Solaris - Powerpath new pseudo names disappear upon reboot

Hi!  I found this Support Case that might help:

On the Solaris 10 x86 host, after upgrading PowerPath from version 5.1.1 to 5.3.0, emcpower pseudo name is getting changed on each reboot.

Workaround: To resolve this issue, perform the following steps:

1. Remove PP5.3. Run /etc/emcp_cleanup to clean up PP configuration files.
2. Edit /kernel/drv/fp.conf to remove all extra entries of "mpxio-disable=yes", leaving just one.
3. Install PP 5.3. Check that /var/adm/messages and /opt/EMCpower/Postinstall.log files do not log "MPxIO is enabled".
4. Reboot the host. Check PP pseudos naming.

Reboot the host again, and check if the pseudo naming changes.

Although emcp printed a message that it determined MPxIO was enabled, it was disabled.

The reason PowerPath thought host had MPxIO enabled was due to /kernel/drv/fp.conf file having duplicate entries of "mpxio-disable=yes". The duplicate entries caused PP install script installUtils.sh to incorrectly detect that mpxio was enabled for Solaris i386 platform.

If that doesn't work, I recommend you open a Support ticket with EMC.

Hi There,

Thanks for the response.  I had a look at that support case before my original post here but don't think it was valid in my situation.  The pseudonames aren't actually changing, they are disappearing for half of my LUNS and I am on a SPARC box as opposed to x86 host.  I've checked and am confident that MPXIO isn't enabled.. The only thing in common is that I am using powerpath 5.3.0.

I suspect you're right, the best option is going to be a support case with EMC but its complicated because of vendor engagement and escalation channel at the moment..

It would be interesting to see how the boot messages look like, and whether the devices files under /dev and /devices do exist when you can't see them in "powermt display dev=all"?

Hi Paul,

I'm not sure if you have fixed this issue. If not, it may be worth trying again to clean up the powerpath config files. In addition to /etc/powermt.custom, you can also try by renaming /etc/emcp_devicesDB.dat and /etc/emcp_devciesDB.idx, and then reboot the host.

I've never seen a solaris host showing this behavior repeatedly even after removing powermt.custom and reboot, but I guess you never know...

Hi, i have the same problem

installed powerpath 5.5 P 01 on Sparc 64 on 3 servers (2 M5000 and 1 T-3)

i am using solaris 11 latest SRU 10.5, even on 9.5 problem existed

after reboot the pseudo device names are reset to their original name

and emcpadm rename needs to be used to rename all pseudo devices again

powermt save does not seem to help

pseudoDevNames are correct in /etc/powermt_custom.xml after emcpadm

upon reboot, the pseudoDevNames are reset in /etc/powermt_custom.xml,

although both the original and correct names of the pseudo devices appear in /var/adm/messages

something is resetting the names of the pseudo devices dureing reboot

i opened a case at emc, but nothing so far

i will let you know whenever EMC finds something

chris van de vijver

It turns out that a emcpower service called powershift removes the pseudo devices at boot.

This is mentionned in the log file  /var/svc/log/system-emcpower-powershift:default.log

the contents is:

....

Setting up paths

Could not validate the entry:

---------------------------------------

emcpower730: user ID = 15b000016d0

---------------------------------------

removing emcpower730

...

all renamed pseudo devices are removed by powershift and the original pseudo device names 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ... are left over.

There is no problem to rename them again after boot this is is not a desirable situation

My temporary work around is to rename them again, make an export of the mappings and import the mappings automatically after each reboot...

facing same problem

below is the primus which should resolve this

The following is a Primus(R) eServer solution:

ID: emc298786
Domain: EMC1
Solution Class: 3.X Compatibility

Fact       OS: Solaris SPARC

Fact       EMC SW: PowerPath

Fact       EMC SW: PowerPath for Solaris 5.5 (build 589)

Symptom    Message during boot: 

Jul 10 17:41:10 v490 PowerPath: [ID 702911 daemon.notice] MPxIO is enabled for CLARiiON storage arrays, switching off PowerPath path management for CLARiiON.

Jul 10 17:41:14 v490 PowerPath: [ID 702911 daemon.notice] MPxIO is enabled for VNX storage arrays, switching off PowerPath path management for VNX.

Symptom    Solaris 10 SPARC U9 - EMC PowerPath 5.5, emcpower pseudo name getting changed on reboot.

Change     On the Solaris 10 SPARC host, after installing PowerPath 5.5, emcpower pseudo name is getting changed on each reboot.

Fix        Workaround:

To resolve this issue, perform the following steps:

1. Rename pseudo or leave them as they are.
2. Run: # svcadm disable powerstartup
3. Run powermt save and reboot.
4. Check the pseudo names if they are persistent.

Note: If the "powerstartup" service enabled then the pseudo name will be changed upon host reboot.

Fix        The issue will be fixed on Powerpath 5.5 P02.