Isilon MCP Server

A professional-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Dell PowerScale (Isilon) OneFS API integration. This server enables AI assistants like Claude to interact with PowerScale storage clusters through a comprehensive set of tools generated from the OneFS 9.7 REST API specification.

Features

• 🚀 Complete API Coverage: 2,434 operations across 46 categories
• 🔐 Secure Authentication: Basic Auth with TLS support
• 📦 Dynamic Tool Generation: Auto-generates MCP tools from OpenAPI spec
• 🔄 Multiple Transports: stdio (Claude Desktop) and HTTP/SSE (n8n)
• 📝 Comprehensive Logging: Structured JSON and colored console output
• ⚡ Async/Await: Built on httpx for high-performance async operations
• 🛡️ Credential-Free Mode: Explore available tools without credentials

Supported API Categories

Category	Operations	Description
Auth	373	Authentication, users, groups, roles, providers
Protocols	351	SMB, NFS, HDFS, S3, HTTP, FTP, Swift
Sync	185	SyncIQ replication policies, reports, jobs
Cluster	167	Cluster management, nodes, configuration
Network	153	Networking, subnets, pools, interfaces
Datamover	151	Data migration, accounts, policies
Cloud	136	CloudPools, tiering, accounts
Snapshot	117	Snapshot schedules, aliases, locks
Upgrade	85	Cluster upgrade management
Event	83	Event channels, alerts, settings
Quota	78	SmartQuotas management
Job	72	Job engine, policies, reports
...	...	And 34 more categories!

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Papi Schema - https://github.com/Isilon/isilon_sdk/tree/main/papi_schemas
• Python 3.10 or higher
• Access to a Dell PowerScale cluster with REST API enabled
• API credentials with appropriate permissions

Installation

From PyPI (Recommended)

# Install the package
pip install isilon-mcp-server

# Or install with HTTP server support for n8n
pip install "isilon-mcp-server[http]"

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/sachdev27/isilon-mcp-server.git
cd isilon-mcp-server

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install the package
pip install -e .

# Or install with HTTP server support for n8n
pip install -e ".[http]"

Configuration

1. Copy the example environment file:

cp .env.example .env

2. Edit .env with your PowerScale credentials:

ISILON_HOST=your-powerscale-host
ISILON_USERNAME=admin
ISILON_PASSWORD=your-secure-password
ISILON_PORT=8080
ISILON_TLS_VERIFY=true

Running the Server

stdio Transport (for Claude Desktop)

# Using the CLI
isilon-mcp

# Or using Python module
python -m isilon_mcp.main

HTTP/SSE Transport (for n8n or web clients)

# Start HTTP server
python -m isilon_mcp.http_server

# With custom host/port
python -m isilon_mcp.http_server --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Claude Desktop Integration

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "isilon": {
      "command": "/path/to/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "isilon_mcp.main"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/isilon-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "ISILON_HOST": "your-powerscale-host",
        "ISILON_USERNAME": "admin",
        "ISILON_PASSWORD": "your-password"
      }
    }
  }
}

n8n Integration

1. Start the HTTP server:

python -m isilon_mcp.http_server --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

2. In n8n, add an MCP Client node pointing to:

http://localhost:8000/sse

Example Usage

Once connected, you can ask Claude to:

• "List all SMB shares on the cluster"
• "Show me the cluster health status"
• "Create a new NFS export for /ifs/data/project1"
• "Get all snapshots older than 30 days"
• "Show active SyncIQ policies"
• "List users in the local provider"

Project Structure

isilon-mcp-server/
├── isilon_mcp/
│   ├── __init__.py          # Package exports
│   ├── api_client.py        # Async HTTP client with Basic Auth
│   ├── config.py            # Pydantic configuration models
│   ├── exceptions.py        # Exception hierarchy
│   ├── http_server.py       # HTTP/SSE transport for n8n
│   ├── logging_config.py    # Structured logging
│   ├── main.py              # CLI entry point (stdio)
│   ├── server.py            # Core MCP server
│   └── tool_generator.py    # OpenAPI to MCP tool generator
├── powerscale_9.7_comprehensive_openapi.json  # Full API spec
├── pyproject.toml           # Package configuration
├── requirements-mcp.txt     # Dependencies
├── .env.example             # Configuration template
└── README.md                # This file

Development

Running Tests

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# With coverage
pytest --cov=isilon_mcp --cov-report=html

Code Quality

# Format code
black isilon_mcp/
isort isilon_mcp/

# Lint
ruff check isilon_mcp/

# Type checking
mypy isilon_mcp/

API Reference

Tool Naming Convention

Tools are named using the pattern:

{category}_{operationId}

Examples:

• auth_list_providers - List authentication providers
• protocols_list_smb_shares - List SMB shares
• snapshot_create_snapshot - Create a new snapshot
• cluster_get_cluster_config - Get cluster configuration

Authentication

The server uses HTTP Basic Authentication with your PowerScale credentials. All requests are made over HTTPS by default.

Error Handling

The server provides detailed error messages for:

• Authentication failures
• Connection errors
• Rate limiting
• API validation errors

Security Considerations

1. Never commit .env files - They contain sensitive credentials
2. Use TLS verification - Set ISILON_TLS_VERIFY=true in production
3. Principle of least privilege - Use API users with minimal required permissions
4. Read-only mode - Set READ_ONLY_MODE=true for monitoring-only access

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

# Test connection manually
curl -k -u username:password https://your-host:8080/platform/18/cluster/config

Certificate Errors

If using self-signed certificates:

ISILON_TLS_VERIFY=false  # Only for testing!

Debug Mode

Enable detailed logging:

LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
DEBUG_HTTP=true

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines and submit pull requests.

Acknowledgments

• Dell PowerScale for the comprehensive REST API
• Model Context Protocol for the MCP specification
• Anthropic Claude for AI assistant integration