Configure SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx for NVMe-oF with ONTAP storage

01/28/2026 Contributors

The SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx host supports the NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) and NVMe over TCP (NVMe/TCP) protocols with Asymmetric Namespace Access (ANA). ANA provides multipathing functionality equivalent to asymmetric logical unit access (ALUA) in iSCSI and FCP environments.

Learn how to configure NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) hosts for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx. For more support and feature information, see ONTAP support and features.

NVMe-oF with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx has the following known limitations:

The nvme disconnect-all command disconnects both root and data filesystems and might lead to system instability. Do not issue this on systems booting from SAN over NVMe-TCP or NVMe-FC namespaces.
NetApp sanlun host utility support isn't available for NVMe-oF. Instead, you can rely on the NetApp plug-in included in the native nvme-cli package for all NVMe-oF transports.
For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 and earlier, SAN booting using the NVMe-oF protocol is not supported.

Step 1: Optionally, enable SAN booting

You can configure your host to use SAN booting to simplify deployment and improve scalability. Use the Interoperability Matrix Tool to verify that your Linux OS, host bus adapter (HBA), HBA firmware, HBA boot BIOS, and ONTAP version support SAN booting.

Steps

Create a NVMe namespace and map it to the host.
Enable SAN booting in the server BIOS for the ports to which the SAN boot namespace is mapped.

For information on how to enable the HBA BIOS, see your vendor-specific documentation.
Reboot the host and verify that the OS is up and running.

Step 2: Install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and NVMe software and verify your configuration

To configure your host for NVMe-oF you need to install the host and NVMe software packages, enable multipathing, and verify your host NQN configuration.

Steps

Install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx on the server. After the installation is complete, verify that you are running the specified SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx kernel:
```
uname -r
```
Example Rocky Linux kernel version:
```
6.4.0-150700.53.3-default
```
Install the nvme-cli package:
```
rpm -qa|grep nvme-cli
```
The following example shows an nvme-cli package version:
```
nvme-cli-2.11+22.gd31b1a01-150700.3.3.2.x86_64
```
Install the libnvme package:
```
rpm -qa|grep libnvme
```
The following example shows an libnvme package version:
```
libnvme1-1.11+4.ge68a91ae-150700.4.3.2.x86_64
```
On the host, check the hostnqn string at /etc/nvme/hostnqn:
```
cat /etc/nvme/hostnqn
```
The following example shows a hostnqn version:
```
nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:f6517cae-3133-11e8-bbff-7ed30aef123f
```

On the ONTAP system, verify that the hostnqn string matches the hostnqn string for the corresponding subsystem on the ONTAP array:

::> vserver nvme subsystem host show -vserver vs_coexistence_LPE36002

Show example

Vserver Subsystem Priority  Host NQN
------- --------- --------  ------------------------------------------------
vs_coexistence_LPE36002
        nvme
                  regular   nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0056-5410-8048-b9c04f425633
        nvme_1
                  regular   nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0056-5410-8048-b9c04f425633
        nvme_2
                  regular   nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0056-5410-8048-b9c04f425633
        nvme_3
                  regular   nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0056-5410-8048-b9c04f425633
4 entries were displayed.

If the hostnqn strings do not match, use the vserver modify command to update the hostnqn string on your corresponding ONTAP array subsystem to match the hostnqn string from /etc/nvme/hostnqn on the host.

Step 3: Configure NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP

Configure NVMe/FC with Broadcom/Emulex or Marvell/QLogic adapters, or configure NVMe/TCP using manual discovery and connect operations.

NVMe/FC - Broadcom/Emulex

Configure NVMe/FC for a Broadcom/Emulex FC adapter.

Steps

Verify that you are using the supported adapter model:

Display the model names:

cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/modelname

You should see the following output:

LPe36002-M64
LPe36002-M64

Display the model descriptions:

cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/modeldesc

You should see the following output:

Emulex LightPulse LPe36002-M64 2-Port 64Gb Fibre Channel Adapter
Emulex LightPulse LPe36002-M64 2-Port 64Gb Fibre Channel Adapter

Verify that you are using the recommended Broadcom lpfc firmware and inbox driver:
1. Display the firmware version:
  cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/fwrev
  The following example shows firmware versions:
  14.4.393.25, sli-4:2:c 14.4.393.25, sli-4:2:c
2. Display the inbox driver version:
  cat /sys/module/lpfc/version
  The following example shows a driver version:
  0:14.4.0.8
For the current list of supported adapter driver and firmware versions, see the Interoperability Matrix Tool.
Verify that the expected output of lpfc_enable_fc4_type is set to 3:
```
cat /sys/module/lpfc/parameters/lpfc_enable_fc4_type
```
Verify that you can view your initiator ports:
```
cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/port_name
```
You should see an output similar to:
```
0x10000090fae0ec88
0x10000090fae0ec89
```
Verify that your initiator ports are online:
```
cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/port_state
```
You should see the following output:
```
Online
Online
```

