This guide is intended for the IT administrator or person responsible for installing the Nasuni File IQ Appliance on the VMware ESXi platform.

General Information

This section provides general information about the File IQ Appliance, as well as its 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 on the NEA 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

For virtual machine requirements on an already deployed File IQ appliance running version 10.0 and below, proceed directly to Verifying Size Requirements.

The File IQ Appliance must meet minimum specifications starting from the 10.1 release. Each installation of the File IQ Appliance should adhere to these specifications and follow the actions required for specific sizing, as outlined in the following scenarios:

New Installation of File IQ without any Prior Installations of File IQ

If this is a new installation of File IQ without any prior installations of File IQ, follow one of these sets of steps:

1. If the File IQ installation is licensed for the Basic version of File IQ.

   1. Install the File IQ Appliance using the minimum specification.

   2. Connect the Volumes until all Volumes are processed at least once.

   3. Connect NEAs to the File IQ using the Nasuni Portal or your Nasuni Account.

2. Otherwise, if the File IQ installation is licensed for the Premium version of File IQ.

   1. Install the File IQ Appliance using the minimum specification.

   2. Connect the Volumes until all Volumes are processed at least once.

   3. Run the sizing tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/retention_configuration to validate the correct size.

      If necessary, make any recommended sizing adjustments to the Virtual Machine.

   4. Connect NEAs to the File IQ using the Nasuni Portal.

   5. Wait for 7 calendar days of NEA activity to occur within the organization.

   6. Run the sizing tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/retention_configuration to validate the correct size.

      If necessary, make any recommended sizing adjustments to the Virtual Machine.

New Installation of File IQ with a Prior Installation of File IQ

If this is a new installation of File IQ and you have a previous installation of File IQ, follow one of these sets of steps:

1. If the File IQ installation is licensed for the Basic version of File IQ.

   1. Use the manual Sizing Tool to determine the right virtual machine requirements for your organization by taking into account Volume and Event estimates from the existing Grafana dashboard content.

      Use the File IQ Events dashboard > Edge Appliance Activity panel and Volumes Summary dashboard > Volume Summary panel to derive the inputs for the Sizing Tool.

   2. Install the File IQ Appliance using the Virtual Machine specification derived from the Sizing Tool.

   3. Connect the Volumes until all Volumes are processed at least once.

   4. Connect NEAs to the File IQ using the Nasuni Portal.

2. Otherwise, if the File IQ installation is licensed for the Premium version of File IQ.

   1. Use the manual Sizing Tool to determine the right virtual machine requirements for your organization by taking into account Volume and Event estimates from the existing Grafana dashboard content.

      Use the File IQ Events dashboard > Edge Appliance Activity panel and Volumes Summary dashboard > Volume Summary panel to derive the inputs for the Sizing Tool.

   2. Install the File IQ Appliance using the specification from the Sizing Tool.

   3. Connect the Volumes until all Volumes are processed at least once.

   4. Run the sizing tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/retention_configuration to validate the correct size.

      If necessary, make any recommended sizing adjustments to the Virtual Machine.

   5. Connect NEAs to the File IQ using the Nasuni Portal.

   6. Run the sizing tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/retention_configuration to validate the correct size.

      If necessary, make any recommended sizing adjustments to the Virtual Machine.

Upgrade to an Existing Installation of File IQ

If this is an upgrade to an existing installation of File IQ, follow these steps:

1. If the File IQ installation is licensed for the Basic version of File IQ

   1. Run the File IQ Status tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/status to validate the health of your File IQ installation. For more information, see File IQ Health Status.

   2. If necessary, make any of the tool’s recommended changes to the Virtual Machine and/or Nasuni systems.

   3. Upgrade the File IQ Appliance.

   4. Run the File IQ Status tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/status to validate the health of your File IQ installation. For more information, see File IQ Health Status.

   5. If necessary, make any of the tool’s recommended changes to the Virtual Machine and/or Nasuni systems.

2. Otherwise, if the File IQ installation is licensed for the Premium version of File IQ.

   1. Run the File IQ Status tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/status to validate the health of your File IQ installation. See <TODO: section to be linked for how to use File IQ Status>

   2. If necessary, make any of the tool’s recommended changes to the Virtual Machine and/or Nasuni systems.

   3. Upgrade the File IQ Appliance.

   4. Run the sizing tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/retention_configuration to validate the correct size.

