Table Of Contents
Release Notes for Cisco iSCSI Driver Version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris 2.6 or Sun Solaris 7 or 8
Starting and Stopping the iSCSI Driver
SN 5400 Series System Software Requirements
MDS 9000 Series System Software Requirements
Obtaining the iSCSI Driver and Updated SN 5400 Series System Software
Installing iSCSI Driver Software
Uninstalling iSCSI Driver Software
Software Configuration Tips on the Cisco TAC Home Page
Obtaining Technical Assistance
Obtaining Additional Publications and Information
Release Notes for Cisco iSCSI Driver Version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris 2.6 or Sun Solaris 7 or 8
May 30, 2003
Note
You can find the most current documentation on Cisco.com. This set of electronic documents may contain updates and modifications made after the hard-copy documents were printed.
These release notes support Cisco iSCSI Driver version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris 2.6, 7 and 8.
For a list of software caveats that apply to version 3.1.1, see the "Caveats" section. The caveats are updated for every maintenance version and are located on Cisco.com and the Documentation CD-ROM.
Contents
These Release Notes describe the following topics:
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Introduction
The iSCSI Driver for Sun Solaris provides an IP host with the ability to access storage through an IP network. The iSCSI driver uses the iSCSI protocol to transport SCSI requests and responses over an IP network between the IP host and a Cisco SN 5400 or MDS 9000 Series system.
Architecturally, the iSCSI driver combines with the IP host's TCP/IP stack, network drivers, and network interface cards (NICs) to provide the same functions as a SCSI or Fibre Channel adapter driver with a host bus adapter (HBA).
The iSCSI driver provides a transport for SCSI requests and responses for storage devices; however, instead of providing a transport for directly attached devices, the driver transports the SCSI requests and responses between the IP host and a Cisco SN 5400 or MDS 9000 Series system via an IP network. The SN 5400 or MDS 9000 Series system, in turn, transports SCSI requests and responses between it and the storage devices attached to it.
Once the iSCSI driver is installed and started, the host proceeds with a discovery process for storage devices.
A more technical description of the driver's design and its features can be found in the readme file that accompanies the iSCSI driver in the downloaded driver archive file.
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System Requirements
This section describes the system requirements for version 3.1.1 and includes the following information:
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Operating System Requirements
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Mounting Devices
Target iSCSI devices can be mounted automatically using the /etc/vfstab file.
The iSCSI init.d script looks for entries with the "mount at boot" field set to "iscsi" in the /etc/vfstab file, and attempts to mount those entries after the iSCSI daemon starts. This allows iSCSI devices to be automatically mounted as early as possible in the boot process.
For example, the following /etc/vfstab entries will fsck and mount the two iSCSI devices specified:
#device device mount FS fsck mount mount#to mount to fsck point type pass at boot options/dev/dsk/c1t5d0s6 /dev/rdsk/c1t5d0s6 /mnt/t5 ufs 1 iscsi -/dev/dsk/c1t6d0s6 /dev/rdsk/c1t6d0s6 /mnt/t6 ufs 1 iscsi -
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The "mount at boot" field in /etc/vfstab should never be set to "yes" for an iSCSI device, because the standard Solaris boot sequence mounts devices before the network is available. Mounts of iSCSI devices with the "mount at boot" field set to "yes" fail because the iSCSI devices are not available that early in the boot process. If a mount fails, a maintenance shell will start and the Solaris boot process will not complete until the shell is exited. A user at the console must exit from the shell to cause the boot process to complete without the listed devices mounted.
Unmounting Devices
All iSCSI devices must be unmounted before the iSCSI driver stops. If the iSCSI driver stops while iSCSI devices are mounted, buffered writes may not be committed to disk and filesystem corruption may occur. Because Solaris will not unmount devices that are being used by a running process, all processes using the iSCSI devices must be killed before the devices can be unmounted.
The init.d script will attempt to kill all processes using iSCSI devices by sending them SIGTERM and then sending any remaining processes SIGKILL. The init.d script then unmounts all iSCSI devices, and kills the iSCSI daemon, terminating all connections to iSCSI devices.
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Persistent Target Bindings
Persistent target binding ensures that a Solaris SCSI target always maps to the same physical storage device across system restarts. The iSCSI daemon stores bindings of iSCSI target iSCSI Names (or WWUIs) to Solaris target IDs in the file /etc/iscsi_bindings.
If any entry exists for a discovered target, the Solaris target ID from the entry is assigned to the target. If no entry exists for a discovered target, an entry is written to the file.
