Tape drive not appearing and adaptec card path dead after upgrade to vsphere 4

[KTOKTO]

Hello,

A customer of ours recently upgraded from esxi to vsphere 4. After the upgrade we have been unable to see the tape drive attached to thte server.

The drive is an HP Ultrium 448 LTO plugged in to an adaptec ultra320 29320LPE.

The correct card appears in the vshpere client under configuration/storage adapters but I do not see any deivces plugged in to this card.

If I click on "path" on the adaptec card I see the status is appearing as "dead"

Any idea why this was working fine in esxi but is now not working in vsphere 4?

Thank you!

[Twister5800]

Hi!

I have the EXACT same error, I run With ESXi 4.1 Build 260247 with IBM x3650 and Adaptec 29320LPE and HP Ultrium drive.

Please let me know if you get it working, I will reply as soon as I find out of something

Regards Martin

[Twister5800]

Hi!

I solved it know

Following this thread: http://communities.vmware.com/message/1269881#1269881

To keep it simple, just do the following:

Goto CLI on the console (Alt-F1), and type this on the prompt, after you logged in:

esxcli nmp satp deleterule --satp VMW_SATP_ALUA --claim-option tpgs_on

Reboot the ESXi server afterwards...

I don't know what it exactly does, but it works

Happy ESXi'ing

Regards Martin

[Coinspinnr]

This is the way that we finally fixed it after support got back to us from VMWARE (Only took 2 weeks)

Tape Drive support in ESXi 4.1 using adaptec 29320LPE Controller

In VCenter or VSphere client verify that the tape drive path under storage adapters shows a dead path to the tape drive and or changer

To fix the dead path issue

Enable local and remote support via the ESXi 4.1 console

Alt F1

Login as root

Run the following command

esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="aic79xx" --description="Specific rule for Adaptec Card"

Reboot the ESX server

login to vcenter or vsphere client and you should now see your SCSI tape drives

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you are using a tape changer

In the Adaptec BIOS, you need to change the option to enable multiple LUN support for the SCSI ID of the changer in order for windows to recognize the tape drive and changer properly. When you reboot and the adapter controller initializes instead of seeing 1 device, it should show 2 the tape drive and the changer.

This was my ticket at experts excahgne if you want to review what got us to the solution

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/VMWare/Q_26389860.html

[xyz2000]

Martin, thanks for the input.

We solved our similar problem with an "unsupported" LSI 53c1030 PCI-x Fusion-MPT Ultra320 SCSI and HP Ultrium 448. We spent about 10 hours with vmware support and they told us the tape would only work if connected to an Adaptec card (which is conflicting with the HCL where our adapter is listed as supported in esxi 4.1). Ultimately we moved the clients to another esxi server and ran your misterious command then rebooted. The other thing that we did was to turn on the esx host with the library detached (unplug the scsi cable from the esx host) wait until ESXi 4.1 is fully loaded, plug the scsi cable back to esxi host and rescan the adapter from Vsphere client. Not only the status was not saying "dead" but also our backups are running a lot faster now (approx. 1,900 MB/min according to Backup Exec).

I am not happy with the vmware support we've had so for and this was not the only issue that was not solved by vmware. I've had 1 case open with them for more than 3 weeks and we are not getting anywhere with that. And it's a simple (at least in theory) problem with the host profile. It makes me wonder if I can trust vmware with other advanced features (vmotion, drs, etc).

[Coinspinnr]

We have a similar card and once we figured out what driver the scsi controller was we use the following command.   Basically the same as listed as above, just changed out the driver name and changed the description.   Worked fine for us.

esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="mptspi" --description="Specific rule for LSI-Logic Card"

[xyz2000]

Thank you ☺

Luke

[bakkere]

Vsphere 5:

Hello,

I just installed a LSI 53c1030 PCI-x Fusion-MPT Ultra320 SCSI card in a HP ML150 G5 with an HP LTO2 drive.

First start ssh via Vsphere Client->Configuration->Security Profile->Services-Properties

Then download putty.exe from internet. -> http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

Connect with ESX.

I got it working by entering this command.

#esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="mptspi" --description="LSI 53c1030 PCI-x Fusion-MPT Ultra320 SCSI"

Then reboot the ESX server. Rescan the HBA and voilá.

[bakkere]

Vsphere 5:

I got this card:

Merk : Adaptec
Model: ASC-29320LPE (Retail)
P/N  : 2248700-R

working with command below:

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="aic79xx" --description="AHA 29320 LPE"

[MicWe]

Work grate for me on ESXI5 host after I replace my old LTO to new HP LTO4

At first the path was mark as "Dead" on the LSI 53c1030 PCI-x Fusion-MPT Ultra320 SCSI card

After running command (below) The LTO4 HP Tape was recognize on esxi5 host (Without rebooting the host)

#esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="mptspi" --description="LSI 53c1030 PCI-x Fusion-MPT Ultra320 SCSI"

*Although vmware officially not supporting scsi tapes devices on V5.0 it can be configure with the right setting

bakkere thanks for sharing this

[BharatR]

1. Consult your backup hardware and software vendor to ensure that your  tape device and backup software are supported to work with VMware  ESX/ESXi 4.x. For more information, see the Additional Information section in this article.
2. Configure the tape device and controller according to the hardware vendor's guidelines.
3. Connect the vSphere Client to the vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi host.
4. Click on the ESX/ESXi host which has the hardware connected.
5. Click Configuration > Storage Adapters.
6. On the Storage Adapters list, identify the controller which has the tape attached.
7. Under Details, record the Runtime Name of the tape device (for example, vmhba2:C0:T1:L0 ).
8. Select the virtual machine that use the tape device, and click Summary > Edit Settings....
9. Click Hardware > Add....
10. Select SCSI Device from the list of device types and click Next.
11. Select the appropriate device from the SCSI Device drop down list.
12. Select the Virtual Device Node which matches the Target of the Runtime Name of the device, as recorded in step 7.
    
