Hp ProLiant Accelerated iSCSI for Linux User Guide

HP ProLiant Accelerated iSCSI for Linux User Guide

Part Number 461002-00B March 2008 (Second Edition)

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Audience assumptions

This document is for the person who installs, administers, and troubleshoots servers and storage systems. HP assumes you are qualified in the servicing of computer equipment and trained in recognizing hazards in products with hazardous energy levels.

Overview..................................................................................................................................... 4

iSCSI protocol........................................................................................................................................... 4

System requirements ..................................................................................................................................4

Supported operating systems ............................................................................................................ 4

Supported hardware........................................................................................................................ 4

Download latest drivers, firmware, and documentation .................................................................................. 5

Downloading the SoftPaq and extracting...................................................................................................... 5

Installation and configuration ......................................................................................................... 6

Summary of installation and configuration .................................................................................................... 6

Installing the Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver................................................................................................ 6

Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver messages.......................................................................................... 7

Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver limitations .........................................................................................9

Uninstalling the HP Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver RPM package ........................................................ 9

Installing the license for HP port-based Linux iSCSI offload.............................................................................. 9

Red Hat.......................................................................................................................................... 9

SLES ............................................................................................................................................ 10

HP port-based licensing status report................................................................................................ 11

HP ProLiant Licensing Log and Event File........................................................................................... 11

Troubleshoot known issues for HP port-based Linux iSCSI offload......................................................... 12

Uninstalling the license for HP port-based Linux iSCSI offload........................................................................ 12

Removing the HP ProLiant Licensing RPM ..........................................................................................13

Removing the hp-pbl RPM package.................................................................................................. 13

HP NC-Series iSCSI offload initiator utilities ................................................................................................ 13

Red Hat........................................................................................................................................ 13

SLES ............................................................................................................................................ 14

Loading the Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i module............................................................................................. 14

Executing the bnx2id application .............................................................................................................. 15

Binding the iSCSI target............................................................................................................... 16

Changing the transport binding of the iSCSI node ....................................................................................... 16

Connecting to the iSCSI target...................................................................................................... 17

Sample commands to discover targets and create iSCSI connections.............................................................. 17

Acronyms and abbreviations........................................................................................................ 18

Index......................................................................................................................................... 19

Contents 3

Overview

iSCSI protocol

The HP iSCSI protocol transports block-level storage requests over TCP connections. Using the iSCSI protocol, systems can connect to remote storage and use it as a physical disk although the remote storage provider or target may actually be providing virtual physical disks. HP Accelerated iSCSI supports all targets that are certified and supported by Linux software.

HP Gigabit Ethernet Multifunction Server Adapters can be enabled as iSCSI devices or virtual iSCSI host bus adapters (HBAs), a feature commonly referred to as accelerated iSCSI. iSCSI HBAs, or accelerated adapters, provide the capability to run iSCSI protocol over offloaded TCP connections. By offloading the TCP connection processing to an HP Gigabit Ethernet Multifunction Server Adapter, CPU utilization is reduced allowing additional processing capacity for applications. The HP accelerated iSCSI solution supports all targets that are certified and supported by Linux software.

System requirements

Supported operating systems

Supported hardware

The following software and hardware support HP Accelerated iSCSI implementations for Linux.

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ES/AS for x86_64

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ES/AS for x86

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for x86 SP1

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for x86_64 SP1

Servers. Server support includes all ProLiant servers that include an iLO or RiLO management device with any of the supported operating systems.

Adapters. HP adapter support includes the following:

• HP NC370T PCI-X Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC370F PCI-X Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC370i PCI-X Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC371i PCI-X Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC373T PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC373F PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC373i PCI Express Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

Overview 4

• HP NC373m PCI Express Dual Port Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter for c-Class BladeSystem

• HP NC374m PCI Express Dual Port Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

• HP NC380T PCI Express Dual Port Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter

Download lates docu

iSCSI targets. All iSCSI targets supported by the Linux software initiator are supported by HP.

t drivers, firmware, and

mentation

HP updates networking software frequently to include new functionality and firmware, and documentation updates go to the

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/networking/index.html).

(

HP website

features. For the latest driver,

Downloading the SoftPaq and extracting

1. Go to the HP website (http://www.hp.com).

2. Click Software & Driver Downloads from the left menu bar.

3. Type the product name in the For product box and press Enter. For example, type NC373T.

4. Select an operating system.

5. Click HP ProLiant Networking Software.

Click download and save the HP SoftPaq (sp#####.exe) file to a directory on your hard drive. The SoftPaq file is a self-extracting executable with a file name based on the SoftPaq number.

Overview 5

Installation and configuration

Summary of installation and configuration

Complete the following steps to install and configure Linux open-iSCSI offload files on your server and connect to an iSCSI target.

1. Download the open-iSCSI offload files.

2. Install the bnx2i driver.

3. For Linux systems with embedded HP Gigabit Multifunction Server Adapters, HP accelerated iSCSI is

available as a port-based licensable option. Install the HP ProLiant Licensing RPM and the HP licensing utility to enable HP accelerated iSCSI capability.

For Linux systems with standup and mezzanine HP Gigabit Multifunction Server Adapters and HP Gigabit Multifunction Server Adapters for HP BladeSystem servers, omit step 3. HP accelerated iSCSI capability is available as a standard feature for these adapters so no license is required.

4. Install the iSCSI initiator utilities for either Red Hat or SLES.

5. Load the Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i module.

6. Execute the bnx2id application.

7. Change the transport binding of the iSCSI node to offload the iSCSI connection.

Installing the Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver

The Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver is released in a source RPM format. Install the Linux iSCSI offload bnx2i driver RPM package by completing the following steps:

1. To install the source RPM package, change to the linux\iscsi-offload directory on your hard drive

and use the following command:

# rpm -ivh bnx2i-<version>.src.rpm

2. Build the binary RPM for the bnx2i driver.

For Red Hat EL 5 installation enter the following commands:

# cd /usr/src/redhat # rpmbuild -bb SPECS/bnx2i.spec

For SLES 10 SP1 installation enter the following commands:

# cd /usr/src/packages # rpmbuild -bb SPECS/bnx2i.spec

3. Check for the existence of a current version of the bnx2i package using the following command:

# rpm -q bnx2i

If an older version of the package exists, remove the old RPM package using the following command:

# rpm -e bnx2i

Remove the loaded bnx2i module using the following command:

# modprobe -r bnx2i

Installation and configuration 6

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Hp ProLiant Accelerated iSCSI for Linux User Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual