Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

x iSCSI
and Device Mapper Multipath HOWTO
Marshall Universit
Sste!s In"rastructure Tea!
Abstract
This document outlines in a detailed step-by-step fashion, how to properly configure
iSCSI initiator, and multi-path I/O software on Red Hat nterprise !inu" #ersion $%
C#pri$ht % &'('
)uth#r* Eric +. W#l"e
C#ntri,ut#r* -a!. Mnes
Edit#r* Ti! Calvert
Marshall Universit
/'' Hal +reer 0lvd.
Huntin$t#n1 W2 &5355
This wor& is licensed under the Creati#e Commons 'ttribution-(oncommercial-Share 'li&e
)%* +nited States !icense% To #iew a copy of this license, #isit
http,//creati#ecommons%org/licenses/by-nc-sa/)%*/us/ or send a letter to Creati#e Commons,
-.- Second Street, Suite )**, San /rancisco, California, 01-*$, +S'%
The bloc& 2 logo is a trademar& of 2arshall +ni#ersity% 'll other trademar&s are owned by
their respecti#e owners%
I. Intr#ducti#n
The following configuration was documented and tested on a 3ell 4oweredge R.-*,
with RedHat nterprise !inu" $%* "51% The R.-* ser#er has 1 6roadcom (ete7treme II
6C2$.*0 8igabit (etwor& Interface Cards 9(IC:, and is connected by thernet to an
;ual!ogic 4S5*** storage array%
This step-by-step guide is directly applicable to these software and hardware
components% Howe#er, much of the software configuration would remain the same for any
!inu" distribution on either 7<5 or '2351 based hardware% The most dynamic #ariable in
any case will be specific storage solutions% Consider any factors that your storage #endor may
support, or recommend, before proceeding%
II. Hard4are 5reparati#n
'ppropriate hardware preparation is beyond the scope of this document% See #endor
documentation for connecting thernet cables to the storage array, and appropriate
configuration of the storage array% 'ccording to 3ell ;ual!ogic 9=**<: some recommended
guidelines are as follows,
3o%%%
+se Cat 5 or Cat $ TS60$ cables%
+se redundant switches and networ& paths%
+se /low Control on switches and (ICs%
+se >umbo /rames on switches and (ICs
+se ?!'(s, if physically separate switches are not a#ailable%
3o (OT%%%
+se Spanning Tree 4rotocol on switch ports for iSCSI connections%
+se +nicast storm control on a switch that handles iSCSI traffic%
See PS Series Array Network Performance Guidelines, or rele#ant storage #endor@s
documentation for more information%
III. Manual Installati#n
The following section outlines manual installation and configuration of 3e#ice 2apper
2ultipath and Open-iSCSI initiator on Red Hat nterprise !inu" #ersion $%"% If this is your first
time installing and configuring 3e#ice 2apper 2ultipath, or Open-iSCSI software, then this is
the recommended method of installation and configuration% It is possible to automate a portion
of this installation and configuration with Red Hat@s Aic&start, or configuration management
engines such as 4uppet% Howe#er, that is beyond the scope of this document%
The methods outlined in this guide apply directly to Red Hat nterprise !inu", though a
maBor portion of the configuration items are generic and could be applied to other !inu"
distributions% The author of this HOCTO assumes these steps will, for the most part, remain
constant for subse;uent #ersions of Red Hat nterprise !inu"%
1. Package Installation
'fter performing a base install of Red Hat nterprise #$, ma&e sure to upgrade the
system to the latest patch-le#el%
Change this line in /etc/yum.conf as illustrated below%
exclude=kernel*
Comment out the e"clude options, so the &ernel may be upgraded%
exclude678ernel9
Run the following to upgrade to the latest patch-le#el%
u! : up$rade
Run the following to install needed software%
u! : install iscsi:initiat#r:utils device:!apper:!ultipath
