topic Re: add initiator to host in MSA Storage

add initiator to host

Chanklish — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 10:51:17 GMT

hello

I have an msa 1060 with controller A and B and 16GB fiber

Controller A is working well , i tried to add the B initiatior but i am getting this error :

The mappings of the initiator are inconsistent with the mappings of the host. Therefore, the initiator cannot be added to the host.

it doesnt show as mapped , what to do ?

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 11:41:00 GMT

Be sure, that the Mapping LUN ID for a Volume is the same for both Ports.
Example:
Vol1 > initiator0001 > LUN 01
Vol1 > initiator0001B > LUN 01

Vol2 > initiator0001 > LUN 02
Vol2 > initiator0001B > LUN02

Not sure, why you see 3x MSA 1060 in MPIO.

Cali

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 11:57:31 GMT

hello

1- I added those 3 msa .. i am not sure of how to add the device/vendor id
2- i did not understand the mapping LUN ID - i have 2 physical servers connected to the MSA
server 1 to controller A1 and B1 and server 2 to controller A2 and B2
i have 1 host and 2 volumes

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 12:22:31 GMT

I think you do it in reverse.

The Initiator is your Host, not the Storage.

So:

Server 1 is the first Host and has 2 Initiators (initiator0001, initiator 0001B), this is FC Port #1 and #2 connected to MSA A1, B1

Server 2 is the second Host and has 2 Initiators (initiator0002, initiator 0002B), this is FC Port #1 and #2 connected to MSA A2, B2

Now map your Volume Quorum with LUN 1 to Server 1 and Server 2 (add them both in the Mapping Table)

And map Volume Virtual with LUN 2 to Server to Server 1 and Server 2 (add them both in the Mapping Table)

In the End, Server 1 and 2 see Quorum as LUN1 and Virtual as LUN2.

I'm not sure about the initiator naming, best is to first rename "initiator0001" to "Server 1 Port 1" in the MSA GUI as an example.
Use Powershell "Get-InitiatorPort" to check the WWN to the Naming.

Cali

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 12:28:33 GMT

server 1 is connected to A1 and B1
server 2 is connected to A2 and B2

how to do the below ? i am not able to add the initiator (b1 and b2 to the host named storage )

Now map your Volume Quorum with LUN 1 to Server 1 and Server 2 (add them both in the Mapping Table) And map Volume Virtual with LUN 2 to Server to Server 1 and Server 2 (add them both in the Mapping Table) In the End, Server 1 and 2 see Quorum as LUN1 and Virtual as LUN2.

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 09:12:29 GMT

hello ? any advise ?

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 04:07:46 GMT

You should delete the Hosts and restart from scratch.

See: ~~Document - HPE MSA 1060/2060/2062 Storage Management Guide | HPE Support~~

Admin [above link is no longer valid, please visit https://support.hpe.com/connect/s/ to find the latest info ]

Page 75
Removing initiators from a host

This action is disabled if:
The selected initiator is the only one attached to the host.
You must delete the host to free up in the initiator.

So, delete the Host (Storage), recreate Host "Server 1", add Initiator 1 and Initiator 2 (see above), create Host "Server 2", add Initiator 2 and Initiator 4.

Create a Host Group "Server", add both Hosts.

Map Volume 1 to Group Server with LUN 1.

Map Volume 2 to Group Server with LUN 2.

Finish.

Cali

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 09:39:37 GMT

this doesn't sound logical to me

I have to redo everything if i connected a new controller ?! the initiators of controller B physically connected but cannot be added

maybe we are having a problem with language as english is my third language

what is a LUN exactly in my case ?
what is the Group Server ?

i am using this msa in a 2 node failover cluster .. is this data safe ?!

thank you

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 10:15:38 GMT

The LUN ID is like a SCSI ID, every Volume has one unique LUN ID.

A Windows or ESX Cluster is a Group of Server and you present the Volume not only 1 of them, you do it to this whole Group.

You can do Mapping also with Single Servers, but it is easy and prohibit mistakes to use a Group.

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 12:40:37 GMT

this sounds too complicated to me or i am not able to understand you

the msa is already working , i can stop it but what would happen to the data ? and how to add them again in the mpio ?

Re: add initiator to host

JonPaul — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 21:21:42 GMT

Hi @Chanklish
The MSA controller will not attach volumes to LUN numbers when a new Initiator is added to a host. There are a number of scenarios where there could be conflicts to LUN mapping which when handed to a process could end up causing great damage.
Therefore you need to identically attach/map all the volumes to InitiatorB BEFORE you add the initiator to the Host. Once Initator0001 and Initiator0001B are identical with respect to LUN mappings they can be combined into a single host.
If you can do this Offline, you can do as @Cali stated and start over with the Attach of Volumes with BOTH initiators in the Host. It looks like making the Attach/maps identical will be a fairly easy process.
MPIO looks correct, although one of your entries may have too many spaces between "HPE" and "MSA..." there should be 5 spaces.

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 07:15:30 GMT

so i have to move all the data from the msa , delete all and start again ?

Very bad system

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 07:54:32 GMT

No, Data and Volume stay safe, at it is.
You only need to change the Mapping (Attach to the Server).
Do, as I say.
Create the two Hosts (Server) with every two Initiators (FC Ports on the Host), add both Hosts to a Host Group.
Then map both Volumes to the Group, Volume 1 as LUN1 and Volume 2 as LUN2.

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 07:59:34 GMT

hello Cali

you have been a tremendous help

how to do the below ( how to map them )

Then map both Volumes to the Group, Volume 1 as LUN1 and Volume 2 as LUN2.

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 08:44:06 GMT

Here are some Screenshots:
(I skip the Host Group)
Host = Server
Initiator = FC Port on the Server HBA, it is not the Port on the MSA

Cali

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 09:34:31 GMT

Hello

So i did exactly what you advised , but i still dont have any redundancy or mapping

redundancy error :

A failure of Controller A will impact connectivity to this host. You must physically connect this host through a port on Controller B.

Mapping error :

A failure of Controller {A} will impact connectivity to this host. You must physically connect this host through a port on Controller {B}.

Re: add initiator to host

Cali — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 10:49:26 GMT

And Server 1 (Storage) is connected to A1 & B1, Server 2 (StorageB) to A2 & B2?
Watch out, one Controller is reverse!
That's the last point for me than I'm out.

Cali

Re: add initiator to host

Chanklish — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 12:30:56 GMT

Hello

Yes one server is connected to A1 and B1 and one server to A2 and B2 , i rechecked them and it is correct

Re: add initiator to host

JonPaul — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:04:31 GMT

@Chanklish what are you seeing from the host side?
In Device Manager are the MSA 2060 LUNs being shown as multipath devices?
Are there multiple PATHs to the device shown in the Device Properties? I think that is under the MPIO tab
There is a way in the CLI to show the ports that the initiators are connected to:
CLI> set cli-parameters api {This will change the output to XML}
CLI> show initiators
Each initiator will report 'host-port-bits-a' and 'host-port-bits-b' which is a bitmap of the ports which the initiator has logged into. 1 == port 1, 2== port 2, 3 == ports 1 and 2 {requires SAN attach}
If the host (Device Manager) shows multiple paths and each host shows a connection on the A controller and a connection on the B port then the WebUI may be stating inaccurate information in regards to the 'Redundancy'.

Re: add initiator to host

JonPaul — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:26:56 GMT

@Chanklish As I should have noted earlier, please run a set of your logs through the MSA Health Check
https://www.hpe.com/storage/MSAHealthCheck
This also has a LUN mapping check and will let you know of new firmware availability.