Problem of LTO-3 tape drive access on ESXi 6.5 U1 HP DL388 Gen9 server with Smart HBA H241

[henryhe]

A--Environment:

1, HP DL388 Gen 9 with SPP, CMOS and firmware updated.

2, HPE Customized Image ESXi 6.5.0 Update 1 version 650.U1.10.1.5 (Build 6765664)

3, Smart HBA H241 (firmware 6.06)

4, HP Ultrium 920 (LTO-3) external Tape Drive with SAS cable connection. (C24D firmware)

5, nhpsa driver updated with version 2.0.24-1OEM.650.0.0.4598673 for Smart HBA H241

6, Internal HP SAS harddisks connected with Smart Array P440ar which use same nhpsa driver

B--Current status:

1, [root@localhost:~] esxcli storage core path list

sas.500143804032d1a0-sas.143804032d1a0-naa.600508b1001c60965b6e49ec51c98eb6

   UID: sas.500143804032d1a0-sas.143804032d1a0-naa.600508b1001c60965b6e49ec51c98eb6

   Runtime Name: vmhba0:C0:T0:L1

   Device: naa.600508b1001c60965b6e49ec51c98eb6

   Device Display Name: Local HP Disk (naa.600508b1001c60965b6e49ec51c98eb6)

   Adapter: vmhba0

   Channel: 0

   Target: 0

   LUN: 1

   Plugin: NMP

   State: active

   Transport: sas

   Adapter Identifier: sas.500143804032d1a0

   Target Identifier: sas.143804032d1a0

   Adapter Transport Details: 500143804032d1a0

   Target Transport Details: 143804032d1a0

   Maximum IO Size: 4194304

sas.500143804032d1a0-sas.143804032d1a0-naa.600508b1001c374df134bc0a41d0d80f

   UID: sas.500143804032d1a0-sas.143804032d1a0-naa.600508b1001c374df134bc0a41d0d80f

   Runtime Name: vmhba0:C0:T0:L2

   Device: naa.600508b1001c374df134bc0a41d0d80f

   Device Display Name: Local HP Disk (naa.600508b1001c374df134bc0a41d0d80f)

   Adapter: vmhba0

   Channel: 0

   Target: 0

   LUN: 2

   Plugin: NMP

   State: active

   Transport: sas

   Adapter Identifier: sas.500143804032d1a0

   Target Identifier: sas.143804032d1a0

   Adapter Transport Details: 500143804032d1a0

   Target Transport Details: 143804032d1a0

   Maximum IO Size: 4194304

sas.50014380405c2790-sas.14380405c2790-

   UID: sas.50014380405c2790-sas.14380405c2790-

   Runtime Name: vmhba1:C2:T0:L0

   Device: No associated device

   Device Display Name: No associated device

   Adapter: vmhba1

   Channel: 2

   Target: 0

   LUN: 0

   Plugin: (unclaimed)

   State: dead

   Transport: sas

   Adapter Identifier: sas.50014380405c2790

   Target Identifier: sas.14380405c2790

   Adapter Transport Details: Unavailable or path is unclaimed

   Target Transport Details: Unavailable or path is unclaimed

   Maximum IO Size: 4194304

2, [root@localhost:~] esxcfg-mpath -L

vmhba0:C0:T0:L1 state:active naa.600508b1001c60965b6e49ec51c98eb6 vmhba0 0 0 1 NMP active local sas.500143804032d1a0 sas.143804032d1a0

vmhba0:C0:T0:L2 state:active naa.600508b1001c374df134bc0a41d0d80f vmhba0 0 0 2 NMP active local sas.500143804032d1a0 sas.143804032d1a0

vmhba1:C2:T0:L0 state:dead (no device) vmhba1 2 0 0 (unclaimed) dead unknown sas.50014380405c2790 sas.14380405c2790

3, [root@localhost:~] esxcfg-rescan vmhba1

Rescan complete, however some dead paths were not removed because they were in use by the system. Please use the 'storage core device world list' command to see the VMkernel worlds still using these paths.

C--Problem is

1, using command "esxcli storage core device list" in CLI, I cannot see the device as HP Tape in ESXi, and In ESXi web interface, I also cannot see the Tape Drive. so I cannot allocate the external tape drive for any VM.

2, What I have tried is that "esxcli storage nmp satp rule add...", "esxcli storage core claimrule add...", but it's still not working at the moment.

3, Anyway can help solve this issue and enable this Tape Drive to work in this environment as backup device used by VM?

Thanks

Henry

[Finikiez]

Hi!

The only thing I have to say is - your configuration is not supported.

ESXi doesn't support attaching tape devices to it.

Sometimes it can work, but officially this is not suppored VMware Knowledge Base

[henryhe]

Hello,

In this environment, I have ever used "esxcli storage nmp satp rule add..." and "esxcli storage core claimrule add..." to add HP Tape into the ESXi successfully, but at the moment, it also cannot be allocated for VM. Afterwards,after a few restart, the whole datastore from harddisk lost and whole ESXi has to be reinstalled to restore previous VMs. See attachment. So I think there must be something tips for "esxcli storage nmp satp rule add..." and "esxcli storage core claimrule add..." command to activate the HP Tape machine into ESXi completely. (see attached photo when I added the HP Tape in ESXi.)

[daphnissov]

Once again, connecting a tape drive to ESXi is not supported. That it managed to work at all to begin with is nothing short of a Christmas miracle. You'll have to take it as it comes.

[henryhe]

Thanks. So could you advice which other type of tape driver or tape library can I select to replace current LTO-3 tape drive to implement the backup solution via BE in VM without compatibility issue with ESXi 6.5 U1 on this server?

Or could the lower version ESXi 5.5 U3 support LTO-3 tape driver?

[daphnissov]

There are no types of tape drives supported to be passed through to a VM. If you need this for Backup Exec, you'll need to use a physical server and not an ESXi host.

[henryhe]

Actually I have used same structure for connecting other LTO-5 tape drive as "SCSI Device" on ESXi 5.5 in HP ML350 Gen9 Server, and another LTO-6 tape drive on ESXi 6.0 in HP ML380 Gen9 Server by using "esxcli storage and esxcli software vib" command etc successfully.

But in ESXi 6.5, I haven't made it from SSH. I guess there must be possible if we use right command option. Let's see.

BR

Henry

[henryhe · Accepted solution]

Referring VMware Knowledge Base https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1010789, I have been configured the tape drive for one of VMs in ESXi 6.5 U1 successfully, together with BE16 for backup/restore.