3ell ;uallogic 9=**0: recommends using RH! $%1 9#ersion $ update 1: or newer for
best performance and interoperability with 4S Series storage arrays% nsure the following
re;uirements are met before proceeding%
Run the following to chec& for minimum pac&age #ersions%
rp! :;a iscsi:initiat#r:utils device:!apper:!ultipath
device-mapper-multipath-<version>-<patch-level>.el
iscsi-initiator-utils-<version>-<patch-level>.el
2inimum pac&age #ersion for 4S Series arrays
iscsi:initiat#r:utils:<.&.'.3/&:'.<.el5
2inimum pac&age #ersion for 8b (ICs
iscsi:initiat#r:utils:<.&.'.=<=:'.3.el5
Cith S!inu" enabled, you may not be able to login to iSCSI targets% Dou may ha#e to
create a policy for iSCSI traffic, or disable S!inu"%
'fter updating the &ernel, you will need to reboot the system, before proceeding% This
would be a good time to pic& an appropriate I/O scheduler% '#ailable I/O schedulers, and the
&ernel option to select them, are as follows%
Completely /air Eueueing F ele#atorGcf;
3eadline F elevat#r6deadline
(OO4 F elevat#r6n##p
'nticipatory F ele#atorGas
'ccording to a citation in 3ell ;uallogic 9=**0:, the Open-iSCSI group reports that
sometimes the (OO4 scheduler wor&s best for iSCSI ser#er en#ironments% Howe#er, if this
ser#er will be used as an Oracle database or application ser#er, it is standard best practice to
use the 3eadline scheduler for optimal performance%
Run the following command to enable the (OO4 scheduler, before rebooting%
sed :e >s?@v!linu..9?A elevat#r6n##p?$> :i @,##t@$ru,@!enu.lst
If you are pro#isioning an Oracle ser#er, then run the following to select 3eadline%
sed :e >s?@v!linu..9?A elevat#r6deadline?$> :i @,##t@$ru,@!enu.lst
/inally, reboot the ser#er after upgrading the system and &ernel% 3o this before
proceeding with the configuration steps that follow so the proper I/O scheduler will be acti#e
and the newer &ernel will be a#ailable% Dou may also want to go bac& and uncomment the
e!clude"#kernel$ line in /etc/yum.conf, at your own discretion%
I2. C#n"i$urin$ Open:iSCSI
(. C#n"i$urin$ the BIC cards "#r iSCSI use
In the following e"ample, it is assumed you will be using the third 9eth=: and fourth
9eth): (etwor& Interface Cards in the system for iSCSI traffic% If this is not the case, then
adBust the configuration for different (ICs as necessary%
'dd the following bold lines to each of the ifcf%-eth& scripts for each iSCSI (IC% nsure
that 'PA((), and N*+,AS- are correctly set for your iSCSI subnet% 2a&e sure .N/..+ is
set to yes% This is set so that each interface will be automatically initialiHed when the system is
booted% The ,+0 #ariable should be set to 1222, for each iSCSI (IC, this 2T+ setting will
enable Bumbo frames%
/etc/sysconfi%/network-scripts/ifcf%-eth3
# Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet
DEVICE=eth
!"#DD$=00%&&%%''%((%aa
0N00T=yes
B))*+$)*)=none
NLTMA5k=255.255.255.0
lA00R=10.1.2.3
*,+E=Ethernet
MTu=9000
/etc/sysconfi%/network-scripts/ifcf%-eth4
# Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme II BCM5709 Gigabit Ethernet
DEVICE=eth'
!"#DD$=00%&&%%''%((%bb
0N00T=yes
B))*+$)*)=none
NLTMA5k=255.255.255.0
lA00R=10.1.2.4
*,+E=Ethernet
MTu=9000
3ell ;ual!ogic 9=**0: recommends enabling /low Control, and disabling 'uto
(egotiation on each iSCSI (IC% /or these settings to be automatically applied upon each
boot, add the following code, in boldface, to the /etc/rc.local file%
-etc-rc./oca/
# i0C0I Inter1ace 0etting2 1or E34a//ogic
l5C5llF="eth2 eth3"
LThT00L0T5="autoneg off rx on tx on"
LThT00L=`Wh1ch ethtooJ`
for 1 1n $l5C5llF,
do
echo "$LThT00L -A $1 $LThT00L0T5"
$LThT00L -A $l5C5llF $LThT00L0T5
done
(.(. C#n"i$urin$ Open:iSCSI initiat#r utilities
