Openfiler Installation and Configuration for Iscsi

How to install and configure Openfiler for Iscsi:

Step 1: Download the .iso image for openfiler and burn it into a cd/dvd

Step 2: Boot your future iscsi server (physical or virtual) from the cd/dvd.

Step 3: The installation is based on Red Hat Anaconda. Notice the captures.

Step 4: Once the system reboots, you see the url to be used. There are 2 accounts, root and openfiler. Openfiler is the account to use to configure iscsi and other services.

Step :5 In any event, this is what you can see/change as root.

Step 6: Log in as openfiler (the default password is "password) using https and port 446. You may want to change the password after the login process.

Step 7: Click on the Volumes tab.

Step 8: Create a new physical volume using the second disk.

Step 9: Select the second disk (/dev/sdb), make it a physical volume and click on create.

Step 10: Click on Add Volume.

Step 11: Name it and specify the size to use.

Step 12:  Go to the System tab and configure the Network Access Configuration to specify who can access this devices.

Step 13 : Enable and start the Iscsi service.

Step 14 : Click on Iscsi Target and add it.

Step 15 : Map the target to the volume.

Step 16: Update your configuration.

Last Step: Verify that the lun can be accessed via the vsphere client, web client or cli.

Dump Collector // Syslog Collector + Vcenter Server Appliance

How to configure the Dump and Syslog Collector with the Vcenter Appliance

Step 1: Connect to the esxi host and use the esxcli command to point core dumps to the vcenter appliance

Step 2: Connect to the vcenter appliance and modify the values for the dump collector. Test and save the changes.  Be aware that these logs can also be stored in nfs datastores. Look at the Storage Tab for that.

Step 3: Connect to the esxi host and execute the following commands to configure syslog. Add a firewall rule to allow traffic to redirect.

Step 4: Restart the appropriate services after the changes.

Freenas 9.2.1.6 Installation and Configuration for NFS and ISCSI

How to configure Freenas as an nfs server:

Step 1: Download the Freenas .iso image and burn it into a dvd. Insert the dvd and power on the physical server to be used. This could also be a virtual machine for testing purposes.

Step 2: Select the disk to be used for the installation.

Step 3: Click on Yes when asked to proceed. This will delete any existing data.

Step 4: Wait a few minutes for the installation to finish.

Step 5: Reboot the Freenas server.

Step 6: Use the menu that you see when the machine boots up to provide freenas with a network identity. Option "1" and "7" were used in this case.

Step 7: Launch your browser and connect to the ip address of the freenas server. Provide a password if you reset the default password during the initial configuration.

Step 8: Turn on the necessary services (such as NFS, ISCSI and so forth). Notice NFS and ISCSI were not enabled initially by default.

 Step 9: Click on Storage and create a UFS volume (ZFS could be used as well). UFS was used in this case. Select an available disk and name the volume. I selected my second disk and called the volume "data2". "data1" was being used for iscsi.

Step 10: Go to Shares and add a Unix Share. 

 Step 11: Go to your esxi host and test the configuration. You can use the vsphere client, the web client or the command line. esxcfg-nas -l shows no nfs mounts initially. After mounting the nfs file system with esxcfg-nas -a, the last command shows the operation succeeded.

ISCSI over ZFS Configuration:

Step 1: Make sure to enable the Iscsi Service.

Step 2: Create a ZFS volume using an unused disk.

Step 3: Add a zvol (zvol1) inside of the volume just created.

Step 4: Create a Portal and call it portal1.

Step 5: Add an Iscsi initiator.

Step 6: Add an Iscsi target (target1) and associated it to your portal and initiator.

Step 7: Add an extent (extent1) and map it to your zvol1.

Step 8: Add Associated Targets.

Final Note: Make sure to test the configuration using the vsphere client.