Verify that the NVMe/FC initiator ports are enabled and that the target ports are visible:

cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/nvme_info

Show example output

NVME Initiator Enabled
XRI Dist lpfc0 Total 6144 IO 5894 ELS 250
NVME LPORT lpfc0 WWPN x10000090fae0ec88 WWNN x20000090fae0ec88 DID x0a1300 ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x23b1d039ea359e4a WWNN x23aed039ea359e4a DID x0a1c01 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x22bbd039ea359e4a WWNN x22b8d039ea359e4a DID x0a1c0b TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x2362d039ea359e4a WWNN x234ed039ea359e4a DID x0a1c10 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x23afd039ea359e4a WWNN x23aed039ea359e4a DID x0a1a02 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x22b9d039ea359e4a WWNN x22b8d039ea359e4a DID x0a1a0b TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x2360d039ea359e4a WWNN x234ed039ea359e4a DID x0a1a11 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE

NVME Statistics
LS: Xmt 0000004ea0 Cmpl 0000004ea0 Abort 00000000
LS XMIT: Err 00000000  CMPL: xb 00000000 Err 00000000
Total FCP Cmpl 0000000000102c35 Issue 0000000000102c2d OutIO fffffffffffffff8
        abort 00000175 noxri 00000000 nondlp 0000021d qdepth 00000000 wqerr 00000007 err 00000000
FCP CMPL: xb 00000175 Err 0000058b

NVME Initiator Enabled
XRI Dist lpfc1 Total 6144 IO 5894 ELS 250
NVME LPORT lpfc1 WWPN x10000090fae0ec89 WWNN x20000090fae0ec89 DID x0a1200 ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x23b2d039ea359e4a WWNN x23aed039ea359e4a DID x0a1d01 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x22bcd039ea359e4a WWNN x22b8d039ea359e4a DID x0a1d0b TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x2363d039ea359e4a WWNN x234ed039ea359e4a DID x0a1d10 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x23b0d039ea359e4a WWNN x23aed039ea359e4a DID x0a1b02 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x22bad039ea359e4a WWNN x22b8d039ea359e4a DID x0a1b0b TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x2361d039ea359e4a WWNN x234ed039ea359e4a DID x0a1b11 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE

NVME Statistics
LS: Xmt 0000004e31 Cmpl 0000004e31 Abort 00000000
LS XMIT: Err 00000000  CMPL: xb 00000000 Err 00000000
Total FCP Cmpl 00000000001017f2 Issue 00000000001017ef OutIO fffffffffffffffd
        abort 0000018a noxri 00000000 nondlp 0000012e qdepth 00000000 wqerr 00000004 err 00000000
FCP CMPL: xb 0000018a Err 000005ca

NVMe/FC - Marvell/QLogic

Configure NVMe/FC for a Marvell/QLogic adapter.

Steps

Verify that you are running the supported adapter driver and firmware versions:

cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/symbolic_name

The follow example shows driver and firmware versions:

QLE2742 FW:v9.14.00 DVR:v10.02.09.400-k-debug
QLE2742 FW:v9.14.00 DVR:v10.02.09.400-k-debug

Verify that ql2xnvmeenable is set. This enables the Marvell adapter to function as an NVMe/FC initiator:
```
cat /sys/module/qla2xxx/parameters/ql2xnvmeenable
```
The expected output is 1.

NVMe/TCP

The NVMe/TCP protocol doesn't support the auto-connect operation. Instead, you can discover the NVMe/TCP subsystems and namespaces by performing the NVMe/TCP connect or connect-all operations manually.

Steps

Verify that the initiator port can fetch the discovery log page data across the supported NVMe/TCP LIFs:

nvme discover -t tcp -w <host-traddr> -a <traddr>

Show example output

nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.111.80 -a 192.168.111.70

Discovery Log Number of Records 8, Generation counter 42
=====Discovery Log Entry 0======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  4
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:discovery
traddr:  192.168.211.71
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 1======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  3
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:discovery
traddr:  192.168.111.71
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 2======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  2
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:discovery
traddr:  192.168.211.70
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 3======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  1
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:discovery
traddr:  192.168.111.70
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 4======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  4
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:subsystem.sample_tcp_sub
traddr:  192.168.211.71
eflags:  none
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 5======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  3
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:subsystem.sample_tcp_sub
traddr:  192.168.111.71
eflags:  none
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 6======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  2
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:subsystem.sample_tcp_sub
traddr:  192.168.211.70
eflags:  none
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 7======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  1
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:subsystem.sample_tcp_sub
traddr:  192.168.111.70
eflags:  none
sectype: none
localhost:~ #

