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System Management Console


The System Management Console is a system-specific web application that lets you monitor and manage HCP and its individual nodes. The Console shows you the status of the system in real time, so you can take action when necessary to ensure system health (for example, restarting a node that has failed). Through the Console, you can also modify various system settings, create tenants, and monitor repository usage across all namespaces. Changes you make through the Console take effect immediately.

Access to the System Management Console is available only through HTTP with SSL security (HTTPS).

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Note: To access the HCP System Management Console in Internet Explorer® on a Windows server, Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration must be disabled for administrators on that server.

Console access

To use the System Management Console, you need either:

A system-level user account defined in HCP.

If the HCP system is configured to support Windows Active Directory (AD), an AD user account for a user that belongs to one or more AD groups for which corresponding system-level group accounts are defined in HCP. In the help, such an AD user account is referred to as a recognized AD user account.

Your HCP user account or group account configuration includes settings that specify what you have permission to do in the Console. The menu options, pages, and panels that you see in the Console depend on the permissions that have been configured for your user or group account.

If an AD user belongs to multiple AD groups for which HCP group accounts exist, that user has all the permissions associated with all those group accounts.

For more information about user and group accounts, see About user and group accounts. For information about AD, see Configuring Active Directory to support HCP.

Console sessions

A System Management Console session begins when you take one of these actions:

Log into the Console using an HCP user account or recognized AD user account.

Access a Console page while logged in to Windows with a recognized AD user account. This is called single sign-on. With single sign-on, you don’t need to explicitly log into the Console.

Your web browser must be configured to support single sign-on. For more information, see Browser configuration for single sign-on with Active Directory.

A session ends when you log out. During a session, you can perform any actions for which you have permission.

During a session, if you don’t take any action for a certain amount of time, the Console displays the Idle Timeout page. If you explicitly logged in to the session, the Console automatically logs you out and, when you click any tab on the Idle Timeout page, displays the login page. If you started the session by using single sign-on, when you click any tab, the Console displays the requested page. The amount of idle time allowed is configurable. For information about setting this value, see Changing user account and login settings.

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Note: Logging in to or out of the System Management Console has no effect on HCP operation.

HCP management API

HCP includes a RESTful HTTP interface to a subset of its administrative functions. Using this interface, called the management API, you can create, modify, and delete tenants and manage replication. If a tenant has been configured to allow system-level users to manage it and search its namespaces, you can also view available service plans that can be assigned to that tenant, and you can create, modify, and delete namespaces, user and group accounts, and content classes for that tenant. Additionally, you can create, modify, and delete retention classes for tenant namespaces.

You use the HCP System Management Console to enable the management API. To use the management API, you need a user account that includes the applicable permissions for the actions that you want to take.

If HCP is configured to support AD authentication, applications can also use recognized AD user accounts to access HCP through the management API. To do this, an application must use the SPNEGO protocol to negotiate the AD user authentication. For more information about SPNEGO, see http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4559.

For information about enabling the management API, see Controlling access to HCP through the management API. For information about using the HCP management API, see HCP Management API Reference.

Hitachi Device Manager and Hitachi Tiered Storage Manager

As an alternative to the System Management Console, you can use Hitachi Device Manager (HDvM) to report on HCP storage usage. Additionally, when using USP or USP-V storage, you can use Hitachi Tiered Storage Manager to migrate repository content to different storage tiers.

You cannot make changes to the HCP configuration through HDvM or Hitachi Tiered Storage Manager.

HCP supports IPv4 and IPv6 network connections to HDvM servers. However, HDvM support for IPv6 network connections varies based on the HDvM server operating system. For information about requirements for HDvM servers that support IPv6 networks, see the applicable Hitachi Command Suite documentation.

For information about connecting HCP to HDvM, see Configuring the Hitachi Device Manager connection.

Hitachi Remote Ops

Hitachi Remote Ops is a Hitachi Vantara product that enables you and HCP support personnel to monitor your HCP system remotely. With Hitachi Remote Ops, you can monitor nodes, back-end switches, and front-end switches. For SAIN systems, you can also monitor SAN arrays and Fibre Channel switches.

Hitachi Remote Ops is used for monitoring and error notification purposes only. It does not allow any changes to the HCP system.

HCP supports IPv4 and IPv6 network connections to Hitachi Remote Ops servers. However, Hitachi Remote Ops support for IPv6 network connections varies based on the Hitachi Remote Ops server operating system. For information about requirements for Hitachi Remote Ops servers that support IPv6 networks, see the Hitachi Remote Ops documentation.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

System Management Console URL


The URL for the System Management Console has this format:

https://admin.hcp-domain-name:8000

In this format, hcp-domain-name is the name of the domain associated with the [hcp_system] network. For information about this network, see About virtual networking with HCP.

