Configuration and Discovery for IBM Spectrum Virtualize

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The following sections describe how to configure and discover IBM Spectrum Virtualize systems for monitoring by Skylar One using the "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize" PowerPack:

Prerequisites for Monitoring IBM Spectrum Virtualize

To monitor IBM Spectrum Virtualize systems using the "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize" PowerPack in Skylar One, you must first install "Low Code Tools" PowerPack version 104 or later. This PowerPack is required for credentials to function correctly.

IBM: Spectrum Virtualize PowerPack Polling Frequency

The "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize" PowerPack communicates with the IBM Spectrum Virtualize system using REST API calls. IBM enforces rate limits (10 command requests per second, three authentication requests per second, and four active connections per cluster) to protect the API server.

When configured with a 300-second (five-minute) polling interval, the PowerPack generates approximately 157 REST API calls per device per polling cycle. This equates to approximately 0.5 requests per second, executed sequentially.

This behavior remains well within IBM’s documented rate limits. For longer polling intervals (10 or 15 minutes), the request rate is proportionally lower. For more information about the rate limits imposed by IBM, see the documentation for IBM API Connect.

Creating a Universal Credential for IBM Spectrum Virtualize

To configure Skylar One to monitor an IBM Spectrum Virtualize system, you must first create a credential. This credential allows the Dynamic Applications in the "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize" PowerPack to communicate with your IBM Spectrum Virtualize system.

The PowerPack includes an example universal credential that you can edit and save for your own use.

To create a universal credential:

  1. Go to the Credentials page (Manage > Credentials).
  2. Locate the "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Credential v104" credential, then click its Actions icon (actions icon) and select Duplicate from the drop-down menu. The "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Credential v104" credential appears.
  3. Click the Action icon (actions icon) for the "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Credential v104" credential, then select Edit. The Edit Credential page appears.
  4. Enter values in the following fields:
  • Name. Enter a new name for the credential. This field is required.
  • All Organizations. To align the credential to all organizations, toggle on (blue). To align it with specific organizations instead, toggle off (gray) and select one or more specific organizations from the Select the organizations the credential belongs to drop-down field.
  • Timeout. Enter the time, in milliseconds, after which Skylar One stops trying to communicate with the IBM Spectrum Virtualize device. This field is required.
  • Authentication Type. Keep the default value, Token Authentication.
  • Authenticator Override. This field is used only when a custom authenticator uses this credential type. Enter the name of the custom authenticator.
  • Username. Enter the username associated with the IBM Spectrum Virtualize administrator account.
  • Password. Enter the password associated with the IBM Spectrum Virtualize administrator account.
  • URL. Enter the URL that should be used to retrieve device data.
  • Authentication Failure Retry Time. Enter the number of seconds to wait before retrying authentication after a failure.
  • Token Retrieval Endpoint. Complete this field only if the token should be retrieved from a different API.
  • Token Key. Enter the key value in the JSON device response that contains the token value to extract.
  • Authorization Header. Enter the authorization header for the API.
  • Bearer Token Format. Determine how the bearer token should be configured and sent. The typical format is "Bearer {}", but varies per API. However, you must include the "{}" to ensure that the system inserts the token correctly.
  1. Click Save & Close.

Discovering IBM Spectrum Virtualize Devices

Skylar One includes a guided discovery workflow option for IBM Spectrum Virtualize. If you are using the default Skylar One user interface (AP2), you can use this guided discovery workflow to discover the IBM Spectrum Virtualize devices you want to monitor.

To run guided discovery:

  1. On the Devices page () or the Discovery Sessions page (Devices > Discovery Sessions), click the Add Devices button. The Select page appears.
  2. Click the IBM button.
  3. On the Select the type of devices you want to monitor page, select IBM Spectrum Virtualize, then click Select. The Credential Selection page appears.

    During the guided discovery process, you cannot click Next until the required fields are filled on the page, nor can you skip to future steps. However, you can revisit previous steps that you have already completed.