   5. If necessary, make any recommended sizing adjustments to the Virtual Machine.

Verifying Size Requirements

The NMC has a health check for File IQ that indicates whether sizing needs to be adjusted as a result of any of the previous steps, regardless of whether the license is Basic or Premium.

To determine the right virtual machine requirements for the Basic license, follow these steps:

1. Open the manual Sizing Tool.

2. Navigate to the File IQ Events dashboard.

3. Use the information from the Edge Appliance Activity panel to fill in the Sizing Tool fields.

4. Navigate to the Volumes Summary dashboard and use the Volume Summary panel to fill in the Sizing Tool fields.

   The Sizing Tool displays your minimum sizing requirements.

   Note: If needed, contact your Nasuni Account Manager for assistance using the Sizing Tool.

To determine the right virtual machine requirements for the Premium license, use the sizing tool at https://FILE-IQ-FQDN:8443/niq/retention_configuration to determine the appropriate virtual machine requirements for your organization.

Minimum Specifications

The minimum specifications for the File IQ Appliance are as follows:

Installing on the VMware ESXi Platform

This chapter explains how to install the File IQ Solution on the VMware ESXi platform.

Warning: 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 Center (NOC) and requires a recovery process. This might result in data loss.

Important: Do not install or upgrade the VMware Tools on an File IQ Appliance. The VMware Tools in the Nasuni virtual appliances are updated as part of the normal Nasuni product release cycle.

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. The warning states: “Nasuni recommends running the Management Console on ESX 7.0 or later.”

Tip: Nasuni recommends using Thick provisioning for all virtual disks for performance reasons. On the VMware virtual platform, Nasuni recommends Thick Provision Eager Zeroed. Thin provisioning is not supported because acceptable performance is unlikely.

Tip: For information about preventing accidental or malicious data deletion, see Appendix B, “Deletion Security”.

Tip: This document is about deploying virtual machines. It does not cover configuring a storage account for use with Nasuni volumes.

Note: Nasuni supports VMware ESXi 7.0 and above.

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:

1. Before You Begin

The following items should be readily available to help you 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.

2. Installing the File IQ Appliance

To complete the installation of the File IQ Appliance, follow these steps:

1. Download the File IQ Appliance software.

2. Install the File IQ Appliance using the vSphere Web Client.

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:

1. Log in to your Nasuni account and on the Overview tab, click Downloads.

2. In the File IQ area, click Download OVF format.

3. From the dropdown list, select an available release for the File IQ.

4. Save the File IQ Appliance software .zip 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.

5. Unzip the File IQ Appliance software file.

Install the File IQ Appliance Using the vSphere Web Client

You can install the File IQ Appliance in VMware ESXi 7.0 and above using the vSphere Web Client.

The vSphere Web Client uses the OVF virtual appliance format to install the File IQ Appliance.

For further information, also see:

• Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 8.0

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, such as a VPN connection to an on-premises Domain Controller.

Important: The following process has been tested with vSphere Client version 7.0.3.01700.

To install the File IQ Appliance into VMware ESXi using vSphere Web Client:

1. Download and unzip the File IQ Appliance software in OVF format.

2. Open a web browser and log into the vCenter Server or ESXi host.

3. In the left-hand browser pane, right-click the host or cluster onto which the OVF is to be deployed.

4. From the File menu, select Deploy OVF Template. The Deploy OVF Template page appears.

5. Navigate to the NasuniFile IQ.ovf file located in the File IQ folder of the unzipped File IQ Appliance software.

6. Select the files below and click Open.

   1. NasuniAppliance.ovf

   2. NasuniAppliance-disk1.vmdk

   3. NasuniAppliance-disk2.vmdk

   4. NasuniAppliance-disk3.vmdk

   5. NasuniAppliance-disk4.vmdk

7. In the Deploy OVF Template window, click Next.

8. Enter a name for the Virtual machine name. From the Select a location for the virtual machine list, select an installation location. Click Next. The Select a name and folder pane appears.

9. If deploying the OVF on a vCenter server, the Select a compute resource pane appears. Select a specific hypervisor or compute cluster resource and click Next. The Review details pane appears.

