Comments (0)

By admin, March 31, 2012 5:10 pm

The reason I choosed to upgrade MEM first is becuase in the release note of MEM 1.1.0, it is said the minimum EQL FW should be v4.3.7 (which I’m on v5.0.2), but FW v5.2.2 states clearly that it only supports MEM 1.1.0, so I need to upgrade MEM first before I upgrade my EQL firmware to v5.2.2 and add HIT/VE v3.1.1 later.

1. Remember to put your ESX host to Maintenance Mode FIRST!!!

2. Use the MEM installation script as I found this is the most simple method, open vSphere CLI

C:\>setup.pl –install –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
You must provide the username and password for the server.
Enter username: root
Enter password:

Upgrading from existing Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module installed:
DELL-eql-mem-1.0.0.130413
Defaulting to offline bundle ‘C:\dell-eql-mem-esx4-1.1.0.222691.zip’
The install operation may take several minutes.  Please do not interrupt it.
Upgrade install was successful.
You must reboot before the new version of the Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Exten
sion Module is active.

3. Remember to Reboot it as well if your host is ESX 4.1

4. Check if the MEM is installed correctly, found out MEM setting has been set to default, so need to change it again to its maximum power to ultilize all 4 paths. (ie, volumesessions=12, membersessions=4)

C:\>setup.pl –query –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
You must provide the username and password for the server.
Enter username: root
Enter password:

Found Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module installed: DELL-eql-mem-esx4
-1.1.0.222691
Default PSP for EqualLogic devices is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03b90b5b1d654e6e700d0fc is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078c06ba23424c914a0f1889d68 is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03bd0aad3cc34ade700500f is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03b80201dcbe4a5e70010ee is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03b40e895cc74abe70000fd is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Found the following VMkernel ports bound for use by iSCSI multipathing: vmk2 vmk
3 vmk4 vmk5

C:\>setup.pl –listparam –server=xx.xxx.xxx.xxx
You must provide the username and password for the server.
Enter username: root
Enter password:

Parameter Name  Value Max   Min   Description
————–  —– —   —   ———–
TotalSessions   512   1024  64    Max number of sessions per host.
VolumeSessions  6     12    1     Max number of sessions per volume.
MemberSessions  2     4     1     Max number of sessions per member per volume.
MinAdapterSpeed 1000  10000 10    Minimum adapter speed for iSCSI multipathing.

C:\>setup.pl –setparam –name=VolumeSessions –value=12 –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
C:\>setup.pl –setparam –name=MemberSessions –value=4 –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

* Make sure you have 4 NICs for iSCSI before setting MemberSessions to 4 or you will see high TCP Retransmit.

5. Double check the storage path in vCenter to make sure MEM is the default PSP and all 4 paths are Active.

Comments (4)

By admin, March 31, 2012 1:56 pm

Today I’ve finally got time to update some of the major components such as OSMA, EQL MEM, EQL FW, Dell Bios, etc.

The first thing I have done is to upgrade OpenManage to latest version 6.5 on ESX 4.1 hosts.

The whole thing is actually very easy, simply download OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-6.5.0-2247_A01.15.tar (762MB). Yeah, I know Dell site is confusing, but this is the right one to download, then install the package according to the Short Installation Guide on the download page.

The setup script will actually perform an automatic upgrade process. Oh…there are some warnings, saying something is not found such as symbolic links, etc. But don’t worry, just remember to start the OMSA (wsman) service again manually, not even need to reboot the host or put it into maintenance mode, everything was performed live without any problem.

Next, it’s time for me to upgrade MEM to v1.1.0 first and then EQL FW to v5.2.2, well I’ve waited almost a full year since my last update of EQL components.

Strange enough local Dell EQL technical support told me to shut down all VM before performing the EQL firmware update, luckily I didn’t listen to their advice as I vaguely remember that EQL FW  update can be done in real time without shutting down the host or VM.

Later I confirmed this with Danny, Thanks again! This is where Equallogic local support (HK and China region) starts to worry me a lot recently as Open Case is no longer handled by US EQL staff since the mid of last year, the technical knowledge and quality is just not there at all, worst, at times, they tend to ask their customers to do things ridiculously or suggest their customer to try it (without performed the step themselves). I’ve told them what if I have thousands of VMs and do I need to shut down all of them just to perform the firmware upgrade? The answer is Yes! HUH???? BS!!!

Yes I am complaining about local Equallogic support service is getting poorer and please correct this issue ASAP!

Update: April 6, 2012

OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-7.0.0-4614_A00.tar.gz is out today!