This guide is intended for the IT administrator or person responsible for installing the Nasuni Appliance or the Nasuni Management Console on Hyper-V platform.
General Information
This chapter includes general information about the File IQ Appliance, as well as technical specifications.
File IQ
The File IQ feature is designed to provide insights and analytics on file data usage patterns. File IQ enables customers to take advantage of several important capabilities, including:
File Usage Analytics: Track usage and collaboration patterns across users, departments, file types, volumes, and more. Gain visibility to optimize storage, plan capacity, and facilitate capacity-based chargeback.
Health Monitoring: Monitor system component metrics to proactively identify resource contention and capacity limits so administrators can take preventative measures.
Forensic Capabilities: Perform historical analysis of file, user, or application activity when troubleshooting issues or investigating information security events.
Automated Reporting: Leverage prebuilt reports and dashboards that deliver actionable intelligence to technical and business users and support chargeback reporting.
Key Terms
The following terms are helpful for understanding the File IQ Appliance:
Cache: The local storage of the File IQ Appliance. All volume metadata accessed regularly is kept locally in the File IQ Appliance cache. If the requested metadata is not locally resident, it is staged into the cache and provided for the request.
Cloud storage: Internet-based, highly protected, unlimited storage.
Event Hubs: A cloud-native data streaming service used to forward events between components of the File IQ Solution.
Grafana: Grafana is a multi-platform open-source analytics and interactive visualization web application. It provides charts, graphs, and alerts for the web when connected to supported data sources.
Nasuni Edge Appliance (NEA): The virtual or physical appliance in your data center that integrates with your infrastructure via CIFS (SMB), NFS, FTP/SFTP, or HTTPS/REST protocols. The Nasuni Edge Appliance can be mapped as a network drive.
Nasuni Edge Appliance user interface: The Web-based graphical user interface with which you configure and manage the Nasuni Edge Appliance. The Nasuni Edge Appliance user interface is accessible with supported Web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Google Chrome.
File IQ: The File IQ Appliance contains the database, Grafana server, event processing, and volume scanning capabilities that the File IQ Solution uses to give insight into Nasuni Edge Appliance and volume usage across your Nasuni deployment(s).
Nasuni Management Console (NMC): The Web-accessible appliance with which you can configure and manage multiple Nasuni Edge Appliances. The Nasuni Management Console is accessible with supported Web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome.
Nasuni Orchestration Center (NOC): The zero-maintenance control path built on elastic, multi-region cloud services that enables file data to be shared across locations at any scale and without version conflict. The NOC, also referred to as Nasuni Account Dashboard, provides access to the File IQ Serial Numbers, which are used to install File IQ.
File IQ Dashboard: A custom dashboard deployed within the File IQ Appliance-hosted Grafana to display information gathered by the File System Metadata Service (FSMS) and the File System Event Processor (FSEP).
File IQ Service: The File IQ Service collects audit events and forwards them to the File IQ Appliance via the Azure EventHub.
Note: The audit events collected by the File IQ Service are independent of the standard auditing feature enabled on the NEAs.
Share/export: An access point to a folder on a volume that can be shared or exported on your network. Access to a CIFS (SMB) share can be customized on a user-level or group-level basis. You can create many shares or exports on a volume for different purposes or audiences.
Volume: A set of files and directories (CIFS (SMB), NFS, and FTP/SFTP).
File IQ Solution Specifications
This section contains specifications for configuring the File IQ Appliance.
Supported Web Browsers
The File IQ Appliance supports the following Web browsers:
Virtual Machine Requirements
Use the Sizing Tool for the most appropriate VM size recommendations.
Azure Event Hub Regions
The Azure Event Hub created during the File IQ setup must be in one of the following regions:
australiacentral | eastus | koreacentral | southcentralus | westcentralus |
australiaeast | eastus2 | koreasouth | southeastasia | westeurope |
australiasoutheast | francecentral | mexicocentral | southindia | westindia |
brazilsouth | germanywestcentral | northcentralus | spaincentral | westus |
canadacentral | israelcentral | northeurope | swedencentral | westus2 |
canadaeast | italynorth | norwayeast | switzerlandnorth | westus3 |
centralindia | japaneast | polandcentral | uaenorth | |
centralus | japanwest | qatarcentral | uksouth | |
eastasia | jioindiawest | southafricanorth | ukwest |
Installing on the Hyper-V Platform
This section describes how to install the File IQ Solution on Hyper-V for the following Operating Systems:
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2022
For more information: System requirements for Hyper-V.
Warning: Virtual machine snapshots are not supported. Do not attempt to restore from a virtual machine snapshot or backup. Attempting to restore from a virtual machine snapshot or backup puts the IQ Appliance in an unknown state in relation to the Nasuni Orchestration (NOC) and requires a recovery process. This might result in data loss.
Warning: The File IQ Appliance does not currently support the Nasuni Disaster Recovery process.
Important: File IQ Appliances must be configured with operational DNS servers and a time server (internal or external) within your environment. The File IQ Appliance is configured with a default time server time.nasuni.com. If you need to use a different time server, the procedure to change the default time server is documented in the Nasuni Edge Appliance Time Configuration section of the Nasuni Edge Administration guide..
