Release Notes

EMC Unisphere for VMAX

Version 8.4.0

REV 01
May 12, 2017

These release notes contain supplemental information about EMC Unisphere for VMAX
V8.4.0. Topics include:
l Revision history...................................................................................................... 2
l Product description................................................................................................ 2
l New and changed features..................................................................................... 3
l Fixed issues........................................................................................................... 10
l Known issues and limitations................................................................................. 12
l Additional resources.............................................................................................. 21
Release Notes

Revision history
Table 1 Changes made to this document

Revision Date Description

01 May 12, 2017 First release of this document.

Product description
Unisphere for VMAX V8.4.0 is a web-based application that allows you to configure
and manage EMC’s DMX, VMAX, VMAX3, and VMAX All Flash storage arrays.
You can use Unisphere for VMAX to:
l Manage user accounts and roles
l Perform configuration operations (create volumes, mask volumes, set storage
attributes, set volume attributes, and set port flags)
l Manage volumes (change volume configuration, set volume status, and create/
dissolve meta volumes)
l Perform and monitor replication and backup operations
l Manage advanced storage features
l Monitor alerts, including the ability to configure external alert notifications
l Monitor storage system performance data
l Monitor and troubleshoot database performance issues using Database Storage
Analyzer

Capacity information
Storage capacity can be measured using two different systems – base 2 (binary) and
base 10 (decimal). Organizations such as the International System of Units (SI)
recommend using the base 10 measurement to describe storage capacity. In base 10
notation, one megabyte (MB) is equal to 1 million bytes, and one gigabyte (GB) is
equal to 1 billion bytes.
Operating systems generally measure storage capacity using the base 2 measurement
system. Unisphere for VMAX and Solutions Enabler use the base 2 measurement
system to display storage capacity along with the TB notation as it is more universally
understood. In base 2 notation, one megabyte (MB) is equal to 1,048,576 bytes and
one gigabyte (GB) is equal to 1,073,741,824 bytes.

Name Abbrevi Binary Binary Value (in Decimal Decimal

ation Power Decimal) Power (Equivalent)
kilobyte KB 210 1,024 103 1,000

megabyte MB 220 1,048,576 106 1,000,000

gigabyte GB 230 1,073,741,824 109 1,000,000,000

terabyte TB 240 1,099,511,627,776 1012 1,000,000,000,000

2 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

New and changed features
For information on previously released Unisphere for VMAX features, refer to the
corresponding release notes located on EMC Online Support at:
https://support.EMC.com
For detailed interoperability information, refer to E-Lab Interoperability Navigator at:
https://elabnavigator.EMC.com

Support announcements
EMC lists the Service Life dates for the versions of Unisphere for VMAX on EMC
Online Support:
https://support.emc.com/products/27045_Unisphere-for-VMAX
On the EMC Online Support site, click Support > Support By Product in the main
navigation bar. In the Find a Product box, type Unisphere for VMAX and click the
arrow. The Unisphere for VMAX page appears with the Service Life details listed on
the left-hand side of the page.

New features
Unisphere for VMAX V8.4.0 adds capabilities in the following areas:
l Platform
l Performance
l Reports
l Storage
l Data protection
Platform
From V8.4.0, Unisphere for VMAX can run on Windows 2016 servers, Red Hat AS/ES
5.8 to 6.2 (64-bit) systems, SUSE Linus 10 (all SPs) systems, and SUSE Linux 11 (SP1
and SP2, 64-bit) systems.
Performance
The Array Dashboard has a new Efficiency tab. The tab provides a chart of four items
over a user-selected time period:
l Average read and write times (in milliseconds)
l Metadata usage, as a percentage
l Capacity usage, as a percentage
l Usable capacity
Reports
The new features for certain reports are:
l The Capacity reports now include:
n Total system subscribed capacity
n Total system usable capacity
n Subscribed capacity percentage for the system

New and changed features 3

Release Notes

n Percentage of replication data used

n Percentage of system metadata used
These items are available for arrays that run HYPERMAX OS 5977 Q2 2017 SR
release or higher.
l There is a new data compressibility report. It indicates the maximum amount that
data in a storage group can be compressed on arrays that have data compression
capabilities.
l There are two new categories in performance reporting:
Table 2 New categories in performance reporting and their metrics

Category Metric Description

FICON Port Thread %Busy The percentage of time the port
thread was busy.

%Idle The percentage of time the port

thread was idle.

Busy Time The amount of time the port

thread was busy (in milliseconds).

Idle Time The amount of time the port

thread was idle (in milliseconds).

Processing Time The amount of time the port

thread was running, whether it
was busy or idle (in milliseconds).

FICON Emulation Thread %Busy The percentage of time the port

thread was busy.

