A DS8000 project from delivery to first LUN

Here you build the plan the way a project team keeps it, as a simple CSV file anyone can open in Excel, and then write a small Python checker for two things a busy project manager tends to forget: which tasks are ready to start, and which ones were marked done before the tasks they depend on.

At the end you’ll use the SaatVedha practice shell to run the “day one” check a storage admin does when IBM hands over a new system.

1Make your lab folder

Use the same folder as the Architecture course: C:\ds8k-lab on Windows or ~/ds8k-lab on macOS and Linux. Create it if it doesn’t exist yet.

Run this (Windows PowerShell):

mkdir C:\ds8k-lab -Force
cd C:\ds8k-lab
python --version

You should see something like this:

Python 3.13.17

Any Python 3.8 or newer works. On macOS and Linux use mkdir -p ~/ds8k-lab, cd ~/ds8k-lab and python3.

✅ Checkpoint: You are inside the lab folder and Python answers with a version number.

2Write the project plan as a CSV file

Open Notepad (or any text editor), paste the plan below and save it as project-plan.csv in the lab folder. Each row is one task. The depends_on column lists the tasks that must be finished first, separated by semicolons.

Save this as project-plan.csv:

id,phase,task,owner,depends_on,status
P1,Plan,Kick-off: name the project manager and the team,Project manager,,done
P2,Plan,Agree the storage plan (capacity and hosts),Storage admin,P1,done
P3,Plan,Fill in the configuration worksheets,Storage admin,P2,open
P4,Plan,Collect activation codes from IBM,Storage admin,P1,open
S1,Site,Check the delivery route: doors and lifts and floor load,Building engineer,P1,open
S2,Site,Power feeds and cooling ready,Building engineer,S1,open
S3,Site,HMC network: IP addresses and firewall,Network team,P3,open
S4,Site,SAN cables and switch ports ready,SAN team,P2,open
I1,Install,IBM SSR installs the hardware,IBM SSR,S2;S3;P3,open
I2,Install,Call Home and remote support tested,IBM SSR,I1,open
C1,Configure,Create user accounts and roles,Storage admin,I1,open
C2,Configure,Set up encryption (before any logical config),Security admin,C1,open
C3,Configure,Apply licence keys,Storage admin,I1;P4,open
C4,Configure,Create the pool pair and add arrays,Storage admin,C2;C3,open
C5,Configure,Set FC port topology,Storage admin,C3,open
C6,Configure,Create hosts with their WWPNs,Storage admin,C5;S4,open
C7,Configure,Create volumes and map them to hosts,Storage admin,C4;C6,open
L1,First LUN,Host sees the LUN on two paths,Server admin,C7,open

Look at the IDs: P for plan, S for site, I for install, C for configure and L for the first LUN. Two tasks are already done, the kick-off and the storage plan.

✅ Checkpoint: project-plan.csv has a header row and 18 task rows.

3Write the checker

Save this as check_plan.py in the same folder. It only uses Python’s standard csv module, and since it’s a planning tool that runs on your laptop and never talks to a DS8000, you can use it months before the system arrives.

Save this as check_plan.py:

# check_plan.py - SaatVedha DS8000 project plan checker
# Planning tool: runs on your laptop or workstation, not on the DS8000.
# No DS8000 and no DS CLI involved: it reads only project-plan.csv.
import csv, sys

name = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "project-plan.csv"
with open(name, newline="") as f:
    tasks = list(csv.DictReader(f))

by_id = {t["id"]: t for t in tasks}
problems = []

for t in tasks:
    deps = [d for d in t["depends_on"].split(";") if d]
    t["deps"] = deps
    for d in deps:
        if d not in by_id:
            problems.append(f"{t['id']}: depends on {d}, which is not in the plan")
        elif t["status"] == "done" and by_id[d]["status"] != "done":
            problems.append(f"{t['id']} is done but {d} ({by_id[d]['task']}) is not")

print(f"Plan: {name} ({len(tasks)} tasks)")
print()
print(f"{'Phase':<10} {'Done':>4} {'Total':>5}  Progress")
for phase in dict.fromkeys(t["phase"] for t in tasks):
    items = [t for t in tasks if t["phase"] == phase]
    done = sum(t["status"] == "done" for t in items)
    bar = "#" * done + "." * (len(items) - done)
    print(f"{phase:<10} {done:>4} {len(items):>5}  {bar}")

ready = [t for t in tasks if t["status"] != "done"
         and all(by_id.get(d, {}).get("status") == "done" for d in t["deps"])]
print()
print("You can start these now:")
for t in ready:
    print(f"  {t['id']:<3} {t['task']}  [{t['owner']}]")

print()
if problems:
    print("ORDER PROBLEMS:")
    for p in problems:
        print("  " + p)
else:
    print("No order problems found.")