  1. On the Credential Selection page of the guided discovery process, select the IBM Spectrum Virtualize universal credential that you configured, and then click Next. The Root Device Details page appears.
  2. Complete the following fields:
  • Root Device Name. Enter the name of the root device for the IBM Spectrum Virtualize root device you want to monitor.
  • Select the organization to add discovered devices to. Select the name of the organization to which you want to add the discovered device.
  • Collector Group Name. Select an existing collector group to communicate with the discovered device. This field is required.
  1. Click Next. Skylar One creates the IBM Spectrum Virtualize root device with the appropriate device class assigned to it and aligns the relevant Dynamic Applications. The Final Summary page appears.
  2. Click Close.

Discovering IBM Spectrum Virtualize Devices in the Skylar One Classic User Interface

The classic Skylar One user interface does not support the guided discovery workflow for discovering IBM Spectrum Virtualize devices. Instead, to discover your devices in the classic user interface, you must first create a virtual device representing your IBM Spectrum Virtualize system and then manually align one or more discovery Dynamic Applications to that virtual device.

You can also use this method if you are using the default Skylar One user interface (AP2) but prefer to not use guided discovery.

Creating an IBM Spectrum Virtualize Virtual Device

A virtual device is a user-defined container that represents a device or service that cannot be discovered by Skylar One. You can use the virtual device to store information gathered by policies or Dynamic Applications.

To create a virtual device that represents your IBM Spectrum Virtualize system:

  1. Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic user interface).
  2. Click Actions, then select Create Virtual Device from the menu. The Virtual Device modal page appears.
  3. Enter values in the following fields:
  • Device Name. Enter a name for the device.
  • Organization. Select the organization for this device. The organization you associate with the device limits the users that will be able to view and edit the device. Typically, only members of the organization can view and edit the device.
  • Device Class. Select IBM Spectrum Virtualize Cluster [ Virtual Device ].
  • Collector. Select the collector group that you want to use to monitor the device.
  1. Click Add to create the virtual device.

Aligning the Dynamic Applications

To align the IBM Spectrum Virtualize Dynamic Applications:

  1. After the IBM Spectrum Virtualize virtual device is created, click its device icon (). The Device Properties page appears.

  2. Click the Collections tab. The Dynamic Application Collections page appears.

  3. Click the Actions button and then select Add Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Application Alignment page appears.

  4. In the Dynamic Applications field, select one or more of the following Dynamic Applications, depending on the device types you want to monitor: 

    • "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Storage Drives Discovery"

    • "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Storage Hosts Discovery"

    • "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Storage Nodes Discovery"

    • "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Storage Pools Discovery"

    • "IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Storage Volumes Discovery"

  5. In the Credentials field, select the credential you created previously.

  6. Click the Save button. Skylar One begins discovering your IBM Spectrum Virtualize components under the appropriate container type component device.

  7. To discover VDisk components, repeat steps 1-6, with the following differences:

    • From the Device Manager (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic user interface) or Device Components page (Devices > Device Components), click the device icon () for the IBM: Spectrum Virtualize Storage Pools component device.

    • On the Dynamic Application Alignment page, in the Dynamic Applications field, select IBM: Spectrum Virtualize VDisks Discovery.

Viewing IBM Spectrum Virtualize Component Devices

In addition to the Devices page and Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic user interface), you can view the IBM Spectrum Virtualize system and all associated component devices in the following places in the user interface:

  • The Device Components page (Devices > Device Components) displays a list of all root devices and component devices discovered by Skylar One in an indented view, so you can easily view the hierarchy and relationships between child devices, parent devices, and root devices. To view the component devices associated with an IBM Spectrum Virtualize system, find the IBM Spectrum Virtualize device and click its plus icon (+).
  • The Device View modal page (click the bar-graph icon [] for a device, then click the Topology tab) displays a map of a particular device and all of the devices with which it has parent-child relationships. If you double-click any of the devices listed, the page reloads to make the selected device the primary device.
  • The Component Map page (Classic Maps > Device Maps > Components) allows you to view devices by root node and view the relationships between root nodes, parent components, and child components in a map. This makes it easy to visualize and manage root nodes and their components. Skylar One automatically updates the Component Map as new component devices are discovered, and updates each map with the latest status and event information. To view the map for an IBM Spectrum Virtualize system, go to the Component Map page and select the map from the list in the left NavBar. For more information, see the section on Views.