'hpsa' - A SCSI-based Linux device driver for HP Smart Array Controllers

Post-replacement tasks

1. Reboot the server.

2. Verify all expected Smart Array devices are accounted for by /dev/sd* names.

3. Perform a full system backup.

4. Verify backup media.

Conclusion

The new Linux Smart Array driver, hpsa, improves error handling, device management, and integration with standard

system tools and utilities. Keep in mind possible changes to device names when implementing hpsa. You can achieve a

smooth transition to hpsa by implementing persistent names, which assigns unique identifiers to logical volumes and

partitions. By planning for the deployment of hpsa and understanding the changes that occur, you can implement the

hpsa driver and enjoy its benefits.

Issues and workarounds

Table 3 provides a list of the possible issues and solutions that could occur during the upgrade.

Table 3. Solutions are available for these upgrade issues

Details

Hpsa driver did not load during Red Hat RHEL6 installation

Solution

Depending on the controller type, RHEL6 uses either cciss or hpsa for Smart Array controllers.

For information on supported drivers, see Table 1. Select and install a controller that uses

hpsa on RHEL6.

Hpsa driver did not load during SUSE SLES 11 SP1 installation.

Solution

HP recommends that the default cciss driver be used on SLES 11 SP1 except with ProLiant

Gen8 controllers, which support only hpsa on that operating system (P220i, P222, P420,

P421, P420i, P822, P721m)

Unable to determine which controller is providing a particular /dev/sd* device.

Solution

Use lsscsi –long command to display details about each device.

Smart Array logical volumes are no longer visible after activating hpsa driver.

Solution

Hpsa uses different device naming for devices. See Device naming and numbering.

I have a dependency on cciss driver, or cciss-style device names.

Solution

Use a cciss-compatible controller, as specified in Table 1.