With independent
hardware-based iSCSI storage, you use a specialized third-party adapter capable
of accessing iSCSI storage over TCP/IP. This iSCSI initiator handles all iSCSI
and network processing and management for your
ESXi system.
You must install and configure
the independent hardware iSCSI adapter for your host before you can access the
iSCSI storage device. For installation information, see vendor documentation.
Hardware iSCSI setup requires
a number of high-level tasks. You should be familiar with the corresponding
command for each task. You can refer to the relevant documentation for each
command or run
esxcli iscsi --help
in the console. Specify one of the
options listed in
Connection Options for ESXCLI Host Management Commands
in place of
<conn_options>
.
Procedure
-
Determine the iSCSI
adapter type and retrieve the iSCSI adapter ID.
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter list
-
Configure the hardware
initiator (HBA) by running
esxcli iscsi networkportal ipconfig
with one or more
of the following options.
Option | Description |
---|
-A|--adapter=<str> |
iSCSI adapter name (required) |
---|
-1|--dns1=<str> |
iSCSI network portal primary DNS address |
---|
-2|--dns2=<str> |
iSCSI network portal secondary DNS address |
---|
-g|--gateway=<str> |
iSCSI network portal gateway address |
---|
-i|--ip=<str> |
iSCSI network portal IP address (required) |
---|
-n|--nic=<str> |
iSCSI network portal (vmknic) |
---|
-s|--subnet=<str> |
iSCSI network portal subnet mask (required) |
---|
- (Optional)
Set the iSCSI name and
alias.
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter set --adapter <adapter_name> --name=<name>
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter set --adapter <adapter_name> --alias=<alias>
-
Add a dynamic discovery
address or a static discovery address.
- With dynamic
discovery, all storage targets associated with a host name or IP address are
discovered. You can run the following command.
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget add --address=<ip/dns[:port]> --adapter=<adapter_name>
- With static
discovery, you must specify the host name or IP address and the iSCSI name of
the storage target. You can run the following command.
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter discovery statictarget add --address=<ip/dns[:port]> --adapter=<adapter_name> --name=<target_name>
- (Optional)
Set the authentication
information for CHAP.
You can set per-target
CHAP for static targets, per-adapter CHAP, or apply the command to the
discovery address.
Option | Command |
---|
Adapter-level CHAP |
esxcli iscsi adapter auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=[prohibited, discouraged, preferred, required] --secret=<string> --adapter=<vmhba> |
---|
Discovery-level CHAP |
esxcli iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=[prohibited, discouraged, preferred, required] --secret=<string> --adapter=<vmhba> --address<sendtarget_address> |
---|
Target-level CHAP |
esxcli iscsi adapter target portal auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=[prohibited, discouraged, preferred, required] --secret=<string> --adapter=<vmhba> --name<iscsi_iqn_name> |
---|
The following
example sets adapter-level CHAP.
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter auth chap set --direction=uni --chap_username=<name> --chap_password=<pwd> --level=preferred --secret=uni_secret --adapter=vmhba33
Note: Mutual CHAP is not
supported for independent hardware iSCSI storage.
- (Optional)
Set iSCSI parameters.
Option | Command |
---|
Adapter-level CHAP |
esxcli iscsi adapter param set --adapter=<vmhba> --key=<key> --value=<value> |
---|
Discovery-level CHAP |
esxcli iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget param set --adapter=<vmhba> --key=<key> --value=<value> --address=<sendtarget_address> |
---|
Target-level CHAP |
esxcli iscsi adapter target portal param set --adapter=<vmhba> --key=<key> --value=<value> --address=<address> --name=<iqn.name> |
---|
-
After setup is complete,
run
esxcli storage core adapter rescan
--adapter=<iscsi_adapter>
to rescan all storage devices.
-
After setup is complete,
perform rediscovery and rescan all storage devices.
The following
example performs the rediscovery and rescan operations.
esxcli <conn_options> iscsi adapter discovery rediscover
esxcli <conn_options> storage core adapter rescan --adapter=vmhba36