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UofMVSI
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Storage controllers no longer visible to ESXi after applying ESXi600-201801001

After patching the VCSA to 6.0 u3d, we patched our DL380 Gen9 ESXi hosts with ESXi600-201801001 (patch and microcode).  After reboot, the two hpsa P440 and P440ar storage controllers were not visible in vCenter.  Obviously this wreaked havoc on the vSAN which is how I discovered the issue.  I found that there were driver and firmware updates on them so I updated both, then tried the install again and had the same issue.  I have a ticket open with VMware right now and awaiting a response.  Wondering if anyone else is having this issue.

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UofMVSI
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After some more playing around, I realize what the issue was: the ESXi patches replaced the hpsa drivers.  I reinstalled the latest working driver post-ESXi patch, rebooted and everything is fine.  Output post controller driver install:

VIBs Installed: HPE_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_6.0.0.124-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585

VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_6.0.0.44-4vmw.600.0.0.2494585

Wish I had noticed that earlier.  Lesson learned.  Though it's a shame VMware couldn't find that for me 😉 Thanks everyone for the input.

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MBreidenbach0
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I had this happen during a vSAN PoC in the early days of vSphere 6 (VMware HPSA driver didn't support P440AR but its version was newer that the HP version so upgrade manager replaced it) but I wouldn't expect this to happen in 2017 ? During that PoC after running Update Manager I had to manually downgrade the HPSA driver to the HP version.

What version of the HPSA driver did in install ?

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UofMVSI
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I installed 6.06 firmware and 6.0.0.128 driver and that did not resolve the issue.  I tested installing the ESXi patches before and after driver and firmware were updated.  Downloaded HPE firmware from Drivers & Software - HPE Support Center. and the driver from VMware Compatibility Guide - I/O Device Search .  

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TheBobkin
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Hello UofMVSI,

It is possible when updating you updated the controllers driver to a version that was incompatible with the firmware installed on the controller thus rendering this unusable.

"I installed 6.06 firmware and 6.0.0.128 driver and that did not resolve the issue"

These are mismatching - I can only find nhpsa driver family (e.g 2.0.24) driver using firmware 6.06 (on vSAN at least) not hpsa (including 6.0.0.128).

Firmware version 6.06 is not supported for vSAN on P440 nor P440ar, nor is driver 6.0.0.128 (and as per above these appear to be a non-matching pair).

Try installing driver hpsa version 6.0.0.124 and firmware version 5.04-0 as is the current latest recommended as per the vSAN HCL for these devices (on 6.0 U3):

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=vsanio&productid=37445

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=vsanio&productid=37447

I *may* be able to take a look from the other side if you PM me the SR# and have logs uploaded.

Bob

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UofMVSI
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I checked the VMware I/O Device Search for the controllers and it reported that the 6.0.0.128 driver is the match for firmware version 6.06:

IO_device.png

Unless I'm reading it wrong.

I did check the vSAN compatibility site for the new version and indeed the new firmware and driver versions are not compatible with vSAN.  I performed this in test, I wasn't too worried about it but I am going to roll the updates back.  5.04 and 6.0.0.124 are the versions we are currently running in production but please note, the issue with the ESXi patches also occurred at that firmware/driver version.

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UofMVSI
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Update: I spoke with a storage engineer from VMware.  He installed the earlier version of the driver 6.0.0.124 but left the firmware at 6.06 and the storage controllers were visible to ESXi once again.  This is the working fix they want me to go with until a new driver is released.  My only issue is that, as mentioned before, 6.06 firmware is not on the vSAN compatibilty list.  I'm glad it's working but this isn't really a "fix."  They were putting a request in to the VMware developers to work with HPE to get a working driver but they report that this will likely not get any results "anytime soon."

Still wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.

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UofMVSI
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After some more playing around, I realize what the issue was: the ESXi patches replaced the hpsa drivers.  I reinstalled the latest working driver post-ESXi patch, rebooted and everything is fine.  Output post controller driver install:

VIBs Installed: HPE_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_6.0.0.124-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585

VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_6.0.0.44-4vmw.600.0.0.2494585

Wish I had noticed that earlier.  Lesson learned.  Though it's a shame VMware couldn't find that for me 😉 Thanks everyone for the input.

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