Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module

Installation and User Guide

Version 1.1 For vSphere Version 4.1 and 5.0

Copyright 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell and EqualLogic are trademarks of Dell Inc. All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell is strictly forbidden. January 2012 Part Number: 110-6093-EN-R3

Table of Contents
Preface 1 Overview
EqualLogic MEM Architecture EqualLogic MEM Configuration Model Related Documentation
v 1 1 2 3 5 5 6 7 8 8 10 10 11 11 11 12 13 13 13 14 14 15 15 15 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 19 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 23 25 25 27 29

2 Installing the EqualLogic MEM

Obtaining the EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module iSCSI Network Configuration Requirements Using the Setup Script for Network Configuration Prerequisites for setup.pl Script Configuring Your Network for the MEM Plugin Installation Considerations Installing the Dell EqualLogic MEM On Your VMware ESX Host Tasks Performed During the Installation Process Installing the MEM Plugin Using vCenter Update Manager Installing the MEM Plugin Using the setup.pl Script Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 5.0 Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 4.1 Removing the MEM Plugin with the setup.pl Script Removing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI for ESX 5.0 Verifying the Installation Performing an Upgrade Installation Disabling the MEM Plugin Re-enabling the MEM Plugin Using the EqualLogic MEM With AutoDeploy for vSphere 5.0

3 Configuring the EqualLogic MEM

EHCM Configuration Values EHCM Configuration File EqualLogic MEM Configuration for ESX 5.0 Using vSphere CLI Commands Viewing Configuration Values Setting Configuration Values EqualLogic MEM Configuration for ESX 4.1 Using setup.pl Viewing Configuration Values Setting Configuration Values EqualLogic MEM Configuration Using Host Profiles for vSphere 5.0

4 Troubleshooting
Log Files ESX 5 CLI Commands for Troubleshooting Listing Statistics Listing Adapters Listing Sessions Troubleshooting Common Issues

A Sample Configuration Commands

Configuring a 4-Port NIC Using the VMware Software iSCSI Initiator Configuring a 2-Port Broadcom Adapter Enabled For iSCSI Offload

Index

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Preface
PS Series arrays optimize resources by automating performance and network load balancing. Additionally, PS Series arrays offer all-inclusive array management software, host software, and free firmware updates.

Audience
The information in this guide is intended for administrators responsible for managing VMware vSphere environments attached to a PS Series group.

Related Documentation
For detailed information about PS Series arrays, groups, volumes, array software, and host software, log in to the Documentation page at the customer support site.

Dell Online Services

You can learn about Dell products and services using this procedure: 1. Visit http://www.dell.com or the URL specified in any Dell product information. 2. Use the locale menu or click on the link that specifies your country or region.

Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions

To learn more about Dell EqualLogic products and new releases being planned, visit the Dell EqualLogic TechCenter site: http://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogic. Here you can also see articles, demos, online discussions, and more details about the benefits of our product family.

Technical Support and Customer Service

Dell support service is available to answer your questions about PS Series SAN arrays.

Contacting Dell
1. If you have an Express Service Code, have it ready. The code helps the Dell automated support telephone system direct your call more efficiently. 2. If you are a customer in the United States or Canada in need of technical support, call 1-800-945-3355. If not, go to Step 3. 3. Visit support.equallogic.com. 4. Log in, or click Create Account to request a new support account. 5. At the top right, click Contact Us, and call the phone number or select the link for the type of support you need.

1 Overview
VMware vSphere provides the Pluggable Storage Architecture (PSA), which enables you to configure multipathing for high availability and increased performance. The modular design of the architecture accepts third-party multipathing plugins that enable enhanced functionality specific to storage device models. The EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module (MEM) provides the following enhancements to the existing VMware multipathing functionality: Increased bandwidth Reduced network latency Automatic connection management Automatic load balancing across multiple active paths

Note: Starting with Version 5.0, vSphere supports ESXi only. Previous versions of vSphere supported both ESX

and ESXi. Because this guide covers operations on both vSphere Version 4.1 and 5.0, the term ESX will be used to refer to a host running ESX or ESXi.

EqualLogic MEM Architecture

The EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module consists of: The EqualLogic kernel mode Path Selection Plugin (PSP) driverA kernel mode plugin that is used by the VMware Native Multipathing Plugin (NMP) to select the best path for each I/O to EqualLogic storage devices. The EqualLogic Host Connection Manager (EHCM) A user mode process that runs in a CIM provider and manages the iSCSI sessions to EqualLogic storage devices.

The PSP provides load balancing capabilities that enable you to maximize I/O throughput. The PSP uses its knowledge of the distributed nature of volumes on the PS Series group and least queue depth to route each I/O packet on the most optimal path to the volume. EHCM simplifies management by creating the appropriate number of sessions to an EqualLogic volume. The number of sessions created by EHCM depends on the topology of your iSCSI SAN and the MPIO settings on the VMware ESX host. Every volume is distributed across one or more members in the PS Series group. The portion of a volume that is located on a single member is referred to as a volume slice. The default EHCM behavior is to create two sessions per volume slice, with a maximum of six sessions per volume. However, you can alter this behavior (see EHCM Configuration File on page 17).

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1 Overview

When you use the Dell EqualLogic MEM, EHCM distributes iSCSI sessions across all configured VMkernel ports and PS Series group Ethernet ports. EHCM monitors the topology of the SAN. If you change the configuration by modifying the number of Ethernet interfaces, by moving a PS Series volume, or if there is a network outage that affects some of the iSCSI sessions, EHCM automatically reconfigures the iSCSI sessions to reflect these changes.

EqualLogic MEM Configuration Model

Figure 1 shows the logical path configuration used by the Dell EqualLogic MEM. Figure 1: EqualLogic MEM Logical Path Configuration

Table 1 describes the components shown in this figure.

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Table 1: EqualLogic MEM Logical Path Configuration Details

Callout Description

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

VMware virtual machines with guest operating system Virtual machine disk format (VMDK) Raw device mapping (RDM) disk VMware file system (VMFS) CIM provider, which hosts EqualLogic Host Connection Management EqualLogic Routed PSP VMware native multipathing, hosting the PSP driver VMkernel, the ESX hypervisor, including network and storage stacks Host Bus Adapter (HBA) or software initiator Network PS Series group members

Related Documentation
It is beyond the scope of this document to provide VMware conceptual information or detailed instructions on configuring VMware vSphere. See the following related documentation.

VMware Documentation
See the VMware documentation web site: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/ Specifically, refer to the following documents: vSphere Installation and Setup Guide iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide Installing and Administering vSphere Update Manager

Dell EqualLogic Tech Report

For information about the benefits of the Dell EqualLogic MEM, see the Dell EqualLogic technical report number 1074, entitled Configuring and Installing the EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module for VMware vSphere and PS Series SANs. This report is available in the Tech Reports section the Dell EqualLogic site: http://www.equallogic.com From this site, navigate to Resource Center, then Document Center, then Tech Reports.

2 Installing the EqualLogic MEM

Installation topics for the Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module (MEM) include the following: Obtaining the EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module on page 5 iSCSI Network Configuration Requirements on page 6 Using the Setup Script for Network Configuration on page 7 Configuring Your Network for the MEM Plugin on page 8 Installation Considerations on page 10 Installing the Dell EqualLogic MEM On Your VMware ESX Host on page 10 Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 5.0 on page 12 Verifying the Installation on page 14 Disabling the MEM Plugin on page 15 Using the EqualLogic MEM With AutoDeploy for vSphere 5.0 on page 15

See the Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module Release Notes for installation requirements and information, including: Minimum software and firmware prerequisites Unsupported VMware environments Notes about using the EqualLogic MEM plugin with HBAs

Obtaining the EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module

The Dell EqualLogic MEM is available from the Technical Support website, packaged as a zip file. The zip file has the following contents:
setup.plA

configuration and installation script. To use this script, copy it to the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) or install the vSphere CLI on your Linux or Windows desktop / management station. The offline bundle for ESX 4.1 containing the VMware Infrastructure Bundle (VIB) to be installed on an ESX server. This bundle should not be unzipped, as the installation tools expect it in .zip format. This bundle can be installed through vCenter Update Manager or from a vMA.
dell-eql-mem-esx4-version.zip

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dell-eql-mem-esx5-version.zipThe

offline bundle for ESX 5.0 containing the VIB to be installed on an ESX server. This bundle should not be unzipped, as the installation tools expect it in .zip format. This bundle can be installed through vCenter Update Manager or from a vMA. User documentation in PDF format.

iSCSI Network Configuration Requirements

Before you can use the Dell EqualLogic MEM, you must configure VMware ESX iSCSI networking on your server. You must ensure that you complete the configuration tasks identified in Table 2. EqualLogic has provided a configuration tool to automate this process. See Configuring Your Network for the MEM Plugin on page 8.

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Table 2: iSCSI Network Configuration Requirements

Task Action Description

Create a vSwitch

Enable jumbo frames

Create a vSwitch to use for iSCSI traffic. Assign physical NICs that will be used for iSCSI traffic to this vSwitch. If you intend to use jumbo frames, you must enable them for each vSwitch and each VMkernel port (virtual network interface that is used by the VMkernel) interface. You can verify that jumbo frames are enabled on the vSwitch and VMkernel port through the vSphere client (vSphere 5.0 only) or by using the commands esxcfg-vswitch -l and esxcfg-vmknic -l.

5 6

Before enabling jumbo frames, check with your hardware vendors to ensure your physical network adapter and other network equipment support jumbo frames. Decide on VMkernel ports Each port must be mapped to a single network port. Create VMkernel ports for the iSCSI initiator to use. You should create one VMkernel port per physical NIC that will be used for Create VMkernel ports iSCSI multipathing. If you have multiple VMkernel ports sharing the same uplink, only one of them will be used by EHCM, and the excess VMkernel ports will be ignored. You can use multiple NICs per vSwitch, but each VMkernel port must be mapped to a single uplink (physical NIC). You can verify Remove extra uplinks this by using the command esxcfg-vswitch -l, and you can remove extra uplinks with the esxcfg-vswitch -N command. Enable VMware iSCSI Initiator If using the software initiator, enable VMware iSCSI Initiator. You must bind the VMkernel ports to the iSCSI daemon with one of the following commands. Bind the VMkernel ports
esxcli iscsi networkportal add esxcli swisci nic add

(ESX 5)

(ESX 4.1) You must add the PS Series group address to the iSCSI Initiator discovery list. 8 Add discovery list If using Broadcom iSCSI offload adapters, there is a separate vmhba for each adapter port. The discovery address must be entered for each vmhba.

