EMC VSI for VMware vsphere : Path Management Version 5.3

Transcription

1 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere : Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide P/N REV 03 EMC Corporation Corporate Headquarters: Hopkinton, MA

2 Copyright 2012 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published June, 2012 EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS. EMC CORPORATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to the Document/Whitepaper Library on EMC Powerlink. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. 2 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

3 Contents Contents Figures Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview Path Management overview VMware Native Multipathing Plugin EMC PowerPath/VE Software requirements VMware vsphere Client...19 Operating systems...19 VMware vcenter Server...19 VMware ESX and ESXi...19 EMC PowerPath remote tools (optional)...20 VSI Feature Installation Installation overview Before you begin...22 Installing VSI features Upgrading...23 Enabling Virtual Storage Integrator Disabling Virtual Storage Integrator Uninstalling Virtual Storage Integrator EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide 3

4 Contents Uninstalling a VSI feature Using VSI Feature Manager Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Using VSI for vsphere Client Getting started with VSI Using the VMware vsphere Client interface Path Management VSI Configuration VSI logging Setting logging options EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

5 Figures Title Page 1 VSI Feature Manager VSI plug-in features Opening an ESX or ESXi host view EMC Path Management feature menu Set Multipathing Policy wizard VSI Feature logging EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide 5

6 Figures 6 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

7 Preface As part of its effort to continuously improve and enhance the performance and capabilities of the EMC product line, EMC periodically releases revisions of its hardware and software. Therefore, some functions described in this document may not be supported by all revisions of the software and hardware currently in use. For the most up-to-date information on product features, refer to your product release notes. If a Virtual Storage Integrator feature does not function properly or does not function as described in this guide, please contact the EMC Customer Support Center for assistance. Audience This guide is part of the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for vsphere vcenter Client documentation set and is intended for use by VMware administrators and storage administrators during installation, system setup, and routine operations. Storage administrators working with Virtual Storage Integrator must be proficient in the use of the following products: VMware products: VMware vsphere Client 5.0, with VMware vcenter Server 5.x, VMware ESX 4.x, 5.x, and VMware ESXi 4.x, 5.x as installed. EMC Symmetrix, CLARiiON, Celerra, VNX storage arrays, or VPLEX system as per your Virtual Storage Integrator supported product version and the following applicable software: Solutions Enabler (SYMCLI/SYMAPI) EMC Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) EMC PowerPath/VE, if installed EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide 7

8 Preface Required documentation Related documentation The following documentation is part of the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for vsphere Client documentation set, and is required for Virtual Storage Integrator depending on your installed feature: EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Storage Viewer Version 5.3 Product Guide and Release Notes EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Storage Pool Management Version 5.0 Product Guide and Release Notes EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide and Release Notes EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Symmetrix SRA Utilities Version 5.3 Product Guide and Release Notes EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Unified Storage Management Version 5.3 Product Guide and Release Notes The following EMC documentation contains information that may be helpful in a Virtual Storage Integrator environment and are available on the EMC Powerlink website: EMC Solutions Enabler: EMC Solutions Enabler Symmetrix Array Controls CLI Product Guide EMC Solutions Enabler Symmetrix Array Management CLI Product Guide EMC Solutions Enabler Symmetrix SRDF Family CLI Product Guide EMC Solutions Enabler Symmetrix TimeFinder Family CLI Product Guide EMC Solutions Enabler Installation Guide EMC Symmetrix Array: Using EMC Symmetrix Storage in VMware Infrastructure and vsphere Environments TechBook Storage Pool Management Feature in EMC Virtual Storage Integrator TechBook Using VMware vsphere with EMC Symmetrix Storage white paper Enabling SPC-2 Compliancy on EMC Symmetrix Devices Connected to VMware Environments Applied Technology white paper Using EMC SRDF Adapter for VMware vcenter Site Recovery Manager TechBook 8 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