The iscsi_bindings file contains the Solaris target ID, the discovery address, and the iSCSI Name (or WWUI) of the iSCSI target, as shown in the following example:
TargetId DiscoveryAddress TargetName0 10.100.100.156 iqn.1987-05.com.cisco.00.7e9d6f942e45736be69cb65c4c22e54c.disk_one1 10.100.100.156 iqn.1987-05.com.cisco.00.4d678bd82965df7765c788f3199ac15f.disk_twoA discovery connection to each DiscoveryAddress remains open; new targets that become available to the Solaris host after the driver is started are automatically logged into and added to the iscsi_bindings file (if no entry currently exists).
To use these new targets, Solaris administrative command, such as drvconfig, disks, or tapes, must be issued to add the required /dev entries. If the required target and LUN entries for the new target do not exist in /kernel/drv/sd.conf, you may have to add them and reboot the system before you can access the target.
The /etc/iscsi_bindings file contains persistent entries for all iSCSI targets ever logged into from this host. If a target is no longer available to a host, you can stop the iSCSI driver and manually edit the iscsi_bindings file and remove the entry so the obsolete target no longer consumes a Solaris target ID.
For more information about the iscsi-bindings file and persistent target binding, see the iSCSI driver readme file.
Target Port Failover
If the Cisco SN 5400 Series system has multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports configured to allow access to a set of iSCSI targets via multiple paths, the iSCSI driver discovers all IP addresses that can be used to reach each of the targets. When a specific target connection fails, the iSCSI driver attempts to connect to that target using the next IP address. Subsequent failures will cause the iSCSI driver to rotate through the list of addresses. This feature is enabled or disabled via an entry in the iscsi.conf file. The feature is enabled by default.
To effectively utilize this features, the Solaris system must also have multiple Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
Starting and Stopping the iSCSI Driver
It is possible to manually stop and start the iSCSI driver. This may be necessary if you want to make configuration changes without rebooting the Solaris system. When stopping the iSCSI driver, the init.d script will attempt to unmount iSCSI devices. Because the init.d script may not be able to unmount busy filesystems, best practice is to manually stop all applications that are using iSCSI filesystems before stopping the driver.
To manually stop the iSCSI driver, enter:
/etc/init.d/iscsi stopTo manually start the iSCSI driver, enter:
/etc/init.d/iscsi start
Caution
Dynamic Reconfiguration
You can make configuration changes without having to stop the iSCSI driver or reboot the system, providing the required entries already exist in the /kernel/drv/sd.conf file. To make dynamic configuration changes, follow these instructions:
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/etc/init.d/iscsi reconfigureThis causes the iSCSI driver to re-read /etc/iscsi.conf and to create any new DiscoveryAddress connections it finds. Those discovery sessions discover targets and create new target connections.The script then runs the appropriate Solaris administrative commands (e.g. drvconfig or devfsadm) to add new iSCSI devices to the filesystem namespace.
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Rebooting Solaris
All iSCSI devices should be unmounted prior to a system shutdown.
The Solaris /usr/sbin/reboot command should not be used to reboot the system while iSCSI devices are mounted. This reboot command will not execute the iSCSI shutdown script in /etc/rc0.d, and file system corruption can occur.
To safely reboot the Solaris system, use the following shutdown command:
/usr/sbin/shutdown -i 6SN 5400 Series System Software Requirements
The iSCSI Driver version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris is interoperable to a Cisco SN 5400 Series system running software release 3.2.1 or later. This version of the driver is not interoperable with a Cisco SN 5400 Series system running software release 2.5.x or earlier.
MDS 9000 Series System Software Requirements
The iSCSI Driver version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris is interoperable with a Cisco MDS 9000 Series system running SAN-OS Release 1.1(1) or later.
New and Changed Information
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See the readme file for additional information about all new features.
Installation Notes
This section describes how to obtain iSCSI driver software and upgrade an existing iSCSI driver installation, and includes the following information:
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Obtaining the iSCSI Driver and Updated SN 5400 Series System Software
Registered Cisco.com users can download the most current SN 5400 Series system software, Cisco iSCSI drivers, readme files, release notes and example configuration files from Cisco.com. In addition, information about driver compatibility and other relevant driver information is available on Cisco.com. You can access software and related information by following these instructions:
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Configuration guides and release notes are available online. You can access online documentation by following these instructions:
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Installing iSCSI Driver Software
Refer to the readme file that accompanies the iSCSI driver (in the downloaded driver archive file) for complete installation and configuration procedures.
Upgrading to a New Version
To upgrade to a new version of iSCSI driver software, follow these instructions.
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/etc/init.d/iscsi stopStep 2
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pkgrm CSCOiscsiStep 4
See the readme file for additional information about installing or upgrading iSCSI driver software.
Uninstalling iSCSI Driver Software
To uninstall the iSCSI driver software, follow these instructions:
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/etc/init.d/iscsi stopYou may want to save the /etc/iscsi.conf configuration file to another location before proceeding with the removal process.
