This post is more than 5 years old
17 Posts
0
249749
August 17th, 2015 09:00
Powervault MD3420 support for vSphere 6.0 Esxi 6.0 ?
Hello
We ordered 4 brandnew R730 servers with 12Gbps SAS cards and a MD3420 SAN. The ESXi hosts came preinstalled with ESXi version 6.
Now after we installed 40 VMs on this, we see that after a reboot, the HBA does not detect the luns. Only after plugging out the HBA cables and reversing them, it detects them. Also in the HBA path selection I cannot see any options like "round robin" etc.
When I check the VMware site it seems that all DELL powervault MD32xx/MD34xx SANs DO support ESXI 6.0, except for the MD3420! I checked this previously and start to doubt myself / or whether the compatbility on the website has changed.
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=san&productid=36288&deviceCategory=san&details=1&partner=23&arrayTypes=4&isSVA=0&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc
Is there any driver or update to be expected withing the first weeks, or should I start downgrading all my VMs and esxi hosts to version 5.5? This is really a shortcoming I think especially since the package came with 6.0 preinstalled.
Best Regards,
Joris
Joris85
17 Posts
1
August 18th, 2015 09:00
I found the solution by installing another driver from the lsi list and then disabling the native driver.
The correct driver is not in the DELL ESXi 6.0 A00 image.
Summary, just do this on each host:
[root@*:~] esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/DS_SAN_DG2VD1/ISO/scsi-mpt3sas_10.00.00.00-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585.vib
Installation Result
Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
Reboot Required: true
VIBs Installed: Avago_bootbank_scsi-mpt3sas_10.00.00.00-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585
VIBs Removed:
VIBs Skipped:
[root@*:~] esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=lsi_msgpt3
DELL-Daniel Ca
243 Posts
0
August 17th, 2015 11:00
Hello, Joris.
Unfortunately, the MD line hasn't been validated and tested with ESX/i 6 as of yet. Engineering gives me hope on a driver set in an upcoming update, but no eta on that either.
I'm going to send you an email, as I'd like a little more information of the circumstances surrounding your purchase if that's ok.
Short answer is, correct. It will be unstable with Version 6, and no updates to speak of yet.
It's certainly not a fun answer, but it's my honest one.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Joris85
17 Posts
0
August 18th, 2015 05:00
Dear Daniel,
The MD line is on the VMware website stated as supported (for all MD34xx except 3420), and also in the MD line documentation (July 2015) it says VMware esxi 6 is supported on all supported firmwares of MD. The only issue is that the MD3420 (specifically this one) is not in the esxi 6 list on the vmware website.
http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/Common/MD34XX_38XX_ReferenceGuide9_EN.pdf
I opened a prosupport ticket on this and Dell responded they believe this is a wrong indication on the VMware website, because the MD3400 (supported on vmware site) has the same firmare version as the MD3420 (not supported on vmware site). They think the vmware site is not up to date.
So now they are handling my HBA issue seperately from the compatiliby because prosupport believes it should be compatible. I have very strict time contrains so you see I am quite disturbed by all this.
Best Regards,
Joris
Joris85
17 Posts
0
August 18th, 2015 05:00
Dear Daniel,
The MD line is on the VMware website stated as supported, and also in the MD line documentation (July 2015) it says VMware esxi 6 is supported on all supported firmwares of MD. The only issue is that the MD3420 (specifically this one) is not in the esxi 6 list on the vmware website.
I opened a prosupport ticket on this and Dell responded they believe this is a wrong indication on the VMware website, because the MD3400 (supported on vmware site) has the same firmare version as the MD3420 (not supported on vmware site). They think the vmware site is not up to date.
So now they are handling my HBA issue seperately from the compatiliby because prosupport believes it should be compatible. I have very strict time contrains so you see I am quite disturbed by all this.
Best Regards,
Joris
Joris85
17 Posts
0
August 18th, 2015 08:00
So in the Prosupport case I have been installing newer LSI drivers for the HBA cards, but always the same result: no LUNs detected after restart, no path selection possiblity in vmware.
drivers installed from here:
www.vmware.com/.../detail.php;productid=34317