See the VMware iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide for more information.
Note: See the PS Series documentation for group limits and pool limits on total iSCSI sessions. It may be

necessary to reduce the number of sessions created per volume in large configuration.

Using the Setup Script for Network Configuration

The Dell EqualLogic installation script setup.pl can be used for network configuration operations.

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Prerequisites for setup.pl Script

The setup.pl script is designed to be run from the VMware Management Assistant (vMA) or the vSphere CLI from a Linux or Windows host. Versions 4.1 and 5.0 of the vSphere CLI are supported. Table 3 describes the setup.pl script parameters that are common to multiple operations. Table 3: Commonly Used Parameters with the setup.pl Script
Parameter Description

--server --username --password --vihost --viusername --vipassword

ESX host or vCenter server against which to run the command. Administrative user account on the system specified by --server. Password for administrative account on the host. To install on an ESX host, it must be configured with an administrative password. ESX host. This parameter is required if --server refers to a vCenter server. Administrative user account for the system specified by --vihost. Password for administrative account for the system specified by --vhhost.

Note: Dell suggests that you configure vi-fastpass on the vMA. Once vi-fastpass is configured, it is not

necessary to specify the username and password when running the setup script, though it is still necessary to identify the ESX server. See the vSphere Management Assistant Guide, available from VMware, for more details on configuring vi-fastpass authentication.

Configuring Your Network for the MEM Plugin

The following syntax is used to configure your vSwitch for the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
setup.pl --configure --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password] --nics=NIC1,NIC2,... --ips=IP1,IP2,... [--vswitch=vswitchname] [--mtu=mtu] [--vmkernel=vmkernel_prefix] [--netmask=subnet_mask] [--enableswiscsi] [--nohwiscsi] [--groupid=PS group IP] [--vds] [--logfile=logfilename] [--heartbeat=IP] [--chapuser=username] [--chapsecret=secret] [--vihost=vihostname] [--viusername=viusername]

Depending on your configuration, not all of the parameters are needed. Table 4 describes the configuration parameters.

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Table 4: Parameters Used for vSwitch Configuration

Parameter Description Default

--nics --ips --vswitch --mtu --vmkernel --netmask --enableswiscsi

--nohwiscsi

--groupip --vds --logfile

--heartbeat

--chapuser

--chapsecret

Comma separated list of vmknics to use for multipathing. Comma separated list of IP addresses to assign to VMkernel ports used for multipathing. Name of vSwitch to create. setup.pl will use the existing vSwitch if one is found. MTU to use for VMkernel ports and vSwitch used for multipathing. Prefix to use for VMkernel ports created for multipathing. Subnet mask used for VMkernel ports created for multipathing. Enable the VMware software iSCSI initiator if not already enabled. Ignore any supported iSCSI offload network cards, and use only the VMware software iSCSI initiator. If the configuration script detects iSCSI offload network cards, it will use this capability by default unless this flag is set. Sets the specified IP address as a Send Targets discovery address for all iSCSI initiators that were configured to bind vmknics. Use a vNetwork Distributed Switch instead of a standard vSwitch. Specify a file to use to record a log of network configuration actions. IP address to use for a highly available VMkernel port on the iSCSI subnet. This VMkernel port will be configured to use all physical NICs on the vSwitch, so it will remain online in the event of a single NIC or switch failure. CHAP user name to be used for connecting volumes on the PS Series group IP. CHAP credentials are assigned to the Send Targets discovery address specified by the --groupip parameter. CHAP secret to be used for connecting volumes on the PS Series group IP.

none none vSwitchISCSI 1500 iSCSI 255.255.255.0 not set

not set

none not set setup.log

none

none none

The --configure operation can be run in an interactive mode by specifying only the server name parameter. The script then interactively asks the user a series of questions to gather the necessary information for network configuration. For example:
$ setup.pl --configure --server=192.168.XXX.XXX

See Sample Configuration Commands for examples of the --configure operation.

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Installation Considerations
Installation of the Dell EqualLogic MEM requires you to put the ESX host in maintenance mode using VMware management tools. Configuration through the setup.pl script requires communicating directly with the ESX host, therefore it is required that lockdown mode not be enabled. Because installation requires putting the ESX host in maintenance mode, it is not possible to perform the installation from a vCenter Server, vCenter Update Manager, or VMware Management Assistant that is running as a VM on the ESX host. The VMs must first be migrated to another ESX host so they can continue running during the installation. For a clean installation of MEM on ESX 5.0, you do not need to reboot ESX. However, if you are doing an upgrade install of MEM on ESX 5.0, or are installing the MEM on ESX 4.1, you must reboot the ESX host for the changes to take effect.

Installing the Dell EqualLogic MEM On Your VMware ESX Host

The Dell EqualLogic MEM is packaged as an offline bundle containing a VMware Infrastructure Bundle (VIB). There are three methods for installing this bundle, as described in Table 5. Table 5: Installation Methods
Method Refer To

VMware Update Manager (vUM)

setup.pl

script

Installing the MEM Plugin Using vCenter Update Manager on page 11 Installing the MEM Plugin Using the setup.pl Script on page 11 Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 5.0 on page 12 Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 4.1 on page 13

vSphere CLI

Notes: When installing the Dell EqualLogic MEM, you are required to put the VMware host in maintenance

mode for both ESX 4.1 and 5.0 . ESX 4.1 requires a reboot. ESX 5.0 requires a reboot only if you are performing an update installation. When installing on ESX 5.0 with the setup.pl script, the offline bundle is first uploaded to one of the ESX hosts datastores before it is installed. This offline bundle is not deleted after the installation. The setup.pl script will choose the first datastore it finds, but you can use the optional --datastore parameter to specify a particular datastore to use.

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For network configuration, see Configuring Your Network for the MEM Plugin on page 8. To modify the EHCM configuration, see Chapter 3, Configuring the EqualLogic MEM. For instructions on uninstallation, see Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 5.0 on page 12.

Tasks Performed During the Installation Process

The installation of the Dell EqualLogic MEM performs the following tasks: Registers the PSP. Configures EHCM to automatically start when VMware ESX is booted. Sets the EqualLogic PSP as the active PSP for all existing VMware EQLOGIC iSCSI disk devices. Sets the EqualLogic PSP as the default PSP for any new VMware EQLOGIC iSCSI disk devices.

Installing the MEM Plugin Using vCenter Update Manager

Use the following steps to install the MEM using the vSphere Update Manager (vUM): 1. Install and configure vUM, according to VMware instructions. 2. Import the MEM offline bundle into the vUM package repository by selecting the Import Patches option and browsing to the dell-eql-mem-esxn-version.zip. 3. Create a baseline containing the MEM bundle. Be sure to choose a Host Extension type for the baseline. 4. Optionally add the new baseline to a baseline group. 5. Attach the baseline or baseline group to one or more hosts. 6. Scan and remediate to install the MEM on the desired hosts. Update Manager will put the hosts in maintenance mode and reboot if necessary as part of the installation process. For complete instructions on using vSphere Update Manager, see the Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager documentation available from VMware and the Dell EqualLogic Tech Report Configuring and Installing the EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module for VMware vSphere and PS Series SANs. In this Tec Report, vUM is covered in Appendix B: Installing the MEM with VMware Update Manager.

Installing the MEM Plugin Using the setup.pl Script

The installation script setup.pl can be used for all install, upgrade and uninstall operations. Use the following syntax to install the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
setup.pl --install --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password] [--bundle=bundle] [--datastore=datastore-name] [--reboot]

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The --bundle parameter specifies the path to the offline bundle file containing multipathing plugin (delleql-mem-esxn-version.zip). If not specified, the script will default to the offline bundle in the same directory as the setup.pl script. The --datastore optional parameter is used for ESX 5.0 only, specifies which datastore to use as a staging area to copy the bundle to before installing it. If not specified, the script will use the first datastore it finds. The optional --reboot parameter will auto-reboot ESX following a successful installation.

Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 5.0
If you are using ESX 5.0, you can use the following vSphere CLI command syntax to install the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
esxcli --server=hostname software vib install --depot bundle

The --depot parameter specifies the path to the offline bundle file containing multipathing plugin (dell-eqlmem-esxn-version.zip).
Note: To install the offline bundle, you must first copy it to a location that is accessible from the ESX host. The

install command can then be run from any esxcli client, giving the full path to the bundle on the host. For example, if you upload the bundle to a datastore named datastore1, it can then be installed with the following command:
$ esxcli --server 192.168.XXX.XXX software vib install --depot /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/dell-eql-mem-esx51.1.0.202245.zip Enter username: root Enter password: Installation Result Message: Operation finished successfully. Reboot Required: false VIBs Installed: Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-host-connection-mgr_1.1.0-202245, Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-hostprofile_1.0.9-202245, Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-routed-psp_1.1.0-202245 VIBs Removed: VIBs Skipped:

Notes: This bundle should not be unzipped, as the installation tools expect it in .zip format.

Make sure that the path to the bundle you specify is relative to the ESX host. In addition to specifying a bundle that is on an ESX datastore, you can also specify a full remote URL.

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Installing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI For ESX 4.1
If you are using ESX 4.1, you can use the vihostupdate tool to install the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
vihostupdate --server=hostname --install --bundle=bundle

Note: When using vihostupdate, the bundle does not need to be first copied to the ESX host, and the location

can be relative to the current working directory. Example:

$ vihostupdate --server=192.168.XXX.XXX --install --bundle=./dell-eql-mem-esx4-1.1.0.XXXXXX.zip Enter username: root Enter password: Please wait patch installation is in progress ... The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.