A task is ready when it’s open and all its dependencies are done, and it has an order problem when it’s marked done but something it depends on is still open.

✅ Checkpoint: check_plan.py is saved next to project-plan.csv.

4Run it: what can the team start today?

Run this:

python check_plan.py

You should see this:

Plan: project-plan.csv (18 tasks)

Phase      Done Total  Progress
Plan          2     4  ##..
Site          0     4  ....
Install       0     2  ..
Configure     0     7  .......
First LUN     0     1  .

You can start these now:
  P3  Fill in the configuration worksheets  [Storage admin]
  P4  Collect activation codes from IBM  [Storage admin]
  S1  Check the delivery route: doors and lifts and floor load  [Building engineer]
  S4  SAN cables and switch ports ready  [SAN team]

No order problems found.

Four tasks can start right now, owned by three different people, and that’s where a plan pays off: the storage admin, the building engineer and the SAN team can all work in parallel instead of waiting on each other.

✅ Checkpoint: You see four ready tasks and “No order problems found.”

5A week later: update the status

The worksheets are filled in, the activation codes are downloaded and the building engineer has walked the delivery route. Change open to done at the end of the P3, P4 and S1 rows, save, and run the checker again.

Run this:

python check_plan.py

You should see this:

Plan: project-plan.csv (18 tasks)

Phase      Done Total  Progress
Plan          4     4  ####
Site          1     4  #...
Install       0     2  ..
Configure     0     7  .......
First LUN     0     1  .

You can start these now:
  S2  Power feeds and cooling ready  [Building engineer]
  S3  HMC network: IP addresses and firewall  [Network team]
  S4  SAN cables and switch ports ready  [SAN team]

No order problems found.

The Plan phase is complete, so the power work (S2) and the HMC network (S3) are unblocked now. S3 had to wait for P3 because the HMC IP addresses come from the worksheets.

✅ Checkpoint: Plan shows 4 of 4 and S2 and S3 are in the ready list.

6Day one: check what IBM handed over

Once the SSR finishes phase 4, the first thing a storage admin does is look at the system and confirm it’s “empty but healthy”. You’ll do that as a DS CLI script, the way you would at work, so the check can be repeated.

Practice shell note: the practice shell is our teaching tool, not IBM software. Real DS CLI output looks very much like this but is not identical. If you have not used it yet, get it from the DS8000 practice shell page and do the first login (admin / admin, then your own password) as shown in Lesson 1 of the Architecture course. Start clean with simctl reset at the dscli> prompt.

Save these lines as day1.txt in the lab folder. A DS CLI script can only contain DS CLI commands, comments starting with # and empty lines.

Save this as day1.txt:

# day1.txt - first look at a new DS8000 after the IBM install
lssi
lsserver
lsuser
lsarray
lsextpool

Run this (type your own password when asked):

python ds8sim.py -hmc1 10.0.0.1 -user admin -script day1.txt

You should see this (the shell first prints its one-line notice):

Enter your password:
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 10:47:40 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
Name         ID               Storage Unit     Model WWNN             State  ESSNet
====================================================================================
ds8k-g10-lab IBM.2107-78SV001 IBM.2107-78SV000 A05   5005076303FFF0DD Online Enabled
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 10:47:40 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
ID      Image ID         Image Name   Power Control SFI State
=============================================================
server0 IBM.2107-78SV001 ds8k-g10-lab Online        Online
server1 IBM.2107-78SV001 ds8k-g10-lab Online        Online
Date/Time: 24 October 2026 10:47:40 UTC IBM DSCLI Version: 7.10.10.348 DS: IBM.2107-78SV001
Name     Group       State
===========================
admin    admin       active
secadmin secadmin    active
service  ibm_service active
CMUC00234I lsarray: No Array found.
CMUC00234I lsextpool: No Extent Pool found.

That’s what a fresh system should look like: model A05 (DS8A50), both servers online, only the built-in users, and no arrays and no extent pools. Everything from here on is your logical configuration, and it follows the order in your plan.

✅ Checkpoint: Both servers are Online and lsarray and lsextpool report nothing found.