Advanced storage options

To use an advanced storage device, configure an iSCSI (SCSI over TCP/IP) target or FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) SAN (Storage Area Network).

To use iSCSI storage devices for the installation, the installation program must discover them as iSCSI targets and create an iSCSI session to access them. Each of these steps might require a user name and password for Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) authentication. Additionally, configure an iSCSI target to authenticate the iSCSI initiator on the system which hosts the target (reverse CHAP), both for discovery and for the session. Used together, CHAP and reverse CHAP are called mutual CHAP or two-way CHAP. Mutual CHAP provides the greatest level of security for iSCSI connections, particularly if the user name and password are different for CHAP authentication and reverse CHAP authentication.

Repeat the iSCSI discovery and iSCSI login steps to add all required iSCSI storage. You cannot change the name of the iSCSI initiator after you attempt discovery for the first time. To change the iSCSI initiator name, you must restart the installation.

iSCSI target configuration
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With iSCSI, you can use remote network-based storage devices as installation targets during Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation. Using iSCSI storage, you can centralize storage management and provide flexible storage configurations for systems installed across a network.

The installation program supports automatic and manual discovery of iSCSI targets.

iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT)
The installer checks whether the system firmware or add-on boot ROMs support iBFT, which is a firmware extension for systems that boot from iSCSI. If iBFT support is available, the installer reads the configured iSCSI target information for the boot disk, logs in to the target automatically, and makes it available during installation. To enable automatic connection to an iSCSI target, activate a network device using the ip=ibft boot option.
Manual iSCSI target discovery
You can also manually discover and start iSCSI sessions in the graphical user interface (GUI). Manual discovery enables the installer to identify available iSCSI targets and use them as installation destinations.

Discover and start an iSCSI session
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You can discover and start an iSCSI session during Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation to identify available iSCSI targets and connect to network-based storage devices from the graphical user interface (GUI).

Before you begin
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  • The Installation Summary window is open.

Procedure
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  1. From the Installation Summary window, click Installation Destination. The Installation Destination window opens, listing all available drives.
  2. Under the Specialized & Network Disks section, click Add a disk. The storage devices selection window opens.
  3. Click Add iSCSI target. The Add iSCSI Storage Target window opens.
    Important
    You cannot place the /boot partition on iSCSI targets that you have manually added by using this method. An iSCSI target containing a /boot partition must be configured for use with iBFT. However, in instances where the installed system is expected to boot from iSCSI with iBFT configuration provided by a method other than firmware iBFT. For example, by using iPXE, you can remove the /boot partition restriction by using the inst.nonibftiscsiboot installer boot option.
    1. Enter the IP address of the iSCSI target in the Target IP Address field.
    2. Type a name in the iSCSI Initiator Name field for the iSCSI initiator in iSCSI qualified name (IQN) format. A valid IQN entry contains the following information:
      • The string iqn. (note the period).
      • A date code specifies the year and month when your organization’s Internet domain or subdomain was registered. Use four digits for the year, a dash, and two digits for the month, followed by a period. For example, represent September 2010 as 2010-09.
      • Your organization’s Internet domain or subdomain name, presented in reverse order with the top-level domain first. For example, represent the subdomain storage.example.com as com.example.storage.
      • A colon followed by a string that uniquely identifies this particular iSCSI initiator within your domain or subdomain. For example :diskarrays-sn-a8675309.

        A complete IQN is iqn.2010-09.storage.example.com:diskarrays-sn-a8675309. The installation program pre-populates the iSCSI Initiator Name field with a name in this format to help you with the structure. For more information about IQNs, see 3.2.6. iSCSI Names in RFC 3720 - Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) and 1. iSCSI Names and Addresses in RFC 3721 - Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) Naming and Discovery. Both documents are available from tools.ietf.org.

    3. Select the Discovery Authentication Type drop-down menu to specify the type of authentication to use for iSCSI discovery. The following options are available:
      • No credentials
      • CHAP pair
      • CHAP pair and a reverse pair
    4. Do one of the following:
      1. If you selected the CHAP pair as the authentication type, enter the user name and password for the iSCSI target in the CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields.
      2. If you selected CHAP pair and a reverse pair as the authentication type, enter the iSCSI target credentials in the CHAP Username and CHAP Password fields. Enter the iSCSI initiator credentials in the Reverse CHAP Username and Reverse CHAP Password fields.
    5. Optional: Select the Bind targets to network interfaces checkbox.
    6. Click Start Discovery.

      The installation program attempts to discover an iSCSI target based on the information provided. If discovery succeeds, the Add iSCSI Storage Target window displays a list of all iSCSI nodes discovered on the target.

  4. Select the checkboxes for the nodes that you want to use for installation.

    The Node login authentication type menu contains the same options as the Discovery Authentication Type menu. However, if you need credentials for discovery authentication, use the same credentials to log in to a discovered node.

  5. Click the additional Use the credentials from discovery drop-down menu. When you provide the proper credentials, the Log In button becomes available.
  6. Click Log In to initiate an iSCSI session.

    While the installer uses iscsiadm to find and log into iSCSI targets, iscsiadm automatically stores any information about these targets in the iscsiadm iSCSI database. The installer copies this database to the installed system. It also marks any iSCSI targets that are not used for root partition. This allows the system to automatically log in to them when it starts. If the root partition is placed on an iSCSI target, initrd logs into this target. The installer does not include this target in start up scripts to avoid multiple attempts to log into the same target.

Configure FCoE parameters
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You can discover the FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) devices from the Installation Destination window by configuring the FCoE parameters accordingly.

Before you begin
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  • The Installation Summary window is open.

Procedure
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  1. From the Installation Summary window, click Installation Destination. The Installation Destination window opens, listing all available drives.
  2. Under the Specialized & Network Disks section, click Add a disk. The storage devices selection window opens.
  3. Click Add FCoE SAN. A dialog box opens for you to configure network interfaces for discovering FCoE storage devices.
  4. Select a network interface that is connected to an FCoE switch in the NIC drop-down menu.
  5. Click Add FCoE disk(s) to scan the network for SAN devices.
  6. Select the required boxes:
    • Use DCB:Data Center Bridging (DCB) is a set of enhancements to the Ethernet protocols designed to increase the efficiency of Ethernet connections in storage networks and clusters. Select the checkbox to enable or disable the installation program’s awareness of DCB. Enable this option only for network interfaces that require a host-based DCBX client. For configurations on interfaces that use a hardware DCBX client, disable the checkbox.
    • Use auto vlan:Auto VLAN is enabled by default and indicates whether VLAN discovery should be performed. If this option is enabled, then the FIP (FCoE Initiation Protocol) VLAN discovery protocol runs on the Ethernet interface when the link configuration has been validated. If they are not already configured, network interfaces for any discovered FCoE VLANs are automatically created and FCoE instances are created on the VLAN interfaces.
  7. Discovered FCoE devices are displayed under the Other SAN Devices tab in the Installation Destination window.

Configure DASD storage devices
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You can discover and configure the DASD storage devices from the Installation Destination window.

Before you begin
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  • The Installation Summary window is open.

Procedure
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  1. From the Installation Summary window, click Installation Destination. The Installation Destination window opens, listing all available drives.
  2. Under the Specialized & Network Disks section, click Add a disk. The storage devices selection window opens.
  3. Click Add DASD ECKD. The Add DASD Storage Target dialog box opens and prompts to specify a device number, such as 0.0.0204. You can also attach additional DASDs that were not detected when the installation started.
  4. Type the device number of the DASD that you want to attach in the Device number field.
  5. Click Start Discovery.

    If a DASD with the specified device number is found and not already attached, the dialog box closes and the newly-discovered drives appear in the list of drives. You can then select the checkboxes for the required devices and click Done. The new DASDs are available for selection, marked as DASD device 0.0.xxxx in the Local Standard Disks section of the Installation Destination window.

    If you entered an invalid device number, or if the specified DASD is already attached to the system, an error message appears in the dialog box. The message explains the error and prompts you to try again with a different device number.

Configure FCP devices
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FCP devices enable 64-bit IBM Z to use SCSI devices rather than, or in addition to, Direct Access Storage Device (DASD) devices. FCP devices provide a switched fabric topology that enables 64-bit IBM Z systems to use SCSI LUNs as disk devices in addition to traditional DASD devices.

Before you begin
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  • The Installation Summary window is open.
  • For an FCP-only installation, you have removed the DASD= option from the CMS configuration file or the rd.dasd= option from the parameter file to indicate that no DASD is present.

Procedure
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  1. From the Installation Summary window, click Installation Destination. The Installation Destination window opens, listing all available drives.
  2. Under the Specialized & Network Disks section, click Add a disk. The storage devices selection window opens.
  3. Click Add ZFCP LUN. The Add zFCP Storage Target dialog box opens allowing you to add a FCP (Fibre Channel Protocol) storage device.

    64-bit IBM Z requires that you enter any FCP device manually so that the installation program can activate FCP LUNs. You can enter FCP devices either in the graphical installation, or as a unique parameter entry in the parameter or CMS configuration file. The values that you enter must be unique to each site that you configure.

  4. Type the 4 digit hexadecimal device number in the Device number field.
  5. Provide following details when the zFCP device is not configured in NPIV mode or auto LUN scanning is disabled by the zfcp.allow_lun_scan=0 kernel module parameter:
    1. Type the 16 digit hexadecimal World Wide Port Number (WWPN) in the WWPN field.
    2. Type the 16 digit hexadecimal FCP LUN identifier in the LUN field.
  6. Click Start Discovery to connect to the FCP device.

    The newly-added devices are displayed in the IBM Z tab of the Installation Destination window.

    Use only lower-case letters in hex values. If you enter an incorrect value and click Start Discovery, the installation program displays a warning. You can edit the configuration information and retry the discovery attempt. For more information about these values, consult the hardware documentation and check with your system administrator.

Configure NVMe over fabrics devices
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Configure the Non-volatile Memory Express™ (NVMe™) over fabrics by using the graphical installation to use it as an installation target. Additionally, if the device meets the requirements for booting, you can also set the device as a boot device.

Before you begin
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  • A NVMe™ over fabrics device is present on the system.
  • The initial installation process has been completed and the Installation Summary window is open.

Procedure
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  1. From the Installation Summary window, click Installation Destination.

    The Installation Destination window opens, listing all available devices. This includes local (PCI Express transport) NVMe™ devices.

  2. Under the Specialized & Network Disks section, click Add a disk…​.

    The storage devices selection window opens.

  3. Click the NVMe™ Fabrics Devices tab.
  4. Optional: If the device list is too long, use the Filter by option to view specific devices.
  5. Select the devices from the list by using checkboxes.
  6. Click Done to return to the Installation Destination window.

    The NVMe™ device that you reconfigured is displayed in the Specialized & Network Disks section.

  7. Click Done to return to the Installation Summary window.