Adding iSCSI deployment options to the ESXi Deployment Appliance – EDA

A short manual to do a basic configuration of the EDA is available here.

Adding iSCSI support

By default the EDA doesn’t include options, or scripts parts as they are called, to configure iSCSI. So let’s add some functionality here:).

Use the “Manage script parts” option to add scripts parts (or building blocks) to the EDA. Manage script parts lists the available scripts on the EDA and gives the option to add new scripts through the New Entry option.

When adding a new entry you have to configure the following fields:

• ESX Version (use 5.0 also for 5.1)
• Description – Just a description which will appear in the pull down list.
• Command – The actual esxcli command.
• XXXXX, YYYYY, ZZZZZ – You actually have three fields you can configure afterwards, at the time you’re inserting the actual script part.

To configure iSCSI I’ve added the following script parts:

Determine iSCSI IP Addresses

We have to deploy a little trick here. The EDA doesn’t allow you to add extra fields, so we have to derive the iSCSI IP configuration from existing management or vMotion IP addresses. This unfortunately a limitation on the setup; see my additional explanation on this below.

The script code is:

myiSCSI01=$(echo ${myVM} | awk -F "." '{print "XXXXX"$4}')
myiSCSI02=$(echo ${myVM} | awk -F "." '{print "YYYYY"$4}')

XXXXX = First iSCSI vmk IP address subnet

YYYYY = Second iSCSI vmk IP address subnet, this can be the same as XXXXX.

The values are derived (in this case) from the last octet of the vMotion IP address (myVM). myVM is the field that contains the vMotion address. If both iSCSI initiator addresses run in the same subnet you have to be carefull and your options are bit limited. You can do the following trick:

• 192.168.1.11 is the vMotion IP address (for example)
• XXXXX = 172.16.1.1 –> which makes 172.16.1.111 the IP address for the first iSCSI vmkernel port
• YYYYY = 172.16.1.2 –> Which makes 172.16.1.211 the IP address for the second iSCSI vmkernel port

iSCSI Enable and Set IQN

Enable iSCSI and set the IQN for the host. Notice that in this case the iSCSI software adapter is vmhba33, this adapter name can differ.

esxcli iscsi software set --enabled=true
esxcli iscsi adapter set -A vmhba33 --name=XXXXX:(hostname -s)

XXXXX = The iqn, probably something like iqn.1998-01.com.vmware

The hostname of the ESXi host will be added after the colon.

iSCSI VMK NIC Configuration

This script part is used to configure VMkernel interfaces. Note that your network configuration on vSwitch level should already be in place, this is not covered in this article.

esxcli network ip interface ipv4 set --interface-name XXXXX --ipv4 ${myiSCSI01} --netmask ZZZZZ --type static
esxcli network ip interface ipv4 set --interface-name YYYYY --ipv4 ${myiSCSI02} --netmask ZZZZZ --type static
esxcli iscsi networkportal add -A vmhba33 -n XXXXX
esxcli iscsi networkportal add -A vmhba33 -n YYYYY

XXXXX = First VMkernel interface used for iSCSI
YYYYY = Second VMkernel inteface used for iSCSI
ZZZZZ = Netmask for iSCSI

Configure iSCSI Target & Rescan

Now add you iSCSI target for dynamic discovery.

esxcli iscsi adapter discovery sendtarget add -A vmhba33 -a XXXXX
esxcli storage core adapter rescan --adapter vmhba33

We’ re all set now, the eda should look like this: