Understanding System Manager

System Manager is a graphical management interface that enables you to manage storage systems and storage objects (such as disks, volumes, and aggregates) and perform common management tasks related to storage systems from a web browser. As a cluster administrator, you can use System Manager to administer the entire cluster and its resources.

You can use System Manager to manage storage systems running the following versions of clustered Data ONTAP:

•	Data ONTAP 8.1.3

•	Data ONTAP 8.1.4

•	Data ONTAP 8.2

•	Data ONTAP 8.2.1

You can also use System Manager to manage V-Series systems.

System Manager enables you to perform many common tasks such as the following:

•	Configure and manage storage objects, such as disks, aggregates, volumes, qtrees, and quotas.

•	Configure protocols, such as CIFS and NFS, and provision file sharing.

•	Configure protocols such as FC and iSCSI for block access.

•	Verify and configure network configuration settings in the storage systems.

•	Set up and manage mirroring and vaulting relationships.

•	Perform cluster management, storage node management, and Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) management operations.

•	Create and configure SVMs, manage storage objects associated with SVMs, and manage SVM services.

•	Monitor HA configurations in a cluster.

Next Topic

Storage resource management

You can use System Manager to manage the resources of your storage system.

Storage system discovery

The Discover Storage Systems dialog box lists all the storage systems discovered by System Manager. You can use this dialog box to discover storage systems or HA pairs on a network subnet and add them to the list of managed systems.

Why SNMP must be enabled

For System Manager to discover storage systems, you must ensure that the SNMP protocols SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c are enabled and an SNMP community is created on the storage system.

Creating an SNMP community for clustered Data ONTAP 8.2

You can create an SNMP community that acts as an authentication mechanism between the management station and the cluster when using SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c.

How credential caching works

You can cache (save) your storage system server login and password information for future System Manager sessions.

How system logging works

System logging is an essential tool for application troubleshooting. You should enable system logging so that if there is a problem with an application, the problem can be located. You can enable System Manager logging at runtime without modifying the application binary.

Window layout customization

System Manager enables you to customize the window layout. By customizing the windows, you can control which data is viewable or how it is displayed.

Icons used in the application interface

You can view the icons in the interface to get quick information about systems and operations, and to open other windows such as the application Help.

Support for troubleshooting issues in System Manager

If you encounter any issues when using the System Manager application, you can create a support bundle that includes your system configuration data and log files. You can send this bundle to technical support to help troubleshoot the issues.

How log file rotation works

You must be aware of how log files are rotated in System Manager in order to save space, to easily maintain data, and to secure data.

Creating a support bundle

You can create a support bundle from System Manager and send it to technical support to analyze and resolve issues with System Manager.

Uploading a support bundle

After you generate the support bundle, you must upload the support bundle to the NetApp Support Site to send this bundle to technical support to help troubleshoot the issues.

Supportability Dashboard

You can use the Supportability Dashboard to access product documentation and AutoSupport tools, download software, and visit sites such as the Community and NetApp University for additional information.

Related tasks

Discovering storage systems