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NVMe/FC Host Configuration for Oracle Linux 8.3 with ONTAP

Contributors netapp-ranuk netapp-pcarriga
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You can configure NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) on initiator hosts running Oracle Linux 8.3 and ONTAP as the target.

Supportability

NVMe over Fabrics or NVMe-oF (including NVMe/FC) is supported with Oracle Linux 8.3 with Asymmetric Namespace Access (ANA) required for surviving storage failovers (SFOs) on the ONTAP array. ANA is the ALUA equivalent in the NVMe-oF environment and is currently implemented with in-kernel NVMe Multipath. Using this procedure, you can enable NVMe-oF with in-kernel NVMe Multipath using ANA on OL 8.3 and ONTAP as the target.

Note You can use the configuration settings provided in this document to configure cloud clients connected to Cloud Volumes ONTAP and Amazon FSx for ONTAP.

Features

  • Oracle Linux 8.3 has in-kernel NVMe multipath enabled by default for NVMe namespaces.

  • With Oracle Linux 8.3, nvme-fc auto-connect scripts are included in the native nvme-cli package. You can use these native auto-connect scripts instead of installing external vendor provided outbox auto-connect scripts.

  • With Oracle Linux 8.3, a native udev rule is provided as part of the nvme-cli package which enables round-robin load balancing for NVMe multipath. Therefore, you do not need to manually create this rule anymore.

  • With Oracle Linux 8.3, both NVMe and SCSI traffic can be run on the same co-existent host. In fact, that is expected to be the commonly deployed host configuration. So for SCSI, you can configure dm-multipath as usual for SCSI LUNs resulting in mpath devices whereas NVMe multipath can be used to configure NVMe-oF multipath devices (for example, /dev/nvmeXnY) on the host.

  • With Oracle Linux 8.3, the NetApp plugin in the native nvme-cli package is capable of displaying ONTAP details as well as ONTAP namespaces.

Known limitations

SAN booting using the NVMe-oF protocol is currently not supported.

Configuration requirements

Refer to the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool (IMT) for the current list of supported configurations.

Enable NVMe/FC with Oracle Linux 8.3

Steps

  1. Install Oracle Linux 8.3 GA on the server. After the installation is complete, verify that you are running the specified Oracle Linux 8.3 GA kernel. See the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool for the most current list of supported versions.

    # uname -r
5.4.17-2011.7.4.el8uek.x86_64

  2. Install the nvme-cli package.

    # rpm -qa|grep nvme-cli

nvme-cli-1.12-2.el8.x86_64_

  3. On the Oracle Linux 8.3 host, check the hostnqn string at /etc/nvme/hostnqn and verify that it matches the hostnqn string for the corresponding subsystem on the ONTAP array.

    #cat /etc/nvme/hostnqn
nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:446c21ab-f4c1-47ed-9a8f-1def96f3fed2

::> vserver nvme subsystem host show -vserver vs_coexistance_2
Vserver   Subsystem      Host NQN
------- --------- ----------------------------------------------------------
vs_coexistance_2 nvme_1 nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:446c21ab-f4c1-47ed-9a8f-1def96f3fed2
    Note If the hostnqn strings do not match, you should use the vserver modify command to update the hostnqn string on your corresponding ONTAP array subsystem to match to the hostnqn string from /etc/nvme/hostnqn on the host.

  4. Reboot the host.

    Note

    If you intend to run both NVMe and SCSI traffic on the same Oracle Linux 8.3 co-existent host, NetApp recommends using the in-kernel NVMe multipath for ONTAP namespaces and dm-multipath for ONTAP LUNs respectively. This also means the ONTAP namespaces should be blacklisted in dm-multipath to prevent dm-multipath from claiming these namespace devices. This can be done by adding the enable_foreign setting to the /etc/multipath.conf file:

    #cat /etc/multipath.conf
defaults {
   enable_foreign  NONE
}

    Restart the multipathd daemon by running the systemctl restart multipathd command to let the new setting take effect.

