ESXi 5, HP P212 and LTO 5 tape drive goes offline

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH70246

Too bad that no one had any ideas but I got it working here. Vmware still hasn’t called me in 2 days. An over 7 days support call…

Verify if the tape drive is using VMW_SATP_AULA (which is bad)

SSH into esxi 5 console

~# esxcli storage nmp device list

naa.500110a0014b774a

Device Display Name: HP Serial Attached SCSI Tape (naa.500110a0014b774a)

Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_ALUA

Storage Array Type Device Config: {implicit_support=on;explicit_support=off; explicit_allow=on;alua_followover=on;{TPG_id=0,TPG_state=AO}}

Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_MRU

Path Selection Policy Device Config: Current Path=vmhba2:C0:T0:L0

Path Selection Policy Device Custom Config:

Working Paths: vmhba2:C0:T0:L0

Note: View the Storage Array Type

To change this to VMW_SATP_LOCAL

~# esxcli storage nmp satp rule add –satp=VMW_SATP_LOCAL –vendor=”HP” –model=”Ultrium 5-SCSI”

Next you need to remove any claims to that device

~# esxcli storage core claiming unclaim –t location –A vmbha2 –C 0 –T 0 –L 0 (your vmbha must match)

~# esxcfg-rescan vmhba(#)

~# esxcli storage nmp device list

Reboot esxi host

Then add your Tape via SCSI device in the VM settings

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Tape device incorrectly detected as ALUA device on ESX/ESXi hosts
Symptoms

VMware ESX or ESXi hosts incorrectly detect a tape drive device as ALUA.

The tape device is not listed in the output of this command:
ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli nmp device list
ESXi 5.0 hosts: esxcli storage nmp device list

The /var/log/vmkernel or /var/log/messages log contains entries similar to:

cpu2:4114)WARNING: VMW_SATP_ALUA: satp_alua_getTargetPortInfo: Could not find relative target port ID for path „vmhba3:C0:T6:L0“ – Not found (195887107)
cpu2:4114)WARNING: NMP: nmp_SatpClaimPath: SATP „VMW_SATP_ALUA“ could not add path „vmhba3:C0:T6:L0“ for device „Unregistered Device“. Error Not found
cpu2:4114)WARNING: NMP: nmp_DeviceAlloc: nmp_AddPathToDevice failed Not found (195887107).
cpu2:4114)WARNING: NMP: nmp_DeviceAlloc: Could not allocate NMP device.

Cause

This issue occurs because a catch-all SATP rule has claimed the device, which has registered it as ALUA.
Resolution

To address this issue, you must add a SATP rule for the specific device.

To add an appropriate rule for the specific device:

Rescan your storage adapters in the vSphere Client, or from the terminal using the command:

esxcfg-rescan vmhbax

Review the rescan logging in your system logs.

ESX hosts: grep „ScsiScan“ /var/log/vmkernel
ESXi 4.x hosts: grep „ScsiScan“ /var/log/messages
ESXi 5.0 hosts: grep „ScsiScan“ /var/log/vmkernel.log

Check the output for the tape drive and get the Vendor and Model for the specific device.

Example:

esx2 vmkernel: 0:00:00:29.585 cpu2:4114)ScsiScan: 1059: Path ‚vmhba3:C0:T6:L0‘: Vendor: ‚ACME ‚ Model: ‚UltraStore 6-SCSI ‚ Rev: ‚W22W‘

Add a new rule to claim the device by the VMW_SATP_LOCAL plugin, using the command:

ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli nmp satp addrule –satp=“VMW_SATP_LOCAL“ –vendor=“vendor_name“ –model=“model_name“
ESXi 5.0 hosts: esxcli storage nmp satp rule add –satp=“VMW_SATP_LOCAL“ –vendor=“vendor_name“ –model=“model_name“

Example: The command for the vendor (ACME) and model (UltraStore) seen in the output of Step 2 is:

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add –satp=“VMW_SATP_LOCAL“ –vendor=“ACME“ –model=“^UltraStore*“

Note: Since the VMW_SATP_LOCAL plugin is being used, only a single path to the device is supported.

Unclaim the location using this command:

ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli corestorage claiming unclaim -t location -A vmhba3 -C 0 -T 6 -L 0
ESXi 5.0 hosts: esxcli storage core claiming unclaim -t location -A vmhba3 -C 0 -T 6 -L 0

Note: Update vmhba, controller, target, and LUN number as required.

This ensures that all paths to the device are unclaimed successfully before running the claim.

Rescan your storage adapters in the vSphere Client, or from the terminal using the command:

esxcfg-rescan vmhbax

Confirm that the device is claimed by the VMW_SATP_LOCAL SATP plugin and is listed in the output of this command:

ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts: esxcli nmp device list
ESX/ESXi 5.0 hosts: esxcli storage nmp device list