10. Review the template details and click Next. The Select storage pane appears.

11. Select a datastore onto which to deploy the Virtual File IQ Appliance. On the VMware virtual platform, Nasuni recommends Thick Provision Eager Zeroed. Click Next. The Select networks pane appears.

12. From the Destination Network dropdown menu, select the port group onto which to deploy the Virtual File IQ Appliance and click Next. The Ready to complete pane appears.

13. Review the details.
    To change any item, click Back.
    To begin deploying the appliance, click Finish.

14. Two tasks appear at the bottom of the VMware browser window: Import OVF Package and Deploy OVF Template. Allow these tasks to be completed.

15. Nasuni strongly recommends disabling VMware snapshots, as attempting to restore from a VMware snapshot can compromise the installation and result in data loss.

    1. After the Virtual File IQ Appliance has been deployed, locate the virtual machine in the left-hand pane and right-click it. The Actions dropdown menu appears.

    2. Click Edit Settings. The Edit Settings window appears.

    3. Click the VM Options tab at the top of the window. The VM Options pane appears.

    4. Click Advanced. Scroll down to Configuration Parameters and click Edit Configuration. The Configuration Parameters pane appears.

    5. Click Add Configuration Params. The Add New Configuration Params section appears.

    6. In the Name field, enter “snapshot.MaxSnapshots”.
       Set the Value field to “0”.
       Click Ok.

    7. To save the configuration, click OK.

16. Right-click the new File IQ Appliance virtual machine from the dropdown menu. Select Power, followed by Power On. This powers on the new File IQ Appliance virtual machine.
    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 a File IQ Appliance on an unsupported hypervisor version, a warning is logged at boot time. The warning states: “Nasuni recommends running the Management Console on ESX 7.0 or later.”

17. Looking at the Guest OS panel, select Launch Web Console. The File IQ Appliance screen appears with a plain bar on the bottom that indicates the progress of the installation.

18. Wait until the File IQ Appliance console screen appears.
    Tip: The first boot of a File IQ Appliance might take slightly longer than subsequent boots.

19. If DHCP is available on the network, make note of 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 unavailable, 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.

    1. Enter the command: “editnetwork”.

    2. Enter the command: “setall static”.

    3. Enter a new IP address for the File IQ Appliance and note it. Use this IP address to access the File IQ Appliance user interface.

    4. Update the Netmask if required.

    5. Update the MTU if required.

    6. If satisfied with the above settings, enter “no” when prompted with Change any values?

    7. Update the Hostname if required. Nasuni recommends using the hostname in FQDN format, all in lowercase.

    8. Update the Default Gateway if required.

    9. Update the DNS Servers if required.

    10. Update the Search Domain if required.

    11. If satisfied with the above settings, enter “no” when prompted with Change any values?

    12. To save the configuration settings, enter the command: save and press enter.

    13. Confirm you want to save the settings, enter “yes” and press enter. A message is displayed confirming the save is in progress, followed by a message confirming the save operation is completed.

    14. Enter the command: quit and press enter.

    15. 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:

1. In the Inventory list on the left pane, select the name specified for the new File IQ Appliance virtual machine.

2. On the Summary tab, look for the Guest OS panel. The VM IP address is displayed.

3. Navigate to the First Boot Wizard for the File IQ Appliance by opening a new browser window.

   1. To access the File IQ Appliance, enter the address in this form: https://<IP address>, where <IP address> is the IP address from step 2 above.

   2. The Enter the Network Parameters for this Filer page appears.
       

4. Enter the Hostname in FQDN format you defined in the File IQ Hostname of the 1. Before you Begin section.

5. Complete the remainder of the System Settings defined in the File IQ Network Details as part of the 1. Before you Begin section above.

6. Click Continue. The Review the Network Settings pane appears.

7. If all fields are correct, click Continue. The next pane confirms if the File IQ Appliance is Configuring Network Settings. If the File IQ Appliance does not automatically reconnect, try refreshing the page and checking if the File IQ Appliance’s IP address has changed. If so, update the browser address bar.  

8. The Nasuni Filer Software Update pane appears. Click Continue.

9. Enter the File IQ Serial Number and Authorization Code obtained under the File IQ Serial Number and Authorization Code as part of the 1. Before you Begin section above.