Configure the Broadcom FC adapter for NVMe/FC

Steps

  1. Verify that you are using the supported adapter. For the most current list of supported adapters, see the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

    #cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/modelname
LPe36002-M2
LPe36002-M2
    #cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/modeldesc
Emulex LPe36002-M64 2-Port 64Gb Fibre Channel Adapter
Emulex LPe36002-M64 2-Port 64Gb Fibre Channel Adapter

  2. Verify that you are using the recommended Broadcom lpfc firmware and inbox driver. For the most current list of supported adapter drivers and firmware versions, see the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

    #cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/fwrev
12.8.351.49, sli-4:6:d
12.8.351.49, sli-4:6:d
    #cat /sys/module/lpfc/version
0:12.6.0.3

  3. Verify that the lpfc_enable_fc4_type parameter is set to 3.

    #cat /sys/module/lpfc/parameters/lpfc_enable_fc4_type
3

  4. Verify that the initiator ports are up and running, and that you can see the target LIFs.

    #cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/port_name
0x100000109bf0447b
0x100000109bf0447c
    #cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/port_state
Online
Online
    #cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/nvme_info

NVME Initiator Enabled
XRI Dist lpfc0 Total 6144 IO 5894 ELS 250
NVME LPORT lpfc0 WWPN x100000109bf0447b WWNN x200000109bf0447b DID x022400 ONLINE
NVME RPORT WWPN x20e1d039ea243510 WWNN x20e0d039ea243510 DID x0a0314 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT WWPN x20e4d039ea243510 WWNN x20e0d039ea243510 DID x0a0713 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE

NVME Statistics
LS: Xmt 00000003b6 Cmpl 00000003b6 Abort 00000000
LS XMIT: Err 00000000 CMPL: xb 00000000 Err 00000000
Total FCP Cmpl 00000000be1425e8 Issue 00000000be1425f2 OutIO 000000000000000a
abort 00000251 noxri 00000000 nondlp 00000000 qdepth 00000000 wqerr 00000000 err 00000000
FCP CMPL: xb 00000c5b Err 0000d176

NVME Initiator Enabled
XRI Dist lpfc1 Total 6144 IO 5894 ELS 250
NVME LPORT lpfc1 WWPN x100000109bf0447c WWNN x200000109bf0447c DID x021600 ONLINE
NVME RPORT WWPN x20e2d039ea243510 WWNN x20e0d039ea243510 DID x0a0213 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE
NVME RPORT WWPN x20e3d039ea243510 WWNN x20e0d039ea243510 DID x0a0614 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE

NVME Statistics
LS: Xmt 0000000419 Cmpl 0000000419 Abort 00000000
LS XMIT: Err 00000000 CMPL: xb 00000000 Err 00000000
Total FCP Cmpl 00000000be37ff65 Issue 00000000be37ff84 OutIO 000000000000001f
abort 0000025a noxri 00000000 nondlp 00000000 qdepth 00000000 wqerr 00000000 err 00000000
FCP CMPL: xb 00000c89 Err 0000cd87

Enable 1MB I/O size

ONTAP reports an MDTS (Max Data Transfer Size) 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 1 MB 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.

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

  1. Set the lpfc_sg_seg_cnt parameter to 256:

    cat /etc/modprobe.d/lpfc.conf
    options lpfc lpfc_sg_seg_cnt=256

  2. Run the dracut -f command, and reboot the host.

  3. Verify that the expected value of lpfc_sg_seg_cnt is 256:

    cat /sys/module/lpfc/parameters/lpfc_sg_seg_cnt

Configure the Marvell/QLogic FC adapter for NVMe/FC

The native inbox qla2xxx driver included in the OL 8.3 GA kernel has the latest upstream fixes. These fixes are essential for ONTAP support.

Steps

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

    #cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/symbolic_name
QLE2742 FW:v9.10.11 DVR:v10.01.00.25-k
QLE2742 FW:v9.10.11 DVR:v10.01.00.25-k

  2. Verify that the ql2xnvmeenable parameter is set which enables the Marvell adapter to function as an NVMe/FC initiator.