Dou need to tune a few lines in the /etc/iscsi/iscid.conf file, per #endor
recommendations% Dou can grep out blan& and comment lines in this file for ;uic& inspection%
The lines we are most concerned about will appear in bold% ?alues set per specific #endor
recommendations are highlighted in red%
1.1.1. Notes about iscsid.conf configuration
's I understand it, the configuration item, node.session.timeo.replacement5timeout is
for specifying the length of time, in seconds, after which the iSCSI layer will fail bac& to the
3e#ice 2apper 2ultipath application layer% 6y default, this is -=* seconds, or = minutes%
'ccording to Red Hat 9=**<:, it is preferable to pass the path failure ;uic&ly from the SCSI
layer to your 2ultipath software, which would be necessary for ;uic& fail-o#er% Cith the default
configuration, two minutes of I/O would be ;ueued before failing the path% If you are familiar
with /iber Channel path fail-o#er, it tends to be instantaneous% 2ost people configuring iSCSI
fail-o#er certainly don@t want a failed path to be retried for two whole minutes% +sing the
default configuration with a production database ser#er could lead to massi#e amounts of I/O
being ;ueued instead of the e"pected beha#ior of failing o#er to another wor&ing path ;uic&ly%
Changing this #alue to -$ will allow the path to failo#er much more ;uic&ly%
Red Hat 9=**<: also recommends setting node.conn627.timeo.noop5out5interval to 8
and node.conn627.timeo.noop5out5timeout to -*% I recommend changing only the
node.session.timeo.replacement5timeout to 9% I found the best results during my testing with
the default #alue as shipped with RH!, for both timeo%noopIoutIinter#al and
timeo%noopIoutItimeout that default #alue was $%In either case, test your configuration to see
how it affects 3e#ice 2apper 2ultipath%
'ccording to 3ell 9=*-*:, if the 6roadcom bn"=i interface fails to login to an ;uallogic
iSCSI storage #olume, the node.session.initial5lo%in5retry5ma! should be changed from the
default #alue of : to 93%
'ccording to 3ell ;uallogic 9=**0: the options node.session.cmds5ma!, and
node.session.;ueue5depth should be changed for ;uallogic arrays% The recommendation
for node.session.cmds5ma! is to change the #alue from 93: to 923<. The recommendation
for node.session.;ueue5depth is to change the #alue from 43 to 93:%
/inally, according to the in-line comments in the default iscsid%conf, and 3ell 9=*-*:
;uallogic arrays should ha#e node.session.isci.=astA>ort set to No% If using software such
as iSCSI nterprise Target 9IT:, instead of an ;uallogic 'rray, lea#e the =astA>ort #alue set
to the default, which is ?es%
1.1.2. iscsid.conf
e%rep -v @AB#CDEF /etc/iscsi/iscid.conf
node%startup G automatic
n#de.sessi#n.ti!e#.replace!entCti!e#ut 6 (5 7 de"ault (&'D RedHat rec#!!ended
node%connJ*K%timeo%loginItimeout G -$
node%connJ*K%timeo%logoutItimeout G -$
node%connJ*K%timeo%noopIoutIinter#al G $
node%connJ*K%timeo%noopIoutItimeout G $
node%session%errItimeo%abortItimeout G -$
node%session%errItimeo%luIresetItimeout G =*
n#de.sessi#n.initialCl#$inCretrC!ax 6 (& 7 de"ault =D Dell rec#!!ended
n#de.sessi#n.c!dsC!ax 6 ('&/ 7 de"ault (&=D E;uall#$ic rec#!!ended
n#de.sessi#n.;ueueCdepth 6 (&= 7 de"ault E&D E;uall#$ic rec#!!ended
node%session%iscsi%InitialR=T G (o
node%session%iscsi%Immediate3ata G Des
node%session%iscsi%/irst6urst!ength G =5=-11
node%session%iscsi%2a"6urst!ength G -5..5-0=
node%connJ*K%iscsi%2a"Rec#3ataSegment!ength G =5=-11
disco#ery%sendtargets%iscsi%2a"Rec#3ataSegment!ength G )=.5<
node%connJ*K%iscsi%Header3igest G (one
n#de.sessi#n.iscsi.Fast),#rt 6 B# 7 de"ault GesD Dell @ Open:iSCSI rec#!!ended
I2. Tar$etin$ and L#$$in$ in 4ith iscsiad!
1. Create iSCSI interfaces
The iSCSI interfaces are separate pseudo-de#ices used by Open-iSCSI% /rom Open-
iSCSI@s point-of-#iew, these are not the same as physical thernet de#ices% Chat you@ll need
to do is bind each of your eth7 de#ices to an iSCSI interface% Technically spea&ing, you could
call your iSCSI interfaces eth= and eth), and bind them to the corresponding physical de#ices
in the /de# folder% To a#oid any confusion about physical (ICs and iSCSI interfaces, itLs
recommended to gi#e the interfaces different names li&e iface* and iface-%
Dou can create your iSCSI interfaces with the following commands%
1scs1adm -m 1face -l 1face0 -o neW
1scs1adm -m 1face -l 1face1 -o neW
Second, letLs ta&e a loo& at the iSCSI interface properties for one of our new interfaces%
This will come in handy to #iew the currently acti#e configuration in cases where you need to
troubleshoot%
This is how you can loo& at the iSCSI interface properties for one of the new interfaces%
6eing able to #iew the currently acti#e configuration can come in handy in cases where you
need to troubleshoot%
1scs1adm -m 1face -l 1face0
# BEGIN RECORD 2.0-871
iface.iscsi_ifacename = iface0
iface.net_ifacename = <empt!
iface.ipa""#ess = <empt!
iface.$%a""#ess = <empt!
iface.t#ansp&#t_name = tcp
iface.initiat&#name = <empt!
# END RECORD
2. Bind iSCSI interfaces
(ow that we ha#e iSCSI interfaces, we need to bind them to a physical thernet
de#ice% Dou can use either a de#ice name or 2'C address% Open-iSCSI won@t e#en let you
bind the interfaces with both a de#ice name and 2'C address%
6inding by physical de#ice name
1scs1adm -m 1face -o update -l 1face0 -n 1face.net1facename -v eth2
1scs1adm -m 1face -o update -l 1face1 -n 1face.net1facename -v eth3
6inding by 2'C address
1scs1adm -m 1face -o update -l 1face0 -n 1face.hWaddress -v 00:aa:bb:cc:dd:ee
1scs1adm -m 1face -o update -l 1face1 -n 1face.hWaddress -v 00:aa:bb:cc:dd:ff
'n important note about alternate transport dri#ers for iSCSI offload, 6y default, your
new iSCSI interfaces will use TC4 as the iSCSI transport% There are other offload transport
dri#ers a#ailable to use, such as ,nx&i, iser, and cx$,Ei% 'ccording to the iscsiadm manual
page and personal con#ersation with a 3ell storage engineer, these are e"perimental dri#ers
which are not supported or considered stable%
&.(. Updatin$ iSCSI inter"aces
If you bind an interface by 2'C address, and ha#e a hardware replacement which
changes the 2'C address% Then the iSCSI interface bindings will need to be updated to
reflect such system changes% Dou can do this with an update command,
1scs1adm -m 1face -o update -l 1face0 -n 1face.hWaddress -v 00:aa:bb:cc:dd:11
1scs1adm -m 1face -o update -l 1face1 -n 1face.hWaddress -v 00:aa:bb:cc:dd:33
3. Connecting to te iSCSI arra!
The file /etc/iscsi/initiatorname.iscsi should contain an initiator name for your iSCSI
client host% Dou need to include this initiator name on your iSCSI array@s configuration for this
specific iSCSI client host%
If you ha#en@t yet started the iSCSI daemon, run the following command before we
commence with disco#ering targets%
serv1ce 1scs1d start
E.( Disc#verin$ tar$ets
Once the iscsid ser#ice is running and the client@s initiator name is configured on the
iSCSI array, then you may proceed with the following command to disco#er a#ailable targets%
'ssuming our iSCSI array had an I4 address of -*%-%=%-*, the following command would
return the a#ailable targets%
1scs1adm -m d1scovery -t st -p 10.1.2.10:3260
10.1.2.10'(2)0*1 i+n.2001-0,.c&m.e+-a..&/ic'0-8a000)-7008ec,01-2("0000002012a"0-
$&stname-3&.0
10.1.2.10'(2)0*1 i+n.2001-0,.c&m.e+-a..&/ic'0-8a000)-7008ec,01-2("0000002012a"0-
$&stname-3&.0
E.&. L#$in t# tar$et
Ce@re finally ready to login to our target% To log in to all targets, use the following
command% This should return successful if e#erything is wor&ing correctly%
1scs1adm -m node -J
Indi#idual targets can be logged into by specifying a whole target name%
1scs1adm -m node -T iqn.2001-05.com.equallogic:0-8a0906-7008ec504-
23d000000204bad0-hostname-vol0 -l - 10.1.2.10:3260
E.E. L#$#"" a tar$et
!ogging off is basically the same as logging into a target, e"cept you use -u instead of
-l.
