A tour of the user interface e-Learning course

This e-Learning module will introduce you to the management GUI that helps you to monitor, manage, and configure the systems in the Lenovo(R) Storage family of products. You will learn how to go through the panels and view some of the features and functions before you begin working with the interface.

You can easily access the management GUI by opening a supported web browser and entering one of the system IP addresses. Note that you must enable JavaScript in your browser to use all of the management GUI features. You can connect from any workstation that can communicate with the system.

After you launch the user interface, you can log in for the first time using the default user name and password. The default user name is superuser and the password is passw0rd with a zero in the place of the letter “o.” You are guided through panels that help you to configure the system. These panels will vary based on the Storwize product that you are using, but by the end of system setup, your system will be configured. To learn more about system setup, visit the Getting Started Module in IBM Knowledge Center.

After you have finished setting up the system, the System panel is displayed. Go to the Overview panel. This view is customized to your system and provides an overview of the available system resources. The number of detected items is displayed. Clicking an image reveals additional information about a specific system component. Click Suggested Tasks to view available system configuration tasks. The options available in this menu are dynamically generated, depending on your current configuration.

When the set up is completed, the System panel is displayed. The System panel shows you a visual representation of your system hardware. There are three main sections for navigating through the System panel. The dynamic system view is shown in the middle of the panel, with the seven function icons shown on the left navigation bar and three status icons on the bottom of the panel with error indicator. The circular disk below the control enclosure displays the allocated and physical space available on your system. It also shows you compression savings, if active on your system.

To view the component model of the existing configuration, hover over each component and a pop-up menu will appear with a description of the parameters and functions of this element. In order to see the rear of the component, you can rotate the view by using the yellow arrow. This allows you a 360° view of the component. Right-click on a component or its part and a context menu with actions, normally available from the Actions menu on the left of the screen appears. For example, to view the iSCSI Port, click the yellow arrow to rotate the component and highlight the iSCSI port on the upper left of the canister. Right click to see the available actions.

The left side of the System panel shows the seven function icons. Move your cursor over a graphic to view the available selections. You can choose to view the following: monitoring tasks, including performance information; storage pools, including system migration; volumes, displayed by pool or by host; hosts and host mappings; Copy Services, including partnerships and mappings; system access, including user information; and settings, including event. Move the cursor to an option and click it. For example, if you want to access the Volumes option, click on Volumes, then select either Volumes by Pool or Volumes by Host.

The Overview window can be accessed by clicking on the Overview button on the upper right corner of the System panel. The Overview screen displays the number of each item displayed on your system including External MDisks, Arrays, Pools, Volumes and Hosts. Clicking on any of the icons will provide detailed system information. For example, clicking on the Array icon displays all internal storage filters including drive ID, capacity, use and MDisk data.

To manage hardware, use the Actions menu located at the top left corner of the screen. Click the Actions menu to see a list of actions. These actions include adding an expansion enclosure, viewing a chain, resetting all LEDs, upgrading your machine code, and shutting down your system.

In panels that include columns, you can sort each column by clicking the column heading, reorder them by dragging and dropping a column heading, or you can right-click any column heading to add or remove columns from the table.

You can use the Ctrl key to select multiple items. You can also use the filtering feature to display items that include the text that you enter.

When you initiate a task, the interface displays your percentage of task completion. You can expand the Details field to view the command line interface, or CLI, commands that are running.

Go to the Performance panel to see charts on statistics such as CPU usage, volume performance, interface performance, and pools, which are labeled as MDisks. Note that if compression is active on your system, the CPU utilization graph can be used to view usage for compressed functions..

When you initiate a task, the interface displays your percentage of task completion. You can expand the Details field to view the command line interface, or CLI, commands that are running.

Another useful interface feature is integrated Help. If you move your cursor over certain terms or objects, a question mark appears. Moving your cursor over the question mark displays a description of that term.

This completes your quick tour of the management GUI, and some of the key features and tasks available to you. For additional information, see the e-Learning modules and help topics in IBM Knowledge Center.