Chapter 5: Configuring Discovery
This chapter describes how to configure discovery to find Emulex adapters on remote hosts.
5.1 Discovery Using the TCP/IP Access Protocol
You can discover adapters on IPv4 and IPv6 TCP/IP hosts and on hosts configured to support the CIM interface that have the Emulex HBA Manager application installed (Figure 5). Remote SAN management over TCP/IP sends remote management requests using the TCP/IP access protocol to remote hosts. TCP/IP access enables you to access adapters by using their host IP address or the name of the host on which they reside.
Figure 5: Discovery Information
NOTE: In Windows, if you are running a firewall, you might need to add the Emulex HBA Manager application remote server to the firewall’s exception list. This remote server’s path is as follows:
\Program Files\Emulex\Util\Common\rmserver.exe
The TCP/IP discovery function of the Emulex HBA Manager application discovery server relies on a file called the hbahosts.lst file. This plain-text file contains a list of hosts that the utility attempts to discover. The discovery server does not attempt to discover hosts over TCP/IP through any other mechanisms (such as ping sweeps and broadcasts).
The hbahosts.lst file is automatically created or modified when you perform any of the following operations:
n Adding a single host from the Add Remote TCP/IP Host dialog (see Section 5.1.2, Adding a Single Host). If the host is discovered, the Emulex HBA Manager application adds its IP address and name to the hbahosts.lst file.
n For IPv4, scanning a range of IP addresses for hosts that can be managed. This function is performed in the Add Range of TCP/IP Hosts dialog (Section 5.1.3, Adding a Range of Hosts (IPv4 Only)). For each discovered host, the Emulex HBA Manager application adds its IP address and name to the hbahosts.lst file.
n Removing a host from the hbahosts.lst file using the Remove Hosts dialog (see Section 5.1.4, Removing Hosts). For each removed host, the Emulex HBA Manager application removes its IP address and name from the hbahosts.lst file.
n Adding or removing a host using the CLI (refer to the Emulex HBA Manager Application Command Line Interface User Guide).
5.1.1.1 Manually Editing the hbahosts.lst File
You can open the hbahosts.lst file with any text editor, modify the contents, and save the file. After the file is modified and saved, the updated file is used after the next TCP/IP discovery cycle is complete. If the discovery server is running, it does not need to be restarted.
To manually edit the hbahosts.lst file, perform the following steps:
1. Locate and open the hbahosts.lst file.
– Windows – The file is located on the system drive in the directory \Program Files\Emulex\Util.
– Linux – The file is located in the directory /usr/sbin/ocmanager.
2. Edit the file. Guidelines for editing the file are as follows:
– Each line of the file starts with an IPv4 or IPv6 address. Following the IP address can be any number of tabs or spaces. These are followed by a # character, zero, or more tabs or spaces, and the name of the host for that IP address. The host name is not required for discovery. Its purpose is to make the file more readable, and it is used by the Emulex HBA Manager application to display the host name in the Remove Hosts dialog when the host is not discovered. However, the discovery server needs only the IP address to discover the host.
– IPv6 address tuples are delimited by colons and can be added in shortened notation as defined by the IPv6 address specification.
– An IP port number can be specified after the IPv4 address by appending a colon and port number to the address (such as 10.192.80.24:23333).
– An IP port number can be specified after an IPv6 address by putting the IPv6 address in brackets and following it with a colon and the port number. For example, [2001:db8:8:800:200C:417A::]:23333
– Each line in the file can be up to 1023 characters, although this is longer than is typically needed for a host IP address and host name. A line longer than 1023 characters is truncated, possibly causing some hosts not to be discovered.
5.1.1.2 Copying the hbahosts.lst File
An hbahosts.lst file on one host can be copied and used on another host. Copying the file is useful when there are multiple hosts on the same network running the Emulex HBA Manager application. For example, after the remote hosts are added to the hbahosts.lst file on one host, you can copy it to other hosts so that you do not need to create another hbahosts.lst file.
NOTE: Because of the line terminator differences between Windows and Linux hosts, hbahosts.lst files cannot be shared between Windows and Linux hosts.
NOTE: This option is not available in read-only mode.
The Emulex HBA Manager application enables you to specify a single TCP/IP host to manage. You can add an RMAPI host or a CIM host using the host name or IP address. If the host is successfully discovered, it is added to the hbahosts.lst file. If it has not been discovered over FC already, the host and its adapter ports are added to the discovery-tree (Figure 4).
NOTE: The Emulex HBA Manager application must be installed on the remote host.
To add a single host, perform the following steps:
1. From the Discovery menu, select TCP/IP > Add Host. The Add Remote TCP/IP Host dialog appears (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Add Remote TCP/IP Host Dialog
2. Enter the name or the IPv4 or IPv6 address of the host to be added.
NOTE: Entering the IP address to identify the host avoids possible name resolution issues. IPv6 address tuples are delimited by colons and can be entered in a shortened form suppressing 0s as defined by the IPv6 address specification.
3. Configure the discovery method:
– If you want to add the host using the default discovery methods, check Add using default credentials and click Add Host. A message appears indicating whether the new host was successfully added.
– If you want to add the new host using specific CIM credentials, check Add using specific CIM credentials, modify any additional CIM settings, and click Add Host. The Add Remote TCP/IP Host dialog appears with the default CIM settings (Figure 7).
NOTE: Remote CIM hosts can be managed only by Windows client systems.