9 Preface EMC ControlCenter: EMC ControlCenter Planning and Installation Guide Symmetrix SRDF Host Component Product Guide EMC PowerPath: EMC PowerPath Product Guide Fibre Channel: Symmetrix Fibre Channel Product Guide Conventions used in this document EMC uses the following conventions for special notices. Note: A note presents information that is important, but not hazard-related.! CAUTION A caution contains information essential to avoid data loss or damage to the system or equipment. The caution may apply to hardware or software.! IMPORTANT An important notice contains information essential to operation of the software. The important notice applies only to software. EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide 9

10 Preface Typographical conventions EMC uses the following type style conventions in this document: Normal Used in running (nonprocedural) text for: Names of interface elements (such as names of windows, dialog boxes, buttons, fields, and menus) Names of resources, attributes, pools, Boolean expressions, buttons, DQL statements, keywords, clauses, environment variables, filenames, functions, utilities URLs, pathnames, filenames, directory names, computer names, links, groups, service keys, file systems, notifications Bold: Used in running (nonprocedural) text for: Names of commands, daemons, options, programs, processes, services, applications, utilities, kernels, notifications, system call, man pages Used in procedures for: Names of interface elements (such as names of windows, dialog boxes, buttons, fields, and menus) What user specifically selects, clicks, presses, or types Italic: Used in all text (including procedures) for: Full titles of publications referenced in text Emphasis (for example a new term) Variables Courier: Used for: System output, such as an error message or script URLs, complete paths, filenames, prompts, and command syntax. Courier bold: Used for: Specific user input (such as commands) Courier italic: Used in procedures for: Variables on command line User input variables <> Angle brackets enclose parameter or variable values supplied by the user [] Square brackets enclose optional values Vertical bar indicates alternate selections - the bar means or {} Braces indicate content that you must specify (that is, x or y or z)... Ellipses indicate nonessential information omitted from the example 10 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

11 Preface Where to get help EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows. Product information For documentation, release notes, software updates, or for information about EMC products, licensing, and service, go to the EMC Powerlink website (registration required) at: Technical support For technical support, go to EMC Customer Service on Powerlink. To open a service request through Powerlink, you must have a valid support agreement. Please contact your EMC sales representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or to answer any questions about your account. Your comments Your suggestions will help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of the user publications. Please send your opinion of this document to: techpub_comments@emc.com EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide 11

12 Preface 12 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

13 Invisible Body Tag 1 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere This chapter provides a high-level overview of the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere. Topics include:! IMPORTANT EMC recommends reading this chapter in its entirety before installing and configuring the Virtual Storage Integrator for vsphere Client plug-in. Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview Path Management overview VMware Native Multipathing Plugin EMC PowerPath/VE Software requirements About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere 13

14 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) is an EMC developed plug-in to the VMware vcenter management software. VSI allows the VMware administrator to provision, monitor, and manage VMware vsphere datastores on EMC storage arrays. It will ease the management of the virtualized environment. This plug-in supports all EMC arrays including EMC VNX, VNXe, VMAX 10K, VMAX 20K, VPLEX, CX4 and Celerra. It is available for customers at no charge. Features are managed by using the VSI Feature Manager. VSI provides a unified user experience, allowing each of the features to be updated independently, and new features to be introduced rapidly in response to changing customer requirements. Examples of features available for VSI are Storage Viewer (SV), Path Management, Storage Pool Management (SPM), Symmetrix storage replication adapter (SRA) Utilities, and Unified Storage Management. The SV feature extends the vsphere Client to facilitate the discovery and identification of EMC Symmetrix, CLARiiON, Celerra, VPLEX, VNX, and VNXe storage devices that are allocated to VMware ESX/ESXi hosts and virtual machines. SV presents the underlying storage details to the virtual datacenter administrator by merging the data of several different storage mapping tools into a few seamless vsphere Client views. The Path Management feature for VMware Native Multipathing and PowerPath /VE provides a mechanism for changing the multipath policy for groups of LUNs based on storage class and virtualization object. The SPM feature simplifies the provisioning of Symmetrix VMAX and VMAXe storage by a VMware administrator. SPM allows a VMware administrator to allocate storage as a resource using Symmetrix Virtual Pools for ESX Servers, Clusters, and Resource Pools. The Symmetrix SRA Utilities feature helps users to more efficiently manage vcenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) configurations in Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF ) environments. It provides SRM diagnostic tools that help users to easily identify configuration errors. SRA Utilities feature allows users to view and create consistency groups. 14 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

15 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere The Unified Storage Management VSI feature provides array-based storage management and provisioning for CLARiiON, Celerra, VNX, and VNXe series storage arrays, and allows for virtual machine deduplication, compression, cloning, and extending storage for Celerra arrays. Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview 15

16 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere Path Management overview The Path Management feature for EMC VSI for VMware vsphere includes support for both VMware Native Multipathing Plugin (NMP) and PowerPath/VE. Currently, the Storage Viewer feature displays multipath properties for both NMP and PowerPath/VE. Those properties include the number of paths, the state of those paths, the policy used to manage those paths. The Path Management feature allows you to change the multipath policy and is a first step in allowing the VSI user to manage multiple paths from within the vsphere Client. The Path Management feature allows a VSI user to change the multipath policy on a multitude of devices, based on both storage class and virtualization object. For example, all Symmetrix devices for a given ESX host can be managed, or all CLARiiON devices for a given vsphere cluster. This ability will exist for both NMP owned and PowerPath/VE owned devices. This feature will be a valuable asset to administrators who need to maintain consistent multipath policies across a large virtual datacenter containing a large number or wide variety of storage devices. This document describes the behavior and functionality available with the Path Management feature for EMC VSI for vsphere Client. The document provides snapshots of the various views, the functionality that is available with each of these views, and sample use cases. 16 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

17 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere VMware Native Multipathing Plugin By default, VMware ESX hosts come with NMP enabled to manage multipathed storage. There are several Storage Array Type Plugins (SATP) built into ESX that determine the default Path Selection Plugin (PSP) that gets used for a given storage device type. The PSP is analogous to a multipath policy, since it determines how and when multiple paths are utilized for a given storage device. As an example, Symmetrix storage has a SATP of VMW_SATP_SYMM, which has a PSP of VMW_PSP_FIXED. Basically, this means that when you connect a Symmetrix device to an ESX host by using multiple paths, those paths will be managed with a fixed policy. Likewise, CLARiiON storage that does not support ALUA has a SATP of VMW_SATP_CX, which uses a PSP of VMW_PSP_MRU. This means that when you connect a CLARiiON device to an ESX host by using multiple paths, those paths will be managed with a 'Most Recently Used' policy. It is possible to alter the default PSP used for a given SATP by using the esxcli. For example, many customers will change the VMW_SATP_SYMM to use the VMW_PSP_RR in order to get a 'Round Robin' multipathing policy VMware Native Multipathing Plugin 17

18 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere EMC PowerPath/VE New in VMware vsphere 4.0, the Pluggable Storage Architecture (PSA) allows third-party storage vendors to develop multipath software to be leveraged in the ESX host. EMC PowerPath/VE is an example of a MultiPath Plugin (MPP) or Multipath Enhancement Module (MEM), based on the PSA of vsphere 4.0. When PowerPath/VE is installed, it can replace the NMP SATP for certain storage devices. By default, according to the claim rules established by PowerPath/VE, all EMC storage devices will be owned by PowerPath/VE after it is installed. NMP continues to exist on the ESX host and it will continue to any storage devices that are not owned by PowerPath/VE. It is even possible to switch devices from being managed by PowerPath/VE back to being managed by NMP (although this defeats the point of installed PowerPath/VE). The advantage of having PowerPath/VE is that it is programmed for best practices and immediately improves path discovery, path selection (from a basic round robin to adaptive), and predictability. While NMP is managed from the ESX console by using esxcli, PowerPath/VE is managed by a remote command line utility, rpowermt.exe. This CLI is installed with the PowerPath/VE Remote Tools kit, which is a requirement for this feature to work with PowerPath/VE. 18 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