%Idle The percentage of time the port

thread was idle.

Busy Time The amount of time the port

thread was busy (in milliseconds).

Idle Time The amount of time the port

thread was idle (in milliseconds).

l There are new metrics in existing categories:

Table 3 New metrics for existing categories

Metric Category Description

Random Writes to WP slots per Thin Volume Number of writes to affect the
second back end.

Random Writes to WB Slots in KB Thin Volume The amount of writes to affect

per second. the back end (in KB).

% Subscribed Capacity Array The subscribed capacity as a

percentage of the usable
capacity.

% Effective Used Capacity Array The percentage of usable

capacity that would be used if all

4 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

 Table 3 New metrics for existing categories (continued)

Metric Category Description

compressible data was
compressed.

Usable Capacity GB Array The total capacity of all Storage

Resource Pools (SRP) in GB.

% Metadata Replication Used Array The percentage of metadata used

for replication.

% Metadata System Used Array The percentage of metadata used

for the system.

Total SRP Capacity GB SRP The total amount of capacity

available in all SRPs in GB.

Used SRP Capacity GB SRP The amount of used capacity in all

SRPs in GB.

l There are modifications to some metrics:

Table 4 Modified metrics

Metric Category Description

% Busy FE Port The percentage of time the port is
busy,

% Busy FE Director The percentage of time the

director is busy.

%Busy FICON Emulator The percentage of time the

FICON emulation for the director
is busy.

l There are FICON Emulation metrics that are retired:

n SYMMK Idle Time
n Total Work Time
n Random Read Hits Time
n Random Read Misses Time
n Random Writes Hits Time
n Random Writes Misses Time
n Total Sequential Reads Time
n Total Sequential Writes Time
n Syscall Time/sec
n Management Time
n Link Port Time
n XRC Replication Time
n ZHPF Reads Time

New features 5
Release Notes

n ZHPF Writes Time

n CDI Time
n LP Task Time
n SYMMK Total Time
Storage
The new storage features are:
l The maximum capacity of a volume emulating CKD 3390 is now 1,182,006
cylinders.
l The ability to increase the size of a CKD device while it is online up to a maximum
of 1,182,006 cylinders.
l The source devices in a non-disruptive migration (NDM) configuration can also be
R1 devices of a SRDF session operating in synchronous mode (SRDF/S).
l There is a new view for managing NDM environments. In this view you can view
current NDM environments and set up new ones.
l There is a new threshold event (System Metadata Utilization) associated with
system internal resources (metadata). That event enables effective monitoring of
metadata usage.
Data protection
There are additional capabilities for managing Timefinder Snap VX operations:
l The secure snaps feature enables customers to safeguard their data from
intentional or accidental deletion.
n When creating a secure snap, you can set a corresponding expiry date and time
for it.
n Administrators and privileged users cannot modify or delete a secure snap. This
protects data against intentional or accidental deletion.
n You can define a snapshot as secure when it's created or you can convert an
existing snapshot into a secure one.

Note

Secure snapshots may only be terminated after they expire or by customer-

authorized EMC Support. Refer to Knowledgebase article 498316 for more
information.
l You can define and modify the time-to-live (TTL) of a SnapVX session in hours.
Previously you could specify TTL in days only.

6 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Changed features
REST API
The major changes to the REST API in this release are:

Table 5 REST API Changes

Functional area Changes

General l All REST functions are available under the /84/
endpoints.
In previous releases only the new capabilities were bought
forward to the new endpoint (such as /83/).
l Existing functionality is still available.
Upgrading to Unisphere for VMAX V8.4.0 does not cause
existing scripts to fail.
l All POST and PUT calls can be made asynchronously.
l There is a new GET pattern and new responses.
l Return codes are standardized across all REST calls.

Performance Metrics l New iSCSI endpoints:

n univax/restapi/perfromance/IPInterface/keys
n /restapi/performance/IPInterface/metrics
n /restapi/performance/ISCSITarget/keys
n /restapi/performance/ISCSITarget/metrics
l All other performance endpoints are now in the root
resource.

SLO Provisioning l Additional information in the GET calls:

n /84/sloprovisioning/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/
director/{directorId}
Now includes availability, director number, director
slot number, RDF Group Identifiers, and number of
cores.
n /84/sloprovisioning/symmetric/{symmetrixId}/
director/port/{portId}
Now includes iSCSI-related IP addresses, maximum
speed, and node WWN.
l New features for PUT and GET calls on volumes:
n GET: There are additional keys for RDF group
numbers, volume identifier name, SnapVX source, and
SnapVX target.
n GET (list): There are additional filters for SRDF group
numbers.
n PUT There are now capabilities to modify a volume
identifier, expand a volume, and free (that is,
deallocate) volumes.