    The Virtual Device Nodes are denoted as <Bus>:<Target>.
    
    Example: the Runtime Name vmhba2:C0:T1:L0 corresponds with a Virtual Device Node of (1:1), (2:1), or (3:1) as the Target is 1(T1) .
    
    Note: For more information about the Runtime Name, see Identifying disks when working with VMware ESX (1014953).
    
    Warning: For clarification, (0:1) is also available for configuration. However this bus is usually  already populated by a virtual disk in a typical virtual machine setup.  As tape operations by nature are quite disruptive for devices on the  same bus, to avoid interruption, ensure the tape devices' target IDs are  on a separate bus from the other virtual machine disks attached to the  virtual machine. For example, bus (0:x) can have several virtual machine disks, while bus (1:x) has the tape pass-through device(s).
    
    
13. Proceed to install and configure the backup software according to the software vendor's guidelines.

Note: ESX/ESXi supports parallel SCSI tape drives  and tape libraries only. If you are using a tape drive library (versus  using a stand-alone tape drive), the library must be multi-target, and  not multi-LUN. Ensure that the tape drive's virtual target ID in the  virtual machine's configuration is set to be the same as the physical  target ID.

[Itsezy]

In relation to the post by Bakkere

For vsphere 5, just remember to remove the check mark for pass through for the device (in the GUI) before running the SSH command. After rebooting, the device was in the HBA.

Thanks for the info

Noel

[bakkere]

I have upgraded my Vsphere 5 to Vsphere 5.1. I can confirm that my tapedrive is still working.

[Twister5800]

Hejsa!

Jeg er på ferie og derfor ikke til stede i dag og kan derfor ikke besvare din henvendelse.

Jeg er tilbage igen 22/10-2012

Har du spørgsmål eller behov for assistance, ring da på 70 100 150 eller mail drift@itf.dk

Din mail bliver ikke videresendt.

Fortsat god dag

Mvh. Martin - IT Forum

[AC_Chrome]

Sorry to resurrect and old thread...but I've run into the exact same issue here...

I have:

LTO2 (HP Storeage works 460) external SCSI drive

ESXI 5.5

Lenovo D20 server with passthrough working.

Adaptec 2120 RAID SCSI card (this is where my problem is)...

Both passthrough and the command, "esxcli storage nmp satp....." are not working here.

The tape drive simply does not show up ANYWHERE!

So, I am assuming that is the SCSI card that, even thought its on the HCL, it just not working with my setup, probably b/c its a RAID card, ESXI won't work with a tape drive on an adaptec RAID card.

My questions, by reading this thread, I know people have got their tapes drives working with an Adaptec 29320LPE. However, it was also mention that it work with an, "LSI 53c1030 PCI-x Fusion-MPT Ultra320 SCSI" but that is more of a reference to the chipset on the HBA itself... I was wondering EXACTLY which HBA was used?

Can anyone shed any light on which HBA they used and had it working with ESXI 5.5?

Thanks!

[AC_Chrome]

Ok..so, let me provide an update on this... hopefully, it will help out someone else to stumbles on this via searching...

1. Just purchased an older LSI 22320-HP HBA, no raid. There are several LSI and LSI variants that would work. Namely the LSI 21320 and 22320 series (without raid), should do the trick. They contain the LSI "53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI" chip...  I purchased the LSI 22320-HP version... and it worked like a charm, a simple HBA, no raid (that is key). The chipset is on the HCL up to and including version 6.0 of ESXI.

2. I wanted to buy the Adaptec 29320LPE mainly because its PCIE instead of PCIX, which is the LSI cards are PCIX...anyway, two things deterred me from the adaptec card, a.) is the fact that support is only including up to ESXi 5.1 U3. b.) COST! Auctions are demanding anywhere from $50+ for this card. Not that is not a good deal, but its expensive for an ESXI application that support was dropped, so, it a gamble if its going to work or not. Didn't want to chance it, especially since I picked up the LSI 22320-HP for $5.00. I'll live with the old PCI form factor for now, until I can find a supported replacement chipset in a PCIE version.

So, in conclusion, the LSI 22320-HP card I bought, so far, has worked like a charm. I haven't actually run a backup yet (I wanted to write this), but I passed through the card, and WIN2008R2 picked up the HP Ultrium 460 LTO 2 tape drive right away! So, a huge improvement over the previous card I had, the Adaptec 2120S Crusader. Which didn't show anything but the card.

Hope this helps someone!