10. Click Continue. The Add a New Nasuni Filer to your account pane appears.
    Note: If you get an Invalid serial number or access code provided during this step, it is because you have used a NEA 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 Number and Authorization Code values.

11. Enter Install New Filer into the Confirmation textbox.

12. Click Continue. The Accept the Terms of Service and License Agreement pane appears.

13. Accept the Terms of Service and click Continue. The Enter or accept Filer Name pane appears.

14. Click Continue. The Nasuni Management Console Detected pane appears.

15. Enable the Join NMC Management checkbox and click Continue. The Enter a username and password for Administration of this Filer pane appears.

16. Enter your NMC local account Username and Password, and then Confirm Password. These were obtained in the File IQ Username and Password section of the 1. Before you Begin section above.

17. Click Continue, the First Boot Wizard is complete, and the File IQ Appliance Management window appears.

3.1 Joining the File IQ Appliance to Active Directory

If the volumes you want to scan are protected by Active Directory, you must join your File IQ Appliance to the Active Directory domains to secure these volumes.

Note: The configuration of Active Directory can vary based on different factors, and your specific configuration might require additional settings that are not mentioned in this section. If you encounter any issues while connecting to Active Directory, reach out to your Nasuni Account Manager for assistance.

Follow this procedure to join Active Directory:

1. 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 step 2 of the previous section. The File IQ Appliance user interface appears.

2. Ensure that the hostname of your File IQ Appliance is shorter than 16 characters:

   1. From the Configuration menu, select Network Configuration under the Networking section.

   2. Verify that the hostname in Hostname or FQDN is 15 characters or less.

   3. If required, shorten the hostname and click Save Network Configuration.

   4. Enter your Nasuni admin account details, confirm, and wait for the File IQ Appliance to apply the new settings.

3. Enter the IP address for your primary DNS server in the Primary DNS server text box. You must enter a valid hostname or IP address.

   1. From the Configuration menu, select Network Configuration under the Networking section.

   2. In Settings Source, under System Settings, select DHCP with Custom DNS.

   3. Leave the Search Domain empty.

   4. Set the Primary DNS server to your Active Directory PDC’s IP address.

   5. Click Save Network Configuration. You must enter your Nasuni admin account details, confirm, and wait for the appliance to apply the new settings.

4. Join the File IQ Appliance to Active Directory by following these steps:

   1. From the Configuration menu, select Directory Services under the CIFS & Directory Services section.

   2. Enter the fully qualified Active Directory domain name in the Domain entry field.

   3. Unless instructed by your Nasuni Account Manager, do not change any other fields.

   4. Click Continue. The Confirm/Authenticate Directory Service dialog box appears.

   5. In the Confirm/Authenticate Directory Service dialog box, enter your Active Directory administrator username and password and click Submit.

   6. Wait until the joining process is complete and the Volume Selection page is displayed.

   7. Select all volumes you wish to access from the File IQ appliance and click Continue.

   8. Wait until the volume configuration is complete and the Domain Configuration page is displayed.

   9. Enable all the trusted domains you wish to monitor users from and click Continue.

   10. Wait until the trusted domain configuration is complete and the “Complete the Configuration” page is displayed.

   11. Click Finish to finish the Active Directory configuration.

   12. Wait until the configuration completes.

   13. The display then returns to the Directory Services page and displays Active Directory domain information.

You have successfully joined Active Directory.

4a. Set the Escrow Passphrase for the File IQ Appliance (10.0+)

Important: In order to use DR capabilities a backup of the File IQ Appliance configuration needs to happen. Setting the escrow passphrase enables the backup.

Note: In order to use the Nasuni File IQ Database backup feature DR needs to be configured for the File IQ Appliance.

To set the escrow key for the File IQ Appliance, follow this procedure:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.