Changed features 7
Release Notes

Table 5 REST API Changes (continued)

Functional area Changes

l New features for masking view connections (/84/

sloprovisioning/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/maskingview/
{maskingViewId}/connections):
n GET: Filters are available for a masking view.
n Ability to discover the host LUN addresses.

SRP l Additional attributes for GET (/84/sloprovisioning/

symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/srp/{srpId}).
l Additional filter options for GET list (/84/sloprovisioning/
symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/srp)
l New compressibility report (/84/sloprovisioning/
symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/srp/{srpId}/
compressibility_report)

Storage Group l Additional attributes returned from GET (/84/

sloprovisioning/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/storagegroup/
{storagegroupId}):
n Compression ratio to one
n Base SLO name
l Changes to filters for GET list:
n Additional filters for compression ratio in relation to
one and volume identifier
n Removal of sym_vol_name filter (use volumeId
instead)
l Additional capabilities for POST:
n Assign a volume identifier to all volumes created or
added
n Set host I/O limits
n Enable compliance alterts

Remote Replication (SRDF) l An action to force a new RDF group added for POST
(/84/replication/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/
storagegroup/{storagegroupId}/rdf_group).
l An action added to set the mode for PUT (/84/
replication/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/storagegroup/
{storageGroupId}/rdf_group/{rdfgNumId})

Local Replication New properties for POST for protected snapshots (/84/
replication/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/storagegroup/
{storageGroupId}/snapshot):
l secure
l timeInHours

8 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Table 5 REST API Changes (continued)

Functional area Changes

Non-Disruptive Migration l Capability check added to test whether NDM can run on
(NDM) the arrays.
l GET, POST, and DELETE functions under /84/migration/
symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/enpoints provide full control of
NDM environments.

vVols l Additional GET commands:

n Return a VVol name (/84/vvol/symmetrix/
{symmetrixId/storagecontainer/
{storageContainerId}/storageresource/
{storageResourceId}/volume/{volumeId})
n Return a list of storage resource volumes (/84/vvol/
symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/storagecontainer/
{storageContainerId}/storageresource/
{storageResourveId}/volume)
l Additional PUT command to create a PE masking view
(/84/vvols/symmetrix/{symmetrixId}/pemaskingview)

Miscellaneous l Obtain a summary of alerts through a GET call (/84/

system/alert_summary)
l New attributes in the response to GET on a
SymmetrixObject (/84/system/symmetrix/
{symmetrixId}):
n Sixe of the array cache
n D@RE status
n Total number of disks
n Display name lockinfo
l Obtain and update performance alerting:
n GET: /performance/threshold/categories
n PUT: /performance/threshold/update/{category}

The EMC Unisphere for VMAX REST API Concepts and Programmer's Guide contains an
overview of the REST API and:
l Shows how to obtain the API documentation
l Shows how to obtain example calls
l Identifies other resources that contain details of the API
In addition, there is a Change Log that contains details of all the changes to the API in
this release. This log is available from the EMC VMAX Community page in the
Developer Resources section (https://community.emc.com/community/products/
vmax#developer).

Changed features 9
Release Notes

Fixed issues
The problems fixed in Unisphere for VMAX V8.4.0 are:

Table 6 Fixed problems

Found in version Description

V8.3.0 Choosing Performance > Settings > Realtime Traces >
Create caused the GUI to stop responding. In addition, duplicate
trace files were created.

V8.3.0 Unisphere for VMAX on eManagement did not show source SnapVX
devices correctly.

V8.3.0 An intermittent problem occurred with logging in to Unisphere for

VMAX and the GUI stopped responding with the message
"Invocation Failed". This was caused by the number of SYMAPI
Session Pool handles becoming exhausted. The issue most often
occurred when the customer issued many SnapVX link and unlink
commands (for example, during disaster recovery testing).

V8.3.0 The Hosts tab of the All Dashboard in Performance Monitoring did
not show all the active hosts.

V8.3.0 The Diagnostic and Historical charts for a VMAX All Flash array
showed different compression ratios.

V8.3.0 Configuring email alerts in Unisphere for VMAX using the Sendmail
Sentrion Appliance caused the error message: Failed to set email
configuration".

V8.3.0 Using the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance (vApp) to protect
an existing storage group with SRDF/Metro failed with a timeout
error.

V8.3.0 The version of Wildfly (formerly JBoss) application server that

Unisphere for VMAX uses was open to security vulnerability
CVE-2016-0793. Unisphere for VMAX now uses a version of Firefly
without that vulnerability.