Verify that all other NVMe/TCP initiator-target LIF combinations can successfully fetch discovery log page data:

nvme discover -t tcp -w <host-traddr> -a <traddr>

Show example

nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.111.80 -a 192.168.111.66
nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.111.80 -a 192.168.111.67
nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.211.80 -a 192.168.211.66
nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.211.80 -a 192.168.211.67

Run the nvme connect-all command across all the supported NVMe/TCP initiator-target LIFs across the nodes:

nvme connect-all -t tcp -w <host-traddr> -a <traddr>

Show example

nvme	connect-all	-t	tcp	-w	192.168.111.80	-a	192.168.111.66
nvme	connect-all	-t	tcp	-w	192.168.111.80	-a	192.168.111.67
nvme	connect-all	-t	tcp	-w	192.168.211.80	-a	192.168.211.66
nvme	connect-all	-t	tcp	-w	192.168.211.80	-a	192.168.211.67

Beginning with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6, the setting for the NVMe/TCP ctrl_loss_tmo timeout is automatically set to "off". As a result:

There are no limits on the number of retries (indefinite retry).
You don't need to manually configure a specific ctrl_loss_tmo timeout duration when using the nvme connect or nvme connect-all commands (option -l ).
The NVMe/TCP controllers don't experience timeouts in the event of a path failure and remain connected indefinitely.

Step 4: Optionally, modify the iopolicy in the udev rules

Beginning with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6, the default iopolicy for NVMe-oF is set to round-robin. If you want to change the iopolicy to queue-depth, modify the udev rules file as follows:

Steps

Open the udev rules file in a text editor with root privileges:
```
/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/71-nvmf-netapp.rules
```
You should see the following output:
```
vi /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/71-nvmf-netapp.rules
```

Find the line that sets iopolicy for the NetApp ONTAP Controller, as shown in the following example rule:

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="nvme-subsystem", ATTR{subsystype}=="nvm", ATTR{model}=="NetApp ONTAP Controller", ATTR{iopolicy}="round-robin"

Modify the rule so that round-robin becomes queue-depth:

ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="nvme-subsystem", ATTR{subsystype}=="nvm", ATTR{model}=="NetApp ONTAP Controller", ATTR{iopolicy}="queue-depth"

Reload the udev rules and apply the changes:

udevadm control --reload
udevadm trigger --subsystem-match=nvme-subsystem

Verify the current iopolicy for your subsystem. Replace <subsystem>, for example, nvme-subsys0.
```
cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/<subsystem>/iopolicy
```
You should see the following output:
```
queue-depth.
```

The new iopolicy applies automatically to matching NetApp ONTAP Controller devices. You don't need to reboot.

Step 5: Optionally, enable 1MB I/O for NVMe/FC

ONTAP reports a Max Data Transfer Size (MDTS) of 8 in the Identify Controller data. This means the maximum I/O request size can be up to 1MB. To issue I/O requests of size 1MB for a Broadcom NVMe/FC host, you should increase the lpfc value of the lpfc_sg_seg_cnt parameter to 256 from the default value of 64.

These steps don't apply to Qlogic NVMe/FC hosts.

Steps

Set the lpfc_sg_seg_cnt parameter to 256:
```
cat /etc/modprobe.d/lpfc.conf
```
You should see an output similar to the following example:
```
options lpfc lpfc_sg_seg_cnt=256
```
Run the dracut -f command, and reboot the host.

Verify that the value for lpfc_sg_seg_cnt is 256:

cat /sys/module/lpfc/parameters/lpfc_sg_seg_cnt

Step 6: Verify NVMe boot services

The nvmefc-boot-connections.service and nvmf-autoconnect.service boot services included in the NVMe/FC nvme-cli package are automatically enabled when the system boots.

After booting completes, verify that the nvmefc-boot-connections.service and nvmf-autoconnect.service boot services are enabled.

Steps

Verify that nvmf-autoconnect.service is enabled:

systemctl status nvmf-autoconnect.service

Show example output

nvmf-autoconnect.service - Connect NVMe-oF subsystems automatically during boot
  Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nvmf-autoconnect.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
  Active: inactive (dead) since Fri 2025-07-04 23:56:38 IST; 4 days ago
  Main PID: 12208 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    CPU: 62ms

Jul 04 23:56:26 localhost systemd[1]: Starting Connect NVMe-oF subsystems automatically during boot...
Jul 04 23:56:38 localhost systemd[1]: nvmf-autoconnect.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jul 04 23:56:38 localhost systemd[1]: Finished Connect NVMe-oF subsystems automatically during boot.