2. Click Filers.

3. Click Escrow Passphrase. The Filer Escrow Passphrase pane appears.

4. Select the File IQ Appliance entry in the table and click Edit 1 Filer. The Set Escrow Passphrase dialog box appears.

5. Enter the same passphrase for both Escrow Passphrase and Confirm Passphrase.

6. Click Set Passphrase. The dialog box closes and returns to the Filer Escrow Passphrase pane.

If you do not use the Nasuni Escrow Service, instead of setting an escrow passphrase, you can upload your own encryption keyfile and set it as a recovery backup key:

1. Log in to the File IQ appliance web UI.

2. From the Configuration menu, select Encryption Keys.

3. Click Upload Encryption Keys.

4. Choose your externally generated OpenPGP keyfile.

5. Enter the Key Passphrase, if the keyfile has been secured with a passphrase.

6. Click Import Key.

7. Make sure the key has been imported, and click "Set backup key" to set it as a recovery backup key.

4b. Add the File IQDB Disk to the File IQ Appliance

Important: These steps are only applicable to File IQ Appliances prior to the 10.1 release.

Before enabling the File IQ Appliance, add another disk for the File IQ Database, by following this procedure:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.

2. Click Filers.

3. Click Shutdown & Reboot.

   The Shutdown and Reboot pane appears.

4. For the File IQ Appliance, click the associated Shutdown/Reboot action.

   The Initiate Shutdown/Reboot of File IQ Appliance pane appears.

5. Enter ‘Change Filer Power State’ into the Confirmation Phrase textbox.

6. Select Shut down immediately. Click Shutdown.

   The Shutdown and Reboot pane appears. Wait until the Status column for the File IQ Appliance changes to a checkmark before proceeding; at that point, the File IQ Appliance is shut down

7. Launch the VMware vSphere Web Client. The VMware vSphere Web Client login window appears.

8. Log in to the vSphere Web Client with your username and password. The vSphere Web Client opens.

9. In the pane on the left, expand the host to display the list of virtual machines.

10. Click the name of your File IQ Appliance. This is the name entered when installing the File IQ Appliance. Information about your File IQ Appliance appears in the right pane.

11. If the virtual machine is running, shut down the virtual machine using the following steps: Shutting down the VMware ESXi VM.

12. Once the virtual machine is powered off, right-click the File IQ Appliance virtual machine, then, from the dropdown menu, select Edit Settings. This opens the settings panel of the File IQ Appliance virtual machine.
    Note: For the following steps, use the Virtual Machine Requirements in the 1. Before you Begin section.

13. Click Add New Device in the top right corner of the window and select Hard Disk.

14. Expand the New Hard Disk and set the below settings:

    1. Size: Use the Sizing Tool Output for this.

    2. Disk Provisioning: Select Thick Provision Eager Zeroed

    3. Ignore the rest of the settings

15. Once the settings are entered, click Ok to save the new disk config.

16. Start the VM now using the Starting the VMware ESXi VM steps.

The File IQ Appliance Virtual Machine starts.

5. Connect the Nasuni Volumes to the File IQ Appliance

Important: For the Basic version of File IQ a maximum of 19 volumes can be connected to a File IQ Appliance for metadata analysis. For the Premium version of File IQ a maximum of 47 volumes can be connected to a File IQ Appliance for metadata analysis. If these limits are exceeded, then the metadata analysis stops until the number of connected volumes for metadata analysis falls within the specific range.

Note: The File IQ Appliance Administration UI Status > Subscription Status pane will not accurately reflect the Max Volumes / Filer values based on the settings above. You should ignore the value Max Volumes / Filer in the Status > Subscription Status pane.

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 for metadata analysis, follow this procedure:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.

2. Set up remote access for the Volume by following this procedure:

   1. Click Volumes.

   2. Click Remote Access. The Volume Remote Access Setting pane appears.

   3. 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.

   4. Click Edit Volumes. The Edit Volume Remote Access Settings dialog box appears.

   5. Ensure that the Enabled toggle is set to On.

   6. For Remote Access Permissions, select Custom.

   7. For the File IQ Appliance entry in the Custom Remote Access Permissions section, select Read Only.
      Caution: Ensure that you 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 unchanged.

   8. Unselect all sharing options and click Save Remote Access Settings. The Volume Remote Access Setting pane appears.

   9. Wait until the Status for each of the selected volumes changes to a checkmark before proceeding.

3. Connect the Volumes to the File IQ Appliance by following these steps:

   1. Click Volumes.

   2. Click Connect Volume. The Remotely Accessible Volumes pane appears.

   3. Click Refresh Connections and wait for the process to complete.

   4. 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.