V8.3.0 Selecting an array and then choosing Hosts > Masking View
displays a list of masking views and a summary of their properties,
including the storage group. If you selected a masking view and then
clicked View Connections the display showed details of the host
and port connections, but not of the Storage Group. Storage Group
details did display, however, if you clicked View Details instead of
View Connections. The absence of Storage Group details in the
View Connections screen is now fixed.

V8.3.0 Performance reports that contain multiple queries involving volumes

and disks are always saved to the default location. The
documentation now makes this clear.

V8.3.0 The list of characters that cannot appear in a username or password

in the Online Help for Unisphere for VMAX was incorrect.

10 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Table 6 Fixed problems (continued)

Found in version Description

V8.2.0 Unisphere for VMAX was not listing storage groups even though
they were appearing in performance statistics.

V8.2.0 The DSA component of Unisphere for VMAX used a version of the
Struts 2 framework that is open to security vulnerability
CVE-2017-5638. Unisphere for VMAX now uses a version of DSA
without that vulnerability

V8.2.0 The overall status for the Health Check on the system dashboard
showed as Failed even though each of the individual components of
the check showed as passed.

V8.2.0 On opening Unisphere for VMAX, the error "server communication

error netconnection.call.failed: HTTP" appeared and the GUI
stopped responding. This was due to an error in the file SIGAR.DLL.

V8.1.0 The metric "Compressed MBs Sent and Received" was not available
in the Unisphere for VMAX Performance chart when Last Month
was selected.

V1.6.1 After upgrading ESX from 4.1 to 5.1, the user cannot power up the
Unisphere for VMAX vApp.

Fixed issues 11
Release Notes

Known issues and limitations

This section identifies limitations to the functionality of this release, and known
performance limits under certain conditions.
The known issues and limitations are organized into functional sections:
l Installation
l Usability
l Administration
l Storage
l Hosts
l Data protection
l Performance
l System
l REST API
l Virtual Appliance
l Database Storage Analyzer (DSA)

Table 7 Known issues and limitations

Feature Description

Installation
Language support Ensure that your system is configured to use a supported operating
system, language, and keyboard.

Install volume For installations on Microsoft Windows, Unisphere must be installed on

a volume which has Windows short file names (8dot3) enabled.
To determine if short names are enabled for a volume, use:

fsutil 8dot3name query <Volume_Drive_Letter>

Return values are:

Volume state = 0 (8dot3 is enabled)
Volume state = 1 (disabled)
To enable 8dot3, use:

fsutil8dot3 set <Volume_Drive_Letter> 0

Installing in a client/ When installing Unisphere for VMAX in a client/server setup with a
server setup remote host that is configured with multiple IP addresses, it's
recommended that you supply the IP address of the SymAPI server
instead of the HostName in the SymAPI Configuration page of the
install wizard.

Uninstall from the When uninstallingUnisphere for VMAX from the command line, the -
command line uninstall option is not supported. For instructions on uninstalling

12 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description
Unisphere for VMAX, refer to the EMC Unisphere for VMAX Installation
Guide.

Linux systems Before opening Unisphere for VMAX from a Linux system, clear the
DISPLAY variable to avoid the system hanging or stopping.

Browser displays After installation or server restart, the browser displays an HTTP
status error Status 404 message. If you get this message, wait a few minutes and
try again.

Upgrade from SMC While direct upgrade from 64-bit is supported, direct upgrade from 32-
bit SMC is not. To upgrade in a 32-bit environment, uninstall SMC,
install Unisphere for VMAX V1.6.2.13, and then upgrade to V8.1.0.

Upgrade to After upgrading to Unisphere for VMAX V8.3.0 or later, if the previous
Unisphere for VMAX version number still displays, clear the browser history. If this does not
fix the problem, clear the browser cache and restart the browser. For
instructions on clearing the browser’s history/cache, refer to the
browser’s online help.

LDAP-SSL cert file If using the LDAP-SSL cert file after an upgrade from 8.0 or 8.1 to 8.2
and later, the cert file needs to be manually copied from */jboss/
domain/servers/server-0/configuration/*.cer to */
SMAS/jboss/standalone/configuration/*.cer.

SUSE install The following issues apply to SUSE installations:

l After installing on a SUSE host, you can ignore the following
erroneous message:
The installation of Unisphere for VMAX is finished, but some errors
occurred during the install. Please see the log for details.
l After rebooting a SUSE host, the SMAS service does not auto-
start. To work around this issue, manually start the service using
the following command:

cd /etc/init.d ./smas start

Delay required After installing Unisphere for VMAX or restarting the Unisphere for
before starting VMAX server, wait a few minutes before attempting to launch a client.
Unisphere for VMAX Attempting to launch too early produces an error indicating a failure to
locate the server.

