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alainrussell
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

MD3000i - Error creating VMFS Datastore

Hi,

I've followed this configuration (http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/VMwareESX4.0andPowerVault+MD3000i) and everything seems to be running fine until I try and create the VMFS Datastore (Configuration -> Storage -> Add Storage). When I do this, it seems the process takes a while and then shows an error "Error during the configuration of the host: Unable to create Filesystem, please see VMKernel log for more details."

I've attached config showing the paths, LUNs (Virtual Disks on Md3000i) available - these show up instantly, and have no trouble seeing then. I'm not sure how to view the VMKernel log with ESXi - can I do this with the RCLI ? If so will post what that shows.

Thanks

Alain

Also - quite often the storage will show "array not optimal" when doing this .. seems to happen on and off - any ideas what causes this .. clicking Manage RAID COntrollers and redistributing them seems to fix the error for a while but it reappears.

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AndreTheGiant
Immortal
Immortal

You have some big errors in your multipath configuration.

You must have ONLY 4 path.

Delete all the configuration and restart the host.

Then start again and be sure to use two isolated networks for iSCSI, two vmkernel interfaces (for iSCSI, each on a different network), and so on.

Before enable iSCSI be sure that from each vmkernel interface you can vmkping only 2 IP target of the MD3000i.

Then enable the configuration and LEAVE the multipath configuration as the default (MRU).

Andre

Andrew | http://about.me/amauro | http://vinfrastructure.it/ | @Andrea_Mauro
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alainrussell
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thanks, when I look at path for each LUN there are only 4 - as per attached.

I can vmkping the storage adapters, and other ESXi hosts with vmkping -s 9000 but when I try and ping the MD3000i it will only work with vmkping -s 8192 as a maximum .. sort of like the comments in this blog http://blog.scottlowe.org/2008/04/22/esx-server-ip-storage-and-jumbo-frames/?nomobile

Will MRU give me load balancing and redundancy ?

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krishnaprasad
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

hi,

are you still seeing this issue? can you post /var/log/messages from the host after you see the failure? vmkernel logs will be part of messages in ESXi

Most Recently Used (MRU) — Selects the first working path discovered at system boot time. If this path becomes unavailable, the ESX host switches to an alternative path and continues to use the new path while it is available. This is the default policy for LUNs presented from an Active/Passive array.

alainrussell
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I ended up deleting the VMKernel/iSCSI config and rebuilding with standard mtu not 9000 for jumbo frames, with this setup it all worked perfectly first time. I'm not sure the issue but it seems I'm not the only one seeing it with MD3000i and jumbo frames.

Will call Dell support tomorrow and see if they can shed any light ..

Thanks

Alain

PS - How do you get the logs off an ESXi box - can you use RCLI ?

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s1xth
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Weird you are mentioning these problems with the MD3000i. There was just another post about the MD3000i and I mentioned the issues with Jumbo Frames and MTU 9000 and another guy posted that his setup was working 100%. It seems that it depends on the deployment scenarios and the configuration of the users hosts etc. I would say 75% of MD3000i users have problems, the rest are fine.

From what I heard, Dell/VMWare are working on a fix for these problems, as it is a KNOWN problem. I will find the thread I am referring to, maybe it will help you some.

edit- here is the post(actually an OLD thread of mine brought back to life): http://communities.vmware.com/message/1379818?tstart=0#1379818

http://www.virtualizationimpact.com http://www.handsonvirtualization.com Twitter: @jfranconi
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BKarciauskas
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I know this thread is old but I thought I would share my situation when I came accross this error. It might help point someone in the right direction.

.

I had configured everything (ESX 4.0 servers, EQL6000 SAN) to use jumbo frames including the physical switches (3COM) and I could not get it to work. I could see the LUN and all the paths to the LUN like the origional poster could but could not create a VMFS volume. After changing everything back to the standard 1500 MTU everything worked like a charm.

After double checking everything it turned out that the network guy had not enabled jumbo frames on the switch ports, even though he assured me he had! So I asked him to make the changes and I changed everything back to Jumbo frames again on the VMware side (VMKernel ports and the vSwitch etc.)

Once that was done I could create my VMFS volume and it’s been working great ever since.

It was odd that I could “see” the storage and presented LUNS with a misconfigured network but I could not “use” it until everything was spot on.






Cheers,

Ben Karciauskas

Blog - http://karciauskas.wordpress.com

Cheers, Ben Karciauskas Blog - http://karciauskas.wordpress.com
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