Use IBM AIX 7.2 and/or PowerVM (VIOS 3.1) with ONTAP
You can use the ONTAP SAN host configuration settings to configure IBM AIX 7.2 and/or PowerVM (VIOS 3.1) with ONTAP as the target.
Install the AIX/VIOS host utilities
You must install the AIX Host Utilities Kit while using AIX MPIO with NetApp ONTAP storage.
You can download the compressed file containing the Host Utilities software packages from the NetApp Support Site. After you have the file, you must decompress it to get the two software packages you need to install the host utilities.
NetApp AIX Host Utilities 6.1 is the latest release. This release addresses the memory leak issue that was reported in the previous releases. Refer to release notes section for additional information.
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Login to your host.
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On an AIX host, log in as root.
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On a PowerVM host, log in as padmin, and then enter the
oem_setup_env
command to become root.
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Download a copy of the compressed file containing the Host Utilities from NetApp Support Site to a directory on your host.
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Go to the directory containing the download.
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Uncompress the file and extract the SAN Toolkit software package.
tar -xvf ntap_aix_host_utilities_6.1.tar.gz
The following directory is created when you decompress the file:
ntap_aix_host_utilities_6.1
. This directory will have one of the following subdirectories: MPIO, NON_MPIO, or SAN_Tool_Kit. -
Install the AIX MPIO:
installp -aXYd /var/tmp/ntap_aix_host_utilities_6.1/MPIO NetApp.MPIO_Host_Utilities_Kit
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Install the SAN Toolkit:
installp -aXYd /var/tmp/ntap_aix_host_utilities_6.1/SAN_Tool_Kit NetApp.SAN_toolkit
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Reboot the host.
SAN toolkit
Installing the NetApp Host Utilities package automatically installs the toolkit. This kit provides the sanlun
utility, which helps you manage LUNs and host bus adapters (HBAs). The sanlun
command returns information about the LUNs mapped to your host, multipathing, and information necessary to create initiator groups.
In the following example, the sanlun lun show
command returns LUN information.
#sanlun lun show controller(7mode)/ device host lun vserver(Cmode) lun-pathname filename adapter protocol size mode -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- data_vserver /vol/vol1/lun1 hdisk0 fcs0 FCP 60g C data_vserver /vol/vol2/lun2 hdisk0 fcs0 FCP 20g C data_vserver /vol/vol3/lun3 hdisk11 fcs0 FCP 20g C data_vserver /vol/vol4/lun4 hdisk14 fcs0 FCP 20g C
SAN booting
If you decide to use SAN booting, it must be supported by your configuration. You can use the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool to verify that your OS, HBA, HBA firmware and the HBA boot BIOS, and ONTAP version are supported.
SAN booting is the process of setting up a SAN-attached disk (a LUN) as a boot device for an AIX/PowerVM host. You can set up a SAN boot LUN to work in an AIX MPIO environment that is running the AIX Host Utilities with either the FC or FCoE protocol. The method you use for creating a SAN boot LUN and installing a new OS image on it in an AIX MPIO environment can vary, depending on which protocol you are using.
Multipathing
Multipathing allows you to configure multiple network paths between the host and storage system. If one path fails, traffic continues on the remaining paths. The AIX and PowerVM environments of the Host Utilities use AIX’s native multipathing solution (MPIO).
For AIX, Path Control Module (PCM) is responsible for controlling multiple paths. PCM is a storage vendor supplied code that handles path management. This gets installed and enabled as part of the Host Utilities installation.
Non-ASA configurations
For non-ASA configurations, there should be two groups of paths with different priorities. The paths with higher priorities are Active/Optimized, meaning they are serviced by the controller where the aggregate is located. The paths with lower priorities are active but are non-optimized because they are served from a different controller. The non-optimized paths are only used when optimized paths are not available.
The following example displays the correct output for an ONTAP LUN with two Active/Optimized paths and two Active/Non-Optimized paths.
# sanlun lun show -p |grep -p hdisk78 ONTAP Path: vs_aix_clus:/vol/chataix_205p2_vol_en_1_7/jfs_205p2_lun_en LUN: 37 LUN Size: 15g Host Device: hdisk78 Mode: C Multipath Provider: AIX Native Multipathing Algorithm: round_robin ------- ---------- ------ ------- ---------- ---------- host vserver AIX AIX MPIO path path MPIO host vserver path state type path adapter LIF priority ------- ---------- ------ ------- ---------- ---------- up secondary path0 fcs0 fc_aix_1 1 up primary path1 fcs0 fc_aix_2 1 up primary path2 fcs1 fc_aix_3 1 up secondary path3 fcs1 fc_aix_4 1
All SAN Array configurations
All SAN Array (ASA) configurations optimize all paths to a given LUN, keeping them active. This improves performance by serving I/O operations through all paths at the same time.