Red Hat Linux Before installing Unisphere for VMAX on a host running Red Hat Linux
5.9 or later, ensure that the maximum number of open file descriptors
allowed is at least 4096. The EMC Unisphere for VMAX Installation Guide
contains instructions on performing this operation. If you do not do this
before starting the installation, there is a risk of the installation failing
with the following error:
Please insert Disk1 or type its location
If this error occurs:

1. Delete the SMAS directory.

2. Delete the emc_SMAS_installed file located in /opt/emc

Known issues and limitations 13

Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description

3. Increase the maximum number of file descriptions allowed to at

least 4096, as described in the EMC Unisphere for VMAX Installation
Guide.
4. Run the installer again.

Global languages Before installing Unisphere for VMAX on a Microsoft Windows system,
make sure the language for the system location is correct. (Control
Panel > Region and Language > Administrative tab >
Language for non-Unicode programs). This avoids indecipherable
characters on the install screens.

Virtual Appliance Note the following before upgrading the Unisphere for VMAX Virtual
upgrade Appliance:
l Direct upgrade of the SPA Virtual Appliance is supported from
V7.3.3 only. To upgrade from an earlier version of the virtual
appliance, upgrade to V7.3.3 first, and then to the Unisphere for
VMAX Virtual Appliance.
l When upgrading the SMC V7.3.3 Virtual Appliance to the
Unisphere for VMAX Virtual Appliance from a .zip file, you must use
the same hostname and IP address; otherwise, the persistent data
does not transfer with the upgrade.
l Unisphere for VMAX local users are not visible in vApp Manager.
l Starting with V8.0.2, the Solutions Enabler STP daemon collects
data using a new format. This can create an issue when performing
an ISO upgrade of the Virtual Appliance from V1.6.2 to V8.0.2.6 or
later. To work around this issue, do one of the following:
n Before starting the upgrade, verify that the STP daemon is
running and processing data files on the V1.6.2 virtual
appliance. To determine if the daemon is processing data files,
download or view the STP log from the vApp Manager Log tab.
n Before starting the upgrade, restart the virtual machine, restart
the STP daemon, and then confirm that the STP daemon is
processing data (DCF) files.
n After completing the upgrade, determine if the STP daemon is
processing data files. If not, set the retention of Root Cause
Analysis data (diagnostic) to the minimum of one day. This
deletes the faulty V1.6.2 data files after 24 hours.
For more information on this issue, refer to Knowledge Base article
200684.
l When upgrading to V8.1.0, the ESX server information does not
persist. Therefore, once you have completed the upgrade, add the
server information again using the vApp Manager. All other
information persists through the upgrade.

Usability

14 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description
Unlicensed systems Licensing a storage system does not clear the unlicensed condition
on the Home (indicated with a key icon) on the Home Dashboard. To clear this
Dashboard condition, log out, and log in again.

Navigation If a Unisphere for VMAX link or control does not work after a
breadcrumb navigation, return to the original window using the menu
buttons.

Home Dashboard The Home Dashboard may sometimes fail to load when you launch
the console for the first time. If this happens, simply navigate to
another view, and then back to the dashboard; or log out and log in
again to the console.

Online help issue When viewing the Unisphere for VMAX online help in Microsoft Internet
when displayed in Explorer - compatibility view, topics display in the help contents panel.
Internet Explorer 10 To fix this issue, turn off compatibility view by doing one of the
following:
l To turn it off for a single browser instance, click Compatibility
View (blue, broken page icon) in the browser address bar. When
disabled, this icon turns gray.
l To disable it permanently:
Click Start > Run

Type gpedit.msc and click OK.

Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative
Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer
\Compatibility View and in the right pane, double-click Turn
Off Compatibility View.
Select Disabled and click OK.

Running jobs After running a job, the Unisphere for VMAX console may terminate. If
this occurs, log into the console again and continue with what you were
doing. The job continues to run as planned.

Component status After a power supply failure, Unisphere for VMAX might continue to
display issue after report that the component has failed even after a refresh.
power supply failure
Work around: Perform a Discover Symmetrix to refresh the component
status.

Administration
Efficiency/Capacity In some circumstances, the SRP tab of the Efficiency/Capacity report
report shows out-of-date information. This can occur after events such as
freeing up a large amount of storage. Use the refresh icons in the lower
left corner of the screen to update the display and show up-to-date
information.

Alerts The alert numbers reported in the Home section include Array and
Performance alerts only. System alerts (for example, not enough
gatekeepers or an aborted connection to the SYMAPI server) are not
included. System alerts are, however, reported in the Alerts New
section of the status bar and visible in each system’s Alert view.

Known issues and limitations 15

Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description
Email alerts To get email alerts working for Unisphere for VMAX 8.2.0 and later
requires a version of Microsoft Exchange Server version that supports
TLS 1.2. In addition, ensure that anonymous users can connect to the
receive connector.