19 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere Software requirements This section describes the software requirements for Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere version 5.0. VMware vsphere Client Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere version 5.0 requires VMware vsphere Client V4.0 Update 1 or later. The VMware software must be installed prior to installing VSI features. Operating systems Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere is supported on the same operating systems supported by the VMware vsphere Client. Currently, this includes only Microsoft Windows operating systems. The VMware Infrastructure Compatibility Matrixes with the complete list of supported operating systems can be found at the VMware website: Note: For x64 operating systems, all installed software components will be x86 images that are running in compatibility mode. VMware vcenter Server The vsphere Client is used to connect to a vcenter Server that manages the entire virtual datacenter, including any number of ESX or ESXi hosts. Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere version 5.0 is supported with VMware vcenter Server 4.0 Update 1 or later. Attempting to connect to a version of VMware vcenter Server earlier than this results in changes to the vsphere Client that VSI does not support. VMware ESX and ESXi Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere: Path Management version 5.0 is supported with VMware ESX and ESXi version 4.0 Update 1 or later. Connection must be through the vcenter Server to Software requirements 19

20 About EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere access the Path Management wizard, since the Path Management feature leverages the vcenter task functionality. The Path Management feature will be disabled when the vsphere Client is connected directly to an ESX/ESXi host. EMC PowerPath remote tools (optional) In order for the Path Management feature to work with PowerPath/VE, the PowerPath/VE remote tools must be installed on the client where VSI is running. The Path Management feature requires PowerPath/VE remote tools version 5.4 SP2 (also referred to as version 5.4.2). If the software is not installed, or an older version is installed, then the Path Management feature will continue to function, but the user will not be able to operate on PowerPath owned devices.when PowerPath/VE is installed on an ESX/ESXi host, VSI presents important multi-path details for a given device, such as the mutlipath policy employed, the number of active paths, the number of dead paths, and so on. Note: For VSI to obtain and present PowerPath/VE multi-path details for the underlying storage, the PowerPath remote tools for Windows package must be installed. VSI currently supports PowerPath Remote Tools version 5.4 SP2 (also referred to as version 5.4.2) or later. If this software is not installed, VSI features will still install successfully, but the PowerPath details will not be available. The Path Management feature is supported only when connecting to a vcenter Server. If the vsphere Client is connected directly to an ESX/ESXi server, the Path Management feature will be disabled. The vcenter user is required to have the Host.Cim.CimInteraction permission set. The vcenter Administrator role includes this permission by default. 20 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

21 Invisible Body Tag 2 VSI Feature Installation This chapter explains how to install, enable, disable, and uninstall the Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere plug-in features. Topics include: Installation overview Installing VSI features Enabling Virtual Storage Integrator Disabling Virtual Storage Integrator Uninstalling Virtual Storage Integrator Using VSI Feature Manager VSI Feature Installation 21

22 VSI Feature Installation Installation overview This chapter describes how to install VSI for VMware vsphere version 5.0 plug-in features, enable/disable the VSI plug-in, uninstall the VSI for VMware vsphere version 5.0, and disable/uninstall separate VSI features by using the Feature Manager. Before you begin Before you begin to install a VSI feature, read the following installation requirements and considerations. VSI for VMware vsphere VSI for VMware vsphere version 5.0 is a plug-in to VMware vcenter that provides a single management interface used for managing EMC storage within the vsphere environment. VSI features can be added and removed from VSI independently, providing flexibility for customizing VSI user environments. Features install separately and contain the complete VSI plug-in framework for using that feature. Features can be managed by using the VSI Feature Manager. Install VMware vsphere Client VMware vsphere Client version 4.0 Update 1 or later must be installed on the same host as VSI. VSI will not install if the VMware vsphere Client is not already installed. 22 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

