HPE Storage Ansible Module

Welcome to the documentation for HPE Storage Ansible Module.

This comprehensive guide covers:

• HPE Ansible Module for Alletra MP storage automation
• Installation & Setup instructions
• System Requirements and platform compatibility
• Getting Started guides and quick examples
• Module Reference documentation with detailed operation methods

These modules enable automation of HPE Alletra MP storage arrays with Ansible.

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Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. System Requirements
3. Installation & Setup
4. Running Unit Tests
5. Getting Started
6. Supported Modules
7. Module Reference

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Overview

The HPE Storage Ansible Module enable automation of storage provisioning for the HPE Alletra MP array. The modules use the HPE Storage Flowkit for Python to communicate with the storage array over the WSAPI REST interface.

Supported Storage Platform:

• HPE Alletra MP (OS version 10.5.x)

What You Can Automate:

The collection provides modules to automate complete storage lifecycle management including:

• Volume and volume set operations
• Host and host set operations
• Storage provisioning operations (CPG)
• VLUN management
• Data protection with snapshots
• Manages Online and Offline Clones
• Replication Copy Group operations
• Performance optimization with QoS policies
• System Management - DNS, NTP and user accounts.
• SSL/TLS certificate management
• Alert monitoring and test alert generation

Key Benefits:

• Declarative - Define desired state, Ansible handles the implementation
• Idempotent - Safe to run repeatedly without side effects
• Error Handling - Clear error messages with parameter validation

Non Idempotent Actions

Actions are Idempotent when they can be run multiple times on the same system and the results will always be identical, without producing unintended side effects.

The following actions are non-idempotent:

• Clone: resync, create_offline
• Snapshot: restore online, restore offline
• Virtual Volume: grow
• VLUN: All actions become non-idempotent when autolun is set to true
• Alert: test_alert

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System Requirements

Platform Compatibility:

Component	Version	Status
HPE Alletra MP	OS 10.5.x with WSAPI service enabled	✅ Required
Ansible	2.17.4	✅ Supported
Python	3.10 +	✅ Required

Prerequisites:

• pip: Python package installer must be available (pip --version to verify)
• Network Connectivity: Connectivity to HPE Alletra MP array
• WSAPI Service: Enabled on the target HPE Alletra MP array

Python Package Dependencies:

Package	Version
hpe_storage_flowkit_py	0.8

Installation:

pip install hpe-storage-flowkit-py

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Installation & Setup

This guide walks you through installing and configuring the HPE Storage Ansible Module for Alletra MP.

Prerequisites:

Refer to System Requirements for detailed platform compatibility and dependency information.

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1. Install Python Dependencies

Install Ansible and the required HPE Storage Flowkit python package:

pip install ansible
pip install hpe-storage-flowkit-py

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2. Verify Installation

Test that the packages were installed correctly:

python3 -c "import hpe_storage_flowkit_py; print('✓ HPE Storage Flowkit installed successfully')"

Expected Outcomes:

• Success: Message displays without errors
• Error: Missing dependencies - reinstall packages and retry

Troubleshooting:

If import fails, check:

# Verify pip installation
pip list | grep hpe_storage

# Check Python path
python3 -c "import sys; print('\n'.join(sys.path))"

# Reinstall if needed
pip uninstall hpe-storage-flowkit-py
pip install hpe-storage-flowkit-py

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3. Clone the Ansible Module Repository

Clone the latest HPE Alletra MP Ansible module repository from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/hpe-storage/hpe_storage_ansible_modules.git
cd hpe_storage_ansible_modules

Repository Contents:

• alletramp/ - Main module directory for AlletraMP
  • ansible_service.py - Ansible client that interfaces with hpe_storage_flowkit_py
  • modules/ - Ansible modules for HPE Alletra MP
  • playbooks/ - Example playbooks and templates
  • ansible.cfg - Sample Ansible configuration

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4. Configure Environment

Set up the required environment variables:

export PYTHONPATH="/path/to/your/hpe_storage_ansible_modules/alletramp:$PYTHONPATH"
export ANSIBLE_CONFIG="/path/to/your/hpe_storage_ansible_modules/alletramp/ansible.cfg"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Note: Replace /path/to/your/ with your actual installation path.

