IBM released version 2.5.1 of  it’s Storage Management Console for VMware vCenter while ago. Installation is quite simple and after this adding new vdisks for VMware infrastructure is quite easy. New version supports XIV, SVC and Storwize V7000 as per the versions on the following table:

Direct download link for software is here.

Installation needs to be done to vCenter Windows-machine. Currently vSphere 5 is not supported, but hopefully it will be soon. Installation asks few questions about userid’s etc.

After installation you need to restart your vSphere Client and check that IBM’s plugin is enabled

After installation you need to connect plugin to your storage, in my example I will connect it to Storwize v7000. Click “Add”  to start storage system adding wizard.

Select brand of storage you are connecting. If you want to add multiple brands or multiple storages you need to add them one by one.

Next wizard asks connection settings for storage. Enter ip-address or hostname of storage, username and select private key which you have connected to selected user. If your key uses passphrase enter it also.

Note that keys need to be in openssh-format. If you created your keys with putty key generator you need to convert your key to correct one. First import key you have created and then export key in OpenSSH-format.

Last step is to select mdisk-groups you want to access from plugin. Note that v7000 gives mdisk group name by default in format mdiskgrpX. You should change names ones that explain better features of group, I usually use format of  disktype_speed_size_number (for example SAS_15k_600gb_1).

After this you are able to create and present new vdisks from vCenter rather than creating and mapping new vdisks from v7000/SVC/XIV GUI and then creating VMFS after this. Creating new disks is quite easy, just select correct mdisk group and clicl “New Volume”. After this you get window like below where you fill necessary details and after that you just select hosts/clusters where you want to map this volume.