Creating a New Datastore in Cisco HyperFlex Connect

1.    First log into your Cisco HyperFlex Connect.
2.    Once you have logged in, you will see your Dashboard and can check to make sure the cluster is healthy.

 3.    Once you have verified your cluster is healthy, click on the Datastores tab under the MANAGE section on the left hand side.

4.    Now that you are in the Datastore section, you can click on Create Datastore in the top left corner of the Datastore section.

5.    After you click this, a pop-up box will come up and you can type in the information for your datastore you wish to create.
    o    Datastore Name: You can name your datastore whatever you wish. This will be the name that shows up here, and in your vCenter, or other virtual manager device.
    o    Size: Also simple, you can choose the size of your datastore. This is going to be based on your requirements and available storage.
    o    Block Size: Have not had to mess with this, and I will provide more information once I read more into this. I keep default for now.
    o    Create Datastore: Click here to complete and finish your datastore.

6.    You should see your datastore show up in the HyperFlex Connect datastore list.

7.    Also, you can head over to vSphere and check the datastores in there to verify it also shows up there.

8.    You are finished and can now start adding systems and data to the datastore.

Performing Ready Clone Option for Cisco HyperFlex through HyperFlex Connect

1.    First off, once you log in to the Cisco HyperFlex Connect system, you should see the Dashboard. You should first verify the Operational Status shows Online, the Resiliency Health is showing Healthy, and finally, Capacity is also green. This is just an overall basic check of the HyperFlex system.
2.    Now, you can click on the “Virtual Machines” tab in the bottom left of the screen:

3.    Next, you can click on the VM you wish to clone, then once it is checked, you can click on the “Ready Clones” tab in the top left.

4.    Now the next step has a lot going on but a brief explanation and then you can look at the screenshot to see the full process/example.
    a.    First you will select the number of clones you wish to create in the “Number of clones” box.
    b.    Then, in the “Resource Pool” box, you will select the Resource Pool from your vSphere you wish to deploy to.
    c.    Next you type in a prefix name for the VMs in the “VM Name Prefix” box.
    d.    Next you put in a starting number you want at the end of the VM clones name in the “Starting clone number” box (exampled, you want it to be testvm1, or you can start it at testvm50, up to you.
    e.    Next you can change the increment of the number if you wish. Usually the default of 1 is chosen.
    f.    Next, you can uncheck or check the “Use same name for Guest Name” box. I leave this checked since it simplifies your naming scheme, but you can uncheck and customize as you wish.
    g.    Now, getting close to the end here, you can preview your VMs going to deploy in the “Preview” pane.
    h.    Finally, you can choose wweather or not to power on the VMs immediately after they cloned, or uncheck the box to leave powered off. Then just hit the “Clone” button.

5.    Finally, you can verify the VMs have been created in the Resource Pool in your vSphere, or if you do not see them yet, can check and see they are being created in the “Tasks Pane” in your vSphere. Once you see them, you have your clones and are ready to go.