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pkgrm CSCOiscsiAll configuration files installed by the package will be deleted.
Caveats
Caveats describe unexpected behavior or defects in iSCSI software versions. Severity 1 caveats are the most serious caveats; severity 2 caveats are less serious.
This document describes open and resolved severity 1 and 2 caveats and selected caveats of other severities:
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Within the sections, the caveats are sorted alphanumerically by caveat number.
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http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/Support/Bugtool/launch_bugtool.pl.
Open Caveats
There are no severity 1 or 2 caveats open against the iSCSI driver version 3.1.1. For a more complete list of caveats against this release, access Cisco.com as described in the section "Cisco.com" at the end of this document.
Resolved Caveats
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While running traffic to a tape drive, the Gigabit Ethernet connection from a Sun Solaris IP host to the SN 5420 Storage Router may be intermittently dropped and re-added for no apparent reason.
Workaround: None. However, the user should check the connections between the hosts and the SN 5420, and verify that the flow control is consistent between the hosts, switches, and the SN 5420s.
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Error messages indicating that the iSCSI driver cannot claim bus 0 target <n> are seen on the Solaris host console or in the /var/adm/messages file. The iSCSI driver never gets connected to the targets being discovered. This can be caused by restarting the Solaris driver after a version upgrade or downgrade without rebooting the Solaris host.
Workaround: Reboot the Solaris host. The Solaris host must be rebooted after a version upgrade or downgrade to fully install the iSCSI driver. The iSCSI driver readme file for version 3.1.1 has been updated to include this information.
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I/O stops to one or more iSCSI targets, and the iSCSI driver can not be stopped. Under very heavy load, with conditions that cause iSCSI connections to drop and restart frequently, iSCSI tasks can deadlock.
Workaround: None. Reboot the iSCSI host to clear the problem.
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The Solaris host or Gigabit Ethernet may hang after several command timeout errors are seen. This can occur when a storage device is physically removed without stopping data traffic.
Workaround: None. The Solaris host must be rebooted. If a storage device is to be removed or replaced, all traffic to the device should be stopped.
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When running simultaneously to a large number of targets and performing manual failovers of SCSI routing instances, the iSCSI driver on the Solaris host stopped attempting to login to the targets after doing the initial discovery connection. No additional commands were generated from the iSCSI driver. This issue is very rare and has not been reproduced.
Workaround: None. The Solaris host must be rebooted.
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When running large amounts of data traffic to multiple devices from a Solaris multiprocessor host, the Solaris host experienced a panic due to a bad trap. Preceding the panic, there were several command aborts and connection drops and relogins. This issue is very rare and has not been reproduced.
Workaround: None. The Solaris host must be rebooted.
Related Documentation
The following sections describe the related documentation available for the iSCSI Driver version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris, and the Cisco SN 5400 and MDS 9000 Series systems. These documents consist of the iSCSI driver release notes and readme file, and the SN 5400 and MDS 9000 Series system hardware installation and software configuration guides.
The SN 5400 and MDS 9000 Series system hardware installation and software configuration documentation sets are available as printed manuals or electronic documents. The iSCSI driver readme file IS available in electronic format, as part of the software download package. See the "Obtaining the iSCSI Driver and Updated SN 5400 Series System Software" section for details.
Release-Specific Documents
This Release Notes document is the only document specific to iSCSI Driver version 3.1.1 for Sun Solaris. It is located on Cisco.com and the Documentation CD-ROM.
Each release of SN 5400 and MDS 9000 Series system software includes an associated Release Notes document, which is also available as an electronic document on Cisco.com and the Documentation CD-ROM.
Hardware Documents
Refer to the appropriate SN 5400 or MDS 9000 Series system hardware installation guide for hardware installation procedures. The Cisco SN 5428 Storage Router Hardware Installation Guide provides hardware installation procedures for SN 5428 Storage Routers. The Cisco SN 5428-2 Storage Router Hardware Installation Guide provides hardware installation procedures for SN 5428-2 Storage Routers. These documents are available as printed manuals. They are also available as electronic documents on Cisco.com and the Documentation CD-ROM
Software Documents
Refer to the appropriate SN 5400 or MDS 9000 Series system software configuration guide for software configuration information. The Cisco SN 5428 Storage Router Software Configuration Guide Release 3.2 provides configuration information for SN 5428 Storage Routers. The Cisco SN 5428-2 Storage Router Software Configuration Guide Release 3.2 provides configuration information for SN 5428-2 Storage Routers. These documents are available as printed manuals. They are also available as electronic documents on Cisco.com and the Documentation CD-ROM.
For documentation on the SN 5400 Series system web-based GUI, refer to the SN 5400 Series system web-based GUI online Help system.
