Product manual

471
Appendix C: Multipathing on Linux
The appendix covers the following topics:
• Before You Begin (below)
• Task 1: Meeting Package Requirements (page 473)
• Task 2: Preparing the Configuration File (page 476)
• Task 3: Making Initial Host Settings (page 478)
• Task 4: Create and Configure Devices (page 480)
• Task 5: Setting-up ALUA (page 481)
• RPM Packages and Documents for Linux MPIO (page 486)
• Linux MPIO: Known Issues (page 488)
• Sample multipath.conf File (page 489)
PROMISE has fully tested VTrak multipathing on RedHat RHEL 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5;
and SuSE SLES 10 SP2, 10 SP3, 11, and 11 SP1. Coverage in this Product
Manual is limited to those OSes.
Multipathing is possible on other Linux OSes. PROMISE has not tested every
possible combination and therefore does not attempt to cover them here.
For a list of supported OSes, download the latest compatibility list from
PROMISE support: http://www.promise.com/support/.
Before You Begin
Before you can set up multipathing on your Linux Host PC, you must:
• Install your Fibre Channel or SAS HBA card into the Host PC.
• Install the HBA card drivers onto the Host PC
• Setup your VTrak, install your physical drives and create your logical drives.
• Attach your Fibre Channel or SAS cables from the HBA card to the VTrak
RAID subsystem.
• Install RHEL 5.x with the linux mpath option.
• For ALUA, refer to the PROMISE Linux support packages. See page 486.
Refer to the Linux Administration Manual, your HBA documentation, and this
Appendix as needed for more information.