FC SAN Boot with C260 M2 server and VIC 1225

[brhong]

Hi there,

I am trying to setup FC SAN boot with my C260 M2 Server. I have two VIC 1225 at slot1 and slot7. Set the vHBA properties and boot table entries in CIMC, it didn't seem to working. By looking at spec sheet, this seems to be supported. Any hints for overcome this?

I upgraded the firmware and BIOS/CIMC to the latest 1.5.7e. Host OS is ESxi5.5.

See the screen shot for vHBA settings.

Thanks,

Braven

[David Silva]

Hi Braven,

I have a couple questions for you to get some more info.

1. What kind of FC switch are you using?

2. Are you seeing the initiator and target WWPNs FLOGI into the upstream switch?

3. Have you had a chance to configure zoning yet?

Thanks,

David

[brhong]

Hi David,

I am using MDS9148. FLOGI are fine and zoning are done properly. I can see the volumes after the server is booted from local disk. Just can't do FC SAN Boot.

Thanks,

Braven

[Niko Nikas]

Braven,

What does your boot policy look like?

If you boot to an ESXi ISO and have it scan for datastores/LUNs, does it see the LUNs you are presenting on the storage?

[brhong]

Hi Ninikas,

Please see the attached screen shot for the boot table. This is C260 M2 server.

I did a little bit more research, it seems I need a customized iso for FC SAN boot to work, see the link below:

0. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10477/prod_technical_reference_list.html 

Can you confirm if this is the case?

Thanks,

Braven

[brhong]

I also boot the server to esxi5.5 iso, and let it search for storage device, it couldn't find the Datastore/LUNs I configured in CIMC.

[Keny Perez · Accepted solution]

Is your OptionROM enabled for the VIC card in use?

-Kenny

[brhong]

Hi Kenny,

That's is. OptionROM is disabled for the slot. It's working fine now.

Thanks a lot to David Silva for the webex session!

You guys are amazing :)

Thanks again!

Braven

[Niko Nikas]

Braven,

What I'm actually looking for is this page from the CIMC (as it lists the boot order for the server). [see attached]

We have a custom ESXi ISO that contains specific drivers, but it should be 'required'. However, you could probably still get the server to work without the customer ISO, but it would likely not be supported unless you upgraded the drivers manually.

It is definitely concerning that the ESXi host cannot see LUNs. Is it being presented as LUN 0? Does the storage device see your initiators logged in?