Figure 7: Add Remote TCP/IP Host Dialog with CIM Credentials
4. Edit the default CIM settings if necessary and click Add Host. A message appears indicating that the new host was successfully added.
5.1.3 Adding a Range of Hosts (IPv4 Only)
NOTE: This option is not available in Strictly Local Management or Local Management Plus modes.
You can find the TCP/IP-accessed manageable hosts by searching a range of IPv4 addresses. The Add Range of TCP/IP Hosts dialog (Figure 8) enables you to build the initial list of TCP/IP-accessed manageable hosts.
The following information applies to adding a range of hosts:
n The ranges of IP addresses are scanned only each time you open the Add Remote TCP/IP Hosts dialog and click Start Discovery. The ranges are not automatically scanned by the discovery server during its discovery cycles.
n Discovery of VMware (CIM) hosts is supported only on Windows systems. Adding a range of hosts is supported only for IPv4 addresses. It is not supported for IPv6 addresses.
n The Emulex HBA Manager application must be installed on all remote hosts.
Figure 8: Add Range of TCP/IP Hosts Dialog
To add a range of remote hosts, perform the following steps:
1. From the Discovery menu, select TCP/IP > Add Range of Hosts. The Add Range of TCP/IP Hosts dialog appears (Figure 8).
2. Enter the complete start and end address range (IPv4 only) and click Add. The added address range appears in the dialog. Add any additional ranges that you want to search.
3. Click Start Discovery. If an address is remotely manageable, it is added to the list of addresses that the discovery server attempts to discover. The utility creates an hbahosts.lst file if necessary and checks each address in the range to determine if the host is available and remotely manageable. The number of discovered addresses (of manageable hosts) is periodically updated on the dialog.
NOTE: The number of hosts found does not correspond directly to the number of hosts added to the discovery-tree (Figure 4). A host can have more than one IP address assigned to it. If multiple IP addresses for a host are discovered during the search, the host is added to the discovery-tree only once.
4. You can save the IP address ranges. Click Save Ranges to File to save the specified ranges to a file so that these address ranges appear the next time you use the Add Range of TCP/IP Hosts dialog (Figure 8).
NOTE: This option is not available in read-only mode.
Removing hosts that are no longer discovered improves the operation of the discovery server. For example, you might want to remove a host when it is removed from the network.
To remove hosts, perform the following steps:
1. From the Discovery menu, select TCP/IP > Remove Host(s). The Remove Hosts dialog shows a list of discovered hosts. Any host that is not currently discovered appears in red. Click Show Undiscovered Hosts Only to display only currently undiscovered hosts.
2. From the Remove Hosts dialog, select the hosts that you want to remove. You can select all the displayed hosts by clicking Select All.
3. Click Remove to remove the selected hosts.
5.2 Configuring Discovery and Default CIM Credentials
Use the Emulex HBA Manager Discovery Settings dialog (Figure 9) to configure several discovery server parameters. You can define when to remove previously discovered adapters that are no longer being discovered. You can also define default CIM credentials, such as the protocol, user name, port number, password, and name space.
NOTE: Management of CIM hosts is supported only on Windows systems.
A host can have more than one IP address assigned to it. If multiple IP addresses for a host are discovered during the search, the host is added to the discovery-tree (Figure 4) only once. If the same host name appears for more than one host, the adapters of all these hosts are displayed by the Emulex HBA Manager application as a single host entry.
Figure 9: Emulex HBA Manager Discovery Settings Dialog
To configure discovery settings, perform the following steps:
1. From the Discovery menu, select Modify Settings. The Emulex HBA Manager Discovery Settings dialog appears (Figure 9).
2. Define the discovery properties that you want.
3. In the CIM Credentials area, set the default CIM credentials that are used to connect to all ESXi hosts that are managed through the CIM interface.
– Protocol – The HTTP or HTTPS protocol can be used to connect to the VMware hosts.
– Port Number – The default port numbers used for HTTP and HTTPS are 5988 and 5989, respectively. The port number changes automatically according to the protocol selected. You can also manually change the port number. By default, the HTTP protocol is disabled on sfcb in the VMware host, so you must use HTTPS to communicate to the VMware host.
– User name – The User name field contains the user name with which to connect to the VMware hosts. By default, the user name is root.
– Password – The Password field contains the password of the user name that is used to connect to the VMware host.
– Namespace – Namespace is the namespace of the Emulex provider.
The default namespace is root/emulex.
4. Choose the refresh rate settings that you want to apply.
5. Click OK to apply your changes. Click Defaults to return the discovery properties to their default settings.
5.3 Viewing Discovery Information
The Discovery Information tab (Figure 10) contains a general summary of the discovered elements. The Hosts, Fabrics, or Virtual Ports icon, depending upon which view you select, is the root of the discovery-tree, but it does not represent a specific network element. Expanding it reveals all hosts, LUNs, targets, adapter ports, and virtual ports that are visible on the SAN.
To view discovery information, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Hosts, Fabrics, or Virtual Ports icon at the root of the discovery-tree. Discovered SAN elements appear in the discovery-tree.
2. Select an element from the discovery-tree to learn more about it.
Figure 10: Discovery Information (Host View Selected)
The following Discovery Information fields are displayed:
n Hosts – The total number of discovered host computers containing manageable Emulex adapters. This number includes servers, workstations, personal computers, multiprocessor systems, and clustered computer complexes.
n Adapters – The total number of discovered adapters.
n Physical Ports – The number of discovered physical ports that can be managed by this host.
n Function Summary – Listed by protocol, the total number of discovered functions and targets.