    #cat /sys/module/qla2xxx/parameters/ql2xnvmeenable
1

Validate NVMe/FC

Steps

  1. Verify the following NVMe/FC settings on the Oracle Linux 8.3 host.

    #cat /sys/module/nvme_core/parameters/multipath
Y

#cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys*/model
NetApp ONTAP Controller
NetApp ONTAP Controller

#cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys*/iopolicy
round-robin
round-robin

  2. Verify that the namespaces are created and correctly discoverd on the host.

    # nvme list
Node         SN                   Model                  Namespace Usage              Format FW Rev
---------------- -------------------- ---------------------------------------- --------- ------------------
/dev/nvme0n1 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 1        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n10 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 10      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n11 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 11      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n12 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 12      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n13 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 13      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n14 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 14      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n15 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 15      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n16 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 16      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n17 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 17      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n18 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 18      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n19 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 19      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n2 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 2        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n20 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 20      37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n3 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 3        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n4 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 4        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n5 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 5        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n6 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 6        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n7 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 7        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n8 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 8        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF
/dev/nvme0n9 81Ec-JRMlkL9AAAAAAAB NetApp ONTAP Controller 9        37.58 GB / 37.58 GB 4 KiB + 0 B FFFFFFFF

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

    # nvme list-subsys /dev/nvme0n1
nvme-subsys0 - NQN=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.b79f5c6e4d0911edb3a0d039ea243511:subsystem.nvme_1
\ +
+- nvme214 fc traddr=nn-0x20e0d039ea243510:pn-0x20e4d039ea243510 host_traddr=nn-0x200000109bf0447b:pn-0x100000109bf0447b live non-optimized
+- nvme219 fc traddr=nn-0x20e0d039ea243510:pn-0x20e2d039ea243510 host_traddr=nn-0x200000109bf0447c:pn-0x100000109bf0447c live optimized
+- nvme223 fc traddr=nn-0x20e0d039ea243510:pn-0x20e1d039ea243510 host_traddr=nn-0x200000109bf0447b:pn-0x100000109bf0447b live optimized
+- nvme228 fc traddr=nn-0x20e0d039ea243510:pn-0x20e3d039ea243510 host_traddr=nn-0x200000109bf0447c:pn-0x100000109bf0447c live non-optimized

