Oracle Solaris ZFS Administration Guide

Using a ZFS Volume as a Solaris iSCSI Target

You can easily create a ZFS volume as an iSCSI target by setting the shareiscsi property on the volume. For example:

# zfs create -V 2g tank/volumes/v2
# zfs set shareiscsi=on tank/volumes/v2
# iscsitadm list target
Target: tank/volumes/v2
    iSCSI Name: iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:984fe301-c412-ccc1-cc80-cf9a72aa062a
    Connections: 0

After the iSCSI target is created, set up the iSCSI initiator. For more information about Solaris iSCSI targets and initiators, see Chapter 14, Configuring Oracle Solaris iSCSI Targets and Initiators (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems.

Note –

Solaris iSCSI targets can also be created and managed with the iscsitadm command. If you set the shareiscsi property on a ZFS volume, do not use the iscsitadm command to also create the same target device. Otherwise, you create duplicate target information for the same device.

A ZFS volume as an iSCSI target is managed just like any other ZFS dataset. However, the rename, export, and import operations work a little differently for iSCSI targets.

When you rename a ZFS volume, the iSCSI target name remains the same. For example:

# zfs rename tank/volumes/v2 tank/volumes/v1
# iscsitadm list target
Target: tank/volumes/v1
    iSCSI Name: iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:984fe301-c412-ccc1-cc80-cf9a72aa062a
    Connections: 0

Exporting a pool that contains a shared ZFS volume causes the target to be removed. Importing a pool that contains a shared ZFS volume causes the target to be shared. For example:

# zpool export tank
# iscsitadm list target
# zpool import tank
# iscsitadm list target
Target: tank/volumes/v1
    iSCSI Name: iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:984fe301-c412-ccc1-cc80-cf9a72aa062a
    Connections: 0

All iSCSI target configuration information is stored within the dataset. Like an NFS shared file system, an iSCSI target that is imported on a different system is shared appropriately.