23 VSI Feature Installation Installing VSI features After you have installed the VMware vsphere Client, you can install VSI for VMware vsphere features: 1. Download the desired VSI for VMware vsphere feature.zip file from the support link on the Powerlink website at: Home > Support > Software Downloads and Licensing > Downloads V > Virtual Storage Integrator 2. Unzip the file that you downloaded from Powerlink and run the setup.exe file. The installation wizard copies all of the necessary files. Each feature installs separately and contains all of the necessary components for that feature. No configuration or input is required during the installation other than accepting the prompts to move forward with the install. The installation directory cannot be changed due to the fact that the vsphere Client requires the plug-in files to be placed in a specific location. Upgrading When VSI version 3.x or later is installed, you can upgrade the software to a newer version by using the install wizard. The upgrade to version 5.3 will not retain any of the configuration options, but the log files will be retained for Storage Viewer and the Solutions Enabler server. Note: For VSI PowerPath Management, you can upgrade from version 4.x or later.! IMPORTANT After upgrading VSI, it is possible that certain features will be removed and must be reinstalled. For example, if you were previously using the SPM functionality and you installed the VSI 5.3 Storage Viewer feature, you will lose the SPM functionality. You will need to install the VSI 5.0 SPM feature separately to restore that functionality. Installing VSI features 23

24 VSI Feature Installation Enabling Virtual Storage Integrator To enable the VSI plug-in: 1. Launch VMware vsphere Client and from the top menu select Plugins > Manage Plugins. Locate the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator in the list of available plug-ins. Right-click the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator listing and select Enabled. The status will change from Disabled to Enabled. The VSI loads automatically. This process does not require a restart of vsphere Client. 2. Select Close to exit the Plug-in Manager. 24 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

25 VSI Feature Installation Disabling Virtual Storage Integrator If you no longer want to use the VSI plug-in, but do not want to uninstall it, you can simply disable it: 1. To disable the plug-in, launch vsphere Client and from the top menu select Plugins > Manage Plugins. Locate the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator in the list of available plug-ins. Right-click the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator listing and select Disable. The status will change from Enabled to Disabled. This process does not require a restart of vsphere Client. 2. Select Close to exit the Plug-in Manager. Disabling Virtual Storage Integrator 25

26 VSI Feature Installation Uninstalling Virtual Storage Integrator VSI can be uninstalled by using the Windows Add or Remove Programs utility. This will remove the VSI framework and the VSI feature. Before uninstalling VSI, exit VMware vsphere Client in all user sessions on the client host. To uninstall VSI by using the Add or Remove Programs utility, follow these steps: 1. Open the Add or Remove Programs utility in the Control Panel by selecting Start > Settings > Control Panel. 2. When the list of currently installed programs loads, select EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere. Note: Using the Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the VSI plug-in removes all installed VSI features at once. No individual selection is possible. 3. Select Change/Remove and follow the dialogs presented. Uninstalling a VSI feature The VSI feature can be repaired or removed by running the installer.exe that was downloaded from the PowerLink website. If the remove option is selected, this will remove the VSI feature only. The VSI framework remains installed and listed under Add/Remove Programs. 26 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

27 VSI Feature Installation Using VSI Feature Manager After enabling the VSI plug-in, click the EMC VSI icon located in the Solutions and Applications menu to open the VSI home view. Select Feature Manager from the Settings tree menu. Installed VSI features display in a list. Figure 1 on page 27 shows an example. The feature status automatically displays as enabled. To disable or uninstall a particular feature, use the right-click menu and select Disable or Uninstall. Disabled features remain fully installed and can be enabled for later use. Uninstalled features are permanently removed once the vsphere Client is closed and must be reinstalled separately. To enable a disabled feature at a later time, use the Feature Manager right-click menu again and select Enable. Figure 1 VSI Feature Manager Using VSI Feature Manager 27