   5. In the Filers section, enable the File IQ Appliance checkbox.

   6. In the Storage Access section, select Skip creating storage access point.

   7. In the Inherit Setting section, untick the three inherit setting checkboxes.

   8. Click Save Connections. The dialog box closes and returns to the Remotely Accessible Volumes pane.

   9. Wait until the Status column for the Volume changes to a checkmark before proceeding.

4. Disable Snapshot Schedule for the FILE IQ Appliance and volume pairs by following one of these sets of steps:

   1. For volumes not managed by GFA, follow these steps:

      1. Click Volumes.  

      2. Click Snapshot Schedule.

         The Volume Snapshot Schedule pane appears.

      3. Expand the volumes for which you configured remote access in step 2.

      4. For each expanded select each item that is a File IQ Appliance.

      5. Click Edit Volumes.

         The Snapshot Schedule dialog box appears.

      6. Click Select/Deselect all until all of the Days turn from color to grey.

      7. Click Save Configuration.

         The changes are saved.

         Note: The changes might take up to 10 minutes to apply.

   2. For volumes managed by GFA, follow these steps:

      1. Click Volumes.  

      2. Click Snapshot Schedule.

         The Volume Snapshot Schedule pane appears.

      3. Select the volumes for which you configured remote access in step 2.

      4. For each selected volume, expand its list to display the associated NEAs and File IQ Appliances.

      5. Deselect each item that is not a File IQ Appliance.

      6. Click Edit Volumes.

         The Snapshot Schedule dialog box appears.

      7. Set the Enablement Window to On.

      8. Deselect all until all the Days turn from color to grey.

      9. Click Save Configuration. The changes are saved.

         Note: The changes might take up to 10 minutes to apply.:.

5. Disable Sync Schedule for the File IQ Appliance and Volumes pairs by following these steps:

   1. Click Volumes.

   2. Click Sync Schedule.

      The Sync Schedule pane appears.

   3. Select a volume for which you configured remote access in step 2.

   4. Expand the volume's list to display the associated NEAs and File IQ Appliances.

   5. Deselect each item that is not a File IQ Appliance.

   6. Click Edit Volumes.

      The Sync Schedule dialog box appears.

   7. Click Select/Deselect all until all of the Days turn from colored to grey.

   8. Click Save Schedule.

      The changes are saved.

      The changes might take up to 10 minutes to apply.

      Note: Repeat steps c-h in this section for each Volume connected to File IQ.

6. Disabling Quality of Service (QoS) for the File IQ Appliance

It is recommended to disable the Quality of Service (QoS) for the File IQ Appliance as the main workloads involve synchronization of content to the File IQ Appliance and the system wants to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.

To disable the Quality of Service for the File IQ Appliance, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.

2. Click Filers.

3. Click Quality of Service. The Filer Quality of Service pane appears.

4. Select the File IQ Appliance entry in the table and click Edit Filers. The Quality of Service Settings dialog box appears.

5. For all existing Quality of Service rules, click Delete.

6. Click Save Rules. The dialog box closes and returns to the Filer Quality of Service pane.

7.Enabling the File IQ Appliance and Configuring File IQ Service

By default, your 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 Producton 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.

The Nasuni Portal or Nasuni Orchestration Center (NOC) User Interface is used to enable File IQ on the File IQ Appliance and the NEA.

Use this section to perform the following:

1. Enable the File IQ Product on the new File IQ Appliance.

2. 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 for this specific area:

• Nasuni Portal or 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. Enabling the File IQ on the New File IQ Appliance

Use either the Nasuni Portal or the Nasuni Orchestration Center to enable File IQ on the File IQ Appliance.

Nasuni Portal

To enable the File IQ Appliance from the Nasuni Portal, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Portal.

2. Navigate to Appliance Services > File IQ Configuration.

3. Click on the File IQ Appliance in the table list. The checkbox becomes Enabled.

4. From the Enable/Disable drop-down menu, click on Enable Selected. The State changes to Enabled for the File IQ Appliance in the table list.

   This action is automatically saved.

Nasuni Orchestration Center

To enable the File IQ Appliance from the Nasuni Orchestration Center (NOC) UI, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Nasuni Orchestration Center.