File alerts The File Dashboard in Unisphere for VMAX does not display file alerts.
They are visible, however, in Unisphere for VNX. See Knowledge Base
article 499394 for more information about this issue.

Storage
DATA volumes in DATA volumes are not allowed in external pools containing
FAST.X encapsulated volumes. However, when attempting to create DATA
volumes and assign them to such a pool, Unisphere creates the DATA
volumes before failing to add them to the pool, leaving the new volumes
behind. You can either delete the DATA volumes or assign them to
another pool.

Adding AS/400 The Create Storage Group and Expand Storage Group wizards do not
volumes to storage support adding AS/400 volumes. To create a storage group of AS/400
groups volumes, create an empty storage group, and then add the volumes to
it using the Add feature of the storage group's volume list view
(Storage > Storage Groups > View Details > Related Objects >
Volumes). Similarly, to add additional AS/400 volumes to an existing
storage group, also use the Add feature of the storage group's volume
list view.

External Storage The filtering mechanism on the External Storage page does not work
filter correctly.

External disk group Unisphere for VMAX does not display an alert when an external disk
fully allocated alert group becomes fully allocated through either pre-allocation or manual
allocation. It does, however, display an alert if the pool becomes fully
allocated from data being written to it.

Draining eDisks The maximum number of external disks that you can drain from a
Storage Resource Pool at one time is 20%. If you attempt to drain more
than 20%, Unisphere for VMAX displays an error indicating that there is
not enough space, and then continues the operation on only 20% of the
selected disks.

Adding eDisks to After removing all the eDisks from a storage resource pool, refresh the
SRPs storage system data displayed in the console before attempting to add
eDisks into the empty pool. Otherwise, available eDisks do not appear in
the Add LUN dialog box.

iSCSI Ports Groups The values for iSCSI Ports Groups on VMAX3 arrays are all shown as
zero.

Workload Planner Consider the following when working with Workload Planner:
l You can no longer save a Reference Workload or reset a workload
plan until at least one full week of root-cause-analysis data has
been collected.

16 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description

l Up to two full weeks of data is used to characterize the workload

with component I/O types, access density skew, and load rate
envelop information embedded in the result.
l Resetting to an incomplete plan periodically displays 0% in the 4
hour bar of the comparison charts. To work around this issue,
repeat the reset operation after enough root-cause-analysis data
has been collected.

Modifying a storage If a storage group name is modified it may not be possible to find the
group name storage group name from before it was modified in the SID >
Storage > Storage Groups Dashboard > SG_NAME view.
Hosts
Masking views An informational prompt displays when adding and removing ports from
a masking view to inform users if there are RecoverPoint-enabled
volumes. However, the informational prompt does not display when
deleting a masking view.

Adding new virtual When adding virtual servers using a hostname or fully qualified
servers hostname, the following message may appear: The specified
host could not be found. To workaround this issue, specify
the host IP address instead of the hostname.

Data Protection
FLM control ports When creating an FLM session, the directors/ports selected in the
Replicator SAN Vieware the only directors/ports available in the
Create FLM Session wizard. To avoid this, select the All folder in
the Control Ports filter, or multi-select all of the ports required to
create the session.

Detaching preferred The Detach button does not work when attempting to perform the
pairs operation from a single pair session level.

Open Replicator cold Unisphere for VMAX fails when activating a COLD PUSH session with
push one control volume and multiple remote volumes. Instead, perform the
operation on all the pairs at once.

Open Replicator In the Open Replicator SAN View, the following columns display
SAN View incorrect data for AS/400 volumes: Remote Volume WWN, Volume,
LUN, Emulation, Thin, and In Session.

Performance
Error message when When creating a report you may see an error message saying that a
creating a report report already exists with that name. This happens when a report with
that name existed for a previously registered array that has since been
removed. To avoid this situation, do the following when permanently
removing an array:
1. Unregister the array for performance data collection
2. Delete all performance report job definitions and the performance
database for that array

Known issues and limitations 17

Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description

Note

Follow these steps only if you are sure that this instance of Unisphere
for VMAX will never monitor the array again.

SRDF Mode column When SRDF pairs are added into a previously empty SRDF Group and
not updating the pairs are added in either Adaptive Copy or Synchronous mode then
there is a possibility that the SRDF Group list view does not have the
modes column correctly populated just after the create pair action
completes. If this happens, a full Symmetrix refresh updates the
information correctly.
Compression ratio Compression ratio metrics are supported only on systems capable of
metrics compression. Disregard any value reported on a system that is not
capable of compression.

Storage Group The Storage Group Demand Report for CKD devices does not match
Demand Report the CLI output.