28 VSI Feature Installation 28 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

29 Invisible Body Tag 3 Using VSI for vsphere Client This chapter explains how to use the Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere plug-in feature software with the VMware vsphere Client interface. Topics include: Getting started with VSI Path Management Using VSI for vsphere Client 29

30 Using VSI for vsphere Client Getting started with VSI Use the EMC VSI for VMware vsphere to connect to a vcenter Server. Open the VMware vsphere Client and from the Home menu, click the EMC VSI icon located in the Solutions and Applications menu to open the VSI plug-in. Select Feature Manager from the Settings tree menu. All installed VSI features display in a list. Figure 2 on page 30 shows an example with multiple features installed and enabled. Using VSI Feature Manager on page 27 provides information on using Feature Manager to disable or uninstall features. Figure 2 VSI plug-in features Settings This panel provides access to the Feature Manager function, which can be used to manage the separate plug-in features. It also provides access to logging information for each installed feature. VSI logging on page 40 provides information for using the VSI logging function. 30 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

31 Using VSI for vsphere Client Features With Storage Viewer installed, this panel lists all of the storage arrays and servers that VSI has knowledge of, and allows for the discovery of new arrays and the deletion of previously discovered arrays. Using the VMware vsphere Client interface The VSI for vsphere Client provides context-sensitive storage information depending on the object that is selected from the navigation tree located in the left-hand pane. If an ESX/ESXi host is selected from the left-hand pane, as shown in Figure 3 on page 31, information for the host displays in the right-hand pane. Different information appears when a virtual machine is selected in the left-hand pane. Figure 3 Opening an ESX or ESXi host view Getting started with VSI 31

32 Using VSI for vsphere Client Path Management The EMC Path Management feature menu is accessed from the right-click menu when an ESX Host or ESX Cluster is selected. Select Set Multipathing Policy... to open the Path Management wizard, as shown in Figure 4 on page 32. The Path Management wizard aids you in selecting multipathing policies for classes of storage devices.. Figure 4 EMC Path Management feature menu Figure 5 Set Multipathing Policy wizard 32 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

33 Using VSI for vsphere Client The Set Multipathing Policy page is the first in the wizard. It presents two distinct areas of control, one for VMware NMP and the other for EMC PowerPath/VE. Figure 5 on page 32 provides an example. Note: If Powerpath/VE is not installed or unlicensed, then that portion of the screen is not available. Since NMP is always available with ESX Server, this portion of the page should always be enabled. The PowerPath/VE portion of the page is enabled only if all of the following PowerPath/VE components are in place: 1. EMC PowerPath/VE must be installed on the ESX hosts in question. If not, a warning message will be posted and this portion of the page will be disabled. 2. EMC PowerPath Remote Tools for Windows must be installed on the client host (where vsphere Client is running). If not, a warning message will be posted and this portion of the page will be disabled. 3. EMC PowerPath/VE must be licensed on the ESX hosts in question. If not, a warning message will be posted and this portion of the page will be disabled. Storage class selection To select the desired policy for the native multipathing owned devices, use the drop-down box to select which storage classes to apply the multipathing changes to. When a specific storage class is selected, such as All Symmetrix Devices, a new drop-down box appears in the next row so that additional storage classes can be selected. If a general storage class is selected, such as All EMC Devices, then only the one drop-down box will be needed. For NMP, the following storage classes are available: All Devices All EMC Devices All Symmetrix Devices All CLARiiON Devices All VPLEX Devices All VNX Devices Path Management 33

34 Using VSI for vsphere Client For PowerPath/VE, the following storage classes are available: All Devices All EMC Devices All Symmetrix Devices All CLARiiON Devices All VPLEX Devices All VNX Devices All 3rd Party Devices Multipathing policy selection Once a storage class is selected, the multipathing policy drop-down box will be enabled for editing. It is possible to not change the multipathing policy even if a storage class is selected by using the Do Not Change option. For NMP, the multipathing policy options will not change according to storage class, but will change according to the ESX Server. Currently, with ESX Server 4.0 the NMP multipathing policy options are: Do Not Change Fixed Most Recently Used (MRU) Round Robin (RR) With ESX Server 4.1, the NMP multipathing policy options are: Do Not Change Fixed Fixed with Array Preference Most Recently Used (MRU) Round Robin (RR) With ESX Server 5.0, the NMP multipathing policy options are: Do Not Change Fixed Most Recently Used (MRU) Round Robin (RR) 34 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

