# Setting heartbeat for HPE Alletra MP File Storage

## About this task

Editing datastores allows you to set up heartbeat datastores, ensuring your system stays connected and runs smoothly. The heartbeat option in a datastore helps ensure that hosts within a cluster remain available by supporting high availability and enabling automatic failover. When this feature is enabled, the system creates a directory structure with specific files at the backend. These files manage the availability of hosts and help handle failover situations efficiently. The HPE Alletra Storage plugin indicates that this datastore type supports heartbeat functionality for reliable host management.

NOTE

Currently, with VM Essentials 9.0.0, VM provisioning is not supported on HPE Alletra MP File share datastores, and these datastores are not listed in provisioning forms.

## Procedure

1. Navigate to Infrastructure > Clusters.
2. Click into the detail page for the cluster where the datastore is created.
3. Select the Storage tab.
4. Under the Data Stores subtab, click the Edit icon (![edit](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00008058en_us/GUID-0356FAB5-EECD-453E-9737-BA0D5163211A-high.png)) corresponding to the datastore type HPE Alletra MP File Storage. 

   The EDIT DATA STORE screen is displayed. ![Edit data store](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00008058en_us/GUID-10E92302-4300-48A3-9C3C-694D3A20B8C6-high.png) 

   NOTE

   When you change the access IP address of a file share on the HPE Alletra storage array, you cannot update the linked datastore in VM Essentials. There is no option available to change the File Access IP in the EDIT DATA STORE screen.

   Instead, you must delete the existing datastore using the VM Essentials plugin and then create a new datastore. To delete the datastore:

   Navigate to Infrastructure > Clusters > [select cluster] > Storage tab > Data Stores subtab. Then, click the Delete icon (![delete](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/sd00008058en_us/GUID-2D0841D7-CF22-4B32-9854-281C12ACEB38-high.png)) to remove the datastore.
5. Select HEARTBEAT TARGET check box. Enabling the heartbeat allows for continuous health monitoring of the hosts on the appliance.
6. Click Save Changes.

## Results

After activating the heartbeat and saving the changes, it enables health monitoring of the hosts on the appliance.
