Overview
NetApp builds enterprise storage systems that run ONTAP, an operating system that serves the same physical disk shelves as both file shares and block storage. The structures an administrator works with are clusters, nodes, aggregates, storage virtual machines, volumes, qtrees, LUNs, NFS exports and SMB shares, along with snapshots and SnapMirror relationships that copy volumes between clusters. ONTAP publishes a REST API on the cluster management address, which is the interface this connector is designed for.
The ReadyWorks connector connects to that address as a JSON REST client using the json_rest_api.php driver. You provide the API domain of the cluster management interface, a username and password, and a server-side working path used while responses are parsed. Authentication is HTTP Basic, assembled from the credentials and Base64-encoded into an Authorization header. Each job you define names the ONTAP resource path to call and the staging table its rows land in.
The estate value here is ownership of unstructured data. A migration or a data centre exit usually stalls on file shares rather than servers: a share with no identified owner cannot be moved, archived or deleted, and nobody will sign off on switching it off. Bringing volume, share, export and quota records into ReadyWorks lets you match each share against the people and applications that use it, size the data that has to move, and track which shares have been cut over wave by wave. Snapshot and mirror relationships tell you which volumes have a dependency elsewhere that has to move with them.
The connector is registered as bidirectional. Inbound jobs pull ONTAP resources into staging. The outbound side posts a record from ReadyWorks to an endpoint you nominate and maps status, message and record key from the reply. Both directions ship as generic skeletons with no ONTAP path configured.
NOTE: Point the connection at the cluster management interface rather than an individual node management address, so that jobs see the whole cluster instead of one controller’s view of it.
Connector Properties
Authentication Methods
NetApp offers a single authentication method, cloned from the generic REST username and password pattern.
Method 1: Basic Authorization: Username / Password (NETAPP_bee41097c8)
Connect to a GET method API with a username / password
Sends the connection’s username and password as a Base64-encoded HTTP Basic credential against the ONTAP management interface. Create a dedicated ONTAP account with a read-only role scoped to the resources you intend to collect, rather than reusing a cluster administrator account whose password is then held against the ReadyWorks connection.
Connection Configuration Fields (6)
Authentication Configuration
Headers sent on the authentication call:
cURL options:
Inbound Job Fields Enabled (44)
Inbound jobs expose the full REST field set, including three levels of enumeration and all five pagination modes.
NOTE: Several labels and tooltips in this form carry defects inherited from the shared ETL5 field templates: the Enumeration 1 Node label reads “Enumaration”, the Append New Data label reads “Exisiting”, and the help text on Enumeration 1 Keys End Point and Enumeration 3 Fields both refer to enumeration 2. The underlying fields behave as their labels say.
Outbound Job Fields Enabled (13)
Outbound jobs expose the REST posting field set, including the outbound field list, the return data mapping and an optional raw JSON body template.
Inbound Job Templates (1)
NetApp ships one inbound template, and it is the generic REST skeleton rather than an ONTAP resource pull.
Job Template Configuration
Settings
NOTE: ONTAP resource collections are paged and can be large on a busy cluster. Set a Pagination Type and a Request Limit on every job you clone from this template before enabling it.
Outbound Job Templates (1)
One outbound template ships, and it is the matching generic REST skeleton.
Job Template Configuration
Settings
Job Parameters and Enumeration
Rest POST API
Outbound fields list:
Return data fields: