Dell - Storage Quotas

Overview

The Dell Storage Quotas plugin connects to Dell PowerScale (formerly Isilon) storage clusters and enriches your Diskover indices with quota metadata. This integration brings storage quota visibility directly into the Diskover interface, eliminating the need to switch between management tools when investigating storage consumption.

When you browse directories in Diskover, you'll see quota thresholds, current usage, and enforcement status right alongside your file metadata. This makes it easy to identify directories approaching their limits, track how different users and groups consume shared storage, and generate compliance reports that combine quota data with Diskover's powerful search and analytics capabilities.

The plugin supports all PowerScale quota types including directory quotas, user quotas, group quotas, and default user/group quotas.

Use Cases

Storage Quota Visibility — View quota thresholds (soft, hard, advisory) and current usage directly in the Diskover web UI when browsing directories. This eliminates the need to access the PowerScale management interface for routine quota checks.

Capacity Planning and Monitoring — Identify directories with high quota utilization to proactively manage storage capacity before limits are reached. Combine quota data with Diskover's analytics to understand storage trends.

Identifying Directories Approaching Quota Limits — Search for directories where usage is approaching configured thresholds to take preventive action before users encounter write failures.

Compliance and Governance Reporting — Generate reports on quota allocations and usage across organizational units by combining quota data with Diskover's reporting capabilities.

Multi-Persona Quota Tracking — Track user-specific and group-specific quotas on shared directories, understanding how different personas contribute to overall storage consumption.

Sample data from a Dell - Storage Quotas execution:

Here we can see the entire Dell Quotas metadata set!

Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing the Dell Storage Quotas plugin, ensure you have:

Installation Steps

The Dell Storage Quotas plugin is included with Diskover Professional Edition and higher. The plugin files are located in the post-index plugins directory.

Linux:

/opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/

Windows:

C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\

To verify the installation, check that the plugin directory contains these files:

• diskover_dell_quotas.py — Main plugin script

• README.md — Plugin documentation

• isilib/ — PowerScale API library

Linux verification:

ls -la /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/

Windows verification:

dir "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\"

Configuring the Web UI to Display Quota Data

Important: To view quota information in the Diskover web interface, you must add the quota field to your Extra Fields configuration.

Navigate to Web > General Settings and add the following to the EXTRA_FIELDS configuration:

{"Dell Quota Info": "dell_quotas"}

This configuration displays all quota details (thresholds, usage, paths, personas) in the "Extra fields" section when viewing a directory in the file browser.

Configuration

Configuration is managed through the Diskover Admin Panel. Navigate to Plugins → Post Index → Dell Quotas to access the settings.

Sample Configuraiton in Diskover Admin:

Here is the beginning of our sample configuration There are many other configuraitons for the Dell Quotas plugin - covered in detail below!

Configuration Parameters

Path Mappings

Path mappings are essential when the file system paths in your Diskover index differ from the paths on PowerScale. This is common when:

• Diskover scans NFS/SMB mounted shares with different mount points

• Multiple PowerScale clusters are consolidated under different mount paths

• Access zones present different path views

Each path mapping contains:

Example Configuration

host: powerscale.example.com
port: 8080
user: diskover_svc
password: ********
verify_ssl: true
path_mappings:
  - from_path: /mnt/data
    to_path: /ifs/data
  - from_path: /mnt/home
    to_path: /ifs/home
  - from_path: /nfs/projects
    to_path: /ifs/projects

Path Mapping Behavior

• Exact matches are handled first

• Prefix matching handles subdirectories automatically

• If no mapping matches, the path is used as-is

• Mappings are applied bidirectionally (index-to-PowerScale and PowerScale-to-index)

Execution

The Dell Storage Quotas plugin can be executed manually from the command line or automatically as part of your indexing workflow.