  4. Verify the NetApp plug-in displays correct values for each ONTAP namespace devices.

    #nvme netapp ontapdevices -o column
Device      Vserver         Namespace Path             NSID UUID                               Size
---------------- ------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ---- ---------
/dev/nvme0n1 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_0/fcnvme_ns 1 ae10e16d-1fa4-49c2-8594-02bf6f3b1af1 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n10 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_9/fcnvme_ns 10 2cf00782-e2bf-40fe-8495-63e4501727cd 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n11 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_9/fcnvme_ns 11 fbefbe6c-90fe-46a2-8a51-47bad9e2eb95 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n12 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_0/fcnvme_ns 12 0e9cc8fa-d821-4f1c-8944-3003dcded864 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n13 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_1/fcnvme_ns 13 31f03b13-aaf9-4a3f-826b-d126ef007991 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n14 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_8/fcnvme_ns 14 bcf4627c-5bf9-4a51-a920-5da174ec9876 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n15 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_7/fcnvme_ns 15 239fd09d-11db-46a3-8e94-b5ebe6eb2421 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n16 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_2/fcnvme_ns 16 1d8004df-f2e8-48c8-8ccb-ce45f18a15ae 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n17 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_3/fcnvme_ns 17 4f7afbcf-3ace-4e6c-9245-cbf5bd155ef4 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n18 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_4/fcnvme_ns 18 b022c944-6ebf-4986-a28c-8d9e8ec130c9 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n19 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_5/fcnvme_ns 19 c457d0c7-bfea-43aa-97ef-c749d8612a72 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n2 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_1/fcnvme_ns 2 d2413d8b-e82e-4412-89d3-c9a751ed7716 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n20 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_1_6/fcnvme_ns 20 650e0d93-967d-4415-874a-36bf9c93c952 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n3 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_2/fcnvme_ns 3 09d89d9a-7835-423f-93e7-f6f3ece1dcbc 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n4 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_3/fcnvme_ns 4 d8e99326-a67c-469f-b3e9-e0e4a38c8a76 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n5 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_4/fcnvme_ns 5 c91c71f9-3e04-4844-b376-30acab6311f1 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n6 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_5/fcnvme_ns 6 4e8b4345-e5b1-4aa4-ae1a-adf0de2879ea 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n7 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_6/fcnvme_ns 7 ef715a16-a946-4bb8-8735-74f214785874 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n8 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_7/fcnvme_ns 8 4b038502-966c-49fd-9631-a17f23478ae0 37.58GB
/dev/nvme0n9 LPE36002_ASA_BL /vol/fcnvme_1_0_8/fcnvme_ns 9 f565724c-992f-41f6-83b5-da1fe741c09b 37.58GB
    #nvme netapp ontapdevices -o json
{
"ONTAPdevices" : [
{
"Device" : "/dev/nvme0n1",
"Vserver" : "LPE36002_ASA_BL",
"Namespace_Path" : "/vol/fcnvme_1_0_0/fcnvme_ns",
"NSID" : 1,
"UUID" : "ae10e16d-1fa4-49c2-8594-02bf6f3b1af1",
"Size" : "37.58GB",
"LBA_Data_Size" : 4096,
"Namespace_Size" : 9175040
},
{
"Device" : "/dev/nvme0n10",
"Vserver" : "LPE36002_ASA_BL",
"Namespace_Path" : "/vol/fcnvme_1_0_9/fcnvme_ns",
"NSID" : 10,
"UUID" : "2cf00782-e2bf-40fe-8495-63e4501727cd",
"Size" : "37.58GB",
"LBA_Data_Size" : 4096,
"Namespace_Size" : 9175040
},
{
"Device" : "/dev/nvme0n11",
"Vserver" : "LPE36002_ASA_BL",
"Namespace_Path" : "/vol/fcnvme_1_1_9/fcnvme_ns",
"NSID" : 11,
"UUID" : "fbefbe6c-90fe-46a2-8a51-47bad9e2eb95",
"Size" : "37.58GB",
"LBA_Data_Size" : 4096,
"Namespace_Size" : 9175040
},
{
"Device" : "/dev/nvme0n12",
"Vserver" : "LPE36002_ASA_BL",
"Namespace_Path" : "/vol/fcnvme_1_1_0/fcnvme_ns",
"NSID" : 12,
"UUID" : "0e9cc8fa-d821-4f1c-8944-3003dcded864",
"Size" : "37.58GB",
"LBA_Data_Size" : 4096,
"Namespace_Size" : 9175040
},
{
"Device" : "/dev/nvme0n13",
"Vserver" : "LPE36002_ASA_BL",
"Namespace_Path" : "/vol/fcnvme_1_1_1/fcnvme_ns",
"NSID" : 13,
"UUID" : "31f03b13-aaf9-4a3f-826b-d126ef007991",
"Size" : "37.58GB",
"LBA_Data_Size" : 4096,
"Namespace_Size" : 9175040
},

Known issues

The NVMe-oF host configuration for OL 8.3 with ONTAP has the following known issues:

NetApp Bug ID Title Description

1517321

Oracle Linux 8.3 NVMe-oF Hosts create duplicate Persistent Discovery Controllers

On Oracle Linux 8.3 NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) hosts, you can use the nvme discover -p command to create Persistent Discovery Controllers (PDCs). When this command is used, only one PDC should be created per initiator-target combination. However, if you are running ONTAP 9.10.1 and Oracle Linux 8.3 with an NVMe-oF host, a duplicate PDC is created each time nvme discover -p is executed. This leads to unnecessary usage of resources on both the host and the target.