Important: When using virtual machine IQ Appliances, Nasuni recommends running under a hypervisor supported by its vendor. If a customer runs an IQ Appliance on an unsupported hypervisor version, a warning is logged at boot time.
Note: This guide is based on Windows Server 2019 Operating System and Hyper-V Manager version 10.0.17763.1.
Tip: This document is about deploying virtual machines. It does not cover configuring a storage account for use with Nasuni volumes.
Tip: Check out the File IQ Installation and Configuration videos for a general reference on the File IQ installation process. Your specific hypervisor installation will include unique steps not included in this video reference series.
Day 1 File IQ Installation Checklist
To complete a day 1 File IQ installation, follow this checklist:
Step | Action |
1 | Complete 1. Before you Begin section in this document. Your account manager can assist you with this item. |
2 | Complete 2. Installing the File IQ Appliance section in this document. |
3 | Complete 3. Running the File IQ Appliance First Boot Wizard section in this document. |
4 | Complete 4. Resizing the File IQ Appliance VM section in this document. |
5 | Complete 5. Connect the Nasuni Volumes to the File IQ Appliance in this document. |
6 | Complete 6. Disabling Quality of Service for the File IQ Appliance section in this document. |
7 | Complete 7. Enabling the File IQ and Configure NIQ Service section in this document. |
8 | Complete 8. Accessing the File IQ Dashboards section in this document. |
9 | For more information, see the following resources: |
1. Before you Begin
The following items should be readily available so that you can navigate the File IQ installation and setup process. It is recommended that you complete these requirements before starting or have a way to fulfill them during the installation process.
Note: File IQ does not support a proxy server.
Item | Description |
Contact Nasuni | Contact your Account Manager to enable the File IQ license and configure your account for the File IQ Appliance. |
Hyper-V Virtual Switch | Before deploying a File IQ Appliance virtual machine, ensure that any virtual switches the appliance uses are correctly configured. |
NMC Login | Authentication and Authorization to your organization’s Nasuni Management Console to configure the File IQ for your environment. |
NOC Login | Authentication and authorization to your organization’s Nasuni Orchestration Center account to retrieve your File IQ Serial Number and Authorization Code, and to configure the File IQ. |
Volume(s) List | When setting up File IQ, use at least one volume. Ideally, choose a small volume to see the result quickly when you enable the NIQ Appliance. |
NEA(s) List | Configure at least one Nasuni Edge Appliance (NEA) to send activity to the File IQ virtual machine. Ideally, pick an NEA from which you can mount volumes to generate traffic and see it in the File IQ dashboards. The NEA must be running version 9.14.3 or later. |
File IQ Serial & Auth Code | The File IQ Appliance Serial Number is in your Nasuni Account. It is paired with an Authorization Code (Auth Code) in a table at the bottom of the page. Note: Configuration of the File IQ Appliance and NEAs for File IQ can also be found in this location of your Nasuni Account. Note: If the File IQ Config menu or File IQ Serial Numbers are unavailable, contact your Nasuni Account Manager to confirm that the File IQ License is correctly configured for your account. Note: To enable a single sign-on user to access the File IQ Config menu, follow these steps: 1. Log in to account.nasuni.com. 2. From the Profile dropdown menu, select SSO Setup. 3. Scroll down to the Create/Update Roles for SSO section. 4. Add the Customer can set File IQ config permission to a role so users with that role can access the File IQ Config menu item. |
File IQ Username and Password | The first boot setup of the File IQ Appliance requires a new username and password. These values are specific to the File IQ Appliance only. |
File IQ Hostname | When you go through the first boot wizard for the File IQ Appliance, you must provide a hostname for the machine. Note: Host names longer than 15 characters cannot be added to Active Directory services. |
File IQ Network Details | When going through the first boot wizard for the File IQ Appliance, provide the machine's network details. |
Grafana Password | The default password for the Grafana viewer account must be changed during the first usage. Nasuni recommends having a new password ready that aligns with your corporate processes and procedures. |
AD Credentials | The File IQ Appliance must connect to the same Active Directory domains as the NEAs and volumes configured in the File IQ Appliance. The following information might be necessary:
|
Sizing Tool Outputs | The File IQ Sizing Tool provides a virtual machine size suggestion, disk sizing, and configuration for cache and File IQ DB to use when resizing the File IQ Virtual Machine in Hyper-V after the initial deployment. Complete the Sizing Tool exercise to receive the following outputs before beginning the File IQ installation process:
Note: File IQ does not support disk striping on cache or DB disks. |
NEA Firewall Requirements | The Nasuni Edge Appliance requires access to the Azure Event Hub when you enable File IQ. All network ports and access requirements for the File IQ Service on the NEA are documented in the Firewall and Port Requirements in the Nasuni Edge Appliance section. Before enabling the File IQ on the NEA, complete the NEA Firewall Requirements for File IQ Service. |
File IQ Firewall Requirements | When you enable File IQ, the Nasuni Edge Appliance requires access to the Azure Event Hub. The File IQ Appliance section of the Firewall and Port Requirements documents all network ports and access requirements for the File IQ Service on the NEA. Before you activate File IQ on the File IQ Appliance, complete the File IQ Firewall Requirements for File IQ. |
2. Installing the File IQ Appliance
To complete the installation of the File IQ Appliance, follow these steps:
Download the File IQ Appliance software.
