Dell Storage: Preparing VMware ESXi Hosts To Attach to Multiple SAS Arrays

• Preparing VMware ESXi Host to attach to SCv20x0, Scv30X0, SC4020 and SC5020 Arrays
• Driver Compatibility with Front-End SAS Connectivity

1. Preparing VMware ESXi Host to attach to SCv20x0, Scv30X0, SC4020 and SC5020 Arrays

Review KB article 000147092 DELL Storage Compatibility Matrix for the supported driver and firmware

• ESXi 5.5 and 6.0 require the "mpt3sas" driver and must be downloaded from the VMware website.
  • The Dell customized ESX 5.5 and 6.0 ISOs do NOT automatically load the proper SAS HBA driver. The driver must be updated.
  • Using the native inbox driver results in the HBAs being unable to see any volumes in ESX.
• ESXi 6.5 requires the "lsi_msgpt3" driver and the inbox driver can be used. However, different ISO image uses different drivers by default.
  • Dell Technologies recommends using the Dell customized ISO for VMware on Dell PowerEdge servers. The ISO can be located under the Enterprise Solutions section for the Drivers and Download page on Dell's website.
  • The Dell customized ESX 6.5 ISO automatically loads the proper SAS HBA driver.
  • If using the standard VMware ESX 6.5 ISO, the correct in box SAS HBA driver must be enabled.

1. Enable SSH on the ESXi Host:
   1. Log in to the ESXi host with vSphere Client
   2. Select "Configuration" tab, then select "Security Profile" in the Software menu.
   3. In the Services area, select "Properties."
   4. Select "SSH" then click the button "Options."
   5. Click "Start" and confirm with "OK."
2. Connect to ESXi Host using SSH Client (such as Putty).
3. Determine what driver is running. This can be done by typing the following command: "esxcfg-scsidevs -a"                                                       

4. If you are using a standard ESX 6.5 ISO image, you can disable the "mpt3sas" driver and enable the "lsi_msgpt3" driver with these commands:  

• esxcfg-module -d mpt3sas
• esxcfg-module -e lsi_msgpt3

5. For ESX 5.5 & 6.0; If you have the incorrect driver go to step 5a. If you have the correct driver listed, go to step 5b.
   1. Disable the incorrect driver by typing one of the following commands

• esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=lsi_msgpt3. Go to step 6

2. Verify that the driver version matches the version in KB article 000147092 DELL Storage Compatibility Matrix by typing the following command:

• For the mpt3sas driver type "vmkload_mod -s mpt3sas |grep Version" 

6. Move all VMs off of host, enter maintenance mode.
7. Download the correct driver version as stated in KB article 000147092 DELL Storage Compatibility Matrix: (As of this writing, the driver version is 04.00.00.00.1vmw for ESX 5.5 U2.) The driver can be found on the VMware website.
8. Extract ."VIB" file from download "ZIP" driver package
9. Upload "VIB" file to the ESXi host
   1. On the ESXi host interface, select "Configuration" tab.
   2. Select "Storage" in the Configuration menu, then a datastore for uploading "VIB" file 
      (If no datastore is available, you can use any FTP client and upload to the /tmp folder)
   3. Browse your datastore (by right-clicking it), "Browse Datastore."
   4. Upload the "VIB" file by selecting the "upload a file" icon
10. Install the new driver (adjust your path and file name accordingly) by typing the following command: "esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/ESXi01-Local/scsi-mpt3sas-04.00.00.00.1vmw-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.x86_64.vib"

11. Reboot the VMware ESXi host.
12. The HBAs should now have the correct driver loaded and could work properly with Storage Center. You can verify this by repeating step 5b above.

2. Driver Compatibility with Front-End SAS Connectivity2

Recommendations: 

If you are using SAS connectivity between Storage Center and ESXi hosts using the lsi-msgpt3 driver (ESXi 6.5+ typically), then the best practice setting is to modify the module parameter as described below for all versions of the lsi-msgpt3 SAS driver. It is a requirement for any version greater than 12. This updated Best Practice Settings can be found in Dell SC Series Best Practices with VMware vSphere 5.x–6.x. Keep in mind that this change requires a reboot of the host to take effect.

Steps to configuring the module parameter on the SAS driver 

1. List out the module parameter values

esxcli system module parameters list -m lsi_msgpt3

 

2. Modify the issue_scsi_cmd_to_bringup_drive module parameter

esxcli system module parameters set -p issue_scsi_cmd_to_bringup_drive=0 -m lsi_msgpt3

3. Validate that the module parameter value has been modified with the list command in Step 1.

4. Reboot the ESXi host for the changed value to take effect.