KGPSA-CA PCI Fibre Channel adapter

General description

CHARON-AXP supports emulation of DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI Fibre Channel adapter.

Every instance of KGPSA-CA works in one of the two following modes:

Fabric virtualization mode (creating virtual fabric in combination with virtual FC-3 Storage Controller). This is default mode.
CHARON PCI Pass Through mode (using a specific CHARON PCI Pass Through driver)

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Loading KGPSA storage adapter

Syntax for loading KGPSA-CA storage adapter:

load KGPSA <name>

Example:

load KGPSA FGA

In AlphaStation 400 configuration use the following syntax for KGPSA-CA storage adapter loading:

load KGPSA FGA irq_bus=isa

The adapter instance name ("FGA" in the example above) is used then for parametrization, for example:

set FGA container[100]="/my_disks/vms_distributive.vdisk"

Numbers in the square brackets represent KGPSA-CA units. They can be in the range 0..32766, but no more than 255 units can be configured on a single controller.

By default KGPSA-CA adapter uses first available PCI slot. If instead some particular slot is needed, refer to this section for details of specific placement of PCI peripherals on CHARON-AXP PCI bus.

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Configuration parameters

The KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter emulation has the following configuration parameters:

host_bus_location

Parameter host_bus_location

Type Text String

Value

Pass through mode only!

Establish connection between virtual DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter and physical EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter (pass through mode)

Syntax:

load KGPSA <controller name> host_bus_location="/dev/kgpsa<X>"

Example:

load KGPSA FGA host_bus_location="/dev/kgpsa0"

wwid

Parameter

wwid[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

Type Text String

Value

Sets WWID for emulated KGPSA adapter unit.

Syntax:

set <controller name> wwid[unit-number]="XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX"

Example:

set FGA wwid[2]="6008-05F3-0005-2950-BF8E-0B86-A0C7-0001"

container

Parameter

container[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

Type

Text String

Value

Possible values of the parameter are strings in one of the following forms:

Physical disk
- "/dev/sd<L>", where "L" is letter
- "/dev/disk/by-id/..." - addressing by the disk ID, for example "/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST1000DM003-9YN162_S1D01QJ4"
- "/dev/disk/by-label/..." - addressing by the disk label, for example "/dev/disk/by-label/MyStorage"
- "/dev/disk/by-uuid/..." - addressing by the disk UUID, for example "/dev/disk/by-uuid/0e808a2f-cdd3-4944-a245-f729ffd73882"
  Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON-AXP by mistake.
  
  Since "/dev/sd<L>" addressing is not persistent, so it is strongly recommended to use "/dev/disk/by-id/wwn-*" syntax instead to refer the disk by its WWID - especially in the enviroments utilizing FC and SAN storages.
  These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
  Example:
  set FGA container[0]="/dev/sdb"
  It is also possible to use not a whole disk, but previously created partitions on it. In this case the syntax is the following: "/dev/sd<L><N>" where N is the number of partition to be used.
  Example:
  set FGA container[0]="/dev/sdc3"
  .
Multipath disk
- "/dev/dm-<N>"
- "/dev/mapper/mpath<N>"
- "/dev/mapper/disk<N>"
  Be careful not to destroy all the information from the disk dedicated to CHARON-AXP by mistake.
  These disks must not be formatted by the host OS.
  Example:
  set FGA container[200]="/dev/dm-0"
  .
File representing a physical disk of the HP Alpha system (disk image)
- [<drive>":\"<path-name>”\”]<file-name>[“.vdisk”]
  These files can be created from scratch with "mkdskcmd" utility. Data and OS disk backups are transferred from the original system via tapes or network and restored into these container files.
  Mapping may also include the full path (recommended), for example: "/my_disks/my_boot_disk.vdisk"
  Example:
  set FGA container[401]="my_dka401.vdisk"
  .

This parameter is initially not set, thus creating NO storage elements on the controller.

media_type

Parameter

media_type[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

Type

Text String

Value

Instructs CHARON-AXP to use the supplied value as the PRODUCT field in the FC INQUIRY data returned to a software running on virtual HP Alpha system in response to FC INQUIRY command.

If not specified, CHARON-AXP attempts to guess the FC INQUIRY data based on virtual FC device type and underlying container (which is specified in the corresponding container configuration parameter).

Initially is not specified.

Example:

set FGA media_type[0]="HSZ70"

removable

Parameter

removable[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

Type Boolean

Value

When set to "true", the removable configuration parameter instructs CHARON-AXP to report the corresponding virtual FC device as removable.

By default the removable configuration parameter is set to "false".

Example:

set FGA removable[400]=true

geometry

Parameter

geometry[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

Type

Text String

Value

This formatted string value specifies the explicit geometry of the disk storage element.

The string format is <X>”/”<Y>[“/”<Z>] or <X>”,”<Y>[“,”<Z>][“,”<B>] where:

Parameter	Description
X	The number of sectors per track
Y	The number of tracks per cylinder
Z	The number of cylinders on the unit. If omitted, Z is calculated based on X, Y and the total number of sectors on the unit that reflects the size of the disk storage element. This is an optional parameter.
B	The total size of the disk (in blocks) reported to the guest OS. If omitted it is calculated automatically. This is an optional parameter.

If this parameter is not set, CHARON-AXP will configure the geometry based on the most probable disk type.

Initially not set.

