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NVMe-oF host configuration for Ubuntu 24.04 with ONTAP

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NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF), including NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) and other transports, is supported with Ubuntu 24.04 and Asymmetric Namespace Access (ANA). In NVMe-oF environments, ANA is the equivalent of ALUA multipathing in iSCSI and FC environments and is implemented with in-kernel NVMe multipath.

The following support is available for the NVMe-oF host configuration for Ubuntu 24.04 with ONTAP:

  • The NetApp plug-in in the native nvme-cli package displays ONTAP details for NVMe/FC namespaces.

  • Use of NVMe and SCSI co-existent traffic on the same host on a given host bus adapter (HBA), without the explicit dm-multipath settings to prevent claiming NVMe namespaces.

For additional details on supported configurations, see the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

Features

Ubuntu 24.04 has in-kernel NVMe multipath enabled for NVMe namespaces by default. This means you don't need explicit settings.

Known limitations

SAN booting using the NVMe-oF protocol is currently not supported for Ubuntu 24.04 with ONTAP.

Validate software versions

You can use the following procedure to validate the minimum supported Ubuntu 24.04 software versions.

Steps

  1. Install Ubuntu 24.04 on the server. After the installation is complete, verify that you are running the specified Ubuntu 24.04 kernel:

    uname -r
    6.8.0-31-generic

  2. Install the nvme-cli package:

    apt list | grep nvme
    nvme-cli/noble-updates 2.8-1ubuntu0.1 amd64

  3. On the Ubuntu 24.04 host, check the hostnqn string at /etc/nvme/hostnqn:

    cat /etc/nvme/hostnqn
    nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:ace18dd8-1f5a-11ec-b0c3-3a68dd61a6ff

  4. Verify that the hostnqn string from /etc/nvme/hostnqn matches the hostnqn string for the corresponding subsystem on the ONTAP array:

    vserver nvme subsystem host show -vserver vs_106_fc_nvme
    Vserver     Subsystem          Host NQN
----------- --------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
vs_106_fc_nvme ub_106 nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:c04702c8-e91e-4353-9995-ba4536214631
    Note If the hostnqn strings don't 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.

Configure NVMe/FC

You can configure NVMe/FC for Broadcom/Emulex or Marvell/Qlogic adapters.

Broadcom/Emulex

Configure NVMe/FC for a Broadcom/Emulex adapter.

Steps

  1. Verify that you're using the supported adapter model:

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

      LPe36002-M64
LPe36002-M64

    2. 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're using the recommended Broadcom lpfc firmware and inbox driver.

    1. cat /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/fwrev

      14.4.317.10, sli-4:6:d
14.4.317.10, sli-4:6:d

    2. cat /sys/module/lpfc/version

      0:14.2.0.17

      For the current list of supported adapter driver and firmware versions, see the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

  3. Verify that lpfc_enable_fc4_type is set to 3:

    cat /sys/module/lpfc/parameters/lpfc_enable_fc4_type

    The expected output is 3.

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

    1. cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/port_name

      0x100000109bf0447b
0x100000109bf0447c

    2. cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/port_state

      Online
Online

    3. 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 x100000109bf0447b WWNN x200000109bf0447b DID x022600 ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x200fd039eaa8138b WWNN x200ad039eaa8138b DID x021006 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE

NVME Statistics
LS: Xmt 0000000187 Cmpl 0000000187 Abort 00000000
LS XMIT: Err 00000000  CMPL: xb 00000000 Err 00000000
Total FCP Cmpl 0000000014096514 Issue 000000001407fcd6 OutIO fffffffffffe97c2
        abort 00000048 noxri 00000000 nondlp 0000001c qdepth 00000000 wqerr 00000000 err 00000000
FCP CMPL: xb 00000048 Err 00000077

NVME Initiator Enabled
XRI Dist lpfc1 Total 6144 IO 5894 ELS 250
NVME LPORT lpfc1 WWPN x100000109bf0447c WWNN x200000109bf0447c DID x022300 ONLINE
NVME RPORT       WWPN x2010d039eaa8138b WWNN x200ad039eaa8138b DID x021106 TARGET DISCSRVC ONLINE

NVME Statistics
LS: Xmt 0000000187 Cmpl 0000000187 Abort 00000000
LS XMIT: Err 00000000  CMPL: xb 00000000 Err 00000000
Total FCP Cmpl 00000000140970ed Issue 00000000140813da OutIO fffffffffffea2ed
        abort 00000047 noxri 00000000 nondlp 0000002b qdepth 00000000 wqerr 00000000 err 00000000
FCP CMPL: xb 00000047 Err 00000075
Marvell/QLogic

The native inbox qla2xxx driver included in the Ubuntu 24.04 GA kernel has the latest upstream fixes. These fixes are essential for ONTAP support.

Configure NVMe/FC for a Marvell/QLogic adapter.

Steps

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

    cat /sys/class/fc_host/host*/symbolic_name
    QLE2872 FW: v9.15.00 DVR: v10.02.09.100-k
QLE2872 FW: v9.15.00 DVR: v10.02.09.100-k

  2. 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 ouptut is 1.

Enable 1MB I/O (Optional)

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 NVMe/TCP

NVMe/TCP doesn't support the auto-connect functionality. Instead, you can manually discover the NVMe/TCP subsystems and namespaces by using the connect or connect-all commands.

