How To Mount An iSCSI LUN Automatically On Boot From /etc/vfstab

Asset ID:	1-71-1376144.1
Update Date:	2016-02-09
Keywords:

Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 1376144.1 : How To Mount An iSCSI LUN Automatically On Boot From /etc/vfstab

Applies to:

Sun Storage 2510 Array - Version Not Applicable to Not Applicable [Release N/A]
Solaris SPARC Operating System - Version 10 9/10 U9 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.
***Checked for relevance on 17-Dec-2013***

Goal

This document describes the method to mount an iSCSI LUN automatically
at boot time and the required system components on the iSCSI initiator host.

Solution

The ability to mount iSCSI LUNs automatically at boot time from /etc/vfstab
is found in Solaris 10 update 9. For previous versions of Solaris 10,
the current iSCSI patch provides this ability.

Here is an example of /etc/release showing Solaris 10 update 9:

# cat /etc/release
Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 s10s_u9wos_14a SPARC
Copyright (c) 2010, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Assembled 11 August 2010

1. Install the current iSCSI patch <SunPatch:146232-09> (SPARC) or <SunPatch:146233-08> (x86) or greater, or verify that /etc/release shows that Solaris 10 update 9 is loaded.

NOTE: Previous version of patch 143645 (SPARC) and 143646 (x86) also contained the fix for this issue. Any patch containing the fix will contain this entry in the README:

6918170 iSCSI-based target devices cannot be mounted 

automatically via /etc/vfstab during boot time

2. Add an entry for the iSCSI device in /etc/vfstab, using the special keyword "iscsi" instead of "yes" or "no" for the "mount at boot" field. For example:

# cat /etc/vfstab
#device device mount FS fsck mount mount
#to mount to fsck point type pass at boot options
#
fd - /dev/fd fd - no -
/proc - /proc proc - no -
/dev/dsk/c1t1d0s1 - - swap - no -
/dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0 /dev/rdsk/c1t1d0s0 / ufs 1 no -
/devices - /devices devfs - no -
sharefs - /etc/dfs/sharetab sharefs - no -
ctfs - /system/contract ctfs - no -
objfs - /system/object objfs - no -
swap - /tmp tmpfs - yes -
/dev/dsk/c3t600A0B80003AC96C00006FD14E92CD2Bd0s6 /dev/rdsk/c3t600A0B80003AC96C00006FD14E92CD2Bd0s6 /iscsimount ufs 2 iscsi -

3. Reboot the system to mount the iSCSI LUN automatically. (An iSCSI LUN may be mounted manually at any time.)

NOTE: One quick way to tell if a system is capable of mounting iSCSI LUNs automatically
at boot time from /etc/vfstab entries is to check the man page for vfstab(4). If this
paragraph is present, things will work correctly:

iSCSI LUN can only be mounted after the iSCSI initiator SMF
service, svc:/network/iscsi/initiator, is started. Set the
mount at boot entries for iSCSI LUN in /etc/vfstab to iscsi
instead of yes. This enables the iSCSI initiator SMF service
to attempt to mount iSCSI LUN later.

INTERNAL - WORKING on this comments

The document of this comment recommends using /etc/vfstab option "iscsi" instead of "yes" for iSCSI LUN's.

Earlier solaris documentation at
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19253-01/817-5093/fmveo/index.html
has one use vfstab option "no" and create an auxiliary SMF service "iscsimount" with hand coded mount/umount methods. This SMF service scheme seems to be the workaround proposed in

BUG 15603020 SUNBT6900485-SOLARIS_10U9 iscsi target device cannot be mounted automatically vi

I believe the earlier documentation 817-5093 is obsolete yet somehow it was offered my customer in preference to this MOSDOC.
If this is the case, this MOSDOC, at the very least should mention this earlier, now obsolete, documentation.

Please verify if this MOSDOC is current and should supercede the advice of 817-5093
and if so, for which Solaris versions (817-5093 may remain relevant for Solaris without
vfstab option "iscsi").

Further investigation documented in 3-12097129358:

INTERNAL USE

An earlier SR update suggests the customer consult this documentation:

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19253-01/817-5093/fmveo/index.html

The gist of this documentation seems to be derived this BUG report

Bug 15603020 [https://bug.oraclecorp.com/pls/bug/webbug_edit.edit_info_top?rptno=15603020] : SUNBT6900485-SOLARIS_10U9 iscsi target device cannot be mounted automatically vi

which states:

@ We'll be raising an RFE to come up with a reliable way of mounting iscsi
@ targets by allowing entries into /etc/vfstab which can be processed once the
@ network is up. As a short term solution, this bug will be transfered to the
@ documentation team to change the docs to reflect the current behaviour.

@ As a short term solution, this is being to transferred to the docs team to
@ update the sysadmin guide (chapter 14) with the workaround. RFE 6918170 will
@ be fixing this problem. Currently, customers can use the workaround to have
@ reliable iSCSI mounts during boot.

The vfstab iscsi option for "mount at boot time" appears to be this RFE and it appears
to be documented in:

How To Mount An iSCSI LUN Automatically On Boot From /etc/vfstab (Doc ID 1376144.1)

Seems to describe the feature implemented by:

Bug 15616291 - SUNBT6918170-SOLARIS_11 iscsi based target devices cannot be mounted automatical

A comment has been logged against 1376144.1 to reconcile with 817-5093 -- I believe
817-5093 is obsolete and 1376144.1 should prevail but I will leave that

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