Installing an Emulex adapter on an Intel or AMD host running Linux

This section describes how to install an Emulex fibre-channel adapter on an Intel or AMD host that is running the Linux operating system.

Not all Emulex adapters and drivers are supported on an Intel or AMD host that is running Linux. For details about models, versions of operating systems, and releases that the storage unit supports for these host systems, see the Interoperability Matrix at http://www.ibm.com/servers/storage/disk/ds6000/.

Note: The Emulex LP9402DC adapter card is a 3.3 volt card only and requires a 3.3 volt PCI slot.
Single- and dual-port fibre-channel interfaces with an Emulex adapter card support the following public and private loop modes:
Single- and dual-port fibre-channel interfaces with an Emulex adapter card support the following fabric attach modes:
Note: When you are connecting through a fibre-channel switch, configure the Emulex adapter ports and fibre-channel switch ports to autonegotiate speed and topology. This allows the correct speed and topology to be configured automatically.
Perform the following steps to download and configure an Emulex adapter:
  1. Record the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) number that is printed on the card. You can use the IEEE number to determine the WWPN.
    Note: If the adapter is already installed in the host system and the host system has installed a Linux distribution, it is possible to retrieve the WWPN using host system commands.
  2. Verify that the Emulex adapter driver module is loaded using the host system command lsmod. Look for the module name beginning with lpfc.
  3. Determine the kernel version that you are running. You can obtain the version by running the host system command uname -r. The version can be either 2.4x or 2.6x.
    • For 2.4 kernels, you can find the WWPN of your adapter cards by issuing the cat/proc/scsi/ adapter_type/n command, where adapter_type is the host adapter type and n is the host adapter number for your card. The host adapter type for Emulex adapters is lpfc
    • For 2.6 kernels, because of the migration to sysfs, the adapter WWPN information may not be available in /proc/scsi/lpfc/n. If this is the case, then in the /proc/scsi/lpfc/ directory, record the values represented. Then cat /sys/class/scsi_host/hostn/port_name. Where n is each of the values recorded from the /proc/scsi/lpfc/ directory.
  4. Install the adapter card. If the card is not connected directly to the storage unit, or to a fabric switch port, install a loop-back connector, that is usually supplied with the adapter card, then restart the server.
    Note: If the server is designed for hot plug PCI, see the server documentation for specific directions for hot plug of PCI devices.
  5. Install the adapter driver. Most Linux distributions now provide Emulex adapter driver support as part of the kernel package. See the Interoperability Matrix at http://www.ibm.com/servers/storage/disk/ds6000/ for supported driver levels for your Emulex adapter card. If the supported level differs from the preinstalled version of the driver, then go to Downloading and installing a host adapter driver or http://www.emulex.com/ts/docoem/ibm/index.htm . For specific adapter driver installation instructions, see the installation instructions that are provided by your host adapter vendor.
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