Install the File IQ Appliance using Hyper-V Manager.
Download the File IQ Appliance Software
The File IQ Appliance can run as a virtual appliance on your network and is distributed as a downloadable image. To access the download page, register for a user account and password on the Nasuni website.
To download the File IQ Appliance software from the Nasuni website:
Log in to your Nasuni account and click Downloads.
Scroll down to the File IQ section and click on Download Hyper-V Format. A dropdown list with the available File IQ versions for Hyper-V appears.
From the dropdown list, select an available release for File IQ.
Save the File IQ Appliance software file to a location on your local drive.
Note: The time required to download the File IQ Appliance software file depends on your internet connection.
Install the File IQ Appliance using Hyper-V Manager
You can install the File IQ Appliance in Hyper-V using Hyper-V Manager.
For more information, see: Microsoft Hyper-V Overview.
Important: File IQ Appliances and the NMC must be configured with operational DNS servers and a time server (internal or external) within your environment.
Important: To access Active Directory-enabled volumes, the File IQ Appliance must access the same Active Directory domains as the other Nasuni Edge Appliances connected to the volume. This requires access to the Active Directory Domain Controller or the necessary network connectivity.
Important: Similarly, to access LDAP-enabled volumes, the File IQ Appliance must be able to access LDAP and Kerberos in the same LDAP domain. You cannot enable Active Directory and LDAP Directory Services for a File IQ Appliance.
Note: When a Hyper-V wizard is used, the wizard instructions are referencing the name of the wizard step on the left-hand side navigation panel of the wizard.
Importing a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM)
To import the File IQ Appliance into Hyper-V using Hyper-V Manager, follow these steps:
Copy the File IQ Appliance software to the Windows Server Operating System that hosts Hyper-V.
Unzip the File IQ Appliance software in a directory. Ensure that enough disk space is available; 32 GB of free disk space is required for the unzip.
Start Hyper-V Manager. Hyper-V Manager user interface appears.
In the navigation tree, select the server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
In the Hyper-V Manager menu, select Action, then Import Virtual Machine. The Import Virtual Machine wizard appears.
The Before you Begin wizard pane might be displayed. Click Next.
The Locate Folder wizard pane appears. Click Browse. The Operating System file selection dialog appears.
Navigate to the folder where the Appliance software was unzipped and select the nested File IQ directory.
Click Select Folder. The Operating System file selection dialog closes.
Click Next. The Select Virtual Machine wizard pane appears.
Select File IQ in the Select the virtual machine to import table.
Click Next. The Choose Import Type wizard pane appears.
Select Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID) option.
Click Next. The Choose Destination wizard pane appears.
Choose a unique location for your File IQ installation per your organization's policies.
Click Next. The Choose Storage Folders wizard pane appears.
Choose a unique location for your File IQ installation per your organization's policies.
Click Next. The Summary pane appears. Review the summary details of the import.
Click Finish. A progress dialog appears. Wait for the operation to complete.
The File IQ Appliance is successfully imported and appears in the Virtual Machines list as “File IQ.”
Configuring a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM) settings
In the Virtual Machines list, select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A contextual menu with options appears.
Select Upgrade Configuration Version. A Confirmation dialog appears.
Click Upgrade. The confirmation dialog closes, and the configuration is upgraded.
In the Virtual Machines list, select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A contextual menu with options appears.
Select Settings… The Settings pane appears.
Disable the checkpoints by following these steps:
In the left-hand pane, under the Management section, click Checkpoints. The Checkpoints pane appears.
Ensure that the Enable checkpoints checkbox is not selected.
Click Apply. Do not click OK, as the Settings pane is used for the next steps.
Enable the required Integration Services by following these steps:
In the left-hand pane, under the Management section, click Integration Services. The Integration Services pane appears.
In the Services list, ensure that both the Guest services and Data Exchange checkboxes are selected.
Click Apply. Do not click OK, as the Settings pane is used for the next steps.
Connect the virtual network adapter to a virtual switch by following these steps:
In the left-hand pane, under the Hardware section, click Network Adapter. The Network Adapter pane appears.
From the Virtual Switch dropdown, select a suitable virtual switch identified in 1. Before you Begin.
Click Apply. Do not click OK, as the Settings pane is used for the next steps.
Specify the memory and number of virtual processors allocated to the File IQ appliance by following these steps:
In the left-hand pane, under the Hardware section, click Memory. The Memory pane appears.
In the RAM box, enter the amount of RAM in megabytes according to the File IQ Sizing tool output. This is the Memory value within the Minimum VM Hardware Requirements section of the Sizing Tool.
Move the Memory weight to the High value.
Click Apply. Do not click OK, as the Settings pane is used for the next steps.
In the left-hand pane, under the Hardware section, click Processor. The Processor pane appears.
In the Number of virtual processor box, enter the number of processors according to the File IQ Sizing tool output: see Minimum VM Hardware Requirements section of the sizing tool, with a value of vCPUs.
Click Apply. Do not click OK, as the Settings pane is used for the next steps.
In the left-hand pane, under the Hardware section, click the + next to Processor, then select NUMA. The NUMA configuration pane appears.
Click Use Hardware Topology to ensure proper virtual NUMA layout.
Click Apply, then click OK. The Settings pane closes.
