VASTOps Server

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VASTOps MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for VAST Data administration tasks. It provides AI assistants with tools to interact with VAST clusters for monitoring, listing, and management operations. It is supported both for Cluster and Tenant admins.

Features

• MCP Integration: Full MCP server implementation for AI assistant integration
• Cluster Management: List and monitor VAST clusters
• Performance Metrics: Retrieve performance data for cluster objects and graphs generation
• Dynamic List Functions: Automatically generate MCP functions from YAML templates for end user modifications
• Secure Credentials: Secure password storage using keyring
• Read-only and Read-write Modes: Control access level (read-write mode for create operations)

Quick Start

1. Install

Install vastops-mcp:

# If installed via pip
pip install vastops-mcp

2. Initial Setup

Configure your VAST cluster connection:

# If installed via pip
vastops-mcp setup


This will prompt you for:
- Cluster address (IP, FQDN, or URL like `https://host:port`)
- Username and password
- Tenant (for tenant admins)
- Tenant (for super admins - which tenant context to use)

3. Configure MCP Server in you AI assistance

Use mcpsetup to get instructions for common AI assistance tools:

# create the syntax for popular ai assistances (currently has builtin support for cursor,claude-desktop,windsurf,vscode)
vastops-mcp mcpsetup vscode
🔧 Configuring MCP server for: vscode
   Detected command: vastops-mcp
   Detected args: ['mcp']

📋 VSCode Configuration Instructions
   Config file location: /Users/user/.vscode/mcp.json

    Create a new file if not exists, or add the VASTOps MCP entry to the existing 'servers' section:
    {
        "servers": {
            "VASTOps MCP": {
                "command": "vastops-mcp",
                "args": [
                    "mcp"
                ]
            }
        }
    }

📝 Next steps:
   1. Edit or create the config file at the location shown above
   2. Restart VSCode
   3. The MCP server should be available in VSCode's MCP tools
   4. Test by asking VSCode to list VAST clusters

** Add the --read-write flag as a 2nd argument to be able to make updates in VAST clusters

Prompt Examples

For Read-only mode

List all VAST clusters 
List all views on cluster cluster1
Show me all tenants across all clusters
Create bandwidth and iops graph for cluster1 over the last hour
create dataflow diagram for cluster1 for /path view on the tenant3 tenant for the last hour 
show me dataflow diagram for 172.21.224.139 on cluster1
Show me the hardware topology for cluster cluster1 
Are there any issues with my configured data protection relationships ? 
Create mini support bundle on cluster1 and name it bundle1. Timeframe should be yesterday at midnight for 4m. Generate it only for cnodes prefixed by cnode-128 and upload it to support without private data.
Find all users prefixed with "s3" on cluster cluster1 tenant tenant1
Are there any critical alerts on my clusters that were not acknoledged ?
List all snapshots for view path /data/app1 on cluster cluster1 tenant tenant1
Show me all quotas configured for tenant tenant1 on cluster cluster1
Get performance metrics for cnodes on cluster cluster1 over the last 7 day
Show me all view policies on cluster cluster1 that support S3 
First, get all available clusters. Then compare views with path "/" across all clusters, showing capcity information
Show me all tenants on cluster cluster1, for each tenant show me the 5 views with the highest used capacity
Get performance metrics for cluster cluster1, then get metrics for all cnodes, and finally get metrics for top 3 views. Show me a summary of IOPS and bandwidth for each object type
Find all views where logical used capacity is greater than 1TB. For each of these views, get their performance metrics over the last 24 hours and show which views have the highest IOPS

For Read-write mode

Create a new NFS view on cluster cluster1 with path /data/newview in tenant tenant1
Create a view on cluster cluster1 with path /shared/data in tenant tenant1 that supports both NFS and S3 protocols
Create a snapshot named "backup-2024-01-15" for view path /data/app1 on cluster cluster1, tenant tenant1 and keep it for 24h
Create a clone from snapshot "backup-2024-01-15" of view /data/app1. The clone should be at path /data/app1-clone in tenant tenant1 on cluster cluster1
Set a hard quota of 10TB for view path /data/app1 on cluster cluster1, tenant tenant1
Create 3 new views for vmware based on template. 
Create a indestructible snapshot named resrote-point_<view name> for all vmware views on cluster1 
Refresh a clone from most recent snapshot of view /data/app1 at path /data/app1-clone in tenant tenant1 on cluster cluster1

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• jq: Command-line JSON processor (required for field transformations in YAML templates)

Installing jq

macOS:

brew install jq

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt-get install jq

Linux (RHEL/CentOS):

sudo yum install jq

Basic Installation

pip install vastops-mcp

For a full step-by-step walkthrough (prereqs, vastops-mcp setup, wiring into Claude Desktop / Claude Code, smoke tests), see docs/user-guide/installation.md.

