Solaris 10, boot from NS960

Question

Good morning! I'm having difficulty figuring out how one boots a diskless Solaris server (in this case a domain on an M4000) from a Celerra NS960. At the moment, when we attach SAN to servers, we use the Navisphere tools to register the server within the SAN. Obviously, without an operating system, there's nowhere to install the tools! How do we get the server to register with the NS960 so it can see a LUN to build the OS on? Does it have to be done manually?

I've looked through the Host Connectivity Guide for Solaris, but it seems to describe the various ways that Solaris 10 can use the LUN (ZFS, Disksuite, etc.), and I can't find any information on how to get the server to register itself so it can be allocated a LUN. Is there a doc somewhere on Powerlink that details what configuration needs to be done on the SAN side? The system's using Sun-branded Qlogic HBAs, model QLE2462. I just upgraded the fcode and firmware to the latest version, so compatibility shouldn't be an issue.

I'm a Unix admin, not a SAN admin, but our SAN guys are swamped so I'm looking for this info myself to help them out. My SAN knowledge consists of only the barest top-level understanding.

Thanks!!!

Storagesavvy · Answer

There is not a mechanism for the secondary array to create a LUN and mirror relationship when a primary LUN is created. But you could create a single script that performs all of the actions you want.. The script would essentially do all of the work of creating the primary LUN, then the secondary LUN, then the mirror relationship.

For CX, you would use Naviseccli to do this and script it in your favorite scripting language (Batch, Bash, Wsh, etc)

Richard Anderson

Sr. TC, EMC Corp

richardj.anderson@emc.com 206.229.9263

about.me/richardanderson

Storagesavvy · Answer

Assuming the zoning is done already, when the server boots, you can go into the HBA bios to light up the ports. Then in the Navisphere/Unisphere you will be able to see the initiator WWNs in the connectivity status window. You would then manually create a host (grouping of WWNs) right there and add that host to a storage group with LUNs.

Richard Anderson

Sr. TC, EMC Corp

richardj.anderson@emc.com 206.229.9263

about.me/richardanderson

matthearn1 · Answer

Thanks!  How do I get into the HBA BIOS?  Anything I can do has to be done either from the OK prompt, or from a ramdisk-mounted single-user OS image booted over the network from our Jumpstart server.  Is the HBA BIOS part of the SanSurfer utility?  I can't actually load that until I can install an OS.

dynamox · Answer

take a look at Qlogic/Emulex guides, they have boot from san sections Home > Support > Technical Documentation and Advisories > Host Connectivity/HBAs > Installation/Configuration

matthearn1 · Answer

Thanks, all!  It did turn out to be very simple, from my end at least; the SAN team did some fiddling and suddenly my probe-scsi-all showed LUNs.  I'm in the process of jumpstarting onto one of them now. If only I could figure out why it reboots itself after only getting to 76% done...but that's not an EMC problem.  Thanks again!

Nollaig1 · Answer

Hello Matt,

Glad it all worked out for you, you probably already have this but just in case .. you might also like to check out the Host connectivity guide available through Menu options on powerlink at:

Home > Support > Technical Documentation and Advisories > Host Connectivity/HBAs > Installation/Configuration

Hope this helps,

Nollaig

CLARiiON

Solaris 10, boot from NS960

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