UCS Boot from Direct Connected SAN, EMC CX4

[jpenaflor]

First off, thank you all for the great community here. It's a wealth of information, always great to see Hopefully someone can help me with my problem; I have been able to find quite a bit of info here to get me, I believe, 95% of the way. I think I'm just missing something.

I've been trying to get our UCS to boot from our CX4 in a test environment. Our CX4 is directly connected to our dual 6120 FIs. I believe our SAN is correctly configured for basic access as I have been able to see it and load ESXi 5.0 onto a LUN I have presented to it. I am, however, unable to get the server to boot from the NOS partition.

On the UCS side I have created a Boot order Policy with WWN of the LUN I'm presenting:

I've also created a vNIC/vHBA policy for the profile, which I've read is a pre-req for booting from SAN.

On the CX4 side I have a LUN with an ID of 0 and presented it to the host

I've also registered the host on the SAN

During the ESXi 5 installation the server sees this disk information and is able to install onto that disk

After reboot I get the msg to choose the correct media

One thing that I have noticed, using only the Navisphere GUI, is that the server does not log in to the SAN until I start the ESXi installation. I feel that is part of the problem, but don't know how to get it to login.

Can anyone shed any light on this problem?

[padramas]

Jonathan,

Let us first confirm that there are no typos in target WWPN and it is pointing to correct LUN.

Then, on the Blade > General > Boot Order Details tab, does Configured boot order match with Actual order information ?

What is the vHBA name defined in boot policy and  vHBA name in the service profile ?

HTH

Padma

[jpenaflor]

I believe there are no typos in the WWPN although I was a little confused on what to enter in the Boot Policy. The column in the Boot Policy says "WWN" however when you enter it, the entry says, "WWPN".

If you look at the 2nd graphic with the heading "Disk Details" that I posted you will see the "Full Disk Name". The WWPN I entered in the Boot Policy is WWN after "naa": 60:06:01:60:3A:10:25:00. It is the same in the Boot Order graphic I posted.Looking at the LUN information on my SAN, I see this:

Did I enter the correct information for the WWN in the Boot Policy?

In the Boot Policy, the Storage with SAN Primary is Order 1 and the CD is Order 2.

[fb_webuser]

Is the storage direct attached to the FIs or through a FC switch? If its direct attached, is your FIs running in FC switch mode or NPV? Is your zoning configured to allow for all WWNs to see each other.

Adriaan

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Posted by WebUser Adriaan Steyn

[jpenaflor]

The CX4 SAN is directly connected to the FIs. I have the SAN in "Switch mode" via the SAN Uplinks Manager. Once the blade is booted up, it can see the SAN and even install ESXi onto it. It just can't boot from it afterwards.

I believe once you direct connect the SAN to the FIs, you cannot zone and can only enable "Default Zoning" for the connection.

[padramas]

Jonathan,

Yes, we need to use WWPN ID.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_0_chapter_011101.html#task_95B79439BDE0407095DE697F0AA0C950

Since you verified it WWPN ID, let us check the next two common issues

On the Blade > General > Boot Order Details tab, does Configured boot order match with Actual order information ?

What is the vHBA name defined in boot policy and  vHBA name in the service profile ?

Padma

[jpenaflor]

Good morning Padma,

On the Blade > Boot Order tab, I see SAN primary as Order 1 and CD-ROM as Order 2. I don't know if that's the actual order.

I do, however, see under Blade > Storage I see:

fc0, Desired Order =1, Actual Order =5

fc1, Desired Order = 2, Actual Order =6

The vHBA name defined in the boot policy is "fc0". It is the same as the one under the storage tab, "fc0"

[padramas]

Jonathan,

1)  Under Equipment >  Chassis > Servers >  Blade # >  General > Boot Order Details

Do we observe the LUNs under Configured & Actual Boot order tabs ?

2)  In the screen shot provided in your first post, I notice ( fc1 -- vHBA name ) as Primary HBA device in boot order policy.

Does this match with your first vHBA device name ( fc1 ) created under service profile ?

3)  What is the upstream FC switch connected to FI ?

4) What CNA adapter is installed on this blade ?

Padma

[jpenaflor]

Hi Padramas!

I was able to fix this problem on my own, but that you for the troubleshooting steps. My problem was the target WWN int eh Boot Order Policy was incorrect. I was using the WWPN of the LUN I was trying to boot from. Instead I should have been using the WWPN of the EMC Storage Processor Port.

Thanks again for your help!

[padramas]

Jonathan,

Thanks for sharing the resolution.

I should have been clear on which WWPN ID needs to be used

Padma