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hondawanda
Contributor
Contributor
‎06-18-2009 05:49 PM

How do I set up storage multi-pathing in ESX 4.0?

Hi,

I have a EMC CX3-40 with a Qlogic SAN switch configuration.

After I installed ESX 4.0 I can see my storage without difficulty.

How do I set up the storage multi-pathing?

I don't want one fiber cable failure to bring down the storage.

Thanks,

Honda

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lamw
Community Manager
Community Manager
‎06-18-2009 07:29 PM

In ESX(i) 4.0 there is a new Pluggable Storage Architecture and you'll need to use esxcli set set your multi-pathing policies.

Here is a good article explaining esxcli by Mr. Duncan Epping:

You'll want to do something of the following:

1) list your devices

[root@everest ~]# esxcli nmp device list
mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0
    Device Display Name: Local VMware Disk (mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0)
    Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_LOCAL
    Storage Array Type Device Config:
    Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_FIXED
    Path Selection Policy Device Config: {preferred=vmhba0:C0:T0:L0;current=vmhba0:C0:T0:L0}
    Working Paths: vmhba0:C0:T0:L0

2) update the policy (e.g. VMW_PSP_RR, VMW_PSP_FIXED, VMW_PSP_MRU)

[root@everest ~]# esxcli nmp device setpolicy --device mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0 --psp VMW_PSP_RR

3) list your devices to confirm

[root@everest ~]# esxcli nmp device list
mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0
    Device Display Name: Local VMware Disk (mpx.vmhba0:C0:T0:L0)
    Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_LOCAL
    Storage Array Type Device Config:
    Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_RR
    Path Selection Policy Device Config: {policy=rr,iops=1000,bytes=10485760,useANO=0;lastPathIndex=0: NumIOsPending=0,numBytesPending=0}
    Working Paths: vmhba0:C0:T0:L0

This is sort of a bad example since this host we only have local storage, but with your FC SAN you'll get a list of devices and you'll want to use the NAA id from the device (e.g. naa.60a980006e424b396c5a4e3456525a70) This will give you an example on how to set your multipathing policy

Update: More information can be found here about various configurations for Storage Paths and Multipathing: http://pubs.vmware.com/vsp40/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm#href=fc_san_config/c_managing_multipa...

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

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