For example, for access to the System Management Console for the HCP system with the domain name hcp‑ma.example.com, you would use this URL:

https://admin.hcp‑ma.example.com:8000

If the management network is enabled, you cannot access the System Management Console with the domain name associated with the [hcp_system] network. You need to use the domain name associated with the [hcp_management] network.

Normally, you specify the HCP system domain name in the System Management Console URL and let HCP choose the node on which the Console application runs. However, in certain situations, you may need to access the Console on a specific node. To do so, you specify a System Management Console URL that includes a valid [hcp_system] network IP address for the node on which you want to access the Console.

For example, if a node has the IPv4 address 192.168.210.16 and the IPv6 address 2001:0db8::101 defined for the [hcp_system] network, you can access the System Management Console on that specific node by entering either of these URLs in your browser address field:

https://192.168.210.16:8000

https://[2001:0db8::101]:8000

Regardless of whether you access the System Management Console by specifying a domain name or a node IP address, the Console provides administrative capabilities for the entire system.

Using a hosts file

Typically, the HCP system is included as a subdomain in your DNS. If this is not the case, you can specify an IP address in the System Management Console URL, as described above. Alternatively, you can specify the HCP system domain name in the URL and use a hosts file to define mappings of one or more node IP addresses to the domain name.

The location of the hosts file depends on the client operating system:

On Windows, by default: c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

On Unix: /etc/hosts

On Mac OS® X: /private/etc/host

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Note: Every HCP system has a domain that’s associated with the [hcp_system] network. If HCP is not included in your DNS, this is a dummy domain with a name that follows the conventions for well-formed DNS names.

Hostname mappings

Each entry in a hosts file is a mapping of an IP address for a system to a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for that system.

Each hosts file entry that you create for access to the HCP System Management Console must include:

A valid [hcp_system] network IP address for an HCP node

The FQDN used to access the HCP System Management Console, which consists of the prefix admin. followed by the HCP system domain name

For example, if the [hcp_system] network domain name is hcp‑ma.example.com and one of the HCP nodes has the IPv4 address 192.168.210.16 and the IPv6 address 2001:0db8::101 defined for that network, you could add either or both of these lines to the hosts file on the client:

192.168.210.16 admin.hcp-ma.example.com

2001:0db8::101 admin.hcp-ma.example.com

You can include comments in a hosts file either on separate lines or following a mapping on the same line. Each comment must start with a number sign (#). Blank lines are ignored.

Hostname mapping considerations

In the hosts file, you can map IP addresses for any number of nodes to a single domain name. The way a client uses multiple IP address mappings for a single domain name depends on the client platform. For information about how your client handles hosts file entries that define multiple IP address mappings for a single domain name, see your client documentation.

If any of the HCP nodes listed in the hosts file are unavailable, timeouts may occur when you use a hosts file to access the System Management Console.

Sample hosts file

Here’s a sample hosts file that contains mappings for both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses:

192.168.210.16     admin.hcp-ma.example.com
192.168.210.17     admin.hcp-ma.example.com
192.168.210.18     admin.hcp-ma.example.com
192.168.210.19     admin.hcp-ma.example.com
2001:0db8::101    admin.hcp-ma.example.com
2001:0db8::102    admin.hcp-ma.example.com
2001:0db8::103    admin.hcp-ma.example.com
2001:0db8::104    admin.hcp-ma.example.com

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Logging in


Depending on the HCP system configuration, you can log into the System Management Console with an HCP user account or a recognized AD user account. For the user account to use when first logging in to the Console for a new HCP system, see Account administration.

To log into the System Management Console:

1.Open a web browser.

2.In the address field, enter the URL for the System Management Console for your HCP system.

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Note: If you inadvertently use http instead of https in the URL, the browser returns an error. Enter the URL again, this time using https.

One of these happens:

oIf all of these are true, you are automatically logged in to the System Management Console, and the Console Overview page appears:

You are currently logged in to Windows with a recognized AD user account.

HCP is configured to support AD.

Your web browser is configured to support single sign-on with AD. For information about this, see Browser configuration for single sign-on with Active Directory.

This is single sign-on. No further action is required.

oIf HCP is configured to support AD but any of the following apply, a message appears indicating that single sign-on was not possible:

You are not currently logged in to Windows with a recognized AD user account.

Your web browser is not configured to support single sign-on.

You are not on a Windows computer.

In these cases, you need to click Console login page in the message to display the System Management Console login page.

oIf HCP is not configured to support AD, the System Management Console login page appears.

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Note: The System Management Console login page shows the specific version of the HCP release, the version numbers of any hotfixes that have been applied to the HCP system, and the serial number for the HCP system. Once you enter the Console, this information appears at the bottom of each page.

3.In the Username field, type your username.

4.In the Password field, type your case-sensitive password.