Removing the MEM Plugin with the setup.pl Script

Use the following syntax of the setup.pl script to remove the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
setup.pl --remove --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password]

Removing the MEM Plugin Using the vSphere CLI for ESX 5.0
On ESX 5.0, use the following vSphere CLI command syntax to remove the EqualLogic plugin VIBs:
esxcli --server=hostname software vib remove --vibname [bundle]

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For example, first obtain a list of the EqualLogic VIBs to be removed:

$ esxcli software vib list|grep dell-eql
Name ---------------------------dell-eql-host-connection-mgr dell-eql-hostprofile dell-eql-routed-psp Version -----------------1.0.9-191260 1.0.9-191260 1.0.9-191260 Vendor -----Dell Dell Dell Acceptance Level ---------------VMwareCertified VMwareCertified VMwareCertified Install Date -----------2011-09-21 2011-09-21 2011-09-21

To properly remove the MEM, all three VIBs must be uninstalled. You can do this from one command line:
$ esxcli software vib remove --vibname dell-eql-host-connection-mgr --vibname dell-eql-hostprofile --vibname dell-eql-routed-psp
Enter username: root Enter password: Removal Result Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective. Reboot Required: true VIBs Installed: VIBs Removed: Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-host-connection-mgr_1.0.9-202245, Dell_bootbank_delleql-hostprofile_1.0.9-202245, Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-routed-psp_1.0.9-202245 VIBs Skipped:

Verifying the Installation

To verify that the installation was successful, use the setup.pl --query command. For example:
$ ./setup.pl --server=192.168.XX.XXX --query Found Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module installed: 1.1.0-212190 Default PSP for EqualLogic devices is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED. Active PSP for naa.6090a05860fa962cb4d23436573598f4 is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED. Active PSP for naa.6090a088f03eebc07ee924f465696412 is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED. Found the following VMkernel ports bound for use by iSCSI multipathing: vmk1 vmk2 vmk3 vmk4

Performing an Upgrade Installation

To perform an upgrade installation of the Dell EqualLogic MEM, use the same procedures as you used for a new installation. See Installing the Dell EqualLogic MEM On Your VMware ESX Host on page 10.

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Note: The upgrade operation when preformed on ESX 4.1 or ESX 5.0 requires a reboot prior to the new version

becoming available.

Disabling the MEM Plugin

The plugin is automatically enabled when it is installed. No further action is required if you want to use the Dell EqualLogic MEM. However, if you want to disable and re-enable the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin, use the setup.pl script as described in this section. Disabling the plugin sets VMW_PSP_FIXED as the active PSP for all existing EqualLogic disk devices, and sets VMW_PSP_FIXED as the default PSP for all new EqualLogic disk devices. Use the following syntax to disable the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
setup.pl --disable --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password]

Re-enabling the MEM Plugin

Enabling the plugin sets DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED as the active PSP for all existing EqualLogic disk devices, and sets it as the default PSP for all new EqualLogic disk devices. Use the following syntax to enable the Dell EqualLogic MEM plugin:
setup.pl --enable --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password]

Using the EqualLogic MEM With AutoDeploy for vSphere 5.0

The Dell EqualLogic MEM supports the AutoDeploy feature in ESX 5 that allows building images for automatically deploying ESX hosts. In order to add the MEM to the boot image you must perform the following additional steps while preparing the image profile using the PowerCLI: 1. Import the MEM offline bundle using the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot command. For example,
Add-EsxSoftwareDepot depot dell-eql-mem-esxn-version.zip

2. Add the three VIBs in the MEM to the image profile. For example:
Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -imageprofile name -SoftwarePackage dell-eql-routed-psp Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -imageprofile name -SoftwarePackage dell-eql-hostconnection-mgr Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -imageprofile name -SoftwarePackage dell-eql-hostprofile

See the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation available from VMware for more information about AutoDeploy.

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The AutoDeploy feature is frequently used with host profiles. For details, see EqualLogic MEM Configuration Using Host Profiles for vSphere 5.0 on page 20.

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EHCM Configuration Values
The runtime behavior of EHCM is controlled by several configuration values. Table 6 describes these configuration values. Table 6: EHCM Configuration Parameters
Value Default Maximum Minimum Description

TotalSessions

512

1024

64

VolumeSessions

12

MemberSessions

Maximum total sessions created to all EqualLogic volumes. You can lower this limit in large configurations to keep the session count within VMware ESX and PS group limits. Maximum number of sessions created to each EqualLogic volume. You can lower this limit in large configurations to keep the session count within VMware ESX and PS group limits. Maximum number of sessions created to each volume slice (portion of a volume on a single member).

When determining how many sessions to create to a volume, EHCM chooses a value that meets all constraints specified by the totalsessions, volumesessions and membersessions values. EHCM does not establish entirely redundant paths (iSCSI sessions that have identical server and array endpoints). Depending on your configuration, the actual number of sessions created may be less than you specify for the configuration. See the PS Series documentation for group limits and pool limits on total iSCSI sessions. It may be necessary to reduce the number of sessions created per volume in large configurations.

