For AIX to correctly recognize the disks that are mapped from the XIV Storage System as MPIO 2810 XIV Disk, the IBM XIV Host Attachment Kit for AIX is required. This package also enables multipathing. At the time of writing, Host Attachment Kit 1.10.0 was used. The file set can be downloaded from Fix Central at:
http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/
To install the Host Attachment Kit, complete these steps:
1. Download or copy the downloaded Host Attachment Kit to your AIX system.
2. From the AIX prompt, change to the directory where your XIV package is located.
3. Run the gunzip –c IBM_XIV_Host_Attachment_Kit_1.10.0-b1221_for_AIX.tar.gz | tar xvf – command to extract the file.
4. Switch to the newly created directory and run the installation script (Example 4-5).
Example 4-5 Installing the AIX XIV Host Attachment Kit
# ./install.sh
Welcome to the XIV Host Attachment Kit installer.
Would you like to proceed and install the Host Attachment Kit? [Y/n]:
y
Please wait while the installer validates your existing configuration...
---Please wait, the Host Attachment Kit is being installed...
---Installation successful.
Please refer to the Host Attachment Guide for information on how to configure this host.
---The IBM XIV Host Attachment Kit includes the following utilities:
xiv_attach: Interactive wizard that configures the host and verifies its configuration for connectivity with the IBM XIV Storage System.
xiv_devlist: Lists of all XIV volumes that are mapped to the host, with general info about non-XIV volumes.
xiv_syslist: Lists all XIV storage systems that are detected by the host.
xiv_diag: Performs complete diagnostics of the host and its connectivity with the IBM XIV Storage System, and saves the information to a file.
xiv_fc_admin: Allows you to perform different administrative operations for FC-connected hosts and XIV storage systems.
xiv_iscsi_admin: Allows you to perform different administrative operations for iSCSI-connected hosts and XIV storage systems.
---Important: Although AIX now natively supports XIV using ODM changes that have been back-ported to several older AIX releases, install the XIV Host Attachment Kit. The kit provides support and access to the latest XIV utilities like xiv_diag. The output of these XIV utilities is mandatory for IBM support when you open an XIV-related service call.
5. Zone the host to XIV.
6. The Host Attachment Kit provides an interactive command-line utility to configure and connect the host to the XIV Storage System. Only Fibre Channel attachment is supported.
If iSCSI attachment is needed, check the SSIC to find out which AIX versions are supported. The command xiv_attachstarts a wizard that attaches the host to the XIV and create the host object on the XIV. Example 4-6 shows the xiv_attach command output.
Example 4-6 Attachment to XIV and host creation on XIV
# xiv_attach
---Welcome to the IBM XIV host attachment wizard, version 1.10.0.
This wizard will help you attach this host to the XIV storage system.
The wizard will now validate the host configuration for the XIV storage system.
Press [ENTER] to proceed.
---Only Fibre Channel connectivity is supported on this host.
Would you like to perform Fibre Channel attachment? [default: yes ]:
---Please wait while the wizard validates your existing configuration...
Verifying AIX packages OK This host is already configured for the XIV storage system.
---Please define zoning for this host and add its World Wide Port Names (WWPNs) to the XIV storage system:
10:00:00:00:C9:B7:F2:7A: fcs0: [IBM]: N/A 10:00:00:00:C9:B7:F2:7B: fcs1: [IBM]: N/A Press [ENTER] to proceed.
Would you like to rescan for new storage devices? [default: yes ]:
Please wait while rescanning for XIV storage devices...
---This host is connected to the following XIV storage arrays:
Serial Version Host Defined Ports Defined Protocol Host Name(s) 1310114 11.1.1.0 No None FC
6000105 10.2.4.5 No None FC 1310133 11.1.1.0 No None FC
--This host is not defined on some of the FC-attached XIV storage systems.
Do you want to define this host on these XIV systems now? [default: yes ]:
Please enter a name for this host [default: p7-770-02v21.mainz.de.ibm.com ]:
p770-02-lpar3
Please enter a username for system 1310114 [default: admin ]: itso Please enter the password of user itso for system 1310114:
Please enter a username for system 6000105 [default: admin ]: itso Please enter the password of user itso for system 6000105:
Please enter a username for system 1310133 [default: admin ]: itso Please enter the password of user itso for system 1310133:
Press [ENTER] to proceed.
---The IBM XIV host attachment wizard has successfully configured this host.
Press [ENTER] to exit.
---7. Create volumes on XIV and map these volumes (LUNs) to the host system that was configured by xiv_attach. You can use the XIV GUI for volume creation and mapping tasks, as illustrated in 1.4, “Logical configuration for host connectivity” on page 36. Use cfgmgr or xiv_fc_admin -R to rescan for the LUNs as shown in Example 4-7.
Example 4-7 XIV labeled FC disks
# xiv_fc_admin -R
# lsdev -Cc disk
hdisk1 Available Virtual SCSI Disk Drive hdisk2 Available 00-01-02 MPIO 2810 XIV Disk hdisk3 Available 00-01-02 MPIO 2810 XIV Disk
8. Use xiv_devlist command to get more information about the mapped LUNs, as shown in Example 4-8.
---To add disks to the system, complete the following steps:
1. Use the XIV GUI to map the new LUNs to the AIX server.
2. On the AIX system, run xiv_fc_admin -R to rescan for the new LUNs.
3. Use xiv_devlist to confirm that the new LUNs are present to the system.
Other AIX commands such as cfgmgr can also be used, but these commands are run within the XIV commands.
Portable XIV Host Attachment Kit Install and usage
The IBM XIV Host Attachment Kit is now offered in a portable format. With the portable package, you can use the Host Attachment Kit without having to install the utilities locally on the host. You can run all Host Attachment Kit utilities from a shared network drive or from a portable USB flash drive. This is the preferred method for deployment and management.
The xiv_fc_admin command can be used to confirm that the AIX server is running a supported configuration and ready to attach to the XIV storage. Use the xiv_fc_admin -V command to verify the configuration and be notified if any OS component is missing. The xiv_attach command must be run the first time that the server is attached to the XIV array. It is used to scan for new XIV LUNs and configure the server to work with XIV. Do not run the xiv_attach command more than once. If more LUNS are added in the future, use the
xiv_fc_admin -R command to scan for the new LUNs. All of these commands and others in the portable Host Attachment Kit are defined in 4.1.5, “Host Attachment Kit utilities” on page 157.
Using a network drive
To use the portable Host Attachment Kit package from a network drive:
1. Extract the files from <HAK_build_name>_Portable.tar.gz into a shared folder on a network drive.
2. Mount the shared folder to each host computer you intend to use the Host Attachment Kit on. The folder must be recognized and accessible as a network drive.
You can now use the IBM XIV Host Attachment Kit on any host to which the network drive is mounted.
To run commands from the portable Host Attachment Kit location, use ./ before every command.
Using a portable USB flash drive
To use the portable Host Attachment Kit package from a USB flash drive, complete these steps:
1. Extract the files from <HAK_build_name>_Portable.tar.gz into a folder on the USB flash drive.
2. Plug the USB flash drive into any host on which you want to use the Host Attachment Kit.
3. Run any Host Attachment Kit utility from the drive.
For more information about setting up servers that use the portable Host Attachment Kit, see
“AIX MPIO” on page 143.