Configuring cluster iSCSI authentication using the CLI

You can use the command-line interface (CLI) to configure the Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) to authenticate the SAN Volume Controller cluster to the iSCSI-attached hosts. After the CHAP is set for the cluster, all attached hosts must be configured to authenticate this way. To help in problem determination, this step can be delayed until after the first one or two hosts have been configured and their connectivity has been tested without authentication configured.

To configure authentication between the SAN Volume Controller cluster and the iSCSI-attached hosts, follow these steps:

  1. To set the authentication method for the iSCSI communications of the cluster, enter the following CLI command:
    svctask chcluster -iscsiauthmethod chap -chapsecret chap_secret
    where chap sets the authentication method for the iSCSI communications of the cluster and chap_secret sets the CHAP secret to be used to authenticate the cluster via iSCSI. This parameter is required if the iscsiauthmethod chap parameter is specified. The specified CHAP secret cannot begin or end with a space.
  2. To clear any previously set CHAP secret for iSCSI authentication, enter the following CLI command:
    svctask chcluster -nochapsecret 
    The nochapsecret parameter is not allowed if the chapsecret parameter is specified.
  3. The lsiscsiauth command lists the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) secret that is configured for authenticating an entity to the SAN Volume Controller cluster. The command also displays the configured iSCSI authentication method. For example, enter the following CLI command:
    svcinfo lsiscsiauth
After you configure the CHAP secret for the SAN Volume Controller cluster, ensure that the cluster CHAP secret is added to each iSCSI-attached host. On all iSCSI-attached hosts, specify a CHAP secret that the hosts use to authenticate to the SAN Volume Controller cluster.
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