Nutanix Files Prerequisites

1. Nutanix Files Version Requirements
   1. For SMB workloads, the supported versions of Nutanix Files (formerly Acropolis File Services or AFS) are v3.0.1.x through v3.2.x and v3.5.1.x through v4.1.x and v4.2.1 and above.  Other versions of Files (including v3.5.0.x, and v4.2.0.x) are not supported.
      Note:  SMB Nested shares are only supported with Peer Global File Service starting with Nutanix Files v3.5.1.  SMB shares with NFS enabled on them are not supported.
   2. For NFS and multi-protocol workloads, Nutanix Files v4.2.1 or above is required.  PeerSync is not supported for NFS or multi-protocol workloads.
      Note:  Distributed shares/exports as well as nested shares/exports are not currently supported with NFS or multi-protocol workloads.
      
      
2. Any server that will be interfacing with a Files cluster through the Peer Agent or PeerSync must reside within the same domain, same network segment, and same subnet as the Files cluster (Client Network).  Additionally, the network connection between the Files cluster and the Agent or PeerSync must operate at speeds of at least 1 Gbit/sec with sub-millisecond latency.  Preferably, the Agent or PeerSync should be running on the same physical Nutanix AOS cluster as its associated Files cluster.
   
   
3. Time Synchronization:  The server hosting the Peer Agent or PeerSync as well as the Files cluster must synchronize their system clocks with the same private or public Network Time Protocol (NTP) service.  If you are using virtual machines, ensure that time synchronization between the VM and the hypervisor host is disabled to ensure that the VMs rely solely on NTP for timekeeping.
   
   
4. Server OS Version Requirements
   1. For SMB workloads, the minimum version of Windows required for Nutanix Files support with the Peer Agent or PeerSync is Windows Server 2016.
   2. For NFS and multi-protocol workloads, the Peer Agent must be installed on Ubuntu Server 22.04 operating system or later, Red Hat Enterprise Linux v9.x or later or Rocky Linux v9.x or later.  PeerSync is not supported for NFS or multi-protocol workloads.
      
      
5. No other File Activity Monitoring or VSCAN products from Peer Software or any other vendor can be run on this Partner Server.  In addition, no other Peer Software products can be run on this server (such as Peer Management Center or Peer Management Broker).
   
   
6. Nutanix Files Requirements:  All Nutanix Files requirements, including around physical hardware and networking must be met.  Please contact your Nutanix representative for more information.
   
   

7. Permissions for SMB Workloads:  The service account for the Peer Agent must be a member of the Local Admin Group on the Files cluster.  To add accounts to the Local Admin Group of the Files cluster, the UUID of the desired cluster must be obtained.  To do so, run the following command via SSH on one of the Nutanix CVMs:

   CODE

   ncli file-server list

   Find the UUID of the desired Files cluster, and then run the following command to add the service account DOMAIN\\USERNAME to the Local Admin Group of that cluster:

   CODE

   ncli file-server add-admin-user uuid=<UUID OF FILES CLUSTER> user=<DOMAIN\\USERNAME> role=ADMIN

   Note:  DOMAIN\\USERNAME requires the double slash between the domain and username.
   
   

8. Permissions for NFS Workloads:  The Peer Agent server IP needs to be granted read/write access to the exports that this Agent will be monitoring.
   
   
9. Permissions for Multi-Protocol Workloads:
   

   1. When replicating Windows-style permissions, the domain account used by the Samba connection of the Peer Agent must be a member of the Local Admin Group on the Files cluster.  To add accounts to the Local Admin Group of the Files cluster, the UUID of the desired cluster must be obtained.  To do so, run the following command via SSH on one of the Nutanix CVMs:

      CODE

      ncli file-server list

      Find the UUID of the desired Files cluster, and then run the following command to add the service account DOMAIN\\USERNAME to the Local Admin Group of that cluster:

      CODE

      ncli file-server add-admin-user uuid=<UUID OF FILES CLUSTER> user=<DOMAIN\\USERNAME> role=ADMIN

      Note:  DOMAIN\\USERNAME requires the double slash between the domain and username.
      
      

   2. The Peer Agent server IP needs to be granted read/write access to the exports that this Agent will be monitoring.
      
      

10. Nutanix Files API Permissions:  The Peer Agent and PeerSync must be configured with an account on the Files cluster that has been granted API access.  It is recommended that this be a dedicated local account on the associated Files cluster just for the use of Peer products.   The following command can be executed via SSH on the Files cluster to create the local account USERNAME with appropriate API access on the specified Files cluster.  To run this command, the UUID of the specified cluster must be obtained.  Review Requirement 6 for details on how to obtain this ID.

    CODE

    ncli file-server add-user user=<USERNAME> password=<PASSWORD> uuid=<UUID OF FILES CLUSTER>

    Notes:
    -The username must be in all lowercase characters.
    -The username and password of this account must be entered into each Peer product as part of the configuration process.  
    -Basic Authentication is used to communicate with the Nutanix Files API.
    
    

11. No firewalls (software or hardware) should be enabled between the server hosting Peer Agent or PeerSync and the Files cluster.  If the firewall(s) between the Agent or PeerSync server and the Files cluster cannot be disabled, please review Firewall Requirements for minimum TCP port requirements.

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