EHCM Configuration File

The configuration file, located on the ESX host at /etc/cim/dell/ehcmd.conf, stores the configuration parameters.

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The preferred method of making changes is through the vSphere CLI tools on vSphere 5.0, and through the setup.pl script on vSphere 4.1. Each line in the file uses the format param=value. Table 6 shows available options and their values.

EqualLogic MEM Configuration for ESX 5.0 Using vSphere CLI Commands
On ESX 5.0, you can use the vSphere CLI to configure and inspect the Dell EqualLogic MEM. For a full description of the vSphere CLI commands, see the VMware documentation.
Note: The MEM functionality is available immediately after an installation. However, the new esxcli

commands used to control and report status of the plugin are not available until the hostd agent is restarted. This can be done without rebooting the server by connecting to the ESX console and executing the following command:
/etc/init.d/hostd restart

The following KnowledgeBase article provides more information:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004078

Viewing Configuration Values

To view the current configuration parameters, use the following vSphere CLI command syntax:
esxcli equallogic param list

For example:
$ esxcli equallogic param list

Setting Configuration Values

To configure the EqualLogic MEM, use the following vSphere CLI command syntax:
esxcli equallogic param set --name=parameter_name --value=parameter_value

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For example:
$ esxcli equallogic param set --name=VolumeSessions --value=3

EqualLogic MEM Configuration for ESX 4.1 Using setup.pl

Use the setup.pl script to configure the Dell EqualLogic MEM on ESX 4.1.

Viewing Configuration Values

To view the current configuration parameters, use the following syntax:
setup.pl --listparam --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password]

For example:
$ setup.pl --listparam --server=10.168.XXX.XXX Parameter Name -------------TotalSessions VolumeSessions MemberSessions MinAdapterSpeed Value ----512 6 2 1000 Max --1024 12 4 10000 Min --64 1 1 10 Description ----------Max number of sessions per host. Max number of sessions per volume. Max number of sessions per member per volume. Minimum adapter speed for iSCSI multipathing.

Setting Configuration Values

To configure the Dell EqualLogic MEM, use the following syntax:
setup.pl --setparam --name=parameter_name --value=parameter_value --server=hostname [--username=username] [--password=password]

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For example:
$ setup.pl --setparam --name=TotalSessions --value=256 --server=10.168.XXX.XXX Setting parameter totalsessions Parameter Name -------------TotalSessions VolumeSessions MemberSessions MinAdapterSpeed Value ----256 6 2 1000 Max --1024 12 4 10000 = 256 Min --64 1 1 10 Description ----------Max number of sessions per host. Max number of sessions per volume. Max number of sessions per member per volume. Minimum adapter speed for iSCSI multipathing.

EqualLogic MEM Configuration Using Host Profiles for vSphere 5.0

In vSphere 5.0, Host Profiles are extended to support third party providers. The Dell EqualLogic MEM contains such a Host Profile provider, that allows management of some MEM configuration parameters through the Host Profile framework. Support for Host Profile operations include: Extract current MEM configuration from a host Edit the configuration settings in an existing host profile Check compliance of a host against a host profile Apply a host profile to one or more hosts

See the vSphere Host Profiles Guide available from VMware for more information about using Host Profiles.

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4 Troubleshooting
This chapter discusses topics relating to troubleshooting the Dell EqualLogic MEM.

Log Files
Table 7 shows the log file used by the Dell EqualLogic MEM. Table 7: Log Files
Log File Name /var/log/equallogic/ehcmd.log /var/log/vmkernel /var/log/messages /var/log/vmkernel.log Description

Contains EHCMD log messages for ESX Includes PSP log messages (ESX 4.1) Includes PSP log messages (ESXi 4.1) Includes PSP log messages (ESXi 5.0)

Error messages are also sent to syslog on ESX 5.0.

ESX 5 CLI Commands for Troubleshooting

On ESX 5.0, you can use vSphere CLI commands to identify statistics, adapters, and sessions.

Listing Statistics
To view statistics, use the following vSphere CLI command syntax:
esxcli equallogic stat {detail | summary} [--device=device] [--path]}

The following options can be used: The detail parameter will cause detailed statistics to be reported instead of summary statistics. The device parameter allows filtering to display just statistics for one device. The path parameter will cause statistics to be reported for each path.

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4 Troubleshooting

For example:
$ esxcli equallogic stat summary

Listing Adapters
To view adapters, use the following vSphere CLI command syntax:
esxcli equallogic adapters

For example:
$ esxcli equallogic adapters VMKernel: vmk1 Ip: 192.168.xxx.xx Status: Normal NIC: vmnic1 Speed: 1000 MAC: 00:1e:c9:b5:04:75 HBA: vmhba33 Vendor: VMware:iSCSI Software Adapter VMKernel: vmk2 Ip: 192.168.xxx.xx Status: Normal NIC: vmnic2 Speed: 1000 MAC: 00:1e:c9:b5:04:77 HBA: vmhba33 Vendor: VMware:iSCSI Software Adapter

Listing Sessions
To list sessions, use the following vSphere CLI command syntax:
esxcli equallogic sessions

