Recently we have implemented a new storage solution by Pure Storage so we were moving from presenting datastore/s via NFS to iSCSI. In the past, it was quite simple to create VMKernel ports for NFS and you just mount the NFS volumes, no need to format disk or create targets, etc. In this post, I will show you the steps using the built in ESXi host client GUI (ESXi 6.0 U2, ESXi 6.5) to create a standard vSwitch, configure the basics of iSCSI and to configure port binding. If you are unsure if you need to use port binding then please refer to this documentation kb2038869.
First document what you will name the new standard vSwitch and the names of the two physical network cards that you would be used in this vSwitch. You will require two port groups so we will need to have two port group names. We are using port binding so in each port group there will only be one active network card so we will document those and also the IP addresses assigned for each of the physical network cards. Below is how I have documented for reference to use throughout the article.
Note : If you are using ESXi 6.5 please ensure you update your host client to 1.24.0 otherwise you will get errors when you try to add a 2nd physical link
Log in to your ESXi host via your favourite browser https://<host-IP>/ui
Once we have logged in, select “Networking” and then “Physical NICs” tab. In here make sure the network card/s you wish to use for your iSCSI connections are displayed here so my vmnic1 and vmnic2 is displayed
Now select “Virtual Switches” tab and select “Add standard virtual switch”
Give your vSwitch a name, my one is "vSwitch1" as defined in the table above. For “uplink 1” ensure the correct physical network adapter is selected then click on “Add Uplink”
You should see “uplink 2” as a property within the vSwitch properties. Ensure the correct physical network adapter is selected. For MTU size make sure you configure the right size from end to end otherwise you could have problems. For example if you decide to use 9000 make sure all the interface/networking devices all have MTU of 9000 end to end. Once you have made all the changes click “Add”
You should now see the new vSwitch created and can see that there are 2 uplinks
Next steps are to create the VMkernel NICs to be used for our iSCSI so select “VMKernel NICs” tab and click “Add VMKernel NIC”
As we haven't created any port groups yet we can leave "Port group" as “new port group”. Give your port group a name (e.g. "iSCSI-A") and select the vSwitch you have created for iSCSI. Make sure the MTU size is correct. Under “IPv4 Settings” if you are using “DHCP” then you leave that selected but if you have selected “Static” then click the down arrow next to “IPv4 Settings” and enter in the IP address and subnet you wish to assign to this interface. The rest of the settings you can leave as default and click “Create”
You will see that the 1st VMkernel adapter is created. Check that the portgroup and IP address (if assigned static) are correct to your knowledge. Next click “Add VMkernel NIC” to create the 2nd VMkernel adapter
I hope you find this article useful for creating the basic iSCSI connection to your array from using the built in host GUI. This feature is useful as you don't need to use your C# vSphere client anymore to do the configurations. In my next article I will show you how to use powercli to do all the above work which would configure your host in less than 10 minutes saving you time for host deployment.
Again as we are creating a new port group you can leave port group as “new port group”. Give your port group a name (e.g. "iSCSI-B") and select the vSwitch you have created for iSCSI which should be the same as the previous step above. Make sure the MTU size is correct. Under “IPv4 Settings” if you are using “DHCP” then you leave that selected but if you have selected “Static” then click the down arrow next to “IPv4 Settings” and enter in the IP address and subnet you wish to assign to this interface. The rest of the settings you can leave as default and click “Create”
You should see the 2nd VMkernel adapted created now. Check that the portgroup and IP address (if assigned static) are correct to your knowledge and also both of them should not be in the same portgroup
Select the “Port Groups” tab and select one of the port groups you created above and select “Edit settings”
Click the down arrow next to “NIC teaming” and change “Override failover order” to “yes”. Under “failover order” select the network card that would NOT be used for this port group based. So for my example I am working on port group "iSCSI-A" and based on the table above "vmnic2" should be unused so I have highlighted this card. Once the card is selected click “Mark unused”
Now you should see that the network card that you selected has its status changed to “Unused”. Click “Save”
Now select the other port group and click “Edit Settings”
Click down arrow next to “NIC teaming” and change “Override failover order” to “yes”. Under “failover order” select the network card that would NOT be used for this port group. Again with my example I am working on port group "iSCSI-B" and based on the table above "vmnic1" should be unused so I have highlighted this card. Once the card is selected click “Mark unused”
Now you should see the network card that you selected has its status changed to “Unused”. Click “Save”
Now that we have the networking elements configured. We will look to enable the iSCSI software adapter. Go to “Storage” then “adapters” tab, select “Configure iSCSI”
On the “Configure iSCSI” screen by default it is selected as "Disable"so we need to enable the service so select “enabled”
Make a note of the iSCSI IQN so that you can add/amend for your storage system. Under “Network Port Bindings” click “Add port binding”
Select one of the vmkernel adapters for your iSCSI connection and click “select”. I have selected "vmk1"
You should now see the vmkernel adapter listed under Network Port Bindings. Click “Add port binding” again to add the second adapter
Select the second vmkernel adapter and click “select”. I have selected "vmk2"
Now that you see both vmkernel adapters listed under “Network Port Bindings” you should select “Save configuration”. This will now go off and enable the software iSCSI adapter and create the port bindings
Still under “adapters” tab click on “rescan” followed by “refresh”. You should see your iSCSI software adapter status change to “online”. Click on “Configure iSCSI”. If the adapter still doesn’t come online then click “rescan” and “refresh” before moving on to the next steps as you need the iSCSI adapter online
Down towards the bottom of the iSCSI configuration page you have two options of discovering your iSCSI array, “Static” or “Dynamic”. Choose the one you normally use. In this article I will be covering using “dynamic”
Under “Dynamic targets” click “Add Dynamic Target”. The words “click to add address” should appear. Click within this space to add the target IP of your iSCSI array. If the port number is different from the default of 3260 then again click in the port space to change
Your iSCSI setting page should be similar to the one I have below which has iSCSI enabled, port binding configured and the target iSCSI array address. Click “Save Configuration”
Under “Storage” select “Devices” tab. You may already see your iSCSI Array device showing there already or you would need to click “rescan” and “refresh” which should display the device. From here onwards you can create your vmfs datastore to be used for your ESXi host/s
Some basic troubleshooting tips :
Connectivity - Make sure you can ping between your host and array by using vmkping to ensure there is no issues with the path
MTU sizing - Make sure they are all the same otherwise you could have issues, using vmkping with "-s" to specific a frame size so that you can check if has no issues with MTU sizing. For example "vmkping -s 8972 192.168.171.100" (The IP address is my array address so replace with your one)
IQN Name - Each time you rebuild a ESXi host the IQN name changes so make sure the correct one is on the array otherwise you will not see any of the LUNS
I hope you find this article useful for creating the basic iSCSI connection to your array from using the built in host GUI. This feature is useful as you don't need to use your C# vSphere client anymore to do the configurations. In my next article I will show you how to use powercli to do all the above work which would configure your host in less than 10 minutes saving you time for host deployment.