Manual Execution

Command Syntax

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py [OPTIONS] [INDEX]

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\diskover_dell_quotas.py" [OPTIONS] [INDEX]

Command-Line Options

Examples

Basic execution with a specific index name:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py diskover-data-2026.01.15

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\diskover_dell_quotas.py" diskover-data-2026.01.15

Auto-find the latest index by top path:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py -l /mnt/data

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\diskover_dell_quotas.py" -l /mnt/data

Use a named configuration:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py -c production diskover-data-2026.01.15

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\diskover_dell_quotas.py" -c production diskover-data-2026.01.15

Enable verbose logging for troubleshooting:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py -v diskover-data-2026.01.15

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\diskover_dell_quotas.py" -v diskover-data-2026.01.15

Automated Execution

The Dell Storage Quotas plugin can be scheduled to run automatically using Diskover's built-in task scheduling.

Option 1: Custom Task

Create a Custom Task in the Diskover Admin UI to run the plugin on a schedule independent of indexing.

Sample Custom Task Configuration:

Here we can see the Run Command & args needed for the Custom Task - Note that in this case you cannot use the {indexname} variable as this is not a task that creates an index, so we must use the -l (toppath) CLI option and pass in our top path!

Option 2: Post-Crawl Command (Index Task)

Configure the plugin to run automatically after each index completes by adding it as a Post-Crawl Command in your Index Task.

Linux Configuration:

Windows Configuration:

Available Index Task Tokens:

• {indexname} — The name of the index that was just created

With verbose logging enabled:

Sample Post-Crawl Command configuraiton for Dell Quotas executing with an Index Task:

In your system ensure to replace the ConfigurationName above with a named configuraiton that you’ve created at Diskover Admin → Plugins → Post-Index → Dell Quotas – If you are not using a custom configuration and you’re just using Default than the -c flag and the ConfigurationName is not required!

Reviewing the Output

Console Output

When the plugin runs, it displays progress information including connection status, quota discovery, and document updates.

Example output:

Starting Dell Quota metadata collection...
Target index: diskover-data-2026.01.15
Getting index information...

================================================================================
DISKOVER INDEX INFORMATION
================================================================================
Index Name:        diskover-data-2026.01.15
Top Path:          /mnt/data
Total Documents:   1,234,567
Creation Date:     2026-01-15 02:00:00
================================================================================

Querying quotas from PowerScale...

Found 15 quotas on PowerScale(root@192.168.202.10:8080) using config: Default

Path Mappings Configuration:
  [0] from_path: "/mnt/data" -> to_path: "/ifs/data"

Top Level Path: /mnt/data -> PowerScale Path: /ifs/data

SELECTED: /mnt/data/projects -> /ifs/data/projects -> ID: AABjAQEAAAA...
SELECTED: /mnt/data/users/john -> /ifs/data/users/john -> ID: AABjAQEBBBB...
NOT SELECTED: /ifs/archive -> /ifs/archive -> ID: AABjAQECCCC...
  Processing 2 quota(s) for path /mnt/data/projects:
    - directory quota (ID: AABjAQEAAAA...) -> quota_directory
    - user quota for john (ID: AABjAQEBBBB...) -> quota_user_john
  Quota structure keys: ['quota_directory', 'quota_user_john']
  Updated document for path /mnt/data/projects with 2 quota(s)

Dell Quota plugin completed successfully

Understanding the Output

• SELECTED — Quotas that match your indexed paths and will be added to Diskover

• NOT SELECTED — Quotas on PowerScale that don't fall under your indexed top path

• Processing X quota(s) — Shows each quota being attached to a directory document

Viewing Quota Data in Diskover

After the plugin completes, browse to any directory with quota data in the Diskover web interface. The quota information appears in the "Extra fields" section of the file info panel (assuming you configured EXTRA_FIELDS as described in the Installation section).

Quota Data Structure

The plugin stores quota information in a structured format under the dell_quotas field. Each quota type uses a specific naming convention:

Key Quota Fields

Searching in Diskover

The Dell Storage Quotas plugin creates searchable fields that enable powerful queries for quota-related information.

Basic Quota Searches

Find all directories with quota data:

dell_quotas:*

Find directories with directory quotas:

dell_quotas.quota_directory:*

Find directories with a specific user's quota:

dell_quotas.quota_user_john:*

Searching by Quota Status

Find directories with enforced quotas:

dell_quotas.quota_directory.enforced:true

Find directories with hard limits configured:

dell_quotas.quota_directory.thresholds_on.hard:true

Find directories with soft limits configured:

dell_quotas.quota_directory.thresholds_on.soft:true

Searching by Usage

Find directories using more than 500GB logical storage:

dell_quotas.quota_directory.usage.logical:[536870912000 TO *]

Find directories using more than 1TB physical storage:

dell_quotas.quota_directory.usage.physical:[1099511627776 TO *]

Searching by Quota Type

Find directories with group quotas for a specific group:

dell_quotas.quota_group_developers:*

Find directories with default user quotas configured:

dell_quotas.quota_user_default:*

Find directories with default group quotas configured:

dell_quotas.quota_group_default:*

Combined Searches

Find large directories that also have quotas:

dell_quotas:* AND size:[1073741824 TO *]

Find directories with quotas modified in the last 30 days:

dell_quotas:* AND mtime:[now-30d TO now]

Find directories owned by a specific user that have quota data:

dell_quotas:* AND owner:jsmith

Sample Diskover query output for Quotas where the Advisory Limit has been exceeded in a specific directory:

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Symptom: Plugin fails with connection timeout or "Connection refused"

Solutions:

1. Verify network connectivity to PowerScale:

   curl -k -I https://192.168.202.10:8080/session/1/session

2. Check if the PowerScale API port is open:

   nc -zv 192.168.202.10 8080

3. Verify firewall rules allow outbound HTTPS to PowerScale

4. Confirm the PowerScale API is enabled and listening on the configured port

Authentication Problems

Symptom: Plugin fails with "401 Unauthorized" or "AuthenticationError"

Solutions:

1. Verify the username and password in the plugin configuration

2. Ensure the user account has ISI_PRIV_QUOTA privilege or equivalent

3. Check if the account is locked or expired on PowerScale

4. Test credentials directly:

   curl -k -X POST https://192.168.202.10:8080/session/1/session \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"username":"root","password":"YOUR_PASSWORD","services":["platform"]}'

Path Mapping Mismatches

Symptom: "No quotas found" or all quotas show "NOT SELECTED"

Solutions:

1. Review the path mappings in your configuration

2. Ensure from_path matches exactly what Diskover scanned (check the index top path)

3. Ensure to_path matches the PowerScale quota paths

4. Verify no extra slashes or whitespace in path configurations

5. Run with verbose logging to see path mapping details:

   python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py -v INDEX_NAME

Documents Not Updated

Symptom: Plugin completes but quota data not visible in Diskover

Solutions:

1. Confirm you added {"Dell Quota Info": "dell_quotas"} to EXTRA_FIELDS in Web settings

2. Verify the directory exists in the index before running the quota plugin

3. Check path case sensitivity matches between the index and PowerScale

4. Refresh the Elasticsearch index:

   curl -X POST "localhost:9200/INDEX_NAME/_refresh"

Debug Logging

For detailed troubleshooting, enable verbose logging and capture the output:

Linux:

python3 /opt/diskover/plugins_postindex/diskover_dell_quotas/diskover_dell_quotas.py -v INDEX_NAME 2>&1 | tee dellquota_debug.log

Windows:

python "C:\Program Files\Diskover\plugins_postindex\diskover_dell_quotas\diskover_dell_quotas.py" -v INDEX_NAME 2>&1 | Tee-Object -FilePath dellquota_debug.log

Key log entries to look for:

• Attempting to connect to PowerScale at... — Connection attempt

• Found X quotas on PowerScale — API response

• SELECTED: / NOT SELECTED: — Path filtering results

• Updated document for path... — Successful updates

• No document found for path... — Missing directories

Support

• Diskover Documentation

• Diskover Support Portal

• Dell PowerScale SmartQuotas Documentation

Last Updated: April 2026