Start the File IQ Appliance by following these steps:
Important: When using virtual machine File IQ Appliances, Nasuni recommends running under a hypervisor that is still supported by its vendor. If a customer runs an File IQ Appliance on an unsupported hypervisor version, a warning is logged at boot time.
Tip: The first boot of a File IQ Appliance might take slightly longer than subsequent boots.
In the Virtual Machines list, select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A contextual menu appears with a list of options.
Select Start. The File IQ VM state changes to Starting then Running.
To display the console in the Virtual Machines list, select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A contextual menu with a list of options appears.
Select Connect… The console pane appears.
If DHCP is available on the network, note the Assigned IP Address that appears on the console screen. Use this IP address to access the File IQ Appliance user interface.
Alternatively, if DHCP is not available, log into the console service screen by pressing Enter and signing in. The default login username is “service”, and the default password is “service”.
Note: For security, use the changepassword command to change the password for the service console.
Enter the command: “editnetwork”.
Enter the command: “setall static”.
To change the IP address, enter a new IP address and press Enter. To leave the current IP address unchanged, press Enter.
To change the netmask, enter a netmask and press Enter. To leave the current netmask unchanged, press Enter.
To change the MTU, enter an MTU and press Enter. To leave the current MTU unchanged, press Enter.
The maximum transmission unit (MTU) is the size (in bytes) of the largest protocol data unit that the layer can pass onwards. A larger MTU brings greater efficiency because each packet carries more user data while protocol overheads, such as headers, remain fixed; the resulting higher efficiency means a slight improvement in the bulk protocol throughput. A larger MTU also means processing fewer packets for the same amount of data. However, large packets can occupy a slow link for some time, causing greater delays to the following packets and increasing lag and minimum latency.
To change any of the above values, enter yes, then use steps c, d, and e to change the values.
Alternatively, to leave the values unchanged, enter No or press Enter.
To change the hostname, enter a new hostname and press Enter. To leave the current hostname unchanged, press Enter.
To change the default gateway, enter a default gateway and press Enter. To leave the current default gateway unchanged, press Enter.
To change the DNS server, enter one or two DNS servers separated by spaces and press Enter. To leave the current DNS server unchanged, press Enter.
To change the search domain, enter one or more search domains separated by spaces and press Enter. To leave the current search domain unchanged, press Enter.
To change any of the above values, enter yes, then use steps g, h, i, and j to change the values.
Alternatively, to leave the values unchanged, enter No.
To save your values, enter “save”.
To exit the editnetwork commands, enter “close”.
To confirm the IP address, enter “showip” and press Enter. The IP address appears.
Use this IP address to access the File IQ Appliance user interface.
To exit the console commands, enter “quit”.
Close the Web Console window.
The File IQ Appliance is now installed and ready to access using the IP address.
3. Running the File IQ Appliance First Boot Wizard
To access the newly installed File IQ Appliance, follow this procedure:
Using the IP address obtained in chapter 2, steps e or o, open a new browser window and navigate to the First Boot Wizard for the File IQ Appliance.
To access the File IQ Appliance, enter the address in this form: https://<IP address>, where <IP address> is the IP address from chapter 2 above.
The File IQ Appliance user interface appears.
Enter the Hostname you defined in the File IQ Hostname of the 1. Before you Begin section.
Complete the remainder of the System Settings defined in the File IQ Network Details as part of the 1. Before you Begin section.
Click Continue. The Review the Network Settings pane appears.
If all fields are correct, click Continue. The next pane confirms whether the File IQ Appliance is Configuring Network Settings. If the File IQ Appliance does not automatically reconnect, refresh the page and check if its IP address has changed. If so, update the browser address bar.
The Nasuni Filer Software Update pane appears. Click Continue.
Enter the File IQ Serial Number and Authorization Code obtained under the File IQ Serial & Auth Code of the 1. Before you Begin section.
Click Continue. The Add a New Nasuni Filer to your account pane appears.
Note: If the “Internal Server Error” message appears in this step, it is because you have used a Nasuni Edge Appliance Serial Number instead of an File IQ Serial Number. Nasuni recommends double-checking your serial number and trying again. See the 1. Before you Begin section for the correct location to the File IQ Serial and Auth Code values.
Enter ‘Install New Filer’ into the Confirmation textbox.
Click Continue. The Accept the Terms of Service and License Agreement pane appears.
Accept the Terms of Service and click Continue. The Enter or Accept Filer Name pane appears.
Click Continue. The Nasuni Management Console Detected pane appears.
Enable the Join NMC Management checkbox and click Continue. The Enter a username and password for Administration of this Filer pane appears.
Enter the NMC local account Username, Password, and Confirm Password. These were obtained in the File IQ Username and Password section of the 1. Before you Begin section above.
Click Continue, the First Boot Wizard is complete, and the File IQ Appliance Management window appears.
Tip: After the First Boot Wizard finishes and the main user interface (UI) is displayed, you might receive a notification advising that Nasuni suggests keeping the cache size of the File IQ appliance no larger than four times the size of the snapshot space. Disregard this warning, as all volumes are shared in read-only mode with the File IQ appliance.
3.1 Joining the File IQ Appliance to your Active Directory
If Active Directory protects the volumes you want to be scanned, join your File IQ Appliance to the Active Directory to secure the volumes.
