To automate the configuration of SnapMirror policies between cloud and on-premises deployments in AWS using Ansible, the administrator needs to begin by installing the NetApp ONTAP collection from Ansible Galaxy. This collection contains modules specifically designed to manage NetApp ONTAP storage systems, including the management of SnapMirror configurations. Here are the steps to do this:
* Installation of ONTAP Collection:Open your command line interface and run the command ansible-galaxy collection install netapp.ontap. This command pulls the ONTAP collection from
* Ansible Galaxy, which includes all necessary modules for managing NetApp ONTAP, including SnapMirror.
* Configuration of Ansible Environment:Ensure that your Ansible environment is set up to connect to both your AWS environment and the on-premises NetApp ONTAP systems. This typically involves configuring the appropriate credentials and network settings in your Ansible playbooks and inventory files.
* Writing Ansible Playbooks:With the ONTAP collection installed, you can now write Ansible playbooks that utilize the SnapMirror modules to automate the configuration of SnapMirror policies as required.
For further information on using the NetApp ONTAP Ansible collection, please refer to the official documentation available at: NetApp ONTAP Ansible Collection Documentation.

When setting up FlexCache in Cloud Volumes ONTAP (CVO) to scale out an on-premises system, the critical first step on the on-premises system is to generate a cluster peering passphrase. This passphrase is used to establish a secure cluster peering relationship between the on-premises ONTAP system and the CVO in the cloud. Here's the process:
* Cluster Peering Setup:Cluster peering is essential for FlexCache because it allows the on-premises system to communicate and share data with the CVO instance. The cluster peering passphrase is used to authenticate the peering session, ensuring security.
* Generate the Passphrase:In the ONTAP system manager on the on-premises cluster, navigate to the cluster peering settings and generate or configure the passphrase that will be used for peering with the CVO.
* Establish Peering:Once the passphrase is set, use it to create the cluster peer relationship from the on-premises ONTAP to the CVO, following the guided steps in ONTAP System Manager or using CLI commands.
For detailed instructions on setting up cluster peering for FlexCache, refer to the NetApp documentation on FlexCache and cluster peering: NetApp FlexCache Documentation.