Real Time charts Monitoring Real Time charts may cause memory overuse on a client,
especially when running in a Google Chrome browser.

Performance charts The chart of Average Queue Depth for a disk (reached from Disk
Group) may show inaccurate data. The related metric Avg Queue
Depth in the Disk tab may show the same inaccuracy.
Performance The Host IO Limit by FE and SG values displayed in the Performance
Analyze charts Analyzer Root Cause Analysis chart view are inconsistent with the
values shown in the Analyze view.

Database restore Carry out storage system database restores one at a time only.

BE director BE director Optimized Write counts for RAID-protected disks do not

Optimized Write include parity write counts.
Counts

Performance reports Running many reports that cover many instances (for example, SG/
volumes) can use many resources and so requires careful management.

RDFA Groups DSE Tracks used always reports a value of zero.

Total Tracks Spilled Over Packed always reports a value of zero.
DSE activity may be observed through the metrics Total Tracks
Spilled Over, Total Tracks Spilled Over Used, Total Tracks
Spilled Over Back.

FICON director Port writes and response times are not functional for FICON directors.

Performance reports Out of memory errors display when running device XML reports.

Skipping Recurrent A Daylight Savings Time (DST) anomaly occurs when a recurrent job
Job Execution Due cannot run at a particular time because that time does not exist due to
to DST Anomaly Daylight Savings during Spring when clocks move forward by one hour.
Unisphere for VMAX tries the job in the next occurrence of the cycle.

System

18 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description
Dynamic Cache Unisphere for VMAX currently supports assigning thin pools to dynamic
Partitions cache partitions. Future versions of Unisphere for VMAX will support
assigning snap and DSE pools.

eNAS file alerts After the failover of an eNAS control station occurs, any enabled file
alerts for eNAS systems are not delivered. To resolve this issue, do
either of the following:
l Perform a failover back to the existing primary control station. This
option does not require you to restart the Unisphere for VMAX
server.
l Restart the Unisphere for VMAX server once the failover to the
standby control station has completed.

REST API
Iterator If you create a REST API iterator and set from to before the gap and
to to after, you receive more records than expected. This is caused by
the server creating “empty” data points for the missing timestamps.
This shows as a gap in the Performance charts.

Performance Certain performance metrics are not supported with the REST API.
metrics Disk Metrics:
l DiskReads
l DiskWrites
l SeekDistance
Disk Group Metrics:
l DiskReads
l DiskWrites
FE Director:
l OptimizedMBReadMiss
l AvgOptimizedReadMissSize
Storage Group By Pool:
l BE_READS
l BE_WRITES
l TOTAL_BE_REQ_PER_SEC
l BE_MB_READ_RATE
l BE_MB_WRITE_RATE
l BE_MB_TRANSFERED_PER_SEC
l CAPACITY
l IO_DENSITY
l PREFETCHED_TRACKS_PER_SEC
l PREFETCHED_MBYTES_PER_SEC
l ALLOCATED_TRACKS

Known issues and limitations 19

Release Notes

Table 7 Known issues and limitations (continued)

Feature Description

l COMPRESSED_TRACKS
l PERCENT_COMPRESSED_TRACKS

Virtual Appliance
Deployment When deploying the virtual appliance using the command line through
OVF or while adding an ESX server in vApp Manager, specify the ESX
name using the exact letter case used when it was registered in the
DNS. Otherwise, the deployment fails.

Database Storage
Analyzer (DSA)
Installing DSA To use the Database Storage Analyzer packaged with Unisphere for
Listener VMAX to monitor an MS SQL Server database, install the latest DSA
Listener on the monitored environment. This correlates database
activity with storage activity. The listener used for previous Unisphere
for VMAX versions does not suffice.
For instructions on how to install the Listener, refer to the "Upgrading
Database Storage Analyzer Listener" section in the EMC Unisphere for
VMAX Installation Guide.
If the DSA listener has not been upgraded on the monitored SQL
environments, the subsequent mapping fails. After upgrading the
listener and before the next mapping update the known_hosts file to
remove the relevant server fingerprint entries.
Windows location of the known_hosts file: C:\PROGRA~1\EMC
\SMAS\jboss\standalone\configuration
Linux location: /opt/emc/SMAS/jboss/standalone/
configuration/

