Knowledge Base

• Present HP D2D iSCSI devices directly to a virtual machine iSCSI initiator for use by the virtual machine only. Tape Library devices are NOT available via the Service Console on ESX 4.x. 
• Present HP D2D and VLS FC devices to the ESX host for use by a virtual machine only. Tape Library Devices are not available via the Service Console on ESX 4.x 
• Present the VTL only on a single iSCSI or FC path. Multi-pathing is not supported, even experimentally, with this configuration.
•  iSCSI connectivity must be at least 1 GigE
• Only Windows Server 2008 was tested during the process of creating this article. Windows Server 2003 behavior is unknown at this time.

There are 2 ways to configure and use HP D2D and VLS devices:

• Present the iSCSI VTL to a virtual machine for use by the virtual machine
• Present the FC VTL to the ESX or ESXi host for use by a virtual machine

Present a D2D iSCSI VTL to a virtual machine for use by the virtual machine

To present a D2D iSCSI VTL to a virtual machine:

1. Create the VTL using the HP D2D Backup System web-based GUI by clicking on the Virtual Tape Devices tab and selecting Create library.
   
   When the library is created the virtual machine iSCSI initiator name (IQN) must be entered. For a Windows virtual machine running the Microsoft iSCSI initiator the iSCSI initiator name is obtained with these steps:
   1. Open the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator properties window. For Windows 2008, run iscsicpl.exe.
   2. Click the General tab to view the initiator name. It looks similar to:
      
      iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft.virtualmachinename
       
2. Configure the virtual machine software iSCSI initiator. A Windows virtual machine running the Microsoft iSCSI initiator is configured using these steps:
   1. Open the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator properties window. For Windows 2008, run iscsicpl.exe.
   2. Click the Discovery tab and add the HP D2D IP address and port number. The default port number is port 3260.
   3. Click the Targets tab and log on to the HP D2D target devices. There is a target device for the media changer and each tape drive configured in the VTL. You may have to click Refresh to get a complete list.
   4. When configuring the VTL device log on select the option to automatically reestablish the connection when the computer starts.
       
3. Make sure the VTL is available on the virtual machine by checking in the Windows device manager:
   1. Start the Windows device manager by running:
      
      mmc.exe devmgmt.msc
       
   2. Double-click Medium Changers or Medium Changer Devices to verify a new media changer device exists.
   3. Double-click Tape Drives to verify a new tape devices exists.
   4. If the devices do not exist, click the Action menu and select Scan for hardware changes.
      
      Note: It is possible for a tape device to be listed under Other devices in the Windows device manager if a tape driver is not installed. In that case, install the proper HP tape driver and the device is moved to Tape drives.

Present the FC VTL to the ESX or ESXi host for use by a virtual machine

1. Create the VTL using the HP D2D or VLS web based GUI.
   
   Note: On the HP VLS, to ensure single-LUN devices are created:
   • A VTL must not contain more devices than physical FC host ports on the VLS.
   • All VTL devices must be presented from a different VLS FC host port. For example, a VTL with a media changer and a single tape drive is setup with the media changer on FC port 0 and the tape drive on FC port 1.
      
2. If SAN zoning is enabled ensure that the D2D or VLS FC world-wide names are added to the proper ESX host zone.
   
   Note: The HP D2D uses NPIV to create a unique world-wide name for each D2D virtual device.
   
3. Modify ESX/ESXi claim rules so that the presented devices are claimed by VMW_SATP_LOCAL
   The following steps can be done via the ESX Service Console, vCLI, vMA or ESXi TSM (TechSupport Mode)
   • Identify the Model strings for the Tape Device and the Tape Library
     # esxcfg-scsidevs -l | grep -i vendor
     The output will look like this (Model strings will vary by the corresponding device):
        Vendor: VMware    Model: Block device      Revis: 1.0
        Vendor: HP        Model: Ultrium 3-SCSI    Revis: ED31
        Vendor: HP        Model: Ultrium 4-SCSI    Revis: ED41
        Vendor: HP        Model: MSL G3 Series     Revis: EL21
        Vendor: HP        Model: MSL G3 Series     Revis: EL21
     
   • Run this command for each unique model string (wild cards used reduces the number of commands for devices sharing the part of the model string):
     # esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp="VMW_SATP_LOCAL" --vendor="HP" --model="^<first matching characters>*"
     Where <first maching characters> is replaced by the characters common to the different devices model string. In this example, Ultrium is common for the first HP devices listed in the above output and MSL for the last 2 devices.
     
     Using this example, the commands to run would be:
     # esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp="VMW_SATP_LOCAL" --vendor="HP" --model="^Ultrium*"
     # esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp="VMW_SATP_LOCAL" --vendor="HP" --model="^MSL*"
     
     
   • Unclaim the location:
     # esxcli corestorage claiming unclaim -t location
     
     If the above command returns an error that the device is in use, you will need to schedule a downtime to reboot this ESX/ESXi host.
     Otherwise, if the commmand completes without errors, rescanning will result in VMW_SATP_LOCAL claiming these devices.
     
   • To verify that the devices have been claimed correctly, run:
     # esxcli nmp device list
     
     The output would look like this (truncated to list more devices):
     naa.5001438003dce2c0
         Device Display Name: HP Fibre Channel Medium Changer (naa.5001438003dce2c0)
         Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_LOCAL
     [ snip ]
     naa.5001438003dce1f6
         Device Display Name: HP Fibre Channel Tape (naa.5001438003dce1f6)
         Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_LOCAL
     
     Notice that the "Storage Array Type" is "VMW_SATP_LOCAL"
     
4. Make sure the tape library is available on the ESX host:
   1. Log in to the vSphere Client as an administrative user. 
   2. In Hosts and Clusters select the ESX host.
   3. Click the Configuration tab.
   4. Click Storage Adapters in the Hardware section.
   5. Select the appropriate SCSI adapter.
   6. Right-click on the adapter and click Rescan.
   7. The VTL tape and media changer devices are listed under the storage adapter devices and look similar to:
      
      Note: The appearance varies by ESX version.
      
      Name                                                    Runtime Name     LUN  Type
      HP Fibre Channel Tape (naa.5001438003dd1ed4)            vmhba1:C0:T3:L0  0    tape
      HP Fibre Channel Medium Changer (naa.5001438003dd1f88)  vmhba1:C0:T2:L0  0    media changer
       
5. Log in to the vSphere Client as an administrative user.
6. In Hosts and Clusters right-click on the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
7. On the Hardware tab, click Add.
8. Choose SCSI Device as the type of device to add.
9. Select Media – HP SCSI device for the media changer or Tape – HP SCSI device for the tape drive.
10. Click Next and verify the selections, then click Finish.
11. Repeat steps 1-6 for each media changer and tape device to be used by the virtual machine.

Helpful HP Links

• The HP EBS Compatibility Matrix provides a detailed list of supported configurations.
• White papers for help with setting up back up of VMware virtual machines using HP backup devices are available at http://www.hp.com/go/ebs. 
• Detailed information on HP D2D Backup Systems is available at http://www.hp.com/go/d2d.
• Detailed information on HP Virtual Library Systems (VLS) is available at http://www.hp.com/go/vls.