Using Persistent Binding

VMware ESX Server 2.0

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You can specify persistent bindings for your Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs). With persistent binding, ESX Server assigns specific target IDs to specific Fibre Channel SCSI devices. This target ID association is retained from reboot to reboot unless changed by you.

Persistent binding is particularly useful if you are using raw disks with ESX Server. A raw disk is directly mapped to a LUN or physical disk drive on your storage area network (SAN). ESX Server directly accesses the data on this disk as a raw device (and not as a file on a VMFS volume).

You can persist bindings through the VMware Management Interface or through the service console. For complete information on persisting bindings through the management interface, see Configuring a Swap File.

Determining Target IDs through the Service Console

If you prefer to use the service console, type cat /proc/scsi/<FC_SCSI_driver>/<adapter_number> to determine the target IDs.

Example Output for an Emulex HBA

#cat /proc/scsi/<FC_SCSI_driver>/<adapter_number>

. . . Portname: 10:00:00:00:c9:32:23:49 Nodename: 20:00:00:00:c9:32:23:49

Link Up - Ready:

PortID 0x21900 Fabric Current speed 1G

lpfc0t00 DID 021500 WWPN 20:00:00:60:16:3c:ad:13 WWNN 20:00:00:60:16:3c:ad:13

where:


`Portname: 10:00:00:00:c9:32:23:49`	Adapter port name
`Nodename: 20:00:00:00:c9:32:23:49`	Adapter node name
`lpfc0t00`	`0` (`lpfc0`) is the host bus adapter and `00` is the target
`WWPN 20:00:00:60:16:3c:ad:13`	Target world wide port name (WWPN)
`WWNN 20:00:00:60:16:3c:ad:13`	Target world wide node name (WWNN)

Example Output for a QLogic HBA

#cat /proc/scsi/<FC_SCSI_driver>/<adapter_number>

. . . SCSI Device Information:

scsi-qla0-adapter-node=200100e08b229b53;

scsi-qla0-adapter-port=210100e08b229b53;

scsi-qla0-target-0=20000060163cad13; . . .

where:


`200100e08b229b53`	Adapter world wide port name (`adapter-port`)
`210100e08b229b53`	Adapter world wide node name (`adapter-node`)
`qla0`	`0` is the host bus adapter
`target-0`	`0` is the target
`20000060163cad13`	World wide port name

pbind.pl Script

The pbind.pl script is located in the /usr/sbin directory. As root, type pbind.pl to see the list of options for this command.


pbind.pl Option	Description
`pbind.pl -A`	Persists bindings for all adapters.
`pbind.pl -D`	Deletes bindings for all adapters.
`pbind.pl -a <path>`	Adds bindings for all adapters specified in `<path>`.
`pbind.pl -d <path>`	Deletes bindings for all adapters specified in `<path>`.
`pbind.pl -r`	Shows you the result without actually making any change.
`pbind.pl -s`	Displays supported adapters and their paths.
`pbind.pl -q`	Quiet mode; suppresses normal status output.

Examples Using the pbind.pl Script

This example adds bindings for all QLogic 2200 hosts.

pbind.pl -a /proc/scsi/qla2200/

This example adds binding for QLogic 2200 host 2.

pbind.pl -a /proc/scsi/qla2200/2

Note: Typing a wildcard character, for example, pbind.pl -a /proc/scsi/qla2200/* is invalid.

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