20 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

Additional resources
You can use these resources to find more information about this product, get support
and provide feedback.
Related Documentation
Platform
l EMC VMAX3 Family Product Guide for VMAX 100K, VMAX 200K, VMAX 400K with
HYPERMAX OS
l EMC VMAX3 Family Site Planning Guide for VMAX 100K, VMAX 200K, VMAX 400K
with HYPERMAX OS
l EMC VMAX Best Practices Guide for AC Power Connections
l EMC VMAX Power-down/Power-up Procedure
l EMC VMAX Securing Kit Installation Guide
l EMC Unpacking Guide for VMAX3 Family and VMAX All Flash arrays
l EMC VMAX All Flash and VMAX3 Family Security Configuration Guide
VMAX All Flash
l EMC VMAX All Flash Product Guide for VMAX 250F, 450F, 850F, 950F with
HYPERMAX OS
l EMC VMAX3 Family Site Planning Guide for VMAX 100K, VMAX 200K, VMAX 400K
with HYPERMAX OS
Unisphere
l EMC Unisphere for VMAX Installation Guide
l EMC Unisphere for VMAX Online Help
l EMC Unisphere 360 for VMAX Release Notes
l EMC Unisphere 360 for VMAX Installation Guide
l EMC Unisphere 360 for VMAX Online Help
l EMC Unisphere for VMAX REST API Concepts and Programmer's Guide
l EMC Unisphere for VMAX Database Storage Analyzer Online Help
Solutions Enabler
l EMC Solutions Enabler, VSS Provider, and SMI-S Provider Release Notes
l EMC Solutions Enabler Installation and Configuration Guide
l EMC Solutions Enabler CLI Reference Guide
l EMC Solutions Enabler Array Controls and Management CLI User Guide
l EMC Solutions Enabler SRDF Family CLI User Guide
l EMC Solutions Enabler TimeFinder Family (Mirror, Clone, Snap, VP Snap) CLI User
Guide
l EMC Solutions Enabler TimeFinder SnapVX for HYPERMAX OS CLI User Guide
l EMC Solutions Enabler SRM CLI User Guide
SRDF
l EMC SRDF/Cluster Enabler Plug-in Product Guide

Additional resources 21
Release Notes

l EMC SRDF/TimeFinder Manager for IBM i Product Guide

l SRDF Interfamily Connectivity Information
Embedded NAS (eNAS)
l EMC VMAX Embedded NAS Release Notes
l EMC VMAX Embedded NAS Quick Start Guide
l EMC VMAX Embedded NAS File Auto Recovery with SRDF/S
EMC VMAX Family Viewer
Illustrates system hardware, incrementally scalable system configurations, and
available host connectivity offered for VMAX arrays.
E-Lab™ Interoperability Navigator (ELN)
Provides a web-based interoperability and solution search portal. You can find the
ELN at https://elabnavigator.EMC.com.

Where to find product documentation

l https://emc.com/
l https://support.emc.com/
l https://community.emc.com/community/products/vmax
Your comments
Your suggestions help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall
quality of our content. Send your opinions of this document to:
mailto:VMAXContentFeedback@emc.com
Where to find the support matrix
For the latest support information, consult the EMC Support Matrix. It is available at
https://elabnavigator.emc.com.
Technical support
Go to EMC Online Support and click Service Center. Several options for contacting
EMC Technical Support appear. Note that to open a service request, you require a
valid support agreement. Contact your EMC sales representative for details about
obtaining a valid support agreement or with questions about your account.
Additional support options
l Support by Product — EMC offers consolidated, product-specific information on
the Web at: https://support.EMC.com/products
The Support by Product web pages offer quick links to Documentation, White
Papers, Advisories (such as frequently used Knowledgebase articles), and
Downloads, as well as more dynamic content, such as presentations, discussion,
relevant Customer Support Forum entries, and a link to EMC Live Chat.
l EMC Live Chat — Open a Chat or instant message session with an EMC Support
Engineer.
eLicensing support
To activate your entitlements and obtain your VMAX license files, visit the Service
Center at https://support.EMC.com, as directed on your License Authorization Code
(LAC) letter emailed to you.
For help with missing or incorrect entitlements after activation (that is, expected
functionality remains unavailable because it is not licensed), contact your EMC
Account Representative or Authorized Reseller.
For help with any errors applying license files through Solutions Enabler, contact the
EMC Customer Support Center.

22 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes

If you are missing an LAC letter, or require further instructions on activating your
licenses through Online Support, contact EMC's worldwide Licensing team at
licensing@emc.com or call:
l North America, Latin America, APJK, Australia, New Zealand: SVC4EMC
(800-782-4362) and follow the voice prompts.
l EMEA: +353 (0) 21 4879862 and follow the voice prompts.
This document was accurate at publication time. New version of this document might
be released on EMC Online Support https://support.EMC.com. Check to ensure that
you are using the latest version of this document.

Additional resources 23
Release Notes

Copyright © 2017 EMC Corporation All rights reserved.

Published May 12, 2017

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

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS-IS.“ DELL 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 DELL SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS PUBLICATION
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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.

24 EMC Unisphere for VMAX 8.4.0 Release Notes