Verify that nvmefc-boot-connections.service is enabled:

systemctl status nvmefc-boot-connections.service

Show example output

nvmefc-boot-connections.service - Auto-connect to subsystems on FC-NVME devices found during boot
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nvmefc-boot-connections.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
    Active: inactive (dead) since Mon 2025-07-07 19:52:30 IST; 1 day 4h ago
  Main PID: 2945 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
      CPU: 14ms

Jul 07 19:52:30 HP-DL360-14-168 systemd[1]: Starting Auto-connect to subsystems on FC-NVME devices found during boot...
Jul 07 19:52:30 HP-DL360-14-168 systemd[1]: nvmefc-boot-connections.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jul 07 19:52:30 HP-DL360-14-168 systemd[1]: Finished Auto-connect to subsystems on FC-NVME devices found during boot.

Step 7: Verify the multipathing configuration

Verify that the in-kernel NVMe multipath status, ANA status, and ONTAP namespaces are correct for the NVMe-oF configuration.

Steps

Verify that the in-kernel NVMe multipath is enabled:
```
cat /sys/module/nvme_core/parameters/multipath
```
You should see the following output:
```
Y
```
Verify that the appropriate NVMe-oF settings (such as, model set to NetApp ONTAP Controller and load balancing iopolicy set to queue-depth) for the respective ONTAP namespaces correctly reflect on the host:
1. Display the subsystems:
  cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys*/model
  You should see the following output:
  NetApp ONTAP Controller NetApp ONTAP Controller
2. Display the policy:
  cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys*/iopolicy
  You should see the following output:
  queue-depth queue-depth

Verify that the namespaces are created and correctly discovered on the host:

nvme list

Show example

Node         SN                   Model
---------------------------------------------------------
/dev/nvme4n1 81Ix2BVuekWcAAAAAAAB	NetApp ONTAP Controller


Namespace Usage    Format             FW             Rev
-----------------------------------------------------------
1                 21.47 GB / 21.47 GB	4 KiB + 0 B   FFFFFFFF

Verify that the controller state of each path is live and has the correct ANA status:

NVMe/FC

nvme list-subsys /dev/nvme4n5

Show example output

nvme-subsys114 - NQN=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.9e30b9760a4911f08c87d039eab67a95:subsystem.sles_161_27
                 hostnqn=nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:f6517cae-3133-11e8-bbff-7ed30aef123f
iopolicy=round-robin\
+- nvme114 fc traddr=nn-0x234ed039ea359e4a:pn-0x2360d039ea359e4a,host_traddr=nn-0x20000090fae0ec88:pn-0x10000090fae0ec88 live optimized
+- nvme115 fc traddr=nn-0x234ed039ea359e4a:pn-0x2362d039ea359e4a,host_traddr=nn-0x20000090fae0ec88:pn-0x10000090fae0ec88 live non-optimized
+- nvme116 fc traddr=nn-0x234ed039ea359e4a:pn-0x2361d039ea359e4a,host_traddr=nn-0x20000090fae0ec89:pn-0x10000090fae0ec89 live optimized
+- nvme117 fc traddr=nn-0x234ed039ea359e4a:pn-0x2363d039ea359e4a,host_traddr=nn-0x20000090fae0ec89:pn-0x10000090fae0ec89 live non-optimized

NVMe/TCP

nvme list-subsys /dev/nvme9n1

Show example output

nvme-subsys9 - NQN=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:subsystem.with_inband_with_json hostnqn=nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33
iopolicy=round-robin
\
+- nvme10 tcp traddr=192.168.111.71,trsvcid=4420,src_addr=192.168.111.80 live non-optimized
 +- nvme11 tcp traddr=192.168.211.70,trsvcid=4420,src_addr=192.168.211.80 live optimized
 +- nvme12 tcp traddr=192.168.111.70,trsvcid=4420,src_addr=192.168.111.80 live optimized
 +- nvme9 tcp traddr=192.168.211.71,trsvcid=4420,src_addr=192.168.211.80 live non-optimized

Verify that the NetApp plug-in displays the correct values for each ONTAP namespace device:

Column

nvme netapp ontapdevices -o column

Show example

Device           Vserver                   Namespace Path                                     NSID UUID                                   Size
---------------- ------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ---- -------------------------------------- ---------
/dev/nvme0n1     vs_161                    /vol/fc_nvme_vol1/fc_nvme_ns1                      1    32fd92c7-0797-428e-a577-fdb3f14d0dc3   5.37GB