Note: The configuration of Active Directory can vary based on different factors, and your specific configuration might require additional settings not mentioned in this section. If you encounter any issues while connecting to Active Directory, contact your Nasuni Account Manager for assistance.
Follow this procedure to join Active Directory:
Open a Web Browser and access the File IQ Appliance. Enter the address in this form: https://<IP address>, where <IP address> is the IP address from Chapter 2 step o. The File IQ Appliance user interface appears.
Ensure that the host name of your File IQ Appliance is shorter than 16 characters:
From the Configuration menu, select Network Configuration under the NETWORKING section.
Verify that the host name in Hostname or FQDN is 15 characters or less.
If required, shorten the host name and click Save Network Configuration.
Enter your Nasuni admin account details, confirm, and wait for the File IQ Appliance to apply the new settings.
Unless your Active Directory is registered publicly, change the File IQ’s DNS server to your Active Directory Primary Domain Controller (PDC).
From the Configuration menu, select Network Configuration under the NETWORKING section.
Under System Settings and in Settings Source, select DHCP with Custom DNS.
Leave the Search Domain empty.
Set the Primary DNS server to your Active Directory PDC’s IP address.
Click Save Network Configuration. Enter your Nasuni admin account details, confirm, and wait for the appliance to apply the new settings.
Join the File IQ Appliance Active Directory by following these steps:
From the Configuration menu, select Directory Services under the CIFS & DIRECTORY SERVICES section.
Enter your full Active Directory domain in the Domain entry field.
Unless instructed by your Nasuni Account Manager, do not change any other fields.
Click Continue. The Confirm/Authenticate Directory Service dialog box appears.
On the Confirm/Authenticate Directory Service pane, enter your Active Directory administrator username and password and click Submit.
Wait until the joining process is complete and the volume selection page appears.
If presented with the volume selection page, select the volumes enabled for domain-based authentication and accessed from the File IQ appliance and click Continue.
Wait until the volume configuration is complete and the domain selection page appears.
Enable all the trusted domains you wish to monitor users from and click Continue.
Wait until the trusted domain configuration is complete and the Complete the Configuration page appears.
Click Finish to finish the active directory configuration.
The display returns to the Directory Services configuration page and displays Active Directory domain information.
You have successfully joined Active Directory.
4. Resizing the File IQ Appliance VM
After completing the first boot wizard, resize the File IQ DB disk and the Cache disk. Allocate more memory and CPU as necessary.
Resize the File IQ Disks
The inputs for this task were defined as Sizing Tool Outputs in the 1. Before you Begin section. Note the Nasuni Cache and File IQDB Disk values.
Warning: Never delete the File IQ DB or cache disk.
Warning: You must shut down the virtual machine to change the size of the disks.
Warning: Virtual machine snapshots are not supported.
Do not attempt to restore from a virtual machine snapshot or backup.
Attempting to restore from a virtual machine snapshot or backup puts the File IQ Appliance in an unknown state in relation to the Nasuni Orchestration Center (NOC) and is not recoverable.
By default, the following disks are automatically provisioned:
Name | Default Size (GB) | Usage |
File IQ.vhdx | 32 | Operating system |
Cache.vhdx | 250 | Nasuni cache |
Cow.vhdx | 64 | Copy on Write |
Other.vhdx | 250 | File IQ DB |
Resize the Cache disk and File IQ DB disk by following these steps:
Power off the File IQ Appliance. See Shutting Down the Hyper-V VM
Start Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V manager UI appears.
In the navigation tree, select the Server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
Select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A list of options appears in the contextual menu.
Select Settings… The Settings pane appears.
In the Hardware section, select the second hard drive. The Hard drive pane appears.
Validate that the Virtual hard disk value ends with Cache.vhdx. If the name is not Cache.vhdx, select the other hard drives in succession on the left-hand side until the Virtual hard disk value is correct.
Click Edit. The Edit Virtual Hard Disk Wizard appears.
Click Next. The Choose Action pane appears.
Select the Expand option, then click Next. The Expand Virtual Hard Disk pane appears.
Enter the hard drive's value according to the Nasuni Sizing Tool for Nasuni Cache, then click Next. The Summary pane appears.
Validate that the correct value was entered, then click Finish. A progress dialog appears and closes when the operation is complete. The Settings pane appears.
In the Hardware section, select the fourth hard drive. The Hard drive pane appears.
Validate that the Virtual hard disk value ends with Other.vhdx. If the name is not Other.vhdx, select the other hard drives in succession on the left-hand side until the Virtual hard disk value is correct.
Click Edit. The Edit Virtual Hard Disk Wizard appears.
Click Next. The Choose Action pane appears.
Select the Expand option, then click Next.
The Expand Virtual Hard Disk pane appears.
Enter the hard drive's value according to the Nasuni Sizing Tool for File IQ DB Disk, then click Next. The Summary pane appears.
Validate that the correct value was entered, then click Finish. A progress dialog appears and closes when the operation is complete. The Settings pane appears.
Click OK. The Settings pane closes.
Power on the File IQ Appliance. See Starting the Hyper-V VM.
(Optional) Changing VM Memory
If you need to resize the memory on your File IQ Appliance reference this section.
Warning: You must shut down the virtual machine to change the memory size.