CLI

You can test functions:

List Available Commands

vastops-mcp list
# Or
./vastops-mcp.sh list

Execute a Dynamic Command

# List views
vastops-mcp list views --cluster vast3115-var

# List tenants with JSON output
vastops-mcp list tenants --format json

# List views with filters
vastops-mcp list views --cluster cluster1 --tenant mytenant

# Save output to file
vastops-mcp list views --cluster cluster1 --output views.csv --format csv

Static Commands

# List clusters
vastops-mcp clusters

# List performance metrics
vastops-mcp performance --object-name tenant --cluster vast3115-var

# Query users
vastops-mcp query-users --cluster vast3115-var --prefix user

Create Commands

# Create a view
vastops-mcp create view --cluster cluster1 --path /myview --protocols NFS

# Create a view from template
vastops-mcp create view-from-template --cluster cluster1 --template-name mytemplate

# Create a snapshot
vastops-mcp create snapshot --cluster cluster1 --path /myview --name mysnapshot

# Create a clone
vastops-mcp create clone --cluster cluster1 --source-path /myview --source-snapshot mysnapshot --destination-path /myclone

# Create or update quota
vastops-mcp create quota --cluster cluster1 --path /myview --hard-limit 10GB

Output Formats

• table (default): Human-readable table format
• json: JSON output
• csv: CSV format

MCP Tools

Static List Tools

• list_clusters_vast: Retrieve information about VAST clusters, their status, capacity and usage
• list_performance_vast: Retrieve performance metrics for VAST cluster objects
• query_users_vast: Query user names from VAST cluster

Dynamic List Tools

Additional list tools are automatically registered from the YAML template file located at ~/.vastops-mcp/mcp_list_cmds_template.yaml. These tools follow the naming pattern list_{command_name}_vast.

Note: Commands with create_mcp_tool: false in the YAML template will not be registered as standalone MCP tools. They can still be used in merged commands and via CLI, but won't appear in the MCP tool list.

Create Tools

The following create tools are available when the MCP server is started with --read-write:

• create_view_vast: Create a new VAST view
• create_view_from_template_vast: Create views from a predefined template
• create_snapshot_vast: Create a snapshot for a VAST view
• create_clone_vast: Create a clone from a snapshot
• create_quota_vast: Create or update quota for a specific path and tenant

Note: Create tools are always registered (visible to LLMs) but will raise an error if called when the server is not in read-write mode.

Configuration

• Config File: ~/.vastops-mcp/config.json (cluster configurations, no env var override)
• Default Template File: mcp_list_cmds_template.yaml in project root (shipped template)
• Template Modifications File: ~/.vastops-mcp/mcp_list_template_modifications.yaml (user customizations)
• View Templates File: ~/.vastops-mcp/view_templates.json (for view template-based creation). This file can be modified based on the template example view_templates_example.yaml in project root (shipped template)
• Log Files: ~/.vastops-mcp/vastops_mcp.log

Environment Variables

Template File Paths

Template file paths can be overridden using environment variables:

• VASTOPS_MCP_DEFAULT_TEMPLATE_FILE: Override default template file path
• VASTOPS_MCP_TEMPLATE_MODIFICATIONS_FILE: Override template modifications file path
• VASTOPS_MCP_VIEW_TEMPLATE_FILE: Override view templates file path

Example:

export VASTOPS_MCP_DEFAULT_TEMPLATE_FILE=/custom/path/default_template.yaml
export VASTOPS_MCP_TEMPLATE_MODIFICATIONS_FILE=/custom/path/modifications.yaml
export VASTOPS_MCP_VIEW_TEMPLATE_FILE=/custom/path/view_templates.json
vastops-mcp list views

Proxy Configuration

The server supports HTTP/HTTPS and SOCKS proxies for reaching VAST clusters through corporate or enterprise network environments. Proxies are configured via standard environment variables:

• HTTPS_PROXY or https_proxy — highest precedence (recommended for VAST since the API uses HTTPS)
• HTTP_PROXY or http_proxy — fallback
• ALL_PROXY or all_proxy — catch-all, recommended for SOCKS proxies

Bypassing the proxy (NO_PROXY):

Use NO_PROXY (or no_proxy) to list hosts that should connect directly, without going through the proxy. Separate multiple entries with commas. A wildcard * bypasses the proxy for all hosts.