The following example displays the correct output for an ONTAP LUN.
All SAN Arrays (ASA) configurations are supported beginning in ONTAP 9.8 for AIX Hosts. |
# sanlun lun show -p |grep -p hdisk78 ONTAP Path: vs_aix_clus:/vol/chataix_205p2_vol_en_1_7/jfs_205p2_lun_en LUN: 37 LUN Size: 15g Host Device: hdisk78 Mode: C Multipath Provider: AIX Native Multipathing Algorithm: round_robin ------ ------- ------ ------- --------- ---------- host vserver AIX AIX MPIO path path MPIO host vserver path state type path adapter LIF priority ------ ------- ------ ------- --------- ---------- up primary path0 fcs0 fc_aix_1 1 up primary path1 fcs0 fc_aix_2 1 up primary path2 fcs1 fc_aix_3 1 up primary path3 fcs1 fc_aix_4 1
Recommended Settings
Following are some recommended parameter settings for ONTAP LUNs. The critical parameters for ONTAP LUNs are set automatically after installing the NetApp Host Utilities Kit.
Parameter | Environment | Value for AIX | Note |
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algorithm |
MPIO |
round_robin |
Set by Host Utilities |
hcheck_cmd |
MPIO |
inquiry |
Set by Host Utilities |
hcheck_interval |
MPIO |
30 |
Set by Host Utilities |
hcheck_mode |
MPIO |
nonactive |
Set by Host Utilities |
lun_reset_spt |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
yes |
Set by Host Utilities |
max_transfer |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
FC LUNs: 0x100000 bytes |
Set by Host Utilities |
qfull_dly |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
2-second delay |
Set by Host Utilities |
queue_depth |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
64 |
Set by Host Utilities |
reserve_policy |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
no_reserve |
Set by Host Utilities |
rw_timeout (disk) |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
30 seconds |
Uses OS Default values |
dyntrk |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
Yes |
Uses OS Default values |
fc_err_recov |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
Fast_fail |
Uses OS Default values |
q_type |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
simple |
Uses OS Default values |
num_cmd_elems |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
1024 for AIX |
FC EN1B, FC EN1C |
num_cmd_elems |
MPIO / non-MPIO |
1024 for AIX |
FC EN0G |
Recommended settings for MetroCluster
By default, the AIX operating system enforces a shorter I/O timeout when no paths to a LUN are available. This might occur in configurations including single-switch SAN fabric and MetroCluster configurations that experience unplanned failovers. For additional information and recommended changes to default settings, refer to NetApp KB1001318
AIX support with SnapMirror active sync
Beginning with ONTAP 9.11.1, AIX is supported with SnapMirror active sync. With an AIX configuration, the primary cluster is the "active" cluster.
In an AIX configuration, failovers are disruptive. With each failover, you will need to perform a re-scan on the host for I/O operations to resume.
To configure AIX for SnapMirror active sync, refer to the Knowledge Base article How to configure an AIX host for SnapMirror active sync.
Known issues
The IBM AIX 7.2 and/or PowerVM (VIOS 3.1) with ONTAP release has the following known issues:
NetApp Bug ID | Title | Description | Partner ID |
---|---|---|---|
AIX 7200-05-01 encountered I/O disruption on virtual iSCSI disks(VIOS 3.1.1.x) during storage failover |
I/O disruption can happen during storage failover operations on AIX 7.2 TL5 hosts on the virtual iSCSI disks mapped through the VIOS 3.1.1.x. By default, the |
NA |
|
AIX 7.2 TL04 encountered I/O disruption on virtual iSCSI disks(VIOS 3.1.1.x) during storage failover |
I/O disruption can happen during storage failover operations on AIX 7.2 TL4 hosts on the virtual iSCSI disks mapped through the VIOS 3.1.1.x. By default, the |
NA |
|
Seeing I/O issues on VIOS 3.1.1.10 during SFO faults and straight I/O |
On VIOS 3.1.1 IO failures may be seen on NPIV client disk which are backed by 16/32Gb FC adapters. Also, a |
NA |