Cloud-Based Automation for FlexPod with Configuration Healing Powered by Ansible
Wyatt Bennett
NetApp® Converged Systems Advisor provides centralized, cloud-based software for FlexPod®, drastically simplifying management and support. CSA continuously monitors the health and configuration of FlexPod throughout its lifecycle.
In Aaron Kirk’s recent blog, he mentioned how Converged Systems Advisor (CSA) has new configuration healing capabilities that are powered by Ansible. In CSA’s latest release, configuration healing functionality has been expanded to all component tiers of FlexPod (storage, compute, network, and virtualization). These capabilities keep FlexPod administrators “out of the weeds”, enabling them to resolve issues in a fraction of the time, from their cloud-based portal.
In this blog, we’ll go into more detail on CSA’s turnkey configuration healing functionality.
Configuration healing enables FlexPod administrators to quickly identify and remediate issues directly from the cloud-based CSA customer portal. In the following graphic, the CSA dashboard indicates a configuration issue in the storage component tier. 
In this case, we see that CSA detected that a storage controller is missing a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server entry, which poses a risk to storage synchronization.
In less than 30 seconds, a FlexPod administrator can fix the underlying issue. (An administrator simply clicks the wrench icon, enters the NTP IP address, and clicks Run Remediation). 
FlexPod administrators can easily view their current and previous remediation details on the corresponding jobs page.
CSA has also added new upgrade planning capabilities, enabling operations teams to quickly assess the versions of firmware running in the FlexPod environment. When CSA detects a version of firmware that isn’t interoperable, the administrator can easily view the recommended versions, which can be upgraded for improved supportability.
Additionally, in CSA’s latest release, we expanded configuration assurance coverage for NVMe and NetApp MetroCluster™ based FlexPod environments.
In CSA’s previous release, coverage was added for Cisco ACI networking. With Cisco ACI coverage, CSA now supports all major networking devices in a FlexPod infrastructure. Cisco ACI is the industry leader in software-defined networking, and FlexPod designs with Cisco ACI allow administrators to apply network policy management for their workloads. CSA integrates data from Cisco ACI to provide configuration status for ACI-based FlexPod designs.
About CSA NetApp Converged Systems Advisor is cloud-based lifecycle management software that supports the FlexPod infrastructure, from initial deployment into production operations and throughout the FlexPod lifecycle. CSA is available on the NetApp price list as a subscription-based license and is included in your purchase of NetApp Solution Support.
To get started with CSA, download the agent or work with your FlexPod reseller.
Additional Resources
Wyatt Bennett
Wyatt joined NetApp in 2014 and works as a Senior Product Manager within the Converged Infrastructure Group. Wyatt is responsible for developing NetApp’s Converged Systems management strategy and products. Wyatt’s deep understanding of enterprise infrastructure services is informed by 15 years of hands-on experience as manager and architect. Prior to NetApp, Wyatt led Engineering and Operations teams focused on infrastructure, hosted services and enterprise application solutions.
