Dell PowerFlex 4.5.x Install and Upgrade Guide

Discover and connect to the target PowerFlex system

Use the following procedure to obtain SDT IP addresses for discovering the target PowerFlex system.

1. From PowerFlex Manager, click Block > NVMe Targets.
2. Select any one of the listed SDTs.
3. Record the IP addresses and discovery port in the lower right corner.
4. To discover and connect the NVMe over TCP Target PowerFlex system, perform the following:
   NOTE: Use the esxcli command to perform the operation, there is issue with persistent discovery when perform the steps using UI.
   1. Log in to VMware ESXi server using SSH.
   2. Run a discovery query on each adapter:

      #esxcli nvme fabrics discover -a vmhba6x -i 192.168.x.x -p 8009
      #esxcli nvme fabrics discover -a vmhba6y -i 192.168.y.y -p 8009

      Where 6x is the first NVMe over TCP software adapter, and 6y is the second NVMe over TCP software adapter.

      Where 192.168.x.x is the first IP address and 192.168.y.y is the second IP address of any one of the SDTs.

   3. Connect to the PowerFlex system (append -c on the discovery query command).

      #esxcli nvme fabrics discover -a vmhba6x -i 192.168.x.x -p 8009 -c
      #esxcli nvme fabrics discover -a vmhba6y -i 192.168.y.y -p 8009 -c

   4. Get the controller list. Verify the connected controllers:
      #esxcli nvme controller list
5. Perform a rescan of the storage.
   1. In the vSphere Client, browse to a host, a cluster, a data center, or a folder that contains hosts.
   2. From the right-click menu, select Storage > Rescan Storage.
   3. Select Scan for new Storage Devices and click OK.
6. Create a new VMFS datastore.
   1. Log in to vCenter
   2. Select Home/Inventory and select the storage icon.
   3. In the left right, click the PowerFlex compute-only cluster, and select Storage/New Datastore.
   4. Select VMFS and click NEXT.
   5. Enter the name of the datastore and select a host from the list.
      You should see a new disk called NVMe TCP Disk (eui.######)
   6. Select the disk and click NEXT.
   7. Select VMFS 6 and click NEXT.
   8. Leave the default configuration unless instructed by the customer and click NEXT.
   9. Review your selections and click FINISH.