QLogic iSCSI cards (QLA4050c)

[gogogo5]

Hi, we have ordered some QLogic iSCSI HBAs (QLA4050c) to connect our ESX hosts to an EqualLogic storage array.

Having read some documentation from QLogic I have heard that they have an "iSCSI HBA CLI" utility.

1. Do any of you install this into the Service Console?

2. If not, how have you updated the HBA's firmware as I cannot find another method to do this without using either the GUI or CLI?

[pdrace]

I updated the bios and firmware from a floppy.

It's been a while but I think they have a floppy boot image that you can download.

[Steve_Mc]

You can find it in the Linux section here:

http://support.qlogic.com/support/oem_product_detail.asp?p_id=962&oemid=284&oemname=QLA4050C

Just a word of caution... I have used the FC scli many times for this purpose without issue.

Last week I was walking someone through the HBA bios update over the phone and the server got purple screen of death. We were lucky because no VMs were running. Ended up doing the update via bootable USB key since there was no floppy drive in the server.

Steve

[christianZ]

That is still correct - have done it 3 weeks ago.

The CLI could be installed on cos but I would prefer it only when you would change any parameters for the hba.

[gogogo5]

Sorry guys, I'm still a bit lost on this. I have already seen the qla4022.dl firmware file you can download but it seems that you need to use either the GUI or CLI to perform the update.

One would prefer that the update takes place via a bootable floppy or CD but I cannot find this. Therefore, is there such a thing as a bootable image to update the HBAs? Failing this the only other option I see is to install ESX then the iSCSI CLI and perform the update and any configuration using this. Then you would uninstall the CLI from the Service Console???

Am I on the right track?

[pdrace]

You create the bootable floppy from the The zip file that the bios contains.

There is a readme that explains how to create the floppy in the zip also.

[gogogo5]

OK, I now see the section containing 2 downloads but was focussing on the first one and not the ZIP one.

So whats the difference between Firmware and BIOS? Does the BIOS contain the Firmware or vice-versa? Will award points soon!

Boot Code[/b]

Name Version Description Download

EMC CLARiiON AX Series approved iSCSI Firmware[/b] 2.0.0.45 EMC approved Firmware for QLA4050 and QLA4050C HBAs. 254120 bytes, dl format (Download)

EMC CLARiiON AX Series approved iSCSI BIOS[/b] 1.08 EMC approved BIOS package for QLA4050 and QLA4050C HBAs. Readme 236913 bytes, zip format (Download)

[christianZ · Accepted solution]

There is the link to bios update:

http://support.qlogic.com/support/product_resources.asp?id=962

-BIOS for QLA405x

You need a dos boot floppy and you can copy the all files into it.

You can update your bios with "iFlash.exe".

Hope that's clear.

[pdrace]

So whats the difference between Firmware and BIOS?

Does the BIOS contain the Firmware or vice-versa?

They are separate updates but you can apply both at the same time with the flash utility, you need both to be at a specific level for support.

[gogogo5]

Ah....and all of a sudden it clicks, I guess if I RTFM I would have seen:

/FB xxxx = Write Bios to adapter, adapter address = xxxx using

QLxxxxRM.bin file.

If no address specified then write Flash to all adapters.

/FF xxxx = Write Firmware to adapter, adapter address = xxxx using

QLAxxxx.dl file.

Thanks for the helpful nudges ppl!!

[woharrow]

just a couple of quick thoughts on this one.

Yes if you use the iSCLI for the RHEL 2.4/2.6 kernel and load the RPM into COS you can then manipulate the 4050c cards.

*you can update the BIOS, Firmware, and other settings like Large Frames (e.g. Jumbo Frames)

(make sure you are logged in as Root in COS before trying to install the RPM and it's a good idea to have the .bin and .dl (firmware and BIOS) files copied up as well before you begin the process.)

NOTE- make sure you are at the 1.09 BIOS if you want to boot, the 1.04 which shipped on a lot of the cards has serious issue with this.

Also, the spinup delay is a good thing to have enabled if you are booting from SAN.

It is of course best to have the server in Maint Mode and not running VMs when you do this since if you are booting from SAN you might get issues if the timeout settings aren't set properly. The reason being is that for most of the changes you probably looking to make you will be re-setting the card which of course takes it off-line for a brief moment.

Thought I would try to save you some headaches.

[gogogo5]

hi, thanks for the tips. To follow on, do you leave the iSCLI installed after you have updated/configured the card or uninstall?

I'm just thinking I could do the floppy updates for the firmware then configure things like Jumbo Frames etc through the BIOS. This would then remove the need to install the iSCLI?