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For example:
$ esxcli equallogic sessions VolumeName SrcIp ------------------- -------------esx5datastore 192.168.XXX.61 esx5datastore 192.168.XXX.62 esx5datastore 192.168.XXX.62 esx5datastore 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm1 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm1 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm1 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm1 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm2 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm2 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm2 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm2 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm3 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm3 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm3 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm3 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm4 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm4 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm4 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm4 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm5 192.168.XXX.62 esx5vm5 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm5 192.168.XXX.61 esx5vm5 192.168.XXX.62 TgtIp ------------192.168.XX.212 192.168.XX.221 192.168.XX.211 192.168.XX.222 192.168.XX.222 192.168.XX.221 192.168.XX.212 192.168.XX.211 192.168.XX.221 192.168.XX.211 192.168.XX.222 192.168.XX.212 192.168.XX.212 192.168.XX.211 192.168.XX.222 192.168.XX.222 192.168.XX.221 192.168.XX.222 192.168.XX.212 192.168.XX.221 192.168.XX.211 192.168.XX.221 192.168.XX.212 192.168.XX.222

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Table 8 identifies common issues for the Dell EqualLogic MEM.

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Table 8: Troubleshooting the Dell EqualLogic MEM

Problem Possible Cause/Solution

Cannot install the MEM bundle

The VIB was unzipped before installation

iSCSI logins cannot be seen from any vmknics

The VIB was not first copied to the ESX location (ESX 5.0) Did not bind vmknics to the iSCSI initiator. See iSCSI Network Configuration Requirements on page 6. Volume access is not properly set for all vmknics to login. If using IP ACLs, access must be granted to all VMkernel ports bound to the iSCSI initiator.

iSCSI logins cannot be seen from all vmknics

If using Broadcom iSCSI offload NICs and using IQN for volume access, an IQN entry is required for each Broadcom iSCSI offload NIC that is bound to the iSCSI initiator. Array limits of iSCSI sessions exceeded Session limits on ESX server need to be lowered. The Broadcom iSCSI offload does not support jumbo Logins from Broadcom NIC with iSCSI offload cannot frames. For vmknic and vswitch, MTU must be set to be seen 1500. The values for the Broadcom session limits are Do not see the expected number of sessions for documented in the vSphere 4.1 and 5.0 Configuration Broadcom NIC with iSCSI offload Maximums document. esxcli equallogic commands are not recognized (ESX The hostd agent was not restarted after the plugin 5.0 only) installation. This is expected behavior in the following cases: Your configuration is exceeding one of the three EHCM maximum settings (TotalSessions, VolumeSessions or MemberSessions). For example, if you have a single member pool, and membersessions is set to the default value of 2, you will only see 2 sessions created to each volume in the pool, regardless of the number of VMkernel ports configured for iSCSI. The MEM has determined that creating additional iSCSI sessions will not improve performance. For example, doubling up on either array or host eth ports will not improve performance in most cases. Your hosts are exceeding PS group or pool session limits, and the multipath sessions are being automatically reduced by the storage array.

Fewer iSCSI sessions created than expected

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A Sample Configuration Commands

This appendix provides examples of using the setup.pl script to configure networking for multipathing.

Configuring a 4-Port NIC Using the VMware Software iSCSI Initiator

$./setup.pl --server=192.168.XXX.130 --vswitch=vSwitchISCSI --mtu=9000 --nics=vmnic2,vmnic3,vmnic4,vmnic5 --ips=192.168.XXX.132,192.168.XXX.133,192.168.XXX.64,192.168.XXX.65 --heartbeat=192.168.XXX.66 --netmask=255.255.0.0 --vmkernel=iSCSI --nohwiscsi --groupip=10.127.XXX.210 Configuring networking for iSCSI multipathing: vswitch = vSwitchISCSI mtu = 9000 nics = vmnic2 vmnic3 vmnic4 vmnic5 ips = 192.168.XXX.132 192.168.XXX.133 192.168.XXX.64 192.168.XXX.65 netmask = 255.255.0.0 vmkernel = iSCSI nohwiscsi = 1 EQL group IP = 10.127.XXX.210 heartbeat = 192.168.XXX.66 Creating vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Setting vSwitch MTU to 9000. Creating portgroup StorageHeartbeat on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.66 to StorageHeartbeat. Creating portgroup iSCSI0 on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 10.127.129.61 to iSCSI0. Creating portgroup iSCSI1 on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.133 to iSCSI1. Creating portgroup iSCSI2 on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.64 to iSCSI2.

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Creating portgroup iSCSI3 on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.65 to iSCSI3. Creating new bridge. Adding uplink vmnic2 to vSwitchISCSI. Adding uplink vmnic3 to vSwitchISCSI. Adding uplink vmnic4 to vSwitchISCSI. Adding uplink vmnic5 to vSwitchISCSI. Setting new uplinks for vSwitchISCSI. Setting uplink for iSCSI0 to vmnic2. Setting uplink for iSCSI1 to vmnic3. Setting uplink for iSCSI2 to vmnic4. Setting uplink for iSCSI3 to vmnic5. Bound vmk2 to vmhba33. Bound vmk3 to vmhba33. Bound vmk4 to vmhba33. Bound vmk5 to vmhba33. Refreshing host storage system. Adding discovery address 10.127.XXX.210 to storage adapter vmhba33. Rescanning all HBAs. Network configuration finished successfully.