Service and Support
For service and support for a product purchased from a reseller, contact the reseller, who offers a wide variety of Cisco service and support programs described in "Service and Support" of Cisco Information Packet shipped with your product.
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For service and support for a product purchased directly from Cisco, use Cisco.com.
Software Configuration Tips on the Cisco TAC Home Page
A variety of Cisco SN 5400 Series system software and iSCSI driver installation, configuration and usage tips are available on the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Web Site.
You can access "tech tips" by following these instructions:
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Obtaining Documentation
Cisco provides several ways to obtain documentation, technical assistance, and other technical resources. These sections explain how to obtain technical information from Cisco Systems.
Cisco.com
You can access the most current Cisco documentation on the World Wide Web at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/home/home.htm
You can access the Cisco website at this URL:
International Cisco web sites can be accessed from this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/public/countries_languages.shtml
Documentation CD-ROM
Cisco documentation and additional literature are available in a Cisco Documentation CD-ROM package, which may have shipped with your product. The Documentation CD-ROM is updated monthly and may be more current than printed documentation. The CD-ROM package is available as a single unit or through an annual subscription.
Registered Cisco.com users can order the Documentation CD-ROM (product number DOC-CONDOCCD=) through the online Subscription Store:
http://www.cisco.com/go/subscription
Ordering Documentation
You can find instructions for ordering documentation at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/es_inpck/pdi.htm
You can order Cisco documentation in these ways:
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/ordering/index.shtml
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http://www.cisco.com/go/subscription
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Documentation Feedback
You can submit comments electronically on Cisco.com. On the Cisco Documentation home page, click Feedback at the top of the page.
You can email your comments to bug-doc@cisco.com.
You can submit your comments by mail by using the response card behind the front cover of your document or by writing to the following address:
Cisco Systems
Attn: Customer Document Ordering
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-9883We appreciate your comments.
Obtaining Technical Assistance
Cisco provides Cisco.com, which includes the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) Website, as a starting point for all technical assistance. Customers and partners can obtain online documentation, troubleshooting tips, and sample configurations from the Cisco TAC website. Cisco.com registered users have complete access to the technical support resources on the Cisco TAC website, including TAC tools and utilities.
Cisco.com
Cisco.com offers a suite of interactive, networked services that let you access Cisco information, networking solutions, services, programs, and resources at any time, from anywhere in the world.
Cisco.com provides a broad range of features and services to help you with these tasks:
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To obtain customized information and service, you can self-register on Cisco.com at this URL:
Technical Assistance Center
The Cisco TAC is available to all customers who need technical assistance with a Cisco product, technology, or solution. Two levels of support are available: the Cisco TAC website and the Cisco TAC Escalation Center. The avenue of support that you choose depends on the priority of the problem and the conditions stated in service contracts, when applicable.
We categorize Cisco TAC inquiries according to urgency:
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Cisco TAC Website
You can use the Cisco TAC website to resolve P3 and P4 issues yourself, saving both cost and time. The site provides around-the-clock access to online tools, knowledge bases, and software. To access the Cisco TAC website, go to this URL:
All customers, partners, and resellers who have a valid Cisco service contract have complete access to the technical support resources on the Cisco TAC website. Some services on the Cisco TAC website require a Cisco.com login ID and password. If you have a valid service contract but do not have a login ID or password, go to this URL to register:
http://tools.cisco.com/RPF/register/register.do
If you are a Cisco.com registered user, and you cannot resolve your technical issues by using the Cisco TAC website, you can open a case online at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/index.html
If you have Internet access, we recommend that you open P3 and P4 cases through the Cisco TAC website so that you can describe the situation in your own words and attach any necessary files.
Cisco TAC Escalation Center
The Cisco TAC Escalation Center addresses priority level 1 or priority level 2 issues. These classifications are assigned when severe network degradation significantly impacts business operations. When you contact the TAC Escalation Center with a P1 or P2 problem, a Cisco TAC engineer automatically opens a case.
To obtain a directory of toll-free Cisco TAC telephone numbers for your country, go to this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/687/Directory/DirTAC.shtml
Before calling, please check with your network operations center to determine the level of Cisco support services to which your company is entitled: for example, SMARTnet, SMARTnet Onsite, or Network Supported Accounts (NSA). When you call the center, please have available your service agreement number and your product serial number.
Obtaining Additional Publications and Information
Information about Cisco products, technologies, and network solutions is available from various online and printed sources.
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_catalog_links_launch.html
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http://www.cisco.com/go/packet
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http://www.cisco.com/go/iqmagazine
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/about/ac123/ac147/about_cisco_the_internet_protocol_journal.html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/learning/le31/learning_recommended_training_list.html
This document is to be used in conjunction with the documents listed in the "Related Documentation" section.
Copyright © 2003 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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