Creating hosts

You can create a new host object from the Creating Hosts panel.

Before you create a host using the SAN Volume Controller Console, ensure that you know the connection type you are using to attach to the host. Depending on whether the host attaches to the SAN Volume Controller cluster with fibre channel connections or with iSCSI connections, the information that you need differs.

This task assumes that you have already launched the SAN Volume Controller Console.

To create a new host object, complete the following steps:

Click Work with Hosts > Hosts in the portfolio. The Viewing Hosts panel is displayed.
Select Create a Host from the task list and click Go. The Creating Hosts panel is displayed.
Type the name for the host in the Host Name field. If you do not specify a name, a default name is assigned.
Select the type of host from the Type list.
Select the I/O groups to map to this host from the I/O Groups list.
Select either Fibre Channel or iSCSI for the connection type.
If you select Fibre Channel as the connection type, complete the following steps:
1. In the Fibre Channel Port Mask field, enter a valid port login mask for the host. For each login between a host HBA port and node port, the node examines the port mask that is associated with the host object to determine if access is allowed or denied. If access is denied, the node responds to SCSI commands as if the HBA port is unknown. Valid mask values range from 0000 (no ports enabled) to 1111 (all ports enabled). For example, a mask of 0011 enables port 1 and port 2. The default value is 1111 (all ports enabled). You can use a port mask to control the node target ports that a host can access.
2. Assign a worldwide port name (WWPN). A WWPN consists of 16 hexadecimal digits (for example, 210100e08b251dd4). You can either select a WWPN from the list of candidates, or you can enter a WWPN that is not in the list. You can assign one or more WWPNs to a single logical host object. Click Add to include the WWPN in the list of Selected Ports.
If you select iSCSI as the connection type, complete the following steps:
1. In the iSCSI Names field, enter the IQN name or EUI name for the iSCSI-attached host.
2. In the CHAP Authentication Secret, enter the shared passphrase which is used to authenticate the host to the cluster.
Click OK.
Repeat steps 2 through 7 for each host object to create.

After you have created the host object on the cluster, you can map virtual disks (VDisks) to host.

If you are unable to discover the disk on the host system or if there are fewer paths available for each disk than expected, test the connectivity between your host system and the cluster. Depending on the connection type to the host, these steps might be different. For iSCSI-attached hosts, test your connectivity between the host and SAN Volume Controller ports by pinging SAN Volume Controller from the host. Ensure that the firewall and router settings are configured correctly and validate that the values for the subnet mask and gateway are specified correctly for the SAN Volume Controller host configuration.

For fibre-channel attached hosts, ensure that the active switch configuration includes the host zone and check the host port link status. To verify end-to-end connectivity, you can use the svcinfo lsfabric CLI command or the View Fabric panel under Service and Maintenance container in the SAN Volume Controller Console.