JSON

nvme netapp ontapdevices -o json

Show example

{
      "Device":"/dev/nvme98n2",
      "Vserver":"vs_161",
      "Namespace_Path":"/vol/fc_nvme_vol71/fc_nvme_ns71",
      "NSID":2,
      "UUID":"39d634c4-a75e-4fbd-ab00-3f9355a26e43",
      "LBA_Size":4096,
      "Namespace_Size":5368709120,
      "UsedBytes":430649344,
    }
  ]
}

Step 8: Create a persistent discovery controller

You can create a persistent discovery controller (PDC) for a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx host. A PDC is required to automatically detect an NVMe subsystem add or remove operation and changes to the discovery log page data.

Steps

Verify that the discovery log page data is available and can be retrieved through the initiator port and target LIF combination:

nvme discover -t <trtype> -w <host-traddr> -a <traddr>

Show example output

Discovery Log Number of Records 8, Generation counter 18
=====Discovery Log Entry 0======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  4
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:discovery
traddr:  192.168.111.66
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 1======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  2
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:discovery
traddr:  192.168.211.66
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 2======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  3
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:discovery
traddr:  192.168.111.67
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 3======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: current discovery subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  1
trsvcid: 8009
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:discovery
traddr:  192.168.211.67
eflags:  explicit discovery connections, duplicate discovery information
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 4======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  4
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:subsystem.pdc
traddr:  192.168.111.66
eflags:  none
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 5======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  2
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:subsystem.pdc
traddr:  192.168.211.66
eflags:  none
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 6======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  3
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:subsystem.pdc
traddr:  192.168.111.67
eflags:  none
sectype: none
=====Discovery Log Entry 7======
trtype:  tcp
adrfam:  ipv4
subtype: nvme subsystem
treq:    not specified
portid:  1
trsvcid: 4420
subnqn:  nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:subsystem.pdc
traddr:  192.168.211.67
eflags:  none
sectype: none

Create a PDC for the discovery subsystem:

nvme discover -t <trtype> -w <host-traddr> -a <traddr> -p

You should see the following output:

nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.111.80 -a 192.168.111.66 -p

From the ONTAP controller, verify that the PDC has been created:

vserver nvme show-discovery-controller -instance -vserver <vserver_name>

Show example output

vserver nvme show-discovery-controller -instance -vserver vs_pdc

           Vserver Name: vs_pdc
               Controller ID: 0101h
     Discovery Subsystem NQN: nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.4f7af2bd221811f0afadd039eab0dadd:discovery
           Logical Interface: lif2
                        Node: A400-12-181
                    Host NQN: nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:9796c1ec-0d34-11eb-b6b2-3a68dd3bab57
          Transport Protocol: nvme-tcp
 Initiator Transport Address: 192.168.111.80
Transport Service Identifier: 8009
             Host Identifier: 9796c1ec0d3411ebb6b23a68dd3bab57
           Admin Queue Depth: 32
       Header Digest Enabled: false
         Data Digest Enabled: false
   Keep-Alive Timeout (msec): 30000

Step 9: Set up secure in-band authentication

Secure in-band authentication is supported over NVMe/TCP between a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx host and an ONTAP controller.

Each host or controller must be associated with a DH-HMAC-CHAP key to set up secure authentication. A DH-HMAC-CHAP key is a combination of the NQN of the NVMe host or controller and an authentication secret configured by the administrator. To authenticate its peer, an NVMe host or controller must recognize the key associated with the peer.

Steps

Set up secure in-band authentication using the CLI or a config JSON file. If you need to specify different dhchap keys for different subsystems, you must use a config JSON file.

CLI

Set up secure in-band authentication using the CLI.

Obtain the host NQN:
```
cat /etc/nvme/hostnqn
```

Generate the dhchap key for the host.

The following output describes the gen-dhchap-key command paramters:

nvme gen-dhchap-key -s optional_secret -l key_length {32|48|64} -m HMAC_function {0|1|2|3} -n host_nqn
•	-s secret key in hexadecimal characters to be used to initialize the host key
•	-l length of the resulting key in bytes
•	-m HMAC function to use for key transformation
0 = none, 1- SHA-256, 2 = SHA-384, 3=SHA-512
•	-n host NQN to use for key transformation

In the following example, a random dhchap key with HMAC set to 3 (SHA-512) is generated.