Example:

set FGA geometry[201] = "255/255"

It is possiblle to specify each parameter independently of another one. The following syntax is used for that:

set FGA geometry[300]="*,*,*,16777210"

use_io_file_buffering

Parameter

use_io_file_buffering[N]

N is 0..32766 (no more than 255 units)

Type

Boolean

Value

When set to "true", instructs CHARON-AXP to enable host operating system I/O cache on reading/writing operations.

Note that this caching has a significant effect only in case of mapping to disk containers, not physcial drives.

When enabled, host operating system I/O cache may significantly improve I/O performance of the virtual system. At the same time maintaining I/O cache requires additional host resources (CPU and memory) which may negatively affect overall performance of the virtual system.

Initially is set to "false".

Example:

set FGA use_io_file_buffering[300]=true

When a disk image connected to an emulated KGPSA-CA controller is dismounted by OpenVMS, it is disconnected from CHARON-AXP and can be manipulated. It can be replaced with a different disk image if it keeps the same name. This capability may be useful when designing back-up and restore procedures. When copying CHARON-AXP disk images while CHARON-AXP is running, please take care to minimize the risk of overloading a heavily loaded CHARON-AXP host system. For example, using a sequential series of simple ftp binary copies is less resource intensive and thus less disruptive than multiple, simultaneous copies.

Empty disk images are created with the "mkdskcmd" utility.

CHARON-AXP is able to boot from disk images of any OpenVMS/Alpha and Tru64 version.

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Mapping to host resources

Fabric virtualization mode

In this mode KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter can be directly mapped to physical disks (both local and iSCSI) and disk images as shown in the following example:

set FGA container[0]="/my_disks/my_dka401.vdisk"set FGA container[100]="/dev/sdb"
set FGA container[200]="/dev/sdc2"
set FGA container[300]="/dev/dm-0"

See the "Configuration parameters" section for details.

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Pass Through mode

The CHARON PCI Pass Through mode allows connection between virtual DEC-KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter and physical EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter plugged into host’s PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot.

Syntax:

load <controller name> host_bus_location="/dev/kgpsa<N>"

Example:

load KGPSA FGA host_bus_location="/dev/kgpsa0"

The following is a list of EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapters supported by CHARON-AXP PCI Pass Through driver and suitable for emulation of KGPSA-CA PCI FC adapter in CHARON PCI Pass Through mode:

Supported	Not Supported	Not tested
LP8000 LP9000 LP9002 LP9802 LP10000 LP10000DC LP10000-S LPX1000 LP11002 LPe11002 (FC2242SR, A8003A) LPe1105 LPe12002 (AJ762B)	LPe1150 (FC2142SR, A8002A)	LPe11000

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Pass Through mode establishing sequence

To establish "pass through" mode do the following:

Install the EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter (see below for a list of supported models) to some spare PCI/PCI-X/PCIe slot of the host system
Build PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC
Install PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC
Add PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC to Linux startup
Map KGPSA-CA adapter(-s) to EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC adapter instance(-s) in CHARON-AXP configuration file

If kernel of the host system has been upgraded or reinstalled all the steps of the PPT KGPSA driver installation must be repeated

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Building PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC

To build PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC do the following:

Step Description

1

Make sure that the required building tools and include files are installed. If they are absent install them:

# yum groupinstall “Development Tools”
# yum install kernel-headers kernel-develop

The kernel version must match the version of the installed kernel-headers (i.e. this packages must have same versions. It can be verified via "rpm -q -a | grep kernel-" )

Check that the "kernel" and the "kernel-headers" have the same version, and ensure that system is booted from this kernel version (not from some older one and etc) with "uname -a" command.

2

Open xterm and change the default directory to "/opt/charon/drivers/kgpsa":

# cd /opt/charon/drivers/kgpsa

3

Issue "make clean; make" commands to build kernel object:

# make clean; make

It is prohibited to use a module built on a certain version of kernel on another one.

4 Check that there are no compilation errors and the file "ppt_kgpsa.ko" has been built

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Installation of PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC

To install PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC do the following:

Step Description

1

Unload standard "lpfc" driver; to do that issue the following command:

# rmmod lpfc

2

Load "ppt_kgpsa.ko" driver; to do that issue the following command:

# insmod ppt_kgpsa.ko

3

Issue "dmesg" command and check that no error appeared during the driver loading, also check that the driver has found all KGPSA devices:

# dmesg

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Adding PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC to Linux startup

To add PPT driver for EMULEX LightPulse PCI/PCI-X/PCIe FC to Linux startup do the following:

Step Description

1 Disable auto-loading of Linux standard "lpfc" driver on boot. To do that add "lpfc" to the black list file "/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf"

2

Copy the KGPSA-CA kernel module to the location of Linux kernel modules, for example:

# cp /opt/charon/drivers/kgpsa/ppt_kgpsa.ko /lib/modules/3.10.9-200.fc20.x86_64/kernel/drivers/scsi/

The particular path may be different, depending on the kernel version and Linux distribution.

3

Enable auto load of the module:

RedHat Linux v6.x:

# echo modprobe ppt_kgpsa >> /etc/rc.modules

Fedora Core Linux or RedHat Linux v7.x :

# echo ppt_kgpsa > /etc/modules-load.d/ppt_kgpsa.conf

4

Regenerate new "initramfs" image with "mkinitrd":

# mkinitrd -f /boot/initramfs-3.10.9-200.fc20.x86_64.img 3.10.9-200.fc20.x86_64

The particular path may be different, depending on the kernel version and Linux distribution.

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