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Resulting configuration:

A Sample Configuration Commands

$ esxcfg-vswitch --list --server 192.168.XXX.130 --username root --password password

Switch Name vSwitch0 PortGroup Name VM Network Management Network Num Ports 128 Used Ports 10 VLAN ID 0 0 Configured Ports 128 Used Ports 0 1 Uplinks vmnic0 vmnic0 MTU 1500 Uplinks vmnic0

Switch Name vSwitchISCSI

Num Ports 128

Used Ports 10

Configured Ports 128

MTU 9000

Uplinks vmnic5, vmnic4, vmnic3,vmnic2

PortGroup Name iSCSI3 iSCSI2 iSCSI1 iSCSI0 StorageHeartbeat Switch Name vSwitch1 PortGroup Name Private Num Ports 128

VLAN ID 0 0 0 0 0

Used Ports 1 1 1 1 1

Uplinks vmnic5 vmnic4 vmnic3 vmnic2 vmnic5,vmnic4,vmnic3,vmnic2

Used Ports 1 VLAN ID 0

Configured Ports 128

MTU 1500

Uplinks

Used Ports 0

Uplinks

Configuring a 2-Port Broadcom Adapter Enabled For iSCSI Offload

$ ./setup.pl --configure --server=192.168.XXX.230 --vswitch=vSwitchISCSI --mtu=1500 --ics=vmnic4,vmnic5 --ips=192.168.XXX.231,192.168.XXX.232 --heartbeat=192.168.XXX.233 --netmask=255.255.0.0 --vmkernel=iSCSI --groupip=10.127.XXX.210 Configuring networking for iSCSI multipathing: vswitch = vSwitchISCSI mtu = 1500 nics = vmnic4 vmnic5 ips = 192.168.XXX.231 192.168.XXX.232 netmask = 255.255.0.0 vmkernel = iSCSI EQL group IP = 10.127.XXX.210 heartbeat = 10.127.130.233 Creating vSwitch vSwitchISCSI.

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Setting vSwitch MTU to 1500. Creating portgroup StorageHeartbeat on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.233 to StorageHeartbeat. Creating portgroup iSCSI0 on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.231 to iSCSI0. Creating portgroup iSCSI1 on vSwitch vSwitchISCSI. Assigning IP address 192.168.XXX.232 to iSCSI1. Creating new bridge. Adding uplink vmnic4 to vSwitchISCSI. Adding uplink vmnic5 to vSwitchISCSI. Setting new uplinks for vSwitchISCSI. Setting uplink for iSCSI0 to vmnic4. Setting uplink for iSCSI1 to vmnic5. Bound vmk2 to vmhba40. Bound vmk3 to vmhba41. Refreshing host storage system. Adding discovery address 10.127.XXX.210 to storage adapter vmhba41. Adding discovery address 10.127.XXX.210 to storage adapter vmhba40. Rescanning all HBAs. Network configuration finished successfully.

Resulting configuration:
$ esxcfg-vswitch -list --server 192.168.XXX.230 --username root --password password
Switch Name vSwitch0 PortGroup Name VM Network Management Network Switch Name vSwitchISCSI PortGroup Name iSCSI1 iSCSI0 StorageHeartbeat Num Ports 128 Num Ports 128 Used Ports 3 VLAN ID 0 0 Configured Ports 128 Used Ports 0 1 Used Ports 5 VLAN ID 0 0 0 Uplinks vmnic0 vmnic0 Configured Ports 128 Used Ports 1 1 1 Uplinks vmnic5 vmnic4 vmnic5,vmnic4 MTU 1500 Uplinks vmnic4,vmnic5 MTU 1500 Uplinks vmnic0

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Index
N A adapters
listing
22 15

network configuration NIC teaming O offline bundle

17 18 18 17

8 7

AutoDeploy C configuration file configuration parameters

viewing

5-6, 10, 12

P plugin
enabling and disabling removing
15 13 1

configuration values
setting

configuring the EqualLogic MEM E EHCM ehcmd EqualLogic Host Connection Manager H host profiles I installation
EqualLogic MEM tasks performed upgrade using setup.pl using vCenter Update Manager using vSphere CLI commands on ESX 4.1 using vSphere CLI commands on ESX 5 verifying

PSP S

1, 17 17

sessions
listing
22 5, 7-8, 11, 15 15 21

See EHCM

setup.pl stateless boot statistics

listing

20

U upgrade installation V
14

iSCSI sessions J jumbo frames M Multipathing Extension Module

10 11 14 11 11 13 12 14 17

vCenter Update Manager VIB VMkernel VMkernel port

binding

VMware ESX configuration VMware iSCSI Initiator VMware Management Assistant vSphere commands vSwitch vSwitch configuration vUM See vCenter Update Manager

11 5 7 7 7 6 7 8 18 7 8

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