nvme gen-dhchap-key -m 3 -n nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:e6dade64-216d-11ec-b7bb-7ed30a5482c3
DHHC-1:03:1CFivw9ccz58gAcOUJrM7Vs98hd2ZHSr+iw+Amg6xZPl5D2Yk+HDTZiUAg1iGgxTYqnxukqvYedA55Bw3wtz6sJNpR4=:

On the ONTAP controller, add the host and specify both dhchap keys:

vserver nvme subsystem host add -vserver <svm_name> -subsystem <subsystem> -host-nqn <host_nqn> -dhchap-host-secret <authentication_host_secret> -dhchap-controller-secret <authentication_controller_secret> -dhchap-hash-function {sha-256|sha-512} -dhchap-group {none|2048-bit|3072-bit|4096-bit|6144-bit|8192-bit}

A host supports two types of authentication methods, unidirectional and bidirectional. On the host, connect to the ONTAP controller and specify dhchap keys based on the chosen authentication method:
```
nvme connect -t tcp -w <host-traddr> -a <tr-addr> -n <host_nqn> -S <authentication_host_secret> -C <authentication_controller_secret>
```

Validate the nvme connect authentication command by verifying the host and controller dhchap keys:

Verify the host dhchap keys:

cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/<nvme-subsysX>/nvme*/dhchap_secret

Show example output for a unidirectional configuration

cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys1/nvme*/dhchap_secret
DHHC-1:01:iM63E6cX7G5SOKKOju8gmzM53qywsy+C/YwtzxhIt9ZRz+ky:
DHHC-1:01:iM63E6cX7G5SOKKOju8gmzM53qywsy+C/YwtzxhIt9ZRz+ky:
DHHC-1:01:iM63E6cX7G5SOKKOju8gmzM53qywsy+C/YwtzxhIt9ZRz+ky:
DHHC-1:01:iM63E6cX7G5SOKKOju8gmzM53qywsy+C/YwtzxhIt9ZRz+ky:

Verify the controller dhchap keys:

cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/<nvme-subsysX>/nvme*/dhchap_ctrl_secret

Show example output for a bidirectional configuration

cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys6/nvme*/dhchap_ctrl_secret
DHHC-1:03:1CFivw9ccz58gAcOUJrM7Vs98hd2ZHSr+iw+Amg6xZPl5D2Yk+HDTZiUAg1iGgxTYqnxukqvYedA55Bw3wtz6sJNpR4=:
DHHC-1:03:1CFivw9ccz58gAcOUJrM7Vs98hd2ZHSr+iw+Amg6xZPl5D2Yk+HDTZiUAg1iGgxTYqnxukqvYedA55Bw3wtz6sJNpR4=:
DHHC-1:03:1CFivw9ccz58gAcOUJrM7Vs98hd2ZHSr+iw+Amg6xZPl5D2Yk+HDTZiUAg1iGgxTYqnxukqvYedA55Bw3wtz6sJNpR4=:
DHHC-1:03:1CFivw9ccz58gAcOUJrM7Vs98hd2ZHSr+iw+Amg6xZPl5D2Yk+HDTZiUAg1iGgxTYqnxukqvYedA55Bw3wtz6sJNpR4=:

JSON

When multiple NVMe subsystems are available on the ONTAP controller configuration, you can use the /etc/nvme/config.json file with the nvme connect-all command.

Use the -o option to generate the JSON file. Refer to the NVMe connect-all man pages for more syntax options.

Configure the JSON file:

Show example output

cat /etc/nvme/config.json
[
 {
    "hostnqn":"nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33",
    "hostid":"4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33",
    "dhchap_key":"DHHC-1:01:i4i789R11sMuHLCY27RVI8XloC\/GzjRwyhxip5hmIELsHrBq:",
    "subsystems":[
      {
        "nqn":"nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.f8e2af201b7211f0ac2bd039eab67a95:subsystem.sample_tcp_sub",
        "ports":[
          {
            "transport":"tcp",
            "traddr":"192.168.111.70",
            "host_traddr":"192.168.111.80",
            "trsvcid":"4420"
            "dhchap_ctrl_key":"DHHC-1:03:jqgYcJSKp73+XqAf2X6twr9ngBpr2n0MGWbmZIZq4PieKZCoilKGef8lAvhYS0PNK7T+04YD5CRPjh+m3qjJU++yR8s=:"
          },
               {
                    "transport":"tcp",
                    "traddr":"192.168.111.71",
                    "host_traddr":"192.168.111.80",
                    "trsvcid":"4420",
                    "dhchap_ctrl_key":"DHHC-1:03:jqgYcJSKp73+XqAf2X6twr9ngBpr2n0MGWbmZIZq4PieKZCoilKGef8lAvhYS0PNK7T+04YD5CRPjh+m3qjJU++yR8s=:"
               },
               {
                    "transport":"tcp",
                    "traddr":"192.168.211.70",
                    "host_traddr":"192.168.211.80",
                    "trsvcid":"4420",
                    "dhchap_ctrl_key":"DHHC-1:03:jqgYcJSKp73+XqAf2X6twr9ngBpr2n0MGWbmZIZq4PieKZCoilKGef8lAvhYS0PNK7T+04YD5CRPjh+m3qjJU++yR8s=:"
               },
               {
                    "transport":"tcp",
                    "traddr":"192.168.211.71",
                    "host_traddr":"192.168.211.80",
                    "trsvcid":"4420",
                    "dhchap_ctrl_key":"DHHC-1:03:jqgYcJSKp73+XqAf2X6twr9ngBpr2n0MGWbmZIZq4PieKZCoilKGef8lAvhYS0PNK7T+04YD5CRPjh+m3qjJU++yR8s=:"
               }
           ]
       }
   ]
 }
]