1scs1adm -m node -u
E./. Sessi#n status
The session command can be used to print the basic status or more #erbose output for
debugging and troubleshooting%
6asic command,
1scs1adm -m sess1on
tcp' 4105 10.1.2.10'(2)0*1 i+n.2001-0,.c&m.e+-a..&/ic'0-8a000)-7008ec,01-
2("0000002012a"0-$&stname-3&.0
tcp' 405 10.1.2.10'(2)0*1 i+n.2001-0,.c&m.e+-a..&/ic'0-8a000)-7008ec,01-
2("0000002012a"0-$&stname-3&.0
Troubleshooting information with -4 9print: flag and #erbosity le#el *-),
1scs1adm -m sess1on -3
i6C6I 7#ansp&#t C.ass 3e#si&n 2.0-871
3e#si&n 2.0-871
7a#/et' i+n.2001-0,.c&m.e+-a..&/ic'0-8a000)-7008ec,01-2("0000002012a"0-$&stname-
3&.0
C-##ent 8&#ta.' 10.1.2.2,'(2)0*1
8e#sistent 8&#ta.' 10.1.2.10'(2)0*1
9999999999
Inte#face'
9999999999
Iface Name' iface0
Iface 7#ansp&#t' tcp
Iface Initiat&#name' i+n.1001-0,.c&m.#e"$at'1(c(0f808))f
Iface I8a""#ess' 10.1.2.(
Iface :;a""#ess' <empt!
Iface Net"e3' et$2
6ID' 10
i6C6I C&nnecti&n 6tate' <OGGED IN
i6C6I 6essi&n 6tate' <OGGED_IN
Inte#na. iscsi" 6essi&n 6tate' NO C:=NGE
999999999999999999999999
Ne/&tiate" i6C6I pa#ams'
999999999999999999999999
:ea"e#Di/est' N&ne
DataDi/est' N&ne
>a?Rec3Data6e/ment<en/t$' 2)2111
>a?@mitData6e/ment<en/t$' ),,()
Ai#stB-#st<en/t$' ),,()
>a?B-#st<en/t$' 2)2111
Imme"iateData' Bes
Initia.R27' N&
>a?O-tstan"in/R27' 1
999999999999999999999999
=ttac$e" 6C6I "e3ices'
999999999999999999999999
:&st N-m2e#' 27 6tate' #-nnin/
scsi27 C$anne. 00 I" 0 <-n' 0
=ttac$e" scsi "isC s"c 6tate' #-nnin/
2. C#n"i$urin$ Device Mapper Multipath
1. Notes about te "e#ice $a%%er $ulti%at exa&%le
The final maBor step is to configure 3e#ice 2apper 2ultipath using the configuration file
/etc/multipath.conf% 6y default there will be a devnode @$F line in the >lacklist section, thereby
disabling 2ultipath for all de#ices in the system% If you want to assign persistently bound
names to iSCSI de#ices, be sure to set user5friendly5names to yes, as seen in the e"ample
on the following page% If you do not use friendly names with 3e#ice 2apper, you@ll end up with
de#ice names such as /dev/mapper/4G212afffffffffffffffffffffffffff% Chen using friendly names,
you@ll need to specify an alias line in the multipaths section after Open-iSCSI is configured
and wor&ing correctly with your iSCSI target or array%
Dou will want to blac&list any local de#ices that do not ha#e multiple paths to be
managed in the >lacklist section% It is recommended to blac&list the local SCSI dis&s by Corld
Cide Identifier 9CCI3:% The CCI3 is a uni;ue identifier for any bloc& de#ice and may be
retrie#ed with the command scsi5id -% -u -s />lock/sd&, where 7 is the letter identifier of the
local SCSI dis&% It cannot hurt to also blac&list local de#ices by physical de#ice name with a
devnode line and a 4erl-compatible regular e"pression string% The reason for blac&listing a
second time with a regular e"pression is in case the scsi5id program fails to read the CCI3