2. Click the File IQ Config tab. The File IQ pane appears.

3. In the Configuration section, select the Disabled toggle for the new File IQ Appliance. The toggle becomes enabled, and the label changes to Enabled.

4. Click Save.

The configuration change is stored.

b. Enabling File IQ Service and Assigning 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 NEAs 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 above.

Use either the Nasuni Portal or the Nasuni Orchestration Center to enable the File IQ service and assign the File IQ Appliance for the NEA.

Nasuni Portal

To enable the File IQ Service and assign the File IQ Appliance for each of these Nasuni Edge Appliances from the Nasuni Portal, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Nasuni Portal.

2. Navigate to Appliance Services > File IQ Configuration

3. Click on the Edge entry in the Configuration items on the left of the page

4. Click on the Edge name in the table list. The checkbox becomes Enabled.

5. From the Enable/Disable drop down menu click on Enable Selected. The State changes to Enabled for the Edge name in the table list.

   This action is automatically saved.

6. Click on the Assign/Unassign File IQ button. The File IQ Assignment panel appears.

7. From the drop down list select the name of the File IQ Appliance that you want to assign the previously selected Edge entries.

8. Click Save.

Nasuni Orchestration Center

To enable the File IQ Service and assign the File IQ Appliance for each of these Nasuni Edge Appliances from the Nasuni Orchestration Center, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Nasuni Orchestration Center.

2. Click the File IQ Config tab. The File IQ pane appears.

3. In the Enable File IQ Service on appliances section, click the Disabled toggle for the specific NEAs. The toggle becomes enabled, and its label changes to Enabled.

4. For the same NEAs, from the Assign File IQs to NEAs dropdown menu, select the new File IQ Appliance.
   The dropdown shows the new File IQ Appliance as assigned to the NEAs.

5. Click Save.

The configuration change is stored.

c. Forcing the Configuration to be Applied to the File IQ Appliance and Nasuni Edge Appliance

After the configuration is saved, it can take up to 1 hour for the configuration to become active on the File IQ Appliance and NEAs. Instead, you can force the configuration to immediately refresh using the Refresh License feature in the NMC so that you can move on to 8. Accessing the File IQ Dashboards immediately.

To force the configuration to become active, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with your account.

2. Click Filers.

3. Click Refresh License. The Refresh Subscription License pane appears.

4. Select the same File IQ Appliance and NEAs that you used in steps a. and b. above, and click Update Filers. The Refresh Subscription License dialog box appears.

5. 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 has changed 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 to be scanned initially. It can take on the order of 1 hour per million files and directories for this first scan.
Subsequent scans occur every 24 hours after the initial scan. Subsequent scans are much faster, because they only deal with changes to the existing volumes. To view the progress of the Volume scans use the System Status dashboard > Volume Scan Detailed Status panel and Service Support dashboard > Volume Scan State Logs panel.

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:

1. Open a new browser window.

2. Enter the address in this form:
   https://<FILE-IQ-FQDN>:3000

   where <FILE-IQ-FQDN> is the FQDN of the File IQ Appliance, assigned in 3. Running the File IQ Appliance First Boot Wizard. The File IQ Dashboard user interface appears.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Click Log in. The system logs you into the File IQ Dashboard, and the Homepage is displayed.

6. It is important to change the default password. To change the password, follow this procedure:

   1. Click the avatar icon at the top right of the File IQ Dashboard. A context menu is displayed.

   2. In the context menu, click Change password. The Change Password pane appears.

   3. in the Old Password textbox, enter the original default password “nasuni_IQ_2024!”.

   4. Enter the new password 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.

   5. Click Home in the top left corner to return to the Home page.

9. Nasuni File IQ Status and File IQ Appliance Health

This section describes the Nasuni File IQ Status tool that is shipped with the File IQ Appliance.

a. File IQ Status Tooling

The File IQ Status tool, shipped with the File IQ Appliance, offers key insights into the operational health of the File IQ Appliance installation. At any point during the setup of the File IQ Appliance or afterward, the File IQ Status displays the health of key sections of the File IQ Appliance.

Each line has three possible status values:

• Healthy: Indicated by a Green tick symbol. No action is required in this case.

• Unhealthy: Indicated by a Red x symbol. Action is required in this case.