When using an HCP user account, if you try to log in with an invalid password multiple times in a row, you are locked out of the Console. The exact number of times is configurable. For information about setting this value, see Changing user account and login settings.

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Note: AD can also be configured to disable user accounts after a given number of authentication attempts with an invalid password.

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Important: If you’re using a locally authenticated HCP user account, you should change your password as soon as possible the first time you log into the System Management Console.

5.If HCP is configured to support AD, in the Domain field, select the applicable domain your user account:

oIf you’re using an HCP user account, select the domain name of the HCP system.

oIf you’re using a recognized AD user account, select the AD domain in which your user account is defined.

If HCP is not configured to support AD, the login page does not display the Domain field.

6.Click Log In.

The Console displays the Overview page or, if you’re using an HCP user account and are required to change your password, the Change Password page.

During system startup, you can log into the System Management Console before startup processing is complete. However, until more than half of the nodes have completed their startup processing, the Console displays only the Hardware page.

The Console automatically switches to the Overview page or Change Password page, as applicable, when the required number of nodes is available.

For information about the Overview page, see About the Overview page. For information about changing your password, see Changing your password.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Using the System Management Console


System Management Console pages display information about the HCP system. Some pages also let you configure various aspects of the system.

Console pages have menus and hyperlinks for navigation. Each page shows a horizontal menu at the top. Some of the menu options display a secondary menu when you hover over them. To navigate to a page, you click the corresponding menu option.

You can also use shortcut keys to navigate to pages in the System Management Console. Each link that has a shortcut key has the applicable letter underlined. To use the shortcut key, follow the convention for the browser you’re using.

Each page of the System Management Console shows the username of the currently logged-in user in the upper right corner.

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Notes: 

If you’re an AD user and your username changes in AD while you’re using the System Management Console, the Console may not reflect the new username until you log out and back in. If you’re currently using any other HCP interfaces, you need to log out of those as well.

Alternatively, you can force the Console to reflect the new username immediately by clearing the AD cache. For information about this, see Clearing the Active Directory cache.

While the system is experiencing a heavy load, the System Management Console may be slower to present certain information.

If the HCP system restarts while you’re using the System Management Console, clicking any menu option, hyperlink, or button causes the Console to display the Hardware page. The Console automatically switches to the Overview page when the system becomes available again.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Refreshing pages


System Management Console pages do not automatically refresh themselves while they remain open. To see the most recent values on a page, click again on the menu option that opens that page.

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Note: Using the browser reload button to refresh a page that lets you create or modify an entity causes the Console to resubmit values you previously entered on the page.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Submitting changes


Most System Management Console pages and panels on which you can modify information have action buttons (such as Update Settings and Create Tenant) that submit your changes. Action buttons make the changes on a page permanent. These changes take effect immediately.

You need to submit the changes you make before switching to a different page or panel. If you switch without submitting your changes, the Console does not retain them.

For some checkbox options, selecting or deselecting the checkbox causes that change to take effect immediately.

After you submit changes, the Console displays a message indicating whether HCP successfully made the changes. To hide the message, click Dismiss in the message area.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Viewing HCP documentation


HCP documentation is available online in PDF format. To view a document from the System Management Console:

1.In the top right corner of the System Management Console window, hover over the documentation control ( DocumentationControl.png ) to display a menu of the available documents.

2.In the dropdown menu, click the document you want.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Changing your password


Depending on how your HCP user account is set up, HCP may authenticate your username and password locally or remotely when you log in. If your account is set up for local authentication, you can change your password in the System Management Console. When you change your password in this Console, it also changes for any other HCP interfaces to which your user account gives you access.

If your account is set up for remote authentication or if you use an AD user account to access the Console, you use a method outside HCP to change your password.

For information about local and remote authentication, see User authentication.

To change your locally authenticated password in the System Management Console:

1.Log into the System Management Console using your existing password.

2.In the top right corner of the Console window, click Password.

3.On the Change Password page:

oIn the Existing password field, type your current password.

oIn the New password field, type your new password. Passwords can be up to 64 characters long, are case sensitive, and can contain any valid UTF-8 characters, including white space.

To be valid, a password must include at least one character from two of these three groups: alphabetic, numeric, and other.

The minimum length for passwords is system specific. Typically, it’s six or eight characters. For information about changing the minimum length for passwords, see Changing user account and login settings.

When changing your password, you cannot reuse your current password.

oIn the Confirm New Password field, type your new password again.

4.Click Update Password.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

Logging out


To log out of the System Management Console:

1.In the top right corner of the Console window, click Log Out.

2.If you explicitly logged in, close the browser window to ensure that other users cannot go back into the System Management Console using the credentials you used to log in.

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Tip: For extra security, clear the browser cache before closing the window.

© 2015, 2019 Hitachi Vantara Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

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