from sector Hero of a local de#ice% See the blac&list section in the configuration e"ample% The
CCI3 line and devnode @Asd6a7DF line both ser#e as a blac&list for de#ice sda%
Once you ha#e disco#ered targets and logged in to the iSCSI array, you can use the
@iscsiadm -m session -P4H command to find the physical de#ice names of your iSCSI #olumes%
Then you can use the @scsi5id -% -u -s />lock/sd&H command to find the CCI3 of your iSCSI
#olumes% Once you ha#e the CCI3s of your iSCSI #olumes, you can configure friendly name
aliases in the multipaths section, as seen in the e"ample on the ne"t page%
The de#ice section in the configuration e"ample is pertinent to an ;uallogic 4S Series
array% The lines in boldface type are of particular importance, and are the recommended
defaults for ;uallogic de#ices% Dou can o#erride the parameters on a per-#olume basis in the
multipaths section%
/or best performance, the #alue for rr5min5io should be in the range of 92-32 for
database en#ironments% /or more se;uential loads, which may be seen on file ser#ers,
performance might be better if rr5min5io is set in the range 922-93% 'ny rr5min5io #alue o#er
322 will re;uire ma" commands and ;ueue depths parameters in iscsid.conf to be increased%
(.(. !ultipath.c#n"
de1a4/t2 5
42er61riend/76name2 7e2
8
b/ac9/i2t 5
::id ';09(111111111111111111111111111
de<node =>2d?a@A=
de<node =>BramCra:C/oopC1dCmdCdmDC2rC2cdC2tE?0D9@F=
de<node =>hd?aDG@??0D9@F@=
de<node =>cci22Hc?0D9@d?0D9@F?p?0D9@F@=
8
de<ice2 5
de<ice 5
vendor "LQL06lC"
product "100L-00"
path6gro4ping6po/ic7 m4/tib42
get4id6ca//o4t =-2bin-2c2i6id Dg D4 D2 -b/oc9-In=
features "1 queue1fnopath"
no6path6retr7 1ai/
path6chec9er read2ector0
1ai/bac9 immediate
path62e/ector =ro4ndDrobin 0=
rrm1n1o 10
rr6:eight prioritie2
8
8
m4/tipath2 5
m4/tipath 5
::id ';090a111111111111111111111111111
a/ia2 40
8
8
1.2. Start and test "e#ice $a%%er $ulti%at
3e#ice 2apper 2ultipath can be started with the following command once it has been
configured%
serv1ce muJt1pathd start
Dou can list the 2ultipath topology with the following command to #erify e#erything is
wor&ing correctly%
muJt1path -JJ -v2
-02 D()000a018,0ec0870"02a01020000"02(E "m-0 EF<OGIC*100E-00
4siGe=100G54feat-#es=054$%$an".e#=054#%5
H_ #&-n"-#&2in 0 4p#i&=254acti3e5
H_ 10'0'0'0 s"2 8'1) 4acti3e54#ea"5
H_ 11'0'0'0 s"c 8'(2 4acti3e54#ea"5
1.3. 'eload ude# to test friendl! alias na&es
Once 2ultipath has been #erified to be wor&ing correctly, you may need to run the
following udev command to create de#ices with friendly names% This only applies if you ha#e
chosen to use persistent 2ultipath binding by defining alias lines in the multipaths section of
multipath.conf% Reloading ude# will automagically create your aliased de#ices in the
/dev/mapper folder%
Reload ude# command,
udevcontroJ reJoadruJes
Dou may proceed to fdisk and format the aliased de#ice, Bust as you would any other
