following sections provide details about operating system recovery and post-recovery configuration that is required to bring the node into an existing Azure Stack HCI cluster.

Note: To perform node recovery, ensure that the operating system is reinstalled.

Configuring RAID for operating system drives

The Dell EMC PowerEdge servers offer the Boot Optimized Storage Solution (BOSS) S-1 controller as an efficient and economical way to segregate operating system and data on the internal storage of the server. The BOSS S-1 solution in the latest generation of PowerEdge servers uses one or two BOSS M.2 SATA devices to provide RAID 1 capability for the operating system drive.

Note: All Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI are configured with hardware RAID 1 for the operating system drives on BOSS M.2 SATA SSD devices. The steps in this section are required only when recovering a failed cluster node. Before creating a new RAID, the existing or failed RAID must be deleted.

This procedure describes the process of creating operating system volumes.

1. Log in to the iDRAC web interface.
2. Go to Storage >  Controllers.

Figure 21: View controllers

3. Go to Configuration >  Storage Configuration > Virtual Disk Configuration, and then click Create Virtual Disk.

Figure 22: Create a virtual disk

4. Provide a virtual disk name and select BOSS M.2 devices in the physical disks.

Figure 23: Provide virtual disk name

Figure 24: Set Physical Disks

5. Click Add Pending Operations.
6. Go to Configuration >  Storage Configuration >  Virtual Disk Configuration.

Figure 25: Initialize configuration

7. Select the virtual disk, and then select Initialize: Fast in Virtual Disk Actions.
8. Reboot the server.
   Note: The virtual disk creation process might take several minutes to complete.
9. After the initialization is completed successfully, the virtual disk health status is displayed.

Figure 26: Virtual disk health status

Operating system recovery

This section provides an overview of the steps involved in operating system recovery on Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI.

Note:  Ensure that the RAID 1 virtual disk created on the BOSS M.2 drives is reinitialized.

Note:  To help reduce repair times when the node is added back to the same cluster after recovery, do not reinitialize or clear the data on the disks that were a part of Storage Spaces Direct storage pool.

Manual operating system recovery

For manually deployed nodes, you can recover the operating system on the node by using any of the methods that were used for operating system deployment.

Factory operating system recovery

For the factory-installed OEM license of the operating system, Dell recommends that you use the operating system recovery media that shipped with the PowerEdge server. Using this media for operating system recovery ensures that the operating system stays activated after the recovery. Using any other operating system media triggers the need for activation after operating system deployment. Operating system deployment using the recovery media is the same as either retail or other operating system media based installation.

After completing the operating system deployment using the recovery media, perform the following steps to bring the node into an existing Azure Stack HCI cluster:

1. Update OOB drivers.
2. Configure host networking.
3. Change the hostname.
4. Perform AD Domain Join.
5. Configure the QoS policy (for RoCE for RDMA only).
6. Configure RDMA.
7. Configure the firewall.
8. Perform Day 0 operating system updates.
9. Add server nodes to the cluster.

For instructions on steps 1 through 7, see the Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Deployment Guide.