EVA5000 / AIX SecurePath problem.

[ben jackson_1]

I've inherited two EVA's each with two controllers and two host ports per controller connected to a HP C(isco) series SAN.

The EVA's present vdisks out to two AIX servers which are supposed to be running SecurePath to manage the different paths to each vdisk.

However, even with my limited knowledge of SecurePath it seems that things ain't right.

- Running this command I understand should show me fibre adapters managed via SecurePath but it fails. Does anyone know what this means ?
# /usr/lpp/cbxfc/cbxfcsm listadapt -d
Looking for PdDvLn like 'adapter/*/[MP]C1000' and status=1 in CuDv database
/usr/lpp/cbxfc/cbxfcsm: Unable to open any adapter device

- Also lspv shows me more two hdisks 7 & 8 with the same pvid indicating a lack of multipath management and hinting that the os/hdisk driver is becoming confused although I don't know if this is just how securepath works.

Looking at the docs I'd expect securepath to present one 'securepath' device to the hdisk driver and transparently manage the paths underneath that but I could be wrong here.

In EMC land, PowerPath provides a 'hdiskpowernn' device which points to a number of underlying hdisknn devices depending on how many paths you have across the SAN.

Does anyone know whether securepath should do the same ?

# lspv
hdisk0 00c8c6db1be0a1c2 rootvg active
hdisk1 00c8c6db20fcaf82 rootvg active
hdisk2 00c8c6dbb5e18ddb sapvg1 active
hdisk3 00c8c6dbb5e4ac69 None
hdisk4 none None
hdisk5 none None
hdisk6 none None
hdisk7 00c8c6db251182d6 sapvg active
hdisk8 none None
hdisk9 00c8c6db251182d6 sapvg active
# /usr/lpp/cbxfc/cbxfcsm listall -d
# show_path
/usr/lpp/cbxfc/cbxfcsm: Unable to open any adapter device
# lshsv
hdisk4 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array CCL
hdisk5 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array CCL
hdisk6 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array CCL
hdisk7 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
hdisk8 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array CCL
hdisk9 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
# lun_info
Disks for Adapter fcs0:
No disks on this adapter.

Disks for Adapter fcs1:

Disk Availibility Disk Type WWPN of controller LUN i.d.
---- ------------ --------- ------------------ --------
hdisk4 Available HSV110 0x50001fe1500187dc 0
hdisk5 Available HSV110 0x50001fe1500187d9 0
hdisk6 Available HSV110 0x50001fe150018798 0
hdisk7 Available HSV110 0x50001fe150018798 1
hdisk8 Available HSV110 0x50001fe15001879d 0
hdisk9 Available HSV110 0x50001fe15001879d 1

# lsdev -Cc adapter
ent0 Available Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
ent1 Available Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
ent2 Available Virtual I/O Ethernet Adapter (l-lan)
fcs0 Available 03-08 FC Adapter
fcs1 Available 04-08 FC Adapter
scsi0 Available 05-08 Wide/Ultra-3 SCSI I/O Controller
sisscsia0 Available 07-08 PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Adapter
vsa0 Available LPAR Virtual Serial Adapter
# lsdev -Cc disk
hdisk0 Available 05-08-00-8,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk1 Available 05-08-00-9,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk2 Available 05-08-00-10,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk3 Available 05-08-00-11,0 16 Bit LVD SCSI Disk Drive
hdisk4 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
hdisk5 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
hdisk6 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
hdisk7 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
hdisk8 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array
hdisk9 Available 04-08-02 HP HSV110 Enterprise Virtual Array

[Tom O'Toole]

It looks like secure path is installed, because you have some securepath commands. As you say, multiple paths are showing up, and only one hdisk should show up per vdisk in a correct configuration.

Did this ever work before you inherited it? Do you know if you are using CAMBEX FCAs? They are the ONLY ones you can use with AIX securepath.
prtconf will show this info.

Also, did you check that the host type on the array is aix?

[ben jackson_1]

Thanks for the reply,

I've inserted the fibre bit of prtconf below,plus the output of lscfg, which seem to indicate that the system is using Emulex HBA's.

You say that these may not be supported, that would explain why secure path is behaving strangely.

adcapsap02[/]# lscfg -vpl fcs0
fcs0 U5791.001.99B064P-P1-C01-T1 FC Adapter

Part Number.................80P4543
EC Level....................A
Serial Number...............1D545088A6
Manufacturer................001D
Feature Code/Marketing ID...280B
FRU Number.................. 80P4544
Device Specific.(ZM)........3
Network Address.............10000000C94F9DF9
ROS Level and ID............02881914
Device Specific.(Z0)........1001206D
Device Specific.(Z1)........00000000
Device Specific.(Z2)........00000000
Device Specific.(Z3)........03000909
Device Specific.(Z4)........FF801315
Device Specific.(Z5)........02881914
Device Specific.(Z6)........06831914
Device Specific.(Z7)........07831914
Device Specific.(Z8)........20000000C94F9DF9
Device Specific.(Z9)........TS1.90A4
Device Specific.(ZA)........T1D1.90A4
Device Specific.(ZB)........T2D1.90A4
Device Specific.(YL)........U5791.001.99B064P-P1-C01-T1


PLATFORM SPECIFIC

Name: fibre-channel
Model: LP10000
Node: fibre-channel@1
Device Type: fcp
Physical Location: U5791.001.99B064P-P1-C01-T1


fcs0 U5791.001.99B064P-P1-C01-T1 FC Adapter

Part Number.................80P4543
EC Level....................A
Serial Number...............1D545088A6
Manufacturer................001D
Feature Code/Marketing ID...280B
FRU Number.................. 80P4544
Device Specific.(ZM)........3
Network Address.............10000000C94F9DF9
ROS Level and ID............02881914
Device Specific.(Z0)........1001206D
Device Specific.(Z1)........00000000
Device Specific.(Z2)........00000000
Device Specific.(Z3)........03000909
Device Specific.(Z4)........FF801315
Device Specific.(Z5)........02881914
Device Specific.(Z6)........06831914
Device Specific.(Z7)........07831914
Device Specific.(Z8)........20000000C94F9DF9
Device Specific.(Z9)........TS1.90A4
Device Specific.(ZA)........T1D1.90A4
Device Specific.(ZB)........T2D1.90A4
Device Specific.(YL)........U5791.001.99B064P-P1-C01-T1

[Tom O'Toole]

Right, it won't work. You need to use MPIO instead of securepath, which means you need to upgrade the EVA to VCS 4001, if it is not already at that level. You will need an HP supplied fileset for MPIO, and I believe the current version of that is 1.0.0.3.

If anyone from HP is listening, documentation on this stuff, and where to find it, is rarer than a gartner group analyst criticizing microsoft. And every time the HP web site is reorganized, it gets harder to find.

[ben jackson_1]

Thanks for your help Tom, I think mpio is the way to go.

Regards

Ben