5. Configure ansible.cfg

Edit the ansible.cfg file in your project root directory to specify the module library path:

library = /path/to/your/hpe_storage_ansible_modules/alletramp/modules

Example with Absolute Path:

[defaults]
library = /home/user/workspace/hpe_storage_ansible_modules/modules

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6. Validate Configuration

Create a simple test playbook to verify your setup.

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Quick Setup Checklist:

• ☐ Python dependencies installed
• ☐ Python package import test passed
• ☐ Environment variables configured
• ☐ ansible.cfg updated with correct library path
• ☐ Test playbook executed successfully

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Running Unit Tests

This section explains how to run the unit tests for the HPE Storage Ansible Module.

Prerequisites

Install the required testing dependencies:

pip install pytest mock

Running Tests

Run tests from the hpe_storage_ansible_modules/alletramp directory:

Run All Tests

python3 -m pytest -vv -s

Run a Specific Test File

python3 -m pytest test/test_alletramp_volume.py -vv -s

Run a Specific Test

python3 -m pytest test/test_alletramp_volume.py::TestAlletrampVolume::test_create_volume_success -vv -s

Setting up your working directory:

cd /path/to/hpe_storage_ansible_modules/alletramp
python3 -m pytest

Note: Python Path should be set to hpe_storage_ansible_modules/alletramp for running test files.

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Getting Started

This guide provides quick examples to help you start using the HPE Storage Ansible Module for Alletra MP.

Prerequisites:

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• ✅ Ansible installed (2.17.4)
• ✅ Python 3.10 or later
• ✅ HPE Storage Ansible Module is cloned
• ✅ Python dependencies installed (hpe_storage_flowkit_py)
• ✅ Connectivity to your Alletra MP array
• ✅ Valid credentials with appropriate privileges

See Installation & Setup for detailed instructions.

Basic Playbook Structure:

All playbooks follow this basic structure:

---
- name: Manage HPE Alletra MP Storage
  hosts: localhost
  
  vars:
    storage_ip: "10.10.10.100"
    storage_user: "admin"
    storage_pass: "password"
  
  tasks:
    # Your tasks here

Example: Create a Volume

---
- hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - name: Create volume
      alletramp_volume:
        storage_system_ip: "10.10.10.100"
        storage_system_username: "admin"
        storage_system_password: "password"
        operation: create
        volume_name: "prod_vol_001"
        cpg: "SSD_CPG"
        size: 100

Running Playbooks:

Execute your playbook:

ansible-playbook -i <playbook.yml> -vvv

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Supported Modules

This section provides an overview of all modules available in the HPE Storage Ansible Module for Alletra MP.

Module	Description
alletramp_alert	Queries alerts and generates test alerts
alletramp_certs	Manages SSL/TLS certificates for array services
alletramp_cpg	Manages Common Provisioning Group (storage pool) operations
alletramp_dns	Manages DNS configuration and network settings
alletramp_host	Manages host operations with FC/iSCSI initiators and CHAP authentication
alletramp_hostset	Manages host set operations for grouping multiple hosts
alletramp_ntp	Manages NTP configuration for time servers and timezone
alletramp_offline_clone	Manages offline clone operations
alletramp_online_clone	Manages online clone operations
alletramp_qos	Manages QoS operations for performance limits and priorities
alletramp_remote_copy	Manages remote copy operations for replication groups
alletramp_snapshot	Manages snapshot operations
alletramp_user	Manages user account operations
alletramp_vlun	Manages VLUN operations for exporting
alletramp_volume	Manages volume operations
alletramp_volumeset	Manages volume set operations