In the following example, dhchap_key corresponds to dhchap_secret and dhchap_ctrl_key corresponds to dhchap_ctrl_secret.

Connect to the ONTAP controller using the config JSON file:

nvme connect-all -J /etc/nvme/config.json

Show example output

traddr=192.168.211.70 is already connected
traddr=192.168.111.71 is already connected
traddr=192.168.211.71 is already connected
traddr=192.168.111.70 is already connected
traddr=192.168.211.70 is already connected
traddr=192.168.111.70 is already connected
traddr=192.168.211.71 is already connected
traddr=192.168.111.71 is already connected
traddr=192.168.211.70 is already connected
traddr=192.168.111.71 is already connected
traddr=192.168.211.71 is already connected
traddr=192.168.111.70 is already connected

Verify that the dhchap secrets have been enabled for the respective controllers for each subsystem:

Verify the host dhchap keys:

cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys0/nvme0/dhchap_secret

The following example shows a dhchap key:

DHHC-1:01:i4i789R11sMuHLCY27RVI8XloC/GzjRwyhxip5hmIELsHrBq:

Verify the controller dhchap keys:

cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys0/nvme0/dhchap_ctrl_secret

You should see an output similar to the following example:

DHHC-1:03:jqgYcJSKp73+XqAf2X6twr9ngBpr2n0MGWbmZIZq4PieKZCoilKGef8lAvhYS0PNK7T+04YD5CRPjh+m3qjJU++yR8s=:

Step 10: Configure Transport Layer Security

Transport Layer Security (TLS) provides secure end-to-end encryption for NVMe connections between NVMe-oF hosts and an ONTAP array. You can configure TLS 1.3 using the CLI and a configured pre-shared key (PSK).

Perform the following steps on the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server host, except where it specifies that you perform a step on the ONTAP controller.

Steps

Check that you have the following ktls-utils, openssl, and libopenssl packages installed on the host:
1. Verify the ktls-utils:
  rpm -qa | grep ktls
  You should see the following output displayed:
  ktls-utils-0.10+33.g311d943-150700.1.5.x86_64
2. Verify the SSL packages:
  rpm -qa | grep ssl
  Show example output
  libopenssl3-3.2.3-150700.3.20.x86_64 openssl-3-3.2.3-150700.3.20.x86_64 libopenssl1_1-1.1.1w-150700.9.37.x86_64

Verify that you have the correct setup for /etc/tlshd.conf:

cat /etc/tlshd.conf

Show example output

[debug]
loglevel=0
tls=0
nl=0
[authenticate]
keyrings=.nvme
[authenticate.client]
#x509.truststore= <pathname>
#x509.certificate= <pathname>
#x509.private_key= <pathname>
[authenticate.server]
#x509.truststore= <pathname>
#x509.certificate= <pathname>
#x509.private_key= <pathname>

Enable tlshd to start at system boot:
```
systemctl enable tlshd
```

Verify that the tlshd daemon is running:

systemctl status tlshd

Show example output

tlshd.service - Handshake service for kernel TLS consumers
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/tlshd.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Wed 2024-08-21 15:46:53 IST; 4h 57min ago
     Docs: man:tlshd(8)
Main PID: 961 (tlshd)
   Tasks: 1
     CPU: 46ms
   CGroup: /system.slice/tlshd.service
       └─961 /usr/sbin/tlshd
Aug 21 15:46:54 RX2530-M4-17-153 tlshd[961]: Built from ktls-utils 0.11-dev on Mar 21 2024 12:00:00

Generate the TLS PSK by using the nvme gen-tls-key:

Verify the host:

cat /etc/nvme/hostnqn

You should see the following output:

nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33

Verify the key:

nvme gen-tls-key --hmac=1 --identity=1 --subsysnqn= nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.a2d41235b78211efb57dd039eab67a95:subsystem.nvme1

You should see the following output:

NVMeTLSkey-1:01:C50EsaGtuOp8n5fGE9EuWjbBCtshmfoHx4XTqTJUmydf0gIj:

On the ONTAP controller, add the TLS PSK to the ONTAP subsystem:

Show example output

nvme subsystem host add -vserver vs_iscsi_tcp -subsystem nvme1 -host-nqn nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33 -tls-configured-psk NVMeTLSkey-1:01:C50EsaGtuOp8n5fGE9EuWjbBCtshmfoHx4XTqTJUmydf0gIj:

Insert the TLS PSK into the host kernel keyring:

nvme check-tls-key --identity=1 --subsysnqn=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.a2d41235b78211efb57dd039eab67a95:subsystem.nvme1 --keydata=NVMeTLSkey-1:01:C50EsaGtuOp8n5fGE9EuWjbBCtshmfoHx4XTqTJUmydf0gIj: --insert

You should see the following TLS key:

Inserted TLS key 22152a7e

The PSK shows as NVMe1R01 because it uses identity v1 from the TLS handshake algorithm. Identity v1 is the only version that ONTAP supports.

Verify that the TLS PSK is inserted correctly:

cat /proc/keys | grep NVMe

Show example output

069f56bb I--Q---     5 perm 3b010000     0     0 psk       NVMe1R01 nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33 nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.a2d41235b78211efb57dd039eab67a95:subsystem.nvme1 oYVLelmiOwnvDjXKBmrnIgGVpFIBDJtc4hmQXE/36Sw=: 32

Connect to the ONTAP subsystem using the inserted TLS PSK:

Verify the TLS PSK:

nvme connect -t tcp -w 192.168.111.80 -a 192.168.111.66  -n nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.a2d41235b78211efb57dd039eab67a95:subsystem.nvme1 --tls_key=0x069f56bb –tls

You should see the following output:

connecting to device: nvme0

Verify the list-subsys:

nvme list-subsys

Show example output

nvme-subsys0 - NQN=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.a2d41235b78211efb57dd039eab67a95:subsystem.nvme1
               hostnqn=nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33
\
 +- nvme0 tcp traddr=192.168.111.66,trsvcid=4420,host_traddr=192.168.111.80,src_addr=192.168.111.80 live

Add the target, and verify the TLS connection to the specified ONTAP subsystem:

nvme subsystem controller show -vserver sles15_tls -subsystem sles15 -instance

Show example output

(vserver nvme subsystem controller show)
                          Vserver Name: vs_iscsi_tcp
                          Subsystem: nvme1
                      Controller ID: 0040h
                  Logical Interface: tcpnvme_lif1_1
                               Node: A400-12-181
                           Host NQN: nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33
                 Transport Protocol: nvme-tcp
        Initiator Transport Address: 192.168.111.80
                    Host Identifier: 4c4c454400355910804bb2c04f444d33
               Number of I/O Queues: 2
                   I/O Queue Depths: 128, 128
                  Admin Queue Depth: 32
              Max I/O Size in Bytes: 1048576
          Keep-Alive Timeout (msec): 5000
                     Subsystem UUID: 8bbfb403-1602-11f0-ac2b-d039eab67a95
              Header Digest Enabled: false
                Data Digest Enabled: false
       Authentication Hash Function: sha-256
Authentication Diffie-Hellman Group: 3072-bit
                Authentication Mode: unidirectional
       Transport Service Identifier: 4420
                       TLS Key Type: configured
                   TLS PSK Identity: NVMe1R01 nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0035-5910-804b-b2c04f444d33 nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.a2d41235b78211efb57dd039eab67a95:subsystem.nvme1 oYVLelmiOwnvDjXKBmrnIgGVpFIBDJtc4hmQXE/36Sw=
                         TLS Cipher: TLS-AES-128-GCM-SHA256

Step 11: Review the known issues

There are no known issues.

Configure SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SPx for NVMe-oF with ONTAP storage

Creating your file...

Step 1: Optionally, enable SAN booting

Step 2: Install SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and NVMe software and verify your configuration

Step 3: Configure NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP

Step 4: Optionally, modify the iopolicy in the udev rules

Step 5: Optionally, enable 1MB I/O for NVMe/FC

Step 6: Verify NVMe boot services

Step 7: Verify the multipathing configuration

Step 8: Create a persistent discovery controller

Step 9: Set up secure in-band authentication

Step 10: Configure Transport Layer Security

Step 11: Review the known issues