SCSI dis& de#ice appearing in the /de# directory%
2I. Final steps
1. Set ser#ices to start auto&aticall!.
Once you ha#e e#erything up and running, with regards to Open-iSCSI and 3e#ice
2apper 2ultipath, run the following commands to ensure ser#ices get started automatically
during ser#er boot up%
Set the iscsid daemon to start automatically,
chkconf1g 1scs1d on
Set the iscsi ser#ice to log in to targets automatically,
chkconf1g 1scs1 on
Set the multipathd daemon to start automatically,
chkconf1g muJt1pathd on
dit /etc/fsta>, and add a line with the 5netdev &eyword for all your #olumes to be
mounted% +sing the 5netdev &eyword ensures this de#ice will not be mounted before the
networ&ing subsystem has started%
Ce@#e obser#ed Open-iSCSI failing both paths temporarily while updating firmware on
the group node% This could result in a machine remounting a filesystem in read-only mode
upon error unless an @errors"continue@ option is added to /etc/fstab%
J#BEJ=- - eKt' de1a4/t2 & &
J#BEJ=-40& -40& eKt' de1a4/t2 &
7dev7mapper7u02p1 7u02 ext3 netdev,defauJts,errors=cont1nue 0 0
tmp12 -de<-2hm tmp12 de1a4/t2 0 0
de<pt2 -de<-pt2 de<pt2 gid=5Lmode=;0 0 0
27212 -272 27212 de1a4/t2 0 0
proc -proc proc de1a4/t2 0 0
J#BEJ=0"#+D2da5 2:ap 2:ap de1a4/t2 0 0
2. (inal testing
&.(. Re,##t
Reboot your ser#er, and ma&e sure e#erything comes up% The iscsi initialiHation script
should log the ser#er in to the iSCSI targets% 2ultipath should be started, and it should see
both of its paths to the iSCSI array% If e#erything is wor&ing correctly, the fsta> entry should
automatically mount any iSCSI #olumes%
&.&. Test #ur Multipath s#"t4are
The easiest way to test your 2ultipath software is to ta&e down one of the thernet
de#ices manually% To do this, run the following command%
1fdoWn eth3
'fter about -$ seconds you should see something li&e this in the messages log%
Ce#ne.' "e3ice-mappe#' m-.tipat$' Aai.in/ pat$ @'@@
m-.tipat$"' <a.ias!' #emainin/ acti3e pat$s' 1
Then, bring the de#ice bac& up manually,
1fup eth3
'gain, after about -$ seconds you should see something li&e this in the messages log%
m-.tipat$"' @'@@' #einstate"
m-.tipat$"' <a.ias!' #emainin/ acti3e pat$s' 2
Repeat this test for e#ery other (IC being used for iSCSI and ma&e sure e#ery iSCSI
(etwor& Interface fails-o#er from faulty paths, and reinstate all acti#e iSCSI paths gracefully%
Re"erences and rec#!!ended readin$
'iHman, 'le", and 3mitry Dusupo#% =**.% Open-iSCSI F R/C).=* architecture and
implementation% .pen-iSIS' proJect% http,//www%open-iscsi%org/inde"%htmlMdocs%
'non% 3e#ice-mapper Resource 4age% (evice-,apper-,ultipath ProJect%
http,//sources%redhat%com/dm/%
3ell ;ual!ogic, Inc% =**<% PS Series Array Network Performance Guidelines% )rd ed%
(ashua, (H, 3ell, Inc, >une%
http,//www%e;uallogic%com/uploadedfiles/Resources/TechIReports/tr-networ&-
guidelines-TR-*-.%pdf%
NNN% =**0% )ed Kat Linu! v.! Software iSIS' 'nitiator Ionfi%uration8 ,P'. and tunin%
Guide% (ashua, (H, 3ell, Inc, 3ecember%
http,//www%e;uallogic%com/resourcecenter/asset#iew%asp"OidG<.=.%
NNN% =*-*% (ell Powered%e Systems )ed Kat *nterprise Linu! .< B!:G5G<8 !:GE
'nstallation 'nstructions and 'mportant 'nformation8 Re#% '*=. 2arch%
http,//support%dell%com/support/edocs/software/rhelImn/rhel$I1/iigIen%pdf%
Red Hat, Inc% =**.% How do I configure the iscsi-initiator in Red Hat nterprise !inu" $O )ed
Kat -nowled%e>ase% >une =$% https,//access%redhat%com/&b/docs/3OC-5)<<%
NNN% =**<% How can I impro#e the failo#er time of a faulty path when using de#ice-mapper-
multipath o#er iSCSIO )ed Kat -nowled%e>ase% October -%
https,//access%redhat%com/&b/docs/3OC-=<..%
NNN% =*-*a% (, ,ultipath% http,//www%redhat%com/docs/en-
+S/RedIHatInterpriseI!inu"/$%$/html/32I2ultipath/inde"%html%
NNN% =*-*b% Aic&start Installations% In 'nstallin% )ed Kat *nterprise Linu! for all
architectures, Chap% )-% Research Triangle 4ar&, (C, Red Hat, Inc%
http,//www%redhat%com/docs/en-
+S/RedIHatInterpriseI!inu"/$%$/html/InstallationI8uide/inde"%html%