To resize the VM memory size on the Hyper-V Platform using Hyper-V Manager, follow these steps:
Power off the File IQ Appliance. See Shutting Down the Hyper-V VM.
Start the Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V manager UI appears.
In the navigation tree, select the Server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
In the Virtual Machines list, select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A contextual menu appears with a list of options.
Select Settings... The Settings pane appears.
In the left-hand pane, under the Hardware section, click Memory. The Memory pane appears.
In the RAM box, enter the new amount of RAM in megabytes required.
Click Apply, then OK. The Settings pane closes.
Power on the File IQ Appliance. For more information, see Starting the Hyper-V VM.
(Optional) Changing the number of CPU Processors
If you need to resize the CPU processors on your File IQ Appliance, reference this section.
Warning: You must shut down the virtual machine to change the number of CPU processors.
To change the number of CPU processors on the Hyper-V platform using Hyper-V Manager, follow these steps:
Power off the File IQ Appliance. For more information, see Shutting Down the Hyper-V VM. Start Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V manager UI appears.
In the navigation tree, select the Server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
In the Virtual Machines list, select the File IQ Appliance. A contextual menu with options appears.
Select Settings… The Settings pane appears.
In the left-hand pane, under the Hardware section, click Processor. The Processor pane appears.
In the Number of virtual processor box, enter the number of processors required.
Click Apply, then OK. The Settings pane closes.
Power on the File IQ Appliance. For more information, see Starting the Hyper-V VM.
5. Connect the Nasuni Volumes to the File IQ Appliance
Important: A maximum of 19 volumes can be connected to a single File IQ Appliance at a given time.
Note: You might see a "File IQ unhealthy" alert displayed prior to enabling the File IQ service in step 7. This alert is expected and resolves itself after a successful File IQ service enablement.
To share and connect a volume to the File IQ Appliance, follow this procedure:
Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.
Set up remote access for the Volume by following this procedure:
Click Volumes.
Click Remote Access. The Volume Remote Access Setting pane appears.
Select the volumes that you want to share. These should match the volumes in the Volumes List section in the 1. Before you Begin section.
Click Edit Volumes. The Edit Volume Remote Access Settings dialog box appears.
Ensure that the Enabled toggle is set to On.
For Remote Access Permissions, ensure Custom is selected.
Caution: Be sure to change ONLY the Remote Access entry for the File IQ appliance to Read Only. Be sure to leave the Remote Access entries for the other volumes as they were.
For the File IQ Appliance entry in the Custom Remote Access Permissions section, select Read Only.
Click Save Remote Access Settings. The Volume Remote Access Setting pane appears.
Wait until the Status for each selected volume changes to a checkmark before proceeding.
Connect the Volumes to the File IQ Appliance by following these steps:
Click Volumes.
Click Connect Volume. The Remotely Accessible Volumes pane appears.
Click Refresh Connections and wait for it to finish.
For the volumes for which you set up remote access to the File IQ Appliance (step 2 above), click Edit Connections. The Connect/Disconnect Volume dialog box appears.
In the Filers section, enable the File IQ Appliance checkbox.
In the Storage Access section, select Skip creating storage access point.
In the Inherit Setting section, untick the three inherit setting checkboxes.
Click Save Connections. The dialog box closes and returns to the Remotely Accessible Volumes pane.
Wait until the Volume Status column changes to a checkmark before proceeding.
Disable Snapshot Schedule for the FILE IQ Appliance and Volumes pairs by following these steps:
Note: If GFA manages the volume you are connecting to FILE IQ, follow these steps:
Click Volumes Snapshot Schedule. The Volume Snapshot Schedule pane appears.
Select the volumes that you configured remote access for in step 2.
Click Edit Volumes. The Snapshot Schedule dialog box appears.
Set the Enablement Window to On.
Deselect all until all the Days turn from color to grey.
Click Save Configuration. The changes are saved.
Note: The changes might take up to 10 minutes to apply.
Disable Sync Schedule for the File IQ Appliance and Volumes pairs by following these steps:
Note: If GFA manages the volume you are connecting to File IQ, skip this step (disabling snap and sync schedules). GFA does not send snapshot or sync recommendations to File IQ for these volumes.
Click Volumes.
Click Sync Schedule. The Sync Schedule pane appears.
Select a volume that you configured remote access for in step 2.
Expand the volume's list to display the associated NEAs and File IQ Appliances.
De-select each item that is not an File IQ Appliance.
Click Edit Volumes. The Snapshot Schedule dialog box appears.
Click Select/Deselect all until all the Days turn from color to grey.
Click Save Schedule. The changes are saved.
Note: The changes might take up to 10 minutes to apply.
(Optional) Repeat steps 1-5 in this section for each Volume to be connected to File IQ.
6. Disabling Quality of Service (QoS) for the File IQ Appliance
To disable the Quality of Service for the File IQ Appliance, follow these steps:
Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.
Click the Filers tab.
Click Quality of Service. The Filer Quality of Service pane appears.
Select the File IQ Appliance entry in the table and click Edit Filers. The Quality of Service Settings dialog box appears.
For all existing Quality of Service rules, click Delete.
Click Save Rules. The dialog box closes and returns to the Filer Quality of Service pane.
7. Enabling the File IQ and Configuring File IQ Service
By default, the File IQ service is turned off on the File IQ Appliance. Additionally, the File IQ Service on the Nasuni Edge Appliance (NEA) is off and is not configured to use any File IQ Appliance.
