Abstract provisioning using an Excel file

Often customers don't want the operator to pick clusternames or vserver names.  He wants to abstract that part and rather go for more practical input like "datacenter" or "location" or "environment".  In this tutorial we will create a provisioning workflow and we will make that abstraction by using an Excel file.

SQL Select Queries with JOINS for dummies

To work with WFA, I often say, you don't have to be a developer, and I stick with that statement.  However, when we want some decent userinput, we will have to write a SQL Query every now and then, and although a simple select query is easy to learn, whenever I start talking about "JOINS", they tend to get lost.  In this tutorial I will try to teach you why we need joins and how they work.

Tutorial : Resize a volume, the proper way

After we created our first workflow, we will now create a workflow that will resize a volume.  Simple you might say, but we will check first if the actual aggregate can sustain the growth whilst still being under a comfortable threshold (85%).  If the aggregate cannot sustain the growth, we will find a better aggregate, move the volume and then resize it.

WFA Powershell Commands Slow ?

Are you running WFA and are all PowerShell commands slow ?

Maybe CRL checking is enabled...

PowerShell cmdlets are sometimes "signed" and when they are run, they tend to go the the web and check the CRL (Certificate Revocation List).  Now if internet connection is not allowed or slow, this will impact the speed of the commands.

Create you first WFA workflow

Together we will create your first workflow.  Just a simple one, we will create a volume with WFA.  However, we are going through the first best practices and we will have WFA automatically pick an aggregate for us.  Your first step to automation !

How to install WFA on windows

Never installed WFA before ?  Here is a step-by-step tutorial.

Wfa string, char and numeric functions

Sometimes you need to manipulate strings or numbers in WFA.  You need to extract a character, or add a number.  A lot of those functions are missing.  So here is a library of string, char & number functions I often use.

Generating number sequence in MySQL

Sometimes you need to create a dropdown box with a list sequential numbers.  Now that can be just plain 1,2,3.  But it could just as well be 400,500,600, ...
Use-cases are for example, you want to provide a dropdown box to resize a volume, but you don't want the operator to go below the current size and you don't want him to over 10TB for example and you always want it to be a multiple of 100GB.  How do you provide such a list ?

Find a netapp lun by WWID

When you create userinput and you need to present some luns in a dropdownbox, most of the time, you just list up your luns. However, sometimes you want to create a portal to non-netapp people. Linux people for example. And they have no clue of what the lun is named. They do however have the WWID, a hexadecimal string. Part of that string is the actual netapp lun serial number. With some simple MySQL querying, it's very simple to determine the actual lun.

Powershell Transpose Table Data

I had a question from a friend this weekend how he could transpose a powershell table.  I couldn't find anything working on the web, so created my own.

WFA Datasource Template

If you are working with WFA for quite some time, you will eventually need more advanced workflows, requiring a custom scheme and dictionaries.  And most likely you will want to import external data and import that data into you custom dictionaries.  To import that data, you will need to have a custom datasource.