35 Using VSI for vsphere Client Note: The functionality in the Fixed with Array Preference policy from ESX 4.1 was rolled into the Fixed policy in ESX 5.0 and later. For PowerPath/VE, the multipathing policy options depend on the storage class that is selected. For All Symmetrix Devices, the multipathing options are: Least Blocks (lb) Least I/O (li) Round Robin (rr) Symmetrix (Best Practices): The Most Recently Used (MRU) policy is not an option for Symmetrix devices, since the MRU policy goes against best practices. When setting the NMP policy to Round Robin (RR) for Symmetrix devices, VSI - Path Management skips the gatekeeper devices, since best practice dictates that those have a policy of Fixed. In this case, the gatekeeper device is any Symmetrix device under 10MB in capacity. Stream IO (si) Symmetrix Optimization (so) For All CLARiiON Devices, the multipathing options are: Least Blocks (lb) Least I/O (li) Round Robin (rr) Stream IO (si) CLARiiON Optimization (so) For all other storage classes (that is, VPLEX, third-party, and so on), the multipathing options are: Least Blocks (lb) Least I/O (li) Round Robin (rr) Stream IO (si) Adaptive (ad) Path Management 35

36 Using VSI for vsphere Client Set Multipathing Policy Summary page This page summarizes the multipathing policy changes that will be made. The vsphere object that is the context of the operation appears, as well as any policy changes for both PowerPath/VE and NMP. When the Finish button is clicked, the multipathing policy changes execute on a device-by-device basis. Each policy change for each device represents a task in the vsphere Client Recent Tasks monitor. 36 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

37 Using VSI for vsphere Client Path Management 37

38 Using VSI for vsphere Client 38 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

39 Invisible Body Tag 4 VSI Configuration This chapter explains the configuration options available for Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere. Topic includes VSI logging VSI Configuration 39

40 VSI Configuration VSI logging VSI for vsphere Client provides a feature logging function for configuring log levels and storing logs. Select Logging from the Settings tree menu to display logging configuration options. Figure 6 on page 40 shows an example. The various VSI log files are located on disk at: $APPDATA%\EMC\Virtual Storage Integrator\vSphere4\Logs Figure 6 VSI Feature logging Setting logging options The General/Logging display provides the following options: Select a Log File from the Log Files drop-down box for the desired VSI loaded feature. To view previous log files that are stored by date, clear the Active Logs Only checkbox. Select files by using the Log Files drop-down box. Click the File icon to open the Log files directory: 40 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide

41 VSI Configuration C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\EMC\Virtual Storage Integrator\vSphere4\Logs Click the Auto-Load icon to enable/disable auto-load. When enabled, a log file will be monitored and loaded into the viewer as it is modified. Click the Scroll Lock icon to enable/disable scroll lock. When enabled, the scroll lock feature causes the log viewer to not automatically scroll to the bottom of the log file whenever it is appended. Click the Search log files icon to open the Find window to search log files for standard or regular expressions. Search can match case, whole word, or the start of a word. Select the Compress file icon to create a zip archive of the log files to save in another location. Log files can be set to one of several different log levels by selecting the Log Levels drop-down box: Off No log entries will be written. Fatal Only fatal errors will be written. Error Only error messages will be written. Warn Warning and error messages will be written. Info All information including error and warning messages will be written. This is the default value. Debug Informative messages as well as errors and warnings will be written for any general operations that occur. VSI logging 41

42 VSI Configuration 42 EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Path Management Version 5.3 Product Guide