This section outlines how to enable File IQ on the File IQ Appliance and configure one or more NEAs to send activity information to the File IQ Appliance using the Nasuni Orchestration Center (NOC) user interface.
Use this section to perform the following:
Enable the File IQ on the new File IQ Appliance.
Enable File IQ Service and Assign the File IQ Appliance for the NEA.
Before getting started, ensure that the following items from the 1. Before You Begin section are complete:
NOC Login
NMC Login
NEA(s) List
Note: Before proceeding, confirm that the NMC, File IQ Appliance, and NEA(s) are all started and running.
a. Enable the File IQ on the new File IQ Appliance
To enable the File IQ Appliance from the NOC UI, follow these steps:
Log in to https://account.nasuni.com.
Click the File IQ Config tab. The File IQ pane appears.
In the Configuration section, select the Disabled toggle for the new File IQ Appliance. The toggle becomes enabled, and the label changes to Enabled.
Click Save.
The configuration change is stored.
b. Enable File IQ Service and Assign the File IQ Appliance for the NEA
Important: The Nasuni Edge Appliance(s) that are used for data migration or third-party integration purposes should not be enabled to send events to File IQ Appliance(s).
In this section, enable the File IQ Service for each of the Nasuni Edge Appliances (NEA) that you have chosen to report activity to the File IQ Appliance. You should have defined each NEA as part of the NEAs List entry in the 1. Before you Begin section.
To enable the File IQ Service and assign the File IQ Appliance for each of the Nasuni Edge Appliances, follow these steps:
Log in to https://account.nasuni.com.
Click the File IQ Config tab. The File IQ pane appears.
In the Enable File IQ Service on appliances section, select the Disabled toggle for the specific NEAs. The toggle becomes enabled, and the label changes to Enabled.
For the same NEAs, select the new File IQ appliance from the Assign File IQs to NEAs dropdown menu.
The dropdown shows the new File IQ Appliance assigned to the NEAs.Click Save.
The configuration change is stored.
c. Forcing the Configuration to be Applied to the File IQ Appliance and Nasuni Edge Appliance
After saving the configuration, it can take up to 1 hour to become active on the File IQ Appliance and NEAs. To expedite this process, use the Refresh License feature in the NMC. Afterward, move on to 8. Accessing the File IQ Dashboard.
To force the configuration to become active, follow these steps:
Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with your account.
Click Filers.
Click Refresh License. The Refresh Subscription License pane appears.
Select the File IQ Appliance and NEAs you used in steps a. and b. above and click Update Filers. The Refresh Subscription License dialog box appears.
Click Refresh License. The dialog box closes, and you return to the Refresh Subscription License pane. Wait until the Status column for the values you selected in Step 4 changes to a checkmark before proceeding.
Important: The initial scanning of your volume files begins immediately. This process can take a while, depending on the number of files and directories that must be scanned initially. The first scan can take approximately one hour per million files and directories. Subsequent scans occur every 24 hours after the initial scan and are much faster because they only scan changes to the existing files.
8. Accessing the File IQ Dashboards
The results of scanning the selected volumes appear in numerical and graphical form on the File IQ Dashboards. For details about File IQ Dashboards, see File IQ Dashboards.
The File IQ Dashboards contain all the information for NEA Activity and volume metadata that the File IQ Appliance receives and produces. To access the File IQ Dashboards, follow this procedure:
Open a new browser window.
Enter the address in this form:
https://<File IQ Appliance IP address>:3000
where <File IQ Appliance IP address> is the IP address of the File IQ Appliance, assigned in 3. Running the File IQ Appliance First Boot Wizard. The File IQ Dashboard user interface appears.
In the Email or username field, enter “Viewer”.
Caution: Do not rename the Grafana viewer account. The Initialization program expects the viewer account to be present. If the viewer account is not present, the Initialization of the viewer account recreates the viewer account with the default password.
In the Password field, enter “nasuni_IQ_2024!”.
Note: Nasuni highly recommends updating the default password for the Grafana viewer account during the first usage.
Click Log in. The system logs you into the File IQ Dashboard, and the Homepage appears.
It is important to change the default password. To change the password, follow this procedure:
Click the avatar icon at the top right of the File IQ Dashboard. A context menu appears.
In the context menu, click Change password. The Change Password pane appears.
in the Old Password textbox, enter the original default password “nasuni_IQ_2024!”.
Enter the new password text into the New password and Confirm password text boxes. Click Change Password.
The password is saved, and a dialog appears in the top right corner with the text User password changed.
Click Home in the top left corner to return to the Home page.
Appendix A: Firewall Configuration
The File IQ Appliance and Nasuni Edge Appliance both require access to the Microsoft Azure Event Hub API. For configuration instructions, see Nasuni Firewall and Port Requirements.
Appendix B: Controlling the Hyper-V VM
Virtual platforms offer the ability to control various aspects of your File IQ Appliance. This chapter presents procedures for these control functions. Because these controls depend on third-party virtual platforms, you should follow the procedures for your specific virtual platform.
Note: Vendors change their interfaces occasionally with little notice to the users. The exact screens and text on these platforms might change at any time.