• Informational: Indicated by a Yellow triangle with an exclamation point inside. Action may be required depending on the organization’s use case for File IQ.

  Note: Informational items do not cause a health check to return as an error condition.

The Unhealthy and Information points are accompanied by a detailed text on the problem space and links to the Nasuni documentation to address them.

As the installation of File IQ progresses, it is recommended to run File IQ Status to ensure the setup is functional. Depending on when you run the File IQ Status tool, warnings and errors may be expected. For example, before enabling File IQ on the NOC or Portal, it is expected that the check for this does not pass.

b. File IQ Appliance Health

The File IQ Appliance reports its health to the NMC and uses the File IQ Status Tooling as the basis for the information. If the NMC reports a File IQ Appliance as unhealthy, the File IQ Status tool provides the customer with the cause of the problem, as well as remediation materials.

To view the current health of the File IQ Appliance in the NMC, follow this procedure:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console (NMC) associated with your account.

2. Click Filers.

3. Click the name of the File IQ Appliance in the table at the bottom of the page. The File IQ Appliance Details pane appears.

4. The Health section is displayed at the bottom right of the pane.

c. File IQ Status Messaging

The list of health items that the File IQ Status can provide is outlined in the following table:

* The Health Item indicates whether this item may raise a health problem to the NMC.

** The Health Item varies between the Basic and Premium versions of the File IQ Appliance.

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: Deletion Security

The VMware ESXi platform offers several safeguards to prevent, or mitigate, unwanted deletion of VMs. Deletion security is managed through access controls, permissions, and data protection mechanisms such as snapshots and backups.

Locking resources

In ESX, locking resources to prevent deletion is typically managed through access controls and permissions within the hypervisor environment. Administrators can set permissions at various levels, such as the host, cluster, or individual VMs, to restrict deletion rights.

For more information, see VMware documentation.

Attaching to a VM

In ESX, the prevention of deletion of disks attached to VMs is inherent to the virtualization environment. VM disks are managed within data stores, and permissions can be set to control access to these disks.

The deletion of virtual disks (VMDKs) attached to running VMs is typically prevented to avoid data loss or disruption to VM operation.

For more information, see VMware documentation.

Appendix C: Controlling the VMware ESXi 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 VMware ESXi VM

You can start a stopped VMware ESXi VM of the File IQ Appliance using the vSphere Web Client.

To start a stopped VMware ESXi VM, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Inventory list on the left pane and select the name that you specified for the File IQ Appliance virtual machine.

2. Right-click the File IQ Appliance virtual machine from the dropdown menu. Select Power, followed by Power On. This powers on the File IQ Appliance virtual machine.

Status of the VMware ESXi VM

Using the vSphere Web Client, you can view the status of the VMware ESXi VM of the File IQ Appliance.

To view the status of the VMware ESXi VM of the File IQ Appliance, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Inventory list on the left pane and select the name you specified for the File IQ Appliance virtual machine.

2. On the Summary tab, there is a Guest OS panel that displays the VM power status.

Shutting Down the VMware ESXi VM

It is recommended to always shutdown the VMware ESXi VM of the File IQ Appliance using the File IQ UI.

To shut down the File IQ VM, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Nasuni Management Console associated with the File IQ Appliance.

2. Click the Filers menu item.

3. Click Shutdown & Reboot. The Shutdown and Reboot pane appears.

4. For the File IQ Appliance, click the associated Shutdown/Reboot action.

5. The Initiate Shutdown/Reboot of File IQ Appliance pane appears.

6. Enter ‘Change Filer Power State’ into the Confirmation Phrase textbox.

7. Select the Option to Shut down immediately. Click Shutdown.  

8. 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 D: Uninstalling the VMware ESXi VM

This section describes uninstalling the File IQ Appliance from the VMware ESXi 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 File IQ Appliance on the VMware ESXi platform, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Inventory list on the left pane and select the name you specified for the File IQ Appliance virtual machine.

2. Right-click the File IQ Appliance virtual machine from the dropdown menu. Select Power, followed by Power On. This powers on the File IQ Appliance virtual machine.

3. Right-click the File IQ Appliance virtual machine, then, from the dropdown menu, select Delete from Disk.

4. A dialog box displays, confirming if you are sure you want to delete the virtual machine. Click Yes.