# Skip proxy for internal VAST clusters
export NO_PROXY=vast-cluster1.internal,10.0.0.5

HTTP/HTTPS proxy examples:

# Basic HTTP proxy
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080

# Proxy with authentication
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://username:[email protected]:8080

# Run commands as normal — proxy is picked up automatically
vastops-mcp clusters
vastops-mcp list views --cluster cluster1

SOCKS proxy support:

SOCKS proxies (SOCKS4, SOCKS4a, SOCKS5, SOCKS5h) are supported but require the optional PySocks library:

# Install PySocks for SOCKS proxy support
pip install 'vastops-mcp[socks]'
# — or directly —
pip install pysocks

# SOCKS5 proxy (client-side DNS resolution)
export ALL_PROXY=socks5://proxy.example.com:1080

# SOCKS5h proxy (remote DNS resolution — recommended for internal hostnames)
export ALL_PROXY=socks5h://proxy.example.com:1080

# SOCKS5 with authentication
export ALL_PROXY=socks5h://username:[email protected]:1080

# SOCKS4 proxy
export ALL_PROXY=socks4://proxy.example.com:1080

Proxy types at a glance:

Type	Description	Env var	Dependency
HTTP/HTTPS	Standard corporate proxies	HTTPS_PROXY / HTTP_PROXY	Built-in
SOCKS5	SOCKS5 with client-side DNS	ALL_PROXY	PySocks
SOCKS5h	SOCKS5 with remote DNS (recommended for privacy)	ALL_PROXY	PySocks
SOCKS4	Legacy SOCKS4 protocol	ALL_PROXY	PySocks
SOCKS4a	SOCKS4 with remote DNS	ALL_PROXY	PySocks

Note: Any proxy env var will work with any proxy type, but using ALL_PROXY for SOCKS proxies follows standard conventions and keeps your configuration clear.

API Whitelist

The API whitelist provides security by restricting which VAST API endpoints and HTTP methods can be accessed. It is configured in the YAML template file's api_whitelist section.

Default Behavior

• Simple format (- views): Defaults to GET only
• With methods (- views: [post]): Allows GET + specified methods
  • Example: - views: [post] enables both GET and POST for the views endpoint
  • Example: - quotas: [post, patch] enables GET, POST, and PATCH for the quotas endpoint

Configuration

The whitelist is defined in the YAML template file:

api_whitelist:
  # Simple format - GET only
  - clusters
  - tenants
  
  # With methods - GET + specified methods
  - views: [post]  # GET + POST for create operations
  - snapshots: [post]  # GET + POST for create operations
  - quotas: [post, patch]  # GET + POST + PATCH for create/update operations

Security Model

• Restrictive by default: If an endpoint is not in the whitelist, it is denied
• Method validation: Only specified HTTP methods are allowed
• Sub-endpoint support: If a parent endpoint is whitelisted (e.g., monitors), all sub-endpoints are allowed (e.g., monitors.ad_hoc_query)

Why This Matters

All API calls are validated against the whitelist. This ensures:

• Only approved endpoints can be accessed
• Only approved HTTP methods can be used
• Create operations require explicit whitelist configuration (e.g., - views: [post])

YAML Template Structure

The YAML template file defines dynamic list functions. See TEMPLATE_STRUCTURE.md for complete documentation.

Each command in the YAML file defines:

• api_endpoints: Which VAST API endpoints to call
• per_row_endpoints (optional): Endpoints called for each row in the base dataset, with query parameters derived from row data using $field_name syntax
• fields: Output fields with transformations (jq, unit conversion, summaries)
• arguments: MCP tool parameters with validation
• description: Tool description for MCP context

See TEMPLATE_STRUCTURE.md for detailed examples and best practices.

Architecture

The server uses:

• fastmcp: MCP server framework
• vastpy: VAST API client
• template_parser: YAML template parsing
• command_executor: Dynamic command execution
• jq: System command-line tool for JSON transformations (required for jq expressions in YAML templates)

Create Functions

The server includes create functions for creating VAST objects. These functions are available when the MCP server is started with the --read-write flag:

• create_view_vast: Create a new VAST view
• create_view_from_template_vast: Create views from a predefined template
• create_snapshot_vast: Create a snapshot for a VAST view
• create_clone_vast: Create a clone from a snapshot
• create_quota_vast: Create or update quota for a specific path and tenant

Important: Create functions require the MCP server to be started with --read-write flag. If called in read-only mode, the LLM user will be notified that read-write mode is required.

Security: All create functions use API whitelisting to ensure only allowed endpoints and HTTP methods can be accessed. See API Whitelist section for details.

Community & Support

VASTOps MCP Server welcomes questions, feedback, and feature requests. Join the conversation on https://community.vastdata.com/

License

Apache License 2.0

See LICENSE file for details.

Author

Haim Marko [email protected]