Steps

  1. 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 
    # nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.167.150 -a 192.168.167.155
Discovery Log Number of Records 8, Generation counter 10
=====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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:discovery
traddr:  192.168.167.156
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:discovery
traddr:  192.168.166.156
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:discovery
traddr:  192.168.167.155
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:discovery
traddr:  192.168.166.155
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:subsystem.ubuntu_24.04_tcp_211
traddr:  192.168.167.156
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:subsystem.ubuntu_24.04_tcp_211
traddr:  192.168.166.156
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:subsystem.ubuntu_24.04_tcp_211
traddr:  192.168.167.155
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.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:subsystem.ubuntu_24.04_tcp_211
traddr:  192.168.166.155
eflags:  none
sectype: none

  2. Verify that the other NVMe/TCP initiator-target LIF combinations can fetch discovery log page data:

    nvme discover -t tcp -w <host-traddr> -a <traddr>
    Show example output 
    #nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.167.150 -a 192.168.167.155
#nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.167.150 -a 192.168.167.156
#nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.166.150 -a 192.168.166.155
#nvme discover -t tcp -w 192.168.166.150 -a 192.168.166.156

  3. 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 output 
    #nvme connect-all -t tcp -w 192.168.167.150 -a 192.168.167.155
#nvme connect-all -t tcp -w 192.168.167.150 -a 192.168.167.156
#nvme connect-all -t tcp -w 192.168.166.150 -a 192.168.166.155
#nvme connect-all -t tcp -w 192.168.166.150 -a 192.168.166.156
    Note Beginning with Ubuntu 24.04, the ctrl_loss_tmo timeout default setting for NVMe/TCP is turned off. This means there is no limit on the number of retries (indefinite retry) and 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 ). With this default behavior, the NVMe/TCP controllers don't experience timeouts in the event of a path failure and remain connected indefinitely.

Validate NVMe-oF

You can use the following procedure to validate NVME-oF.

Steps

  1. Verify that the in-kernel NVMe multipath is enabled:

    cat /sys/module/nvme_core/parameters/multipath

    The expected output is "Y".

  2. Verify that the appropriate NVMe-oF settings (such as, model set to "NetApp ONTAP Controller" and load balancing iopolicy set to "round-robin") for the respective ONTAP namespaces correctly display on the host:

    1. cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys*/model

      NetApp ONTAP Controller
NetApp ONTAP Controller

    2. cat /sys/class/nvme-subsystem/nvme-subsys*/iopolicy

      round-robin
round-robin

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

    nvme list
    Show example output 
    Node         SN                         Model
---------------------------------------------------------
/dev/nvme0n1 81CZ5BQuUNfGAAAAAAAB	NetApp ONTAP Controller


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

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

    NVMe/FC
    nvme list-subsys /dev/nvme0n1
    Show example output 
    nvme-subsys4 - NQN=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.8763d311b2ac11ed950ed039ea951c46:subsystem. ubuntu_24.04 \
+- nvme1 fc traddr=nn-0x20a6d039ea954d17:pn-0x20a7d039ea954d17,host_traddr=nn-0x200000109b1b95ef:pn-0x100000109b1b95ef live optimized
+- nvme2 fc traddr=nn-0x20a6d039ea954d17:pn-0x20a8d039ea954d17,host_traddr=nn-0x200000109b1b95f0:pn-0x100000109b1b95f0 live optimized
+- nvme3 fc traddr=nn-0x20a6d039ea954d17:pn-0x20aad039ea954d17,host_traddr=nn-0x200000109b1b95f0:pn-0x100000109b1b95f0 live non-optimized
+- nvme5 fc traddr=nn-0x20a6d039ea954d17:pn-0x20a9d039ea954d17,host_traddr=nn-0x200000109b1b95ef:pn-0x100000109b1b95ef live non-optimized
    NVMe/TCP
    nvme list-subsys /dev/nvme1n1
    Show example output 
    nvme-subsys0 - NQN=nqn.1992-08.com.netapp:sn.9b7d42b764ff11efb8fed039eabac370:subsystem.ubuntu_24.04_tcp_211
               hostnqn=nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:4c4c4544-0050-3410-8035-c3c04f4a5933
               iopolicy=round-robin
 +- nvme0 tcp traddr=192.168.166.155,trsvcid=4420,host_traddr=192.168.166.150,src_addr=192.168.166.150 live optimized
 +- nvme1 tcp traddr=192.168.167.155,trsvcid=4420,host_traddr=192.168.167.150,src_addr=192.168.167.150 live optimized
 +- nvme2 tcp traddr=192.168.166.156,trsvcid=4420,host_traddr=192.168.166.150,src_addr=192.168.166.150 live non-optimized
 +- nvme3 tcp traddr=192.168.167.156,trsvcid=4420,host_traddr=192.168.167.150,src_addr=192.168.167.150 live non-optimized

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

    Column
    nvme netapp ontapdevices -o column
    Show example output 
    Device        Vserver        Namespace Path          NSID UUID                                   Size
------------- -------------  ----------------------- ---- -------------------------------------- ---------
/dev/nvme0n1   vs_211_tcp    /vol/tcpvol1/ns1        1    1cc7bc78-8d7b-4d8e-a3c4-750f9461a6e9   21.47GB
    JSON
    nvme netapp ontapdevices -o json
    Show example output 
    {

"ONTAPdevices" : [
{
      "Device":"/dev/nvme0n9",
      "Vserver":"vs_211_tcp",
      "Namespace_Path":"/vol/tcpvol9/ns9",
      "NSID":9,
      "UUID":"99640dd9-8463-4c12-8282-b525b39fc10b",
      "Size":"21.47GB",
      "LBA_Data_Size":4096,
      "Namespace_Size":5242880
    }
  ]
}

Known issues

There are no known issues for the NVMe-oF host configuration for Ubuntu 24.04 with ONTAP release.