Starting the Hyper-V VM
You can start a stopped Hyper-V VM of the File IQ Appliance using Hyper-V Manager.
Start a stopped Hyper-V VM by following these steps:
Start Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V manager UI appears.
In the navigation tree, select the Server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
Select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A list of options appears in the contextual menu.
Click Start. The status of the File IQ Appliance changes to Starting then Running.
The File IQ Appliance virtual machine powers on.
State of the Hyper-V VM
Using Hyper-V Manager, you can view the state of the Hyper-V VM of the File IQ Appliance.
View the state of the Hyper-V VM of the File IQ Appliance by following these steps:
Start Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V manager UI appears.
In the navigation tree, select the Server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
In the list of Virtual Machines, the state column indicates the state of the Virtual Machines.
Shutting Down the Hyper-V VM
It is recommended that the File IQ Appliance's Hyper-V VM always be shut down using the Nasuni Management Console UI.
Shut down the File IQ VM by following these steps:
Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.
Click the Filers menu item.
Click Shutdown & Reboot. The Shutdown and Reboot pane appears.
For the File IQ Appliance, click the associated Shutdown/Reboot action.
The Initiate Shutdown/Reboot of File IQ Appliance pane appears.
Enter ‘Change Filer Power State’ into the Confirmation Phrase textbox.
Select the Option to Shut down immediately. Click Shutdown.
The Shutdown and Reboot pane appears. Wait until the Status column for the File IQ Appliance changes to a ticked value before processing; at that point, the File IQ Appliance shuts down.
Appendix C: Resizing the Cache and File IQ DB Disks
This section describes the resizing steps for the File IQ Appliance on the Hyper-V platform. Resizing is necessary if you need to adjust the storage used by your File IQ Appliance.
The inputs for this task were defined as Sizing Tool Outputs in the 1. Before you Begin section.
Warning: Never delete the File IQ DB or cache disk.
Warning: You must shut down the virtual machine to change the size of the disks.
Warning: Virtual machine snapshots are not supported.
Do not attempt to restore from a virtual machine snapshot or backup.
Attempting to restore from a virtual machine snapshot or backup puts the File IQ Appliance in an unknown state in relation to the Nasuni Orchestration Center (NOC) and is not recoverable.
To change the size of a disk using Hyper-V Manager, follow these steps:
Power off the File IQ Appliance. See Shutting Down the Hyper-V VM.
Start the Hyper-V Manager. The Hyper-V Manager UI appears.
In the navigation tree, select the Server where the File IQ Appliance is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
Select the File IQ Appliance and right-click. A list of options appears in the contextual menu.
Select Settings… The Settings pane appears.
In the Hardware section, select the second hard drive. The Hard drive pane appears.
Validate that the Virtual hard disk value ends with Cache.vhdx. If the name is not Cache.vhdx, select the other hard drives in succession on the left-hand side until the Virtual hard disk value is correct.
Click Edit. The Edit Virtual Hard Disk Wizard appears.
Click Next. The Choose Action pane appears.
Select the Expand option, then click Next. The Expand Virtual Hard Disk pane appears.
Enter the new value of the hard drive, then click Next. The Summary pane appears.
Validate the correct value was entered then click Finish. A progress dialog appears, then closes when the operation completes. The Settings pane appears.
In the Hardware section, select the fourth hard drive. The Hard drive pane appears.
Validate that the Virtual hard disk value ends with Other.vhdx. If the name is not Other.vhdx, select the other hard drives in succession on the left-hand side until the Virtual hard disk value is correct.
Click Edit. The Edit Virtual Hard Disk Wizard pane appears.
Click Next. The Choose Action pane appears.
Select the Expand option, then click Next. The Expand Virtual Hard Disk pane appears.
Enter the value of the hard drive, then click Next. The Summary pane appears.
Validate that the correct value was entered, then click Finish. A progress dialog appears, and closes when the operation completes. The Settings pane appears.
Click OK. The Settings pane closes.
Power on the File IQ Appliance. See Starting the Hyper-V VM.
Appendix D: Uninstalling the Hyper-V VM
This section describes uninstalling the File IQ Appliance from the Hyper-V platform. Uninstallation might be required if you are upgrading the system hardware.
Note: Vendors change their interfaces occasionally with little notice to the users. The exact screens and text on these platforms might change at any time.
Uninstalling the File IQ Appliance
To uninstall the Nasuni Edge Appliance on the Hyper-V platform using Hyper-V Manager, follow these steps:
Shut down the File IQ Appliance. See the section Shutting Down the Hyper-V VM.
In Hyper-V Manager, select the server where the File IQ is deployed. The list of Virtual Machines appears.
Select the File IQ VM and right-click. A list of options appears in the contextual menu.
Click Settings… The Settings pane appears.
For each SCSI Controller in the navigation panel:
Select the Hard Drive below the SCSI Controller. The Hard Drive pane appears.
Locate and take note of Virtual Hard disk file location for the vhdx file.
Click OK. The Settings pane closes.
Select the File IQ VM and right-click. A list of options appears in the contextual menu.
Click Delete… A confirmation dialog appears.
Click Delete. The virtual machine is deleted, but the virtual hard disks are not deleted by default. Manually delete the virtual hard drives.
For each virtual hard disk